Today, I will fly to Port Harcourt to attend the posthumous birthday celebration of Albert T. Badey, who would have turned 90 tomorrow if the evil assassins who cut him down in his prime had allowed him to live to a ripe old age.
Albert Badey was a revered citizen of our village, Body City, in Ogoniland. He was also a great friend of my late father, Ignatius Suage Kogbara. These two proud products of Ogoniland supported each other. And their firm friendship was extended to their beloved spouses and inherited by their children.
Till today, almost no week goes by when I do not speak to Suage, Uncle Albert’s son, or say a prayer for my auntie, his widow.
The celebration will include an inaugural lecture and ceremonial unveiling of the proposed Albert Badey Centre for Development, ABCD. Please find below a brief tribute to a quintessential Rivers gentleman whose life was dedicated to excellence, service, peace and sacrifice…a man who paid athe full price for unity and progress. The author is Joi Eneobong, Director of Publicity and Logistics at ABCD.
Albert Tombari Badey was not a politician, but a bureaucrat par excellence. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was not an activist and did not partake in the signing of the Ogoni Bill of Rights, nor did he ever canvass for electoral votes.
His contributions to the Ogoni people were never manipulative or predicated on a desire for power. Instead, they were born from a deep-seated conviction that Ogoni could be transformed through excellence, integrity, and an atmosphere of communal love.
He rose to the peak of the Nigerian Civil Service during a period of extreme marginalisation and the “riverine/upland dichotomy” of the 1970s and 80s. Undeterred, he built bridges of trust across divides, always maintaining an unwavering focus: “for the betterment of Ogoni.”
“If death takes me in the process of making peace, so be it. I will rejoice in my grave when the truth comes to light, for truth can only be suppressed but not upturned.”
— Albert T. Badey, November 23, 1993
BACKGROUND & EARLY LIFE
Born on April 25, 1936, at Kono to Rt. Rev. B.K. Badey (MON) and Mrs. Hannah S. Badey, Albert’s upbringing was defined by the disciplined travels of a Methodist Minister’s family.
Father’s Hometown: Bodo City, Gokana LGA
Mother’s Hometown: Kaani, Khana LGA
Academic Excellence:
A brilliant and exceptional scholar, he attended Methodist College Uzuakoli, where he achieved the best Higher School Certificate result in the Arts not only in Nigeria but across the entire West African sub-region in 1958.
This outstanding feat distinguished him among his peers and earned him a Cambridge University scholarship, leading to his graduation from University College Ibadan in 1962 with a BA (Honours) in English.
A DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE RECORD
Albert Badey’s career was a masterclass in administrative excellence, spanning the volatile years of the Civil War through to the transition to democracy:
1962 – 1965: Assistant Divisional Officer in Abakaliki and Afikpo
1967 – 1968: Divisional Officer in Biase during the Civil War
1971 – 1972: Senior Divisional Officer in Bori
1972: Mayor of Port Harcourt
1973 – 1983: Permanent Secretary (Works, Agriculture, Finance, Information)
Strategic Leadership Roles in State Administration:
During his distinguished years in public service, he held several critical leadership positions that further demonstrated his administrative depth and trust at the highest levels of government:
Chairman, Rivers State Tenders Board
Chairman, Rivers State Civil Service Commission
Sponsored
Commissioner for Information.
1987 – 1992: Secretary to the State Government, SSG, and Head of Service
National Political Service:
Chairman, National Republican Convention (Transition Period)
1992 – 1993: Transition Chairman, National Republican Convention
ARCHITECT OF MODERN OGONI: KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
His legacy is etched into the very infrastructure and political fabric of the Ogoni kingdom:
Political Expansion:
Facilitated the quadrupling of LGAs in Ogoni (creating Gokana, Eleme, and Tai) to strengthen representation at the national level.
Education & Infrastructure:
Established the Polytechnic at Bori; oversaw the electrification of Ogoni via the National Grid; constructed the Bodo Jetty and Kpopie/Bodo City road.
Traditional Governance:
Facilitated the creation of the first sets of First Class Chiefs across the four Ogoni LGAs, strengthening traditional leadership structures.
Economic Empowerment:
Initiated mass employment of Ogonis into the Civil Service and provided scholarship opportunities for students at home and abroad.
THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
In the early 1990s, as the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, became increasingly divided, Albert Badey was thrust into the role of peacemaker.
Despite being labeled a “vulture” by radicalized factions for his commitment to non-violence and his support of the Andoni/Ogoni peace accord, he remained resolute and refused to abandon his people.
On May 21, 1994, while pursuing reconciliation and peace, Albert Badey was brutally murdered alongside Chief Edward N. Kobani, Chief Samuel N. Orage, and Chief Theophilus B. Orage.
He paid the ultimate price for his unwavering belief that truth and unity are the only sustainable paths to progress.
MAY HIS GENTLE SOUL REST PEACEFULLY IN THE BOSOM OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD.
DONU’S WORLD
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