As the Senate beckons on Stella Oduah

Those who know Princess Stella Oduah speak of her as a consummate workaholic, the one who sets her eyes on a project, pushes so hard and always gets the job done. The Goodluck Jonathan administration has made ‘transformation’ its signature tune, so as the administration
talks about attaining goals in Vision 20: 2020 and infrastructure development, as has been the case in the last four years of the current administration, no one best exemplifies the transformation both as a political and developmental creed than this woman who took the Aviation sector of Nigeria from the doldrums and the backwaters it was relegated, to the heights of national and international recognition.
It is no surprise therefore that as soon as this lady of enterprise left the office of Minister of Aviation few months back, her people of Anambra North pressed her to come forward
and be their Senator.
The reception organized for this Amazon by the entire Ogbaru people of Anambra North was quite instructive and remarkable as it demonstrated the love and acceptance of her people for her. The event showed that Princess Stella Oduah is a woman with grassroots support.
Similarly well-attended receptions by the larger Anambra and Igbo communities as well as several professional groups have gone on in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu. There has been no better way to acknowledge the accomplishments in so short a time of this woman of substance.
For her to become a Senator, quite frankly therefore, is the natural course of things. The idea being that she can, through a proactive and functional representation,
replicate the same visionary, dynamic and courageous leadership she showed as a Minister which saw to the whole scale reconstruction, expansion and remodeling of
twenty two airports across Nigeria in a seamless comprehensive manner.
The entire Aviation sector (FAAN, NCAA, NAMA, NIMET, AIB, etc) came to full operational standards with organizational retooling, equipment, facility and manpower support and infusion
Who better then to bring vision and vibrancy to a constituency covering the Onitsha megacity and environ that is without doubt the financial, commercial and industrial nerve
centre of the entire old Eastern
Nigeria with reaches across the rest of the country into West and Central Africa? Onitsha as a business hub is truly a national resource as such.
The city suffers severe infrastructural challenges that continue to keep that vast territory from realising or attaining its full commercial and business potentials in the Nigerian economicy.
Inland port facilities on the bank of the River Niger, well constructed drainage system and road network, functional waste management system, power and water supply for such
a teeming mass of people, etc are part of the existing gaps despite the need and clamour. All of these require the collaboration of all tiers of government, particularly federal interventions, to keep the city in a proper functioning state as traders, businessmen, venture capitalists, etc come from far and near, distant countries to transact in
Onitsha where huge investments are daily made.
With the above situation in the constituency, only a person with a vast network within the federal and state system and indeed internationally can bring the push and pull to bear and deliver the much needed development and positioning of the city as the focal point for economic growth.
This is where Princess Stella Oduah towers above every other contestant for the coveted Senate seat. From a solid private sector business background, she is not new to the temper and temperament of the business community.
Her experience in government at the federal level gives her a good handle and network to interphase with the executive arm, to network with key officials at that level that can deliver on her already well articulated development initiatives for the constituency, state as a whole and the region at large.
Only recently, in a befitting setting, she laid the foundation stone of the School of Aviation and Marine Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Oko located in Akili Ozizor Ogbaru LGA
brought through her direct effort.
This Senate seat, true, was the turf of the famous politician and Senate President, the memorable Senator Chuba Okadigbo who brought verve and panache
to the representation of Anambra North. Such lofty standards have long gone with the sad demise of that very much accomplished Senator. The gap and the vacuum has remained
waiting to be filled by a more capable hand. In the Nigerian manner of things, whereas the Okadigbos-Chuba/Margery, Joy Emordi, Emma Anosike
and Alphonsus Igbeke- have all taken turns on the seat for Oyi, Anyamelum, Onitsha South and North respectively, only Ogbaru is yet to be offered the opportunity.
In the light of that, all the stakeholders on the principles of equity and rotation have come to agree that Ogbaru’s turn has come.
Even at that, in her own superb pedigree, Princess Stella Oduah remains one of Nigeria’s most recognized women today.
Intelligent and supremely articulate, she can be quite persuasive in making her case in a serious businesslike manner.
These are qualities that come as assets in the parliamentary environment and from her presidential campaign days, she has learnt the art and necessity of building bridges. She was the
Head of Administration and Finance in the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation in 2010-2011 where she superintended the general administration of the campaign
activities and raising of money from donors and personal sources.
The campaigns were well administered to her credit, goals were set and strategies were followed, the team spirit and synergy made victory to come assured.
As a practical politician, she ran the Neighbour to Neighbour initiative which set the foundational framework for connecting President Goodluck Jonathan as a candidate to the people. That assignment gave and assured her the necessary leverage within the political and bureaucratic class of Nigeria, the sort that has made it quite easy for her to engage and push through her development targets.
So, when people emphasize that Stella Oduah opened up Enugu Airport and brought life back to that abandoned air facility, they forget that she did exactly the same thing in Abuja,
Lagos, Benin, Kano, Yola, Portharcourt, Ilorin, Kaduna, Sokoto and all the rest to make air travel in Nigeria elevating in compliance with global standards.
For the woman who is known to accomplish every task and assignment creditably, the move to the Senate will bring a new dawn to the people of Anambra North and, indeed, to Anambra State and Nigeria as a whole.
.Odiadi, a Legal Practitioner, writes from Asaba, Delta State