I was his shoe shine boy - Uduaghan

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has disclosed that he was the late war hero’s shoe shine boy in Sapele during the Nigerian Civil War.



The governor had in an interview in 2012 told an online publication, todaysnigeria: “My father was Chief Edmund Dudu Uduaghan. He died some years back. He was a policeman for several years. He retired as Inspector after 33 years in the Police Force and became a chief of the Warri kingdom.

“I remember an incident during the Nigerian Civil War when the Biafran soldiers occupied part of Midwest. All the policemen sent their families home. Because when the Biafran soldiers come, the first place they capture is the police station. They were there for some weeks until the federal soldiers came to liberate Sapele. Since the whole family had gone to the village, I was the only one living with him in the barracks.

“Opposite where we were staying was the Inspectors’ House which Brigadier-Gen. Benjamin Adekunle took over and was staying there. For the few days he stayed there, he would bring his boots out and I would go and pick it and clean it and shine it, because he said he loved the way I used to shine my father’s shoes.”