- * His Many Travails And Battle To Save His Health
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
After nearly ten years of battling with what he had earlier revealed in 2016 was a cancer related ailment, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, a former National Secretary and later, National Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), passed on in far away Canada, at the age of 73 years.
A family member who prefers not to be mentioned for obvious reasons, confirmed to NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Newspaper late night on Friday, that Chief Ogbulafor died on Thursday in Europe while still on medical treatment. The politician, at some point, began to show signs of physical recovery but later relapsed, the family member said.
NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Newspaper however gathered that Ogbulafor's royal family in Nigeria had already been briefed about the death of the elderstateman politician and internal arrangements will begin today towards his burial at a date yet to be decided by the family.
Signs that Chief Vincent Ogbulafor was relatively in unhealthy shape began to manifest in early 2017 when NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER met with him in his Asokoro residence, Abuja, on a friendly invitation cum courtesy visit. A media interview was also to be conducted with him during that visit which eventually couldn't hold.
Ogbulafor was quite warm and deeply interactive on the state of affairs in the country and in his home state, Abia, but he was all the same unfit for a formal interview owing to his apparent degenerating health condition at the time. He was looking fairly bloated and a bit pale in skin colour, an indication that his health was far from being good.
Ogbulafor, during the interaction, shared some bit of his hospital experiences and the challenges he was having with his health, which he disclosed, was the reason for his being out of public circulation for a while. The discussion with NEWSLEADER also dwelt on the need to put together his legacy book which would capture Ogbulafor's life, the experienced of his service years both to his immediate community and to the nation in general.
Ogbulafor was born on May 24, 1949, at Olokoro. He was a prince of the royal family of the popular Olokoro town in Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State, South East Nigeria. The former Minister and ex- Presidential Adviser on Economic Matters succeeded retired Col. Ahmadu Ali as National Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in March 2008 under late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
Ogbulafor's emergence as PDP helmsman at the time, followed a somewhat acrimonious and protracted campaign struggle between the former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who was almost coasting home to victory as new National Chairman of the party and his kinsman, Senator Sam Ominyi Egwu, a former governor of Ebonyi state. A former National Vice Chairman (South East Zone) of the PDP, Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu, was also a formidable contender in that battle for the party's top job.
Trouble, however, came for Ogbulafor, sometime in 2010, after the death of his benefactor, former President Umaru Yar'Adua, when he strongly stood in favour of presidential power zoning after former President Goodluck Jonathan had assumed power following the demise of his erstwhile boss and then ailing Yar'Adua.
Jonathan, was obviously uncomfortable with Ogbulafor's position that the PDP should maintain it's zoning policy which entails that the North should complete it's presidential tenure slot in the 2011 general elections, a development which Goodluck Jonathan, from the South South Nigeria, was said not to be disposed to as a result of his interest in vying for the presidency in the 2011 polls. Ogbulafor was consequently harassed and hounded out of his job and even prosecuted in law court on alleged corruption charges as Minister which was curiously discontinued afterwards.
His close friend and wedding best man, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, a former governor of Enugu state, was eventually chosen at a PDP non-elective National Convention to succeed him as National Chairman of the party in late 2010.
The political backlash from the controversy over the contentious issue of zoning appears to be the major albatross of the PDP which precipitated intractable internal crisis in the party after the 2011 election. The zoning quest by the North eventually cost the PDP it's power hold on the country in the 2015 presidential election when Jonathan lost to President Muhammadu Buhari of the now ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). NNL.
