There is a quiet kind of poetry in beginnings.
Ancient civilisations understood this instinctively. The Greeks, for instance, believed that the circumstances of one’s birth carried a certain symmetry, that time itself had a way of circling back, aligning moments with meaning.
Whether one subscribes to such notions or not, there is something undeniably fitting about April 5.
On that day, Dr Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe turns 62. On that same day, he formally begins his campaign for the Owan Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
A man born in Otuo, in Owan East, returns six decades later, on the anniversary of his birth, to seek the mandate of his people. Beginnings and returns, converging.
April 5. A date, yes. But also, a destination.
The compass, which has guided Dr Umakhihe’s long career in public service, has aligned before. First, towards preparation. Then, towards competence. Thereafter, towards the highest administrative ranks of the Nigerian civil service.
Now, it aligns again.
Not on a ministry. Not on a permanent secretaryship. But on something older, something closer to the ground. The Owan Federal Constituency.
Still, this is not a moment to dwell on symbolism alone. There is serious work to consider.
■ The Man
From time to time, Nigerian public life produces individuals whose journeys read less like ambition and more like preparation. Dr Umakhihe belongs firmly in that category.
Born on April 5, 1964, in Otuo, he began his journey within the familiar rhythms of Owan before proceeding to Edo College in Benin City and then to the University of Benin, where he obtained a degree in Accounting, followed by an MBA. He would later earn a doctorate in Security and Strategic Studies from Nasarawa State University, adding intellectual depth to an already disciplined foundation.
Yet credentials, however impressive, only sketch the outline.
The substance lies in a 34-year career in the federal civil service. He rose from an entry level accountant at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research in 1988 to the highest administrative ranks of government. A progression defined by diligence and persistence.
He served as Director of Finance at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, overseeing accounts across Nigeria’s global missions. He worked within the Ministry of Defence at a time when administrative precision carried national consequence. He went on to serve as Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Budget and National Planning, Works and Housing, and ultimately Agriculture and Food Security.
By the time he retired in January 2024, he had acquired something rare in public life. A working knowledge of government not as theory, but as practice. Not as aspiration, but as reality.
That kind of experience is not assembled overnight. It is earned. And for 34 years, it was the needle by which his compass held steady.
■ The Record
A public life must ultimately be measured by outcomes.
During his tenure at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Umakhihe was closely associated with policies and programmes aimed at strengthening domestic food production and easing reliance on imports. The impact of that work did not go unnoticed.
In December 2023, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria honoured him with the Great Achievers Award. Civil society groups in Edo State recognised his contributions with a lifetime award for service to agricultural development and support for local farmers.
His retirement was marked not by quiet departure but by visible appreciation, a well attended ceremony in Abuja where he made a simple declaration that his service to the nation was far from over.
Subsequent honours have reinforced that sentiment. The Federal University, Lokoja, conferred on him an honorary doctorate. Professional bodies, including ICAN, CITN, and NIM, have acknowledged his standing.
Yet, perhaps, the most enduring measure of his record is less formal. Over decades, he has cultivated a reputation for integrity, for openness, and for a consistent regard for the people affected by the policies he helped shape.
Those who worked with him speak of a man whose internal compass did not waver, even when convenience suggested otherwise.
■ The Essence
Reputation, when it is earned rather than advertised, tends to travel ahead of its subject.
In Dr Umakhihe’s case, one description recurs with striking consistency. He is accessible.
In a system where public officials often grow distant from the communities they serve, he has maintained a different posture. Accounts of his engagement with ordinary people, his responsiveness, his willingness to intervene where he could, these are not recent inventions. They reflect a pattern established over time.
During his years in Abuja, he became a reference point for many from Edo State. His influence facilitated projects across various local government areas, not as part of a political campaign, but as an extension of responsibility.
Those who honoured him within the agricultural sector described him as a contributor whose work was widely felt, even when it went uncelebrated.
It is a revealing assessment.
He has not relied on spectacle. He has relied on substance. The compass does not shout. It simply points.
■ The Mission
He now seeks to translate that experience into elected office.
Dr Umakhihe presents himself to the people of Owan Federal Constituency not as a newcomer to governance but as someone who has operated at its core. His guiding principle is straightforward. Representation should be informed by understanding.
For a constituency where agriculture remains central to economic life, this is not a trivial distinction.
Effective representation requires more than advocacy. It requires familiarity with the structures that determine outcomes. It requires the ability to distinguish between policy that exists on paper and policy that delivers in practice.
With his background, he brings an awareness of how agricultural programmes are designed, how they are funded, and where they often falter. That knowledge has practical implications. Better support for farmers. Improved storage systems. Infrastructure that connects production to markets. Interventions that make farming more resilient.
These are not abstract ideas. They are the building blocks of economic stability for communities like Owan.
And they are the destination towards which his compass now points.
■ The Moment
This moment also carries a personal dimension.
In March, Dr Umakhihe announced the passing of his father, High Chief Adewole Umakhihe, a retired military officer, community leader, and farmer who dedicated much of his life to the progress of Otuo and Owan East.
There is a certain continuity in what follows. A son, marking his own milestone, steps forward to serve the same community his father served in different ways.
Public service, at its best, is not episodic. It is rooted. It is sustained across time. It is passed, like a compass, from one generation to the next.
■ The Invitation
April 5 marks both a personal milestone and a public declaration. It signals the beginning of a campaign, but also the continuation of a life already shaped by service.
For the people of Owan, it presents a moment that rewards careful judgement. To look beyond rhetoric and assess readiness. To consider not just what is promised but what has been demonstrated.
Communities are not transformed by chance. They are shaped, steadily, and deliberately, by the quality of those entrusted to represent them.
And every so often, a candidate emerges who appears less like an interruption and more like a return.
And so we arrive, again, at April 5.
Not because a birthday confers purpose. Not because symbolism tills the soil or builds the road. But because, on rare occasions, a life’s trajectory and a community’s need meet at the same point.
For 34 years, Dr Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe’s compass pointed through the machinery of government. It found its bearings in discipline, in responsibility, in the quiet pursuit of outcomes over applause.
Now, it comes home.
Not in search of elevation, but in continuation of service. Not as a departure from what has been, but as its natural next expression.
A man born in Otuo returns on the day of his birth, not to begin anew, but to extend what has always defined him.
The circle closes. The purpose clarifies. And the compass is no longer searching. It has found its ground.
■ Sufuyan Ojeifo is the publisher and editor-in-chief of THE CONCLAVE online newspaper.
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