S.A.K Metseagharun: A rare breed! ( July 1940 – Sept. 1998)

Why should anyone be remembered 20 or more years after their passing? Some will be remembered for what they stood for and forgotten because they stood for little or nothing. So, who was Samuel Anunu Kpoli Metseagharun?

Samuel Metseagharun was born on July 1, 1940 in Ogidigben, into the family of Kpoli Metseagharun of Ogidigben and Obodo of Warri South West/Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State of Nigeria. Despite the challenges of being a child in the 1940s Nigeria and having very traditional and uneducated parents living in the village, the young Samuel excelled in his studies and obtained a Bachelor’s degree (BSc. Hons) in Accounting from the University of Lagos in 1968.

Soon after, the young Samuel started working as an accountant in the firm of Ososami & Co., Ibadan. He married his heartthrob, former Miss Alice Brownridge in 1968 and the marriage was subsequently blessed with six children. The young accountant decided to be a career civil servant and he was offered jobs both at the Federal and State Boards of Internal Revenue and he opted to work for his State in the year 1969. He worked diligently and meritoriously and rose to the apex as

Chairman/Administrator of Board of Internal Revenue, Delta State until his sudden retirement in January 1997. Throughout all his work life, Samuel was a “Taxman” or “Tax Collector” in one sense or another. Tax collectors are known to be very rich as many are believed to have diverted the tax to their personal use. Even in the biblical days, tax collectors were very rich and considered “sinners,” but that was not the case for Samuel. He never defrauded the tax payers and did not steal government money when he sat on it as Chairman/Administrator of the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue and had the “opportunity” to do so. He was a gentleman who stood humbly and simply for basic honesty and integrity. He was a genuine civil servant. He was a modest man who lived within his earnings as an astute administrator. The things we did not do are often more significant than the things we did.

Having been tested and found capable and worthy, he was called upon to serve his community as chairman Ugborodo Community Trust Governing Council in the year 1998. Unfortunately, he met his end on the 23rd day of September 1998 in Warri, at the hands of his brothers. The vision of Samuel Metseagharun to bring prosperity to all his people and develop his home town to become a tourist attraction died on that day. A shinning bright light was put out in the community. The problems of 20 years ago have remained, and to some extent even waxed more complex and complicated!

Twenty years is a short time in eternity and one man’s lonely principles are enough hope for a nation. Stand, O dear principled one, for you are not alone. You are a rare breed. You carry the hope of the nation and Eternity is with you.