Special Correspondent, CHIBUZOR NWACHUKWU, who covered the August 16 Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) rally in Awka, Anambra State, says it shows a gradual return of the oil magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah, to political reckoning.
Crowd at a recent TAN rally. Ifeanyi Uba (inset)
Those who ran away with, and put a bet on, the belief that the Anambra State 2013 gubernatorial election and its outcome marked the end of the road for Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, by now, have lost their deposits.
Before now, he was seen as a mere oil baron who just sauntered into the theatre of politics, like the Scarlet Pimpernel, believing that his enormous wealth would guarantee him the exalted position of governor. But as it turned out, innuendoes were made about him and his unsuitability for the position, all in a bid to whittle down his influence, damage his ego and ultimately rubbish him.
His traducers had gone a step further to attack his business empire, portraying him as a man that ought not to be trusted in the oil sector. But the impassiveness with which he took all those missiles is a marvel to both his friends and foes. However, when it was thought that he had been flattened, little did they know that he merely beat a retreat to fine-tune his strategies and oil his machinery for a kill.
This hibernation over five months and brainstorming with his “League of the Pimpernel” was really deserved because when he eventually struck, he not only took the landscape of Anambra by storm, but his opponents were caught napping on August 16, 2014.
On that day, Ubah made a political statement that will impact Anambra, the South East geopolitical zone and the country at large in the near future. That was when he engineered an unprecedented crowd of supporters at the rally in Awka, capital of Anambra State, where the entire South East endorsed Goodluck Jonathan as the region’s choice for 2015 Presidential elections.
The impact of the earthshaking event cannot be wished away in view of the electrifying effect of the rally, under a body known as Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), urging President Jonathan to run for the 2015 presidential election.
The rally arguably showcased a headcount of the pillars of South East politics and the gladiators therein, and their presence at the occasion was an affirmative answer to why Jonathan should go for a second tenure.
Since after the rally, the tales of the event have continued to reverberate in Anambra and beyond. Apparently overwhelmed by the magnitude of that political event, one of the major stakeholders and financiers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Arthur Eze, exclaimed: “Ifeanyi Ubah is a true son of Igboland. It is not easy for one to have organised a grand occasion of this nature and for people from the entire Igboland to respond, promptly.
“I wish to make a donation of $1 million to him and also encourage him to do more for our people and Nigeria in general. We have this hope because such young men and women are there to take over from us.”
Aside the submissions of Eze, the TAN went further to elucidate why the Igbo of the South East geopolitical extraction had chosen to endorse Jonathan for another term in office.
The body looked at the full state burial rites accorded to the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu; the appointment of the first post-Civil War Chief of Army Staff from Igboland, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd); the award of contract for construction of a second Niger Bridge; and the Onitsha Inland Waterways Port as some tangible benefits to the region. The group also commended Jonathan for the appointment of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the coordinating minister for the country’s economy and fast-tracking of infrastructural development in the South East.
The rally was equally another opportunity for the warring political class to mend fences, which started with the unity of purpose exhibited by former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, and Ubah, who before now, were in a cat and mouse relationship following the conduct of the 2013 governorship election in the state. The rally also provided a platform for the returnees to the PDP to announce their presence and membership of the party.
Among these were five National Assembly members who were of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led by Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, as well as Charles Odedo who left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the PDP.
The Ifeanyi Ubah Foundation also joined TAN in this effort. According to the body, which spoke through one of its directors, Benson Chuks Nwosu: “Our mission is to mobilise resources to bridge the social and economic divides by empowering youths and women in our communities. Our organisation shares the same dreams with our President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and that underscores why we are solidly behind him.
“We are equally committed to the Goodluck Initiative Agenda for National Transformation (GIANT) which would go a long way in putting our country in the vanguard of socio-economic growth and development in the sub-Saharan Africa.”
Justifying the support for Jonathan’s re-election, Ubah said the president deserves all the support because he had made so much progress in diverse areas such as road construction and privatisation.
He added: “achievements have been made in the power sector reform through the unbundling of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) establishment and the expansion of gas supply infrastructure among others.”
Born on September 3, 1971, Ubah, who hails from Nnewi, has passed through the crucibles of life, surmounted the harshness of poverty and has become succour to countless unemployed Nigerians through job creation, empowerment and benevolence.
Ubah’s daring disposition had, in the past, drawn the anger of his political foes who, as it were, felt threatened and had taken him headlong, but ended up meeting their waterloo in the process.