Let’s Give Jonathan a Chance
The well-known Washington DC lobbyist and consultant Paschal Mbawuike reflects on his American Dream which he tags a huge success story and something to crow about. He was recently in the country to cheer President Goodluck Jonathan at his declaration ceremony to contest the 2015 Presidential election. Shortly before he departed Washington, he spoke with NDUKA NWOSU on why his organisation Cohen & Woods and the Corporate Council for Africa (CCA) have become rallying points for Nigerian businessmen and politicians.
Paschal Mbawuike may not be a politician but a businessman with no political ambition even in the near future. Yet when President Goodluck Jonathan was about to declare his interest in running for a second term, Mbawuike, a frequent flyer with many top rated airlines, took a first class ticket, as usual, from Delta and flew into Abuja not just to witness the event but to be a part of the unfolding declaration.
Back in Washington DC where he has navigated for more than three decades, Mbawuike remains the poster boy of Nigerian politicians and businessmen who want to get things done with minimum distraction; that is where the Washington lobbyist fits in. As Vice President of Cohen & Woods, a Washington based Nigerian focused consortium helping US companies doing business in Africa including Contour Global a US power company that provides Coca Cola Nigeria with its CHP, Mbawuike has the right platform to link Nigerian government officials as well as top businessmen to the State Department, big corporations and top members of the influential Corporate Council for Africa. His Principal and founding partner of Cohen & Woods, Ambassador Herman Cohen as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under George Bush (1), had made useful contacts with many African and Nigerian leaders and riding on these unique contacts and exposure has been in the consulting business with an impressive track record.
Cohen & Woods has been a crusader of improved power distribution and generation with interest in helping American businesses to partner with Nigerian investors in the power sector with increased availability of gas. That is where politics and business go together which also explains why Mbawuike connects closely with the high and mighty in Abuja.
The Amaimo Ikeduru indigene in Imo State remembers after secondary school education at Amaimo High School, he was employed by the old National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) where his aspiration beyond being a Meter Reader soared. That was how the American dream began and in 1983 he moved into Boston at the prompting of an uncle, a long time US citizen who had this messianic willingness assisting many of his kinsmen keen on living the American Dream.
While in Boston Mbawuike was admitted to Chamberlain College and later Howard University Washington DC, where he read Political Science and Television Production.
We do not know at what stage in his development the business sense evolved but along the line Mbawuike made an important contact that helped to forge his hold on corporate America, he met former Ugandan President Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa, who he said introduced him to some former CIA personnel. According to Mbawuike, “we jointly floated a company Binaisa & Mbawuike with emphasis on lottery business. That was during the time of Governor Amadi Ikwechegh of Imo State. I was and I am still interested in lottery as a going concern. The reason is that lottery is one way government can make money without raising taxes.” That venture did not yield the expected returns and although Mbawuike has gone ahead to post handsome returns in other areas of business, he has not given up his desire to actualise the lottery business in the country.
He reflects on where he started the lottery journey and adds: “My partner Tom Arnold went ahead to start lottery companies in China and South Korea and today the companies have a networth of $25 billion. I am still looking for the right partners.” How are you going about jump starting the idea? Mbawuike is asked. “I recently met the chairman of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. A well-organised lottery outfit will generate revenue for education, infrastructure, health et al for government- federal, state and local. I have for many years been trying to educate a lot of Nigerians on how lucrative the lottery business is. I need a partner who can throw in $10 million and I bet you with my Korean partners, he will smile home with success in no time.”
Regarding the American dream, Mbawuike reflects: “Yes I would say I discovered the American dream because I have made a success of what I do. The Nigerian community in DC, Washington, New York and Houston are very united and successful in what they do especially those in the healthcare sector-nurses, laboratory technologists, medical doctors and pharmacists.
“They have excelled in many of their endeavours. The American dream has been fair to them.”
Yet there is no place like home, Mbawuike asserts, in his perception of country. “I visit Nigeria 15 times a year because of my heavy involvement in the country. For me Nigeria is better than the US where yes, the infrastructure works but there is no place like home.
