IGHO: FROM BROADCASTING TO COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP 

 Peter Igho, ace broadcaster and pioneer director general of National Lottery Regulatory Commission, is elected President of Urhobo Leadership Forum Abuja, writes DELE OLOWU 

While you gaze elsewhere, Peter Igho arrives suddenly at the unexpected destination. Or so it seems. Only recently Peter Igho was elected President of the Urhobo Leadership Forum Abuja. ULFA for short, is a solidarity group intended to provide advocacy support for the Urhobos of Abuja. Again in 2009, 

President Yar’Adua surprised many when he trawled Peter Igho and named him Director General of the National Lottery Commission. At the time, it seemed rather like a mismatch. And here is why. Peter Igho had for several years been a central figure in popular television, his Cockcrow At Dawn series, being the most revolutionary and most thematically successful production of its era. Cockcrow At Dawn along with a cluster of several other productions had created a natural niche for him in the television world.

 In appointing him to the lottery space therefore, President Yar’Ádua appeared to have dragged Peter Igho out of his turf, and thrown him into unfamiliar waters. But Peter Igho surprised doubters and affirmed the optimism of those who have always acknowledged his inner resilience and strength.  Igho brought a new energy into the lottery industry and transformed it from an anonymous federal department, to a robust national commission with branches all over Nigeria.  Before Peter Igho’s emergence, the department was regarded with little respect, even from industry practitioners. These days however, the fear of the National Lottery Commission has become the beginning of wisdom. Success in the National Lottery Commission has enlarged Peter Igho’s reputation for delivery and capacity to thrive even in untested spaces.

 Even so his work on television remains his opus and tends to dominate his persona. This persona contains important northern regional features which may fool the unwary into believing that Peter Igho is not in touch with his native cultural roots. Peter Igho was born in Jos, went to school there and his first significant stray to the south, was when he attended the University of Ibadan in 1969. It was here we met and became friends. He was my first close contact with the social network of the north and its elites. Peter looked like a northerner, spoke impeccable Hausa, consumed Hausa menu and was perfectly at home in the northern milieu. Even his work in television was sometimes overtly populated by exciting visuals from the region. Nothing has popularized the visually exciting rock formations of the Plateau or that of the Oesop falls better than Cockcrow At Dawn did.

However, in spite of his deeply appreciated exposure to northern culture, Peter has remained a very expressive Urhobo. The permissive pluralism in the Igho home, enabled parents and children to speak impeccable Urhobo and excellent Hausa at the same time. In Peter’s own unique example, he speaks not only Hausa but is also fluent in Ibo, and Yoruba. The crowning glory is his mastery of the Urhobo language which he deploys with great dexterity, proverbs and all. In addition, he has over time, evinced multiple Urhobo enthusiasms. For example, 

In June 2015, touched by the decrepit education infrastructure in parts of his homeland, Peter Igho, through the funding support of friends and colleagues built a block of primary school classrooms in Kokori, Ethiope East, Delta State. Many will recall that during the handover ceremony, there was such jubilation particularly by the young lads and girls, it was evident leadership did not require to do much to earn our people’s gratitude. Peter Igho has been concerned with escalating Urhobo consciousness across the land. At great personal cost he crisscrossed the whole of Urhoboland and produced a documentary which covered all the 24 kingdoms of the jurisdiction. This brought him into close contact with the leading lights of Urhoboland and would inevitably have given him a more acute understanding of the problems and dysfunctions in his homeland. When the royalty in Uvwie decorated Peter Igho, by investing him as the Okobaro of Uvwie , it was acknowledged that the honor had not come too soon. 

Peter Igho’s election as President of the Urhobo Leadership Forum, in a manner of speaking, places the shoe on the right foot. He has had several years of preparation for the universe in which he must now place himself. Into this universe, he brings the reach he has built over the years; he brings the reach of the creative world in which he exercises full sovereignty; a world in which the demand for realism imposes a delicate obligation for believability. Peter Igho also brings in an experience of the corporate world, with its imperative of balancing needs against resources. Most importantly Peter Igho also brings the universe of other ethnic nationalities and a rich understanding of how Urhobos can continue to live with other subnationals at this time in a fair balance. The mandate given to Peter Igho, like the obligations shouldered by the Urhobo leadership Forum is crucial. Before his election, Peter had engaged elites, rural dwellers as well as some traditional authorities. One of his more memorable encounters was the one he had with His Royal Majesty Air Commodore Lucky Ararile , the Orosuen of Abraka. The Abraka monarch has been a product of the best legacies of the military and traditional governance. Not surprisingly he is a man of great wisdom. From the exchange it has emerged that the monarch and Peter Igho recognise the increased radicalisation of Urhobo and Nigerian society and the raised demands placed on all leadership categories. The monarch is a board member and lends his considerable weight to the Forum. Expectations are high all around and groups like the Urhobo Leadership Forum must raise the level of play. The forum has considerable pedigree , its pioneer President being the well known Senator Fred Brume who nurtured the Delta Steel Company Aladja into maturity . Its Chairman Board of Trustee is the highly trained Ambassador Dede. Membership of the Forum, which was registered in 2012 is drawn from Urhobos resident in Abuja. Peter Igho takes over from Jonathan Esin, under whom the Forum grew in quality and strength. Peter Igho comes in amidst raised hopes in circumstances of challenge and stress. The economy is in bad shape and citizens must work out ways to eke out a living. In all this, we must live in peace with our neighbours. The Forum is one of several solidarity groups and work in full regard with the UPU. However many of these solidarity groups seem to be in recess, leaving uncovered territory for the Urhobo leadership Forum to wade into. . Under Peter Igho, it should grow the voice required to match this opportunity.

·         Olowu is a Veteran Journalist