Stella Oduah is believed to be one of the ministers that have the ears of the President. She played a crucial role in the 2011 presidential campaign for Jonathan with a platform called the Neighbour 2 Neighbour Initiative which took over the airwaves and media with aggressive campaigns and surpassed other groups and associations in the bid to sell the President.
When Jonathan won the election, it was obvious that she would be rewarded for her effort.
It did not therefore come as a surprise when she was appointed a minister and given the aviation ministry which is considered lucrative in government circles.
The Neighbour 2 Neighbour Initiative is registered as an ‘incorporated trustee’ on April 14, 2011, with Oduah, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, and a traditional ruler in Ijaw land, Amalate Johnic Turner, as members of the board.
It is believed that the outfit is also being repackaged to play the kind of role it did in 2015 and is expected to even surpass itself with the strategic positioning of its members in the current administration.
Also, Stella Oduah was instrumental to the President’s only authorized biography “Wind of Hope” edited by a team of scholars led by the erudite Historian, Emeritus Prof. Ebiegberi J. Alagoa of the University of Port Harcourt. Some of the scholars include Dr. Yakubu Ochefu, Prof. Okon Uya and Prof. Bawuro Barkindo. Other editors are Lindsay Barrett and Babatunde Faniyan.
Daily Trust gathered that the scholars spent many months in Port Harcourt and Abuja to gather information and data about President Jonathan’s life before putting the book in a comprehensive manner. Some of the scholars travelled to Otuoke, the president’s village and interviewed his kinsmen including his childhood friends and colleagues.
It was gathered that within about eight months of the compilation, Stella Oduah ensured that the writers interviewed the president and his mother in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on their life experiences.
The biography was then expressly printed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by an indigenous publishing firm, AfriAgenda and Red Sapphire Company Ltd.
During the launch of the book in Abuja ahead of the 2011 presidential election, former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda was the special guest of honour.
Source: Daily Trust