A die hard faithful of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Mbawuike adds: “In any case the transformation agenda of Mr. President is working. President Jonathan has done so well. I am very happy with the progress made in healthcare, road maintenance and education.”
What does he think of President Barack Obama's Power Africa project of which Nigeria is a beneficiary? He gives it an excellent pass mark reminding you that because he is in the industry, he should know better. “I am in the industry and my company Cohen & Woods represents a US based power company called Contour Global. Contour Global does business in the country. And at Cohen & Woods I am in-charge of Nigeria. We participated in the privatisation scheme in Nigeria. Power Africa is good because what that does is that it allows some private investors like OPIC and Eximbank with access to capital to do business in Africa. As you know no economy can succeed without energy and we need a cheap reliable energy across the continent and for the economy to develop.”
Mbawuike admits he has been fortunate and privileged to host a lot of important Nigerians coming into DC. Most of them, he says, are impressed with what they see here and would want it replicated back home. A lot of the delegations attending the meetings of the Corporate Council for Africa, he remarks, want to replicate the Washington standards back home adding “I am happy to be a part of the Council and what it is trying to help us do in Nigeria.”
Looking back, he compares his progression with that of Nigeria at 54, two years ahead of him: “Mr. President is pushing the country to the next frontier; he is doing a great job and with his continuity in office the future is good for our great country.” And what is his take regarding the authors of doomsday, the naysayers? Put mildly, how does he view the critics of the man he admires so much, President Jonathan?
His response: “There are some Nigerians who think nothing is happening in the country. I want to use this opportunity to let them know Nigeria is changing for the better and thanks to the President's Transformation Agenda. This administration has done very well by reaching out to Nigerians in the Diaspora. Each time President Jonathan is abroad, he tries to interact with Nigerians asking them to come home and make their contributions. He must be congratulated on this initiative.”
Does Mbawuike think the US is being true in its support for Nigeria in the war against terrorism? He answers in the affirmative observing that the US has done so much assisting in the terrorist war. Terrorism, he admits, is a global trend whether in the US or elsewhere. “The US has had more than its fair share of terrorism. Recall the 20/11 twin tower bombing in New York and Pentagon and the Boston Marathon bombing which shook the country recently.”
Mbawuike advocates the usual US security mantra of if you see something say something adding that all hands must be on deck because the situation is such that if you see something you must let the authorities know. It is unfortunate, he notes, that “we are fighting terrorism in our country about now. The security personnel are doing a good job. Nigerians should be patient with the President and with time terrorism will be a thing of the past.”
Mbawuike remembers the elder Mr. and Mrs. Mbawuike and regrets the fact they are not around to see that young man who left home many years ago in the sojourn for greater attainment. “My parents had a lot of influence on me growing up. I am the last of three siblings with. two sisters who live in Nigeria.”
Of particular interest was the fact he listened to his parents who were worried he might, like many Nigerian young men who sojourned abroad, end up marrying a foreigner whose cultural background would have made it impossible for him to remember home any more. Any way, he returned home to get married and till this day, Mbawuike is glad he did because he is not only a success story in marriage but is blessed with children.
“I am always in touch with my country. Nigeria has a special place in my heart and I have a lot of businesses back home.
“I am involved in civic responsibilities and the initiation of medical missions. I have done my best to see how we can move our nation forward,” Mbawuike stresses insisting, “I am not a politician but a businessman and politicians are my friends. I thank Mr. President for heeding our call to move forward. Thanks to PDP Chairman, a game changer.”
On why he has this special affinity for the PDP, he recalls it started with his encounter with the late and first PDP chairman Solomon Lar. “My sympathy for PDP can be traced to my closeness with Solomon Lar, then National Chairman of PDP.” Lar he said was always a very humble man who about when the PDP was emerging, would prefer to check into Bolingo Hotel rather than Sheraton or Hilton, “but I persuaded him once to move into Sheraton at my expense to which he agreed and from there a relationship was struck. That was how my affinity for the party began,” he concludes, with a benign smile spread across the extreme regions of his face.
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