The permutations for the 2023 General election both at the state and national space has been rife in recent time. Not that the intrigues, horse trading and the like associated with politicking is generally unexpected. Perhaps, the greatest intrigue playing out has to do with which region is equitably disposed to producing the next helmsman at the Aso Rock Villa after the present occupant. While the Northern elites and their cohorts has been quite subsumed with their hold on power, the West has also been strident in their agitation to get power again albeit their taste of the plum job from 1999 to 2007 and still has their own as no 2 in the present arrangement. Only the East and part of the North centrally located have maintained a weakened agitation to get power when the next political journey sails.
Perhaps, the greatest disservice this country has ever done herself lies in the exclusion of the Igbos of the Eastern region in the political equation especially at the national scene since the eventful and unfortunate 30 months Civil war which ended in 1970. The government of the day headed by General Yakubu Gowon Rtd had declared “No Victor – No Vanquished” in an attempt to put the fatricidal war behind and set in motion machinery for total Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (RRR). Fifty years gone by and the Nigerian nation is yet to be fully convinced that Igbos can be trusted with the governance of this country. What a shame!
Although the thrust of this piece is largely to support the cacophony of other voices in support of Nigerian President of Igbo extraction come 2023. Igbos are eminently qualified and disposed more than ever to take Nigeria out of the woods. When and how the political gladiators and horse traders decides to have a look in towards selecting the next Presidential candidates leads me to another major thrust of this piece.
Unarguably, among the hordes of Presidential materials across the land jostling to take over the job of President Mohammadu Buhari come 2023, one man stands heads and shoulders above all others. He is the Orba born sagacious politician in the person of Lawrence Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi variously known as Gburu-Gburu, Mr. Fulfilment – the present Governor of Enugu state. Interestingly, the social media space has been awash with footages of different political groupings and youths in their numbers drumming support for this egalitarian personae.
Now wait for this. The towering profile of the man known as Gburu-Gburu so called because of his egalitarian and socialist principles and Mr. Fulfilment so called because of his sense of accomplishment and delight whenever he has fulfilled a promise made or project completed would surely make the profile of others angling for the position of the Nigerian President in 2023 pale into insignificance.
Rt. Honourable Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi so addressed because of his stint at the nation’s green chambers of the National Assembly was born in Orba, in the present Udenu Council Area of Enugu state on the 20th of March, 1964. An astute manager of men and resources, Dr. Ugwuanyi distinguished himself when he was the General Manager of Premier Insurance Brokers Limited Enugu and a humanist of repute for his outstanding role when he was the president of the Rotary Club of Emene in Enugu and still a member of the humanitarian group till date.
Dr. Ugwuanyi who believes that the society in which he lives should be better and could be made more better than one met it sought a better platform where he could unleash the potentials in him for a more better and egalitarian society. Luck happened on him when he was elected into the National House of Representatives where he strode like a colossus for 12 uninterrupted years and made his mark. He was variously the Chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport as well as the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Pensions where he helped to midwife the Pension Reform Act 2004.
Lao-Tzu an ancient Chinese Philosopher and writer prized three essential qualities for a person of greatness: “the first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps one from putting oneself before others. Governor Ugwuanyi embodied all these. He is Gentle, yet Bold; Frugal, yet Liberal. He has used his position as a House member and as a Governor put others before himself and thus becoming true leader among men.
On assumption of duty as the governor of Enugu state in 2015, Dr. Ugwuanyi made an avowal to make his state a haven of peace. Today, Enugu state is one of the safest places to live in the country courtesy of his approach to governance of inclusiveness and participatory democracy. Enugu is unarguably one of the states in Nigeria today where political god-fatherism is relatively inexistent and a state where all individuals irrespective of political leaning or ideology has a stake in the governance of the state. The Nigerian nation is in dire straits occasioned by the intractable insecurity, sundry crimes and socio-economic issues. Therefore, there is no better time than now. Tomorrow might be a little late to have Nigeria taste the pudding in Ugwuanyi who is reputed to be an unsung hero of infrastructure and has aggressively maintained his developmental trajectories and projects that impact directly on the people despite lean resources and economic downturn in the macro economic space.
It is therefore truly expedient to unleash the Gburu-Gburu of Enugu state and the wider nation, so that he can replicate his potentials and take Nigeria to where It aught to be. It will be a sweet song to sing the present refrain in Enugu – Nigeria is in the hands of God. So be it!
© Austin Okechukwu Chijioke is PR Practitioner and a member Enugu di n’aka Chukwu movement writes in from Abuja FCT.
