FOOTPRINTS OF A STATESMAN PB

Chief Daniel Okumagba, who lived from 1922 to 2000, was widely acknowledged as a man of truth, courage and discipline. From 1960, when he won election to represent Warri East Constituency at the Western Region House of Assembly in Ibadan, Chief Daniel Okumagba played major roles in Nigeria’s national development. He was a member of the National Council for Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), a foundation member and foundation national executive committee member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the Second Republic, governorship candidate of the party in Bendel State (now Edo and Delta states) in the 1979 general elections and pioneer chairman of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited. Chief Daniel Okumagba was a teacher, legislator, politician, businessman and frontline Niger Delta leader. In all, he was a man of peace, who believed in peaceful coexistence among various ethnic groups, a statesman and nationalist. In this biography of Chief Daniel Okumagba, Bernard Okumagba tells of a father whose life has not been fully chronicled and of values and circumstances that shaped the public identity of his father. Bernard's story of one of the key players of the First and Second Republics in Nigeria is a compelling narrative. Footprints of a Statesman: The life and times of Chief Daniel Okumagba, is a son's appreciation of his father, and the lessons therefrom.