As the 10th memorial anniversary of Late Senator Fred Brume kicked off yesterday, Sunday, September 12, 2021, in Udu, Delta State, the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District and Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has showered encomiums on the late federal lawmaker for the sterling achievements he recorded while alive.
Speaking at the ceremony which took place at the Brume family home in DSC Township, Orhuwhorun, Udu LGA on Sunday, Omo-Agege recalled with nostalgia, Brume’s tenure as Senator of the Federal Republic, saying though he wasn’t a principal officer, his personal relationship with the then president, Chief Oluusegun Obasanjo, attracted a lot of development projects to Urhobo land.
“For the Urhobo nation celebrated, and will continue to celebrate, Late Senator Brume before he became a Senator, and his accomplishments after he became a Senator.
“Brume taught us what raw power is all about. It’s not just enough to be elected. You can go to the National Assembly and be a bench warmer. You can be a Senator, you can be a member of the House of Representatives and you may never have contacts with the power that be, talking about the president of the country.
“Brume had a personal relationship with our then president, President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was a personal friend to him.
“What that meant was that anything that the Urhobo nation wanted, Brume didn’t need to ask for it in the floor of the Senate because he had the keys to the Villa. That was what Brume meant to us”, Omo-Agege recalled.
The Deputy President of the Senate also went down memory lane to enliven Brume’s achievements as the General Manager of the Delta Steel Company Ltd, Ovwia-Aladja, adding that he demonstrated his profound love for the Urhobo nation whilst he was at the helms of affairs of the company.
According to him, Brume created job opportunities for several academically qualified Urhobo sons and daughters in the company.
Omo-Agege recalled that the exalted seat of Urhobo Senator in the time of Brume was not only in recognition of his track record of love and development of the Urhobo nation, but his facilitation of the establishment of DSC and the opportunities he created for Urhobo sons and daughters.
“In his days as the GM of the DSC, Senator Brume was always looking for the good of others. At the risk of sounding tribalistic, Brume loved the Urhobo nation. The goods of Senator Brume are indeed living after him.
“I could recall, the moment an Urhobo man or woman graduated from the University or Polytechnic, it was taken for granted that a job was waiting for you in DSC, including accommodation and a VW Beetle car.
“Here in Urhobo land we were told when we were just entering politics, that you could run for the governorship seat, you could run for the House of Reps, and you could run for the House of Assembly. But that special seat for the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District was a very special seat. And for you to occupy that seat at that time, it was not what you want to do for the Urhobo nation but what you have done for the Urhobo nation. That seat was a reward for your service, a reward for your accomplishment on behalf of the Urhobo nation.
“The establishment of DSC alone by himself was more than enough to clear the coast for Brume to be called our Senator in Nigeria. So, for the Urhobo nation, we celebrate and continue to celebrate Senator Brume and his accomplishment after he became a Senator”, he said.
