I would like to begin by stating how pleased I am with the outstanding feat that our brother, Dr (Sir) Moses Onoriode Bragiwa, has achieved for himself and Oghara Kingdom.
Growing through the ranks to the position of a Permanent Secretary is no mean accomplishment, and clearly smacks of how diligent and committed he has been all these years to advancing his career.
Suffice to state, however, that I am not entirely surprised that people of goodwill are here chosen to celebrate the peculiar height that Dr Bragiwa has attained in the Delta State Civil Service.
As a friend and brother who has maintained a genial relationship with Dr Bragiwa for over 30 years now, I can categorically state that he is imbued with innate excellence coupled with his undying passion to succeed in whatever he sets out to do.
From his early educational days at Ogini Grammar School, Oghara to the great University of Benin where he obtained different academic degrees, Dr Bragiwa displayed rare excellence that has not in any way betrayed the enviable height he recently attained in his career as a Permanent Secretary in the Delta State Ministry of Technical Education, having previously served as a Chief Inspector of Education and immediate past Registrar of the Exams and Records Division of the Delta State Ministry of Basic Education.
The life of Dr Bragiwa lucidly exemplifies the truism that we should not allow our background to put our back on the ground.
He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, rather he saw it all and bore it all, when it comes to life vicissitude.
As a simple newspaper vendor, he once trekked around the corners of Oghara, sometimes on a different pair of slippers, just to make ends meet through his meager newspaper sales.
But none of his challenges could defeat his desire of leaving remarkable footprints in the sands of time.
I can still recall that when I paid him a brotherly visit at Erweni Model Girls School where he had worked as a teacher in the 1990s, he gleefully told me that we would surely see light at the end of our career tunnel.
Surely, my brother, that light is here!
Today, I commend your doggedness as a teacher, praise your persistence as a civil servant, and I pay glowing tributes to the man of substance you have become.
I am happy, as indeed all the good people of Oghara Kingdom, that your overtime hard work has been accordingly rewarded and that bright future we once talked about many years ago is now.
It is my conviction that the Almighty God will continue to honour you and grant you the needed ability to discharge your new responsibilities with admirable candour.
I also want to observe that the good report from Dr Bragiwa is a forerunner to what lies ahead of the people of Oghara kingdom.
I know that very soon and by the grace of God, other of our kinsmen will be announced for similar and greater achievements in the public sector.
Nevertheless, I want to strongly advise that those of us who are currently in the civil service should eschew the needless lure to resign and contest for political positions essentially for immediate gratification.
As the life of our brother, Dr Bragiwa has shown, every cloud has a silver linen and good things come to those who wait and work hard in their chosen endeavours.
Focus the more, learn the more, work the more, and wait for your appointed time for it will surely come.
I also want to use this opportunity to specially thank the organisers of this unique ceremony put together to celebrate our very own who, to the best of my knowledge, is the first ever Permanent Secretary of Oghareki extraction in the Delta State Civil Service.
For me, this is novel, noble and truly worthy of celebration.
I also strongly believe that this unique ceremony has set precedence for Oghara kingdom to make it a point of duty to celebrate the outstanding achievements of its citizens in the future, be it in politics, career, academics, business or other walks of life.
May the Almighty God continue to prosper Oghara Kingdom and bless its good people in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Chief Henry O. Ofa, PhD
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