GOVERNORSHIP OF ANAMBRA STATE: THE IFEANYI UBA FACTOR

By PRINCE OLIVER OKPALA

Recently, A Nationalist, Patriot, Philanthropist and Astute Politician took time to invite Traditional Rulers and President-Generals of Town Unions in Anambra State to Lagos for a one on one political chart over his Gubernatorial ambition. He decided to host his people from Anambra State to a Grand Reception in Lagos. He chartered Buses and Planes for the Good People of Anambra State to move over to Lagos for this all important purpose and also to be treated to his familiar and usual culture of good neighborliness and sharing what he has with others.

We are talking of no other person than Dr. Ifeanyi Uba the man who sits atop the Board of many business organizations, business empires and now turned fire brand politician eyeing the Governorship of Anambra State.

In the course of the visit, Dr. Uba took his Guests made up of a wide spectrum of Anambrarians from all walks of life, Traditional Rulers, Presidents-General of Town Unions, Journalists, Opinions baders and moulders and the ordinary people on a facility tour of his companies and business offices. The good people of Anambra State were able to see the solid and transcendental investments of Uba in Lagos.

He showcased his investments and proved that he was an excellent businessman with unsurpassed acumen, intelligence, expertise, enterprise and industry. The facility tour revealed so much about Dr. Uba. It proved beyond any doubt that he was on ground in business. He is a man who knows his onions in his chosen field of endeavour and business. Who is also a good material for the Governance of Anambra State.

Dr. Uba allowed his people to have a holistic eye-view and make a total appraisal of him as a businessman and a major player in the downstream sector of the Oil economy. He was not afraid to let his people know him inside out. He has nothing to hide. He has no skeletons in his cup board. He laid all the cards on the table. He is not a pretender. He showed the good people of Anambra State what he is doing in Lagos and the enormity of his means of livelihood.

It should be mentioned here that this is the first time a business mogul from Anambra State who is interested in the Governorship of the State has conducted his people round his business facilities, investments and activities. There is no doubt that Dr. Uba did this with confidence and panache because he has no cause to look behind his shoulders. He does clean business and he lives by his business.

He does not have double identity. He is what he is and what he says he is. Nigeria will be a Great Nation the day when those who aspire to control the reins of power have the confidence and grace to take their constituents to their places of business and offices for an on the-spot assessment of who and what they are.

The Nigeria political landscape is littered with jobless, unemployed and hungry men and women who are in politics simply as a means of livelihood. Some politicians engage in politics not because they love their people and seek to advance their welfare. On the contrary, these politicians is only seeking the means to ek out a living, to survive and to make ends meet.

No wonder, then, that as soon as such people secure power, they embark upon monumental looting and plunder of the coffers of Government Allocation for the provision of Democratic Dividends and Infrastructural Facilities are pocketed and embezzled with impunity. White elephant projects are kick-started here and thereby as a ploy to siphon public funds. To a large extent, the crippling corruption, fraud, embezzlement and widespread pilfering prevalent in Nigeria today is from hungry men who suffered great poverty, want and deprivation and who view public office as an opportunity to recoup what had been eaten by the locust.

There are politicians who cannot fight elections on their own either because of lack of influence or resources or absolute poverty of ideas. This, they rely on godless god father who help and assist them to given power on the understanding that they will use public funds to settle them. This is the bane of Nigerian politics.

We need a statesman, outspoken, confident, able and ready men who have no psychological problems and other debility inadequacies to join the political train to turn around the economy of this country. We do not need people who are looking for employment in power. We need men and women of reason who have made it in their chosen fields of endeavor and who cannot be swayed by financial considerations if they find themselves in the corridors of power.

We need men little Dr. Uba who are richer than the Government they want to control and who will not misappropriate public funds but will augment the same with their own money. We need patriots in power. We need statesmen. We need goodmen.

The eve of godfatherism should be over. The godsons have ruined many States and Governments. A Distinguished Personality and Wealthy Businessman like Uba will not dip hands into the coffers of Government to help himself because he is richer than the Government he will control Dr. Uba is not coming to Government to make money. He is not seeking political office to acquire wealth or buy private jet which he already has. and wealthy State. Dr. Uba is coming to create wealth in Anambra reinvigorate the economy resuscitate ailing infrastructures, provide employment and give hope to the people.

The Leaders in Anambra State have seen it all. They are in a position to assess Uba and his pedigree. For long, Anambra State has been held by the jugular by a group of never-do-wells and political tin-gods. Anambra State has been in neo-colonial bondage of sorts. The State has been in ruins. It has been unable to rise above mediocrity. The State lies comatose. It is a State where god-fathers arrested a sitting Governor and detained him. It is the State where ascendancy to Governorship is a function of who you know and how connected you are and not what you know and what you can offer.

Dr. Uba is a Daniel come to judgment. He is coming to wipe out the tears of helpless and hapless Anambrarians who have been suffering in silence and praying that a Messiah will come to save them from their bondage and incapacitation.

