The commissioner, who was called to the stage at Unity Hall Government House Asaba by Commissioner of Information Patrick Ukah to deliver his speech, was seen sweating profusely, battling with words he found difficult to pronounce correctly.
Delta State Commissioner of Bureau for Special Duties Chika Ossai on Monday fumbled and disgraced himself, as he could not pronounce words correctly and read coherently his own written speech during a ministerial press briefing on the activities of his ministry.
The commissioner, who was called to the stage at Unity Hall Government House Asaba by Commissioner of Information Patrick Ukah to deliver his speech, was seen sweating profusely, battling with words he found difficult to pronounce correctly.
Mr. Ossai had particular difficulty in pronouncing the words "metamorphosed,” “Jedda,” “dilapidated,” “demonstrated,” and “exemplary."
His inability to coherently deliver his speech left over one hundred journalists, commissioners, the attorney general, directors, and members of staff from various government ministries murmuring.
Mr. Ossai's speech, which took almost an hour to complete due to his repeating of lines that had already been read, saw some members of staff of his ministry and journalists leaving the hall laughing and raining words of abuse on him.
The commissioner, who is said to have been hand picked by his political godfather, Godswill Obielum, for the appointment, also fumbled when he said "future and plan" instead of "future plan," and "school of nurse" instead of "school of nursing hotel." At this junction, attendees in the hall burst into laughter while others murmured and talked in hush tones.
Shortly after the briefing, some staffers of his ministry approached journalists with appeals to drop the story, which they described as unfortunate and embarrassing.
It would be recalled in the same Unity Hall, jailed former governor James Ibori's daughter, Erhiatake Ibori, representing Ethiope West constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, was in August this year booed off the stage during a tribute speech for the late Olorogun Felix Ovuodoroye Ibru, the first civilian governor of Delta State.
Ms. Ibori, who read her father's speech, repeated lines that had already been read, and then was floored when she tackled the words “magnanimous” and “meritoriously,” after which murmurs grew into boos.
