By Reuben Onyishi
(Ugoachataberu)
A man of grace is he on whose head the glory of God rests. It is he in whom the grace of God works. Grace is commonly defined as unmerited favour of God. It is a kind of supernatural enablement that pushes a man beyond the ordinary abilities of men. Grace is man more than man in the positive direction. Often times, we think of grace in religious terms and may find it strange in the secular world. But grace of God operates in men, in various dimensions and fields irrespective of religious leanings.
When Nicodemus visited Jesus by night, he acknowledged the grace of God upon him, saying to Christ that no man could do the things He did except God was with him.
Taking a look at the administration of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Enugu State, it will not be out of place to hold that no man can do the things Ugwuanyi does except God is with him. And indeed God is with him.
The grace of God is the spirit of God. It is looking for agents and can only rest on the prepared. One attribute of Moses that made God choose him for the deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt was his meekness of heart. When in the book of Numbers Chapter 12, Miriam and Aaron, his siblings, criticized Moses for taking a wife from Ethiopia against the ordinance of God,the Most High became agry with them and came down in a pillar of clouds. God questioned them, asking why they should not be afraid to excoriate his servant, Moses. The Almighty was not interested in Moses’ flouting of His ordinance as He was on the criticism of Moses. The Almighty God Himself testified of Moses, saying to Miriam and Aaron that of all men living, there was none as meek-hearted as Moses. God left in anger and Miriam caught leprosy. It is clear that God treasures humility in men.
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi did not come to power by physical strength. The Spirit found him worthy to be used. His humility attracted him to God. And it is clear he has carried on with this grace of meekness even as he is enthroned. Except by the grace of God, no one mounts the Olympian height and maintains that much sense of humility. Herod even took the glory of God for himself whereupon God struck him dead and worms ate him up. Ugwuanyi’s capacity to carry on with the grace for humility is quite uncommon. Some persons had thought themselves humble, but once power was committed into their hands, they became as arrogant as Agamemnon who walked on purple tapestry as though he was a god, an offense of excessive mortal pride (hubris) that would provoke the gods as we read in Greek mythologies. Many heroes had gone down the low ebb because of hubris. Tragic heroes that people most epics are often brought down by hubris. Little wonder God exalts the humble and debases the proud.
Ugwuanyi is not just humble. He is kind and compassionate. Ugwuanyi has a tender heart and would not want anyone to go through difficult and hard times. He does some of the charities secretly. He would visit hospitals and clear the bills of stranded patients. While he was yet to be elected governor, Ugwuanyi had extended the grace of God to many a person. He is not pretentious about it. It is his nature.
This essay was provoked by yet a striking act of humility, kindness and compassion Ugwuanyi showed the bereaved families of some police offers killed by unknown gunmen at a check-point in Obuagu-Amechi on 22nd July, 2021. Ugwuanyi trudged the length and breadth of the turtuous path to the residence of Late Inspector Timothy Tion (from Benue State) at Ugbo-Odogwu to commiserate with the family. He consoled the bereaved wife, Mrs Tina Okuma, whom he paid three months salary of his husband and also gave her automatic employment. The grief-strict compassionate governor also paid condolences to the other families of the killed police officers and offered their wives automatic employment and condolence packages. From the pictures of the visit, Ugwuanyi did not mind the rains and the undulated terrains and the crowded nature of the places. He walked on foot to these places. Of importance is not actually the packages His Excellency offered but the giving of hopes to the hopeless, the show of humanity to the lowly and kindness to the poor. It should be noted that the policemen killed were not in the employ of Enugu State Government. Ugwuanyi was driven by his natural instincts to cry with and comfort the bereaved, to show the kindness of God, an act of grace and benovolence, to them in mourning.
Ugwuanyi has come with this special anointing in governance to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. The son of David has been anointed to appoint to them that mourn, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, all to the glory of God in whose hands Enugu State is committed.
The Almighty God, the lifter of men does not use and dump men. As his son, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has fully accepted to be used and he is used. The same God will take him to higher tasks in this nation in the service of humanity and to the glory of God. Indeed Ugwuanyi is a man of grace.