The facility tour of Dr. Uba's facilities has another thing to commend it for. It is a testimony to Dr. Uba's willingness to sacrifice all he has just to come and liberate Anambra from the shackles of poverty, penury and deprivation. A lot of people from Anambra State and some NUPENG officials were also there. The tour encompassed all the facilities owned by Dr. Uba.

The good people of Anambra State are now convinced that Dr. Uba is a fit and proper person to be the Governor of Anambra State. The good people of Anambra State who honoured Uba's invitation were hosted at the prestigious Golden Tulip Hotel in Lagos. As a lover of the people, the occasion afforded Uba the opportunity to discuss one on one with the stakeholders in Anambra State. In the process, he was apprised of the problems in the State and the aspirations of the people of the State.

He asked questions. He received answers. The people also asked him questions and he was meek and humbly in his answers to the questions. And this is the way it should be, for after all, democracy is government of the people by the people for the people. It was a pretty long town hall meeting of sorts which lasted from 8pm till 7am the following day.

This shows that Uba is a man who listens and likes to receive ideas from the people. This cross fertilization of ideas is what drives democracy and leads to good governance.

Anambrarians were opportuned to come close to Uba, to study and understudy him, appreciate his sport of enterprise and his burning patriotism and love for his people. Uba's style is definitely revolutionary, it is the first time a public office seeker has arranged to meet the people at close quarters to interact with them and share ideas on how to move the State forward. After the interaction, the people were not only impressed but they were of the firm view that Uba is the man whom God has prepared and positioned to save Anambra State from the ruin and maladministration of yester-years. The good people of Anambra State do not need to search further or any longer for the Messiah is here.

The people of Anambra State found out from the tour that Dr. Uba's investment is huge massive and outstanding. The facilities included ships, jetties, depots, filling stations, tankers, and a host of other high-tech facilities on ground. It became apparent from findings from the tour that Dr. Uba's Capital and Gas Oil Limited is one of the biggest distributors of petroleum products in Nigeria.

Of great importance is the fact that Capital Oil and Gas has been a major player in the downstream sector ever before the subsidy regime. The company has tankers which supply fuel all over the country. In fact, the activities of the company in the area of supply of petroleum products is one of the reasons why fuel is available everywhere today. This is because while other companies horde fuel in order to make huge profit, Dr. Uba's companies are only interested in making the products available to all and sundry. Profit is not the driving force for the company.

Uba's companies are known for giving back to the society what it got from the society in terms of social responsibility. At least Capital Oil and Gas Co is known to provide employment to more than four thousand persons in Nigeria. On a personal level, Uba awards scholarships to indigent students. There are students who attend various schools in Nigeria, courtesy of Uba's sponsorship. He tars roads everywhere. His filling stations supply fuel free of charge to motorcyclists in Nnewi every Monday. He intervenes in all cases where poor people are being discriminated against or marginalized. He donates money throughout the federation in pursuant of worthy causes.

This may be the reason why his detractors wanted to rubbish him recently by framing him up. To God be the glory that he was vindicated everywhere-by the court, the court of public opinions and by the National Assembly. It became apparent that his adversaries in business were afraid of his rising profile and success story and they tried to pull him down by tarnishing his image and panting him in black colours as a man who could not settle his debts. The truth has now revealed and Uba's hands have been adjudged everywhere.

Anambrarians should search no more for a Messiah. We have one already in Uba. All the good people of Anambra State should now take a decision to crown and elect Uba as the next Governor of the State. Uba is a great Igbo man who loves his people and Nigeria alike with great passion and dedication. His love for the Igbos became even more manifest when he committed a huge sum of money towards giving the deceased Igbo sage and leader, Chief Emeka Odmegwu Ojukwu, a decent National and Befitting Burial.

Now that the Traditional Ruler, Leaders of Through, Presidents of Town Unions and other Stakeholders have had an insight into the pedigree and worth of Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Uba, it behooves them to take the Good News of Uba's interest in Anambra State Governorship to all the nook and crannies of the State, to sensitize Anambrarians and to prepare the ground for his emergence to bring a new down in Anambra. There is no doubt that Uba is God-sent to clean the Augean stable of Anambra's politics of ineptitude, incompetence, bickering, brigandage, nepotism and financial rascality. The stakeholders have seen, assessed and weighed Uba and they have no doubt that Uba is a man Anambra needs at a time like this.

Uba has come to judgment in Anambra. He is the True Messiah. As Jesus was proclaimed by the Almighty God as his beloved son in whom he is well pleased, Anambrarians say with one voice and in unison that Dr. Uba is our beloved son in whom we are not only pleased but in whom we repose great hope and confidence to lead us to the land of promise.

Surely, the cap of governorship of Anambra fits Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Uba. Let him wear it.

BY
PRINCE OLIVER OKPALA
A POLITICAL ANALYST

Disclaimer: "The views expressed on this site are those of the contributors or columnists, and do not necessarily reflect TheNigerianVoice’s position. TheNigerianVoice will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in the contributions or columns here."