By Steve Oruruo.
The great philosopher, Aristotle once said that “Happiness lies in virtuous activity which is contemplative.” A life therefore, bereft of such cognitive and rigorous epistemic interrogation would hardly be elevated to the pedestal that Aristotle postulated. Nihilism or essentialism? Secular humanism or religious existentialism? The meaning of life and the way it should be lived have for centuries been the subject of intense philosophical debates and individual perplexity. Seemingly simple on the periphery, consensus on the concept of being remains evasive. However, as Christians, we rightly believe that God created mankind in His image and likeness, to know him, love him, revere him and eventually transcend mortality to live with him forever in paradise. It follows this theological premise that God made each and everyone of us for a purpose. “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:16 ESV.
1964 was a year engraved in gold on the tablets of history – on the east coast of Africa, Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the current day Tanzania; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black American revolutionary widely regarded as the founding father of the US civil rights movement, received his Nobel Peace Prize; the African Development Bank was founded; Malawi and Zambia gained their independences from Great Britain; China successfully tested its first atomic weapon joining the ranks of global nuclear powers; the first computer program written in BASIC was run; and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Executive Governor of Enugu State was born.
Having just emerged from the dark tunnel of British colonialism, still reeling in the throes of the independence struggle, and nursing her fragile nascent democracy, 1964 was a defining period in Nigeria’s history. It was a time when the nation sorely needed not only the invention of new political and socio-economic systems and institutions but also the infusion of greatness to tackle the challenges of nation building in the decades that was to come. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s birth on March 20, was therefore not random happenstance but a celestial response to Nigeria’s yearning for extraordinary people and leaders. 58 long years down the line, Governor Ugwuanyi has become a legend, living to fulfill the purpose for which God fashioned him – leadership.
All great leaders are unique yet bound by definitive attributes – clarity of purpose, deep-rooted humanity, sense of equity and justice, and intellect. They lead the world and people to new thought patterns, inspire belief, drive innovations, discountenance divisiveness, and reform retrogressive ideologies. Think of the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Michael Okpara. Born at different points in time, vastly differing on both genotypic and phenotypic basis,raised differently and faced different challenges, yet left similar indelible prints on the sands of time. They fought for their nations freedom and survival, disabused the people of their intense jingoistic inclinations, forged unity in diversity and catalyzed the evolution of a new world order.
Governor Ugwuanyi is a scion from the stock of these great leaders with his unmistakable solidity of character, strength of conviction and suitability to evolving times. Without equivocation, Governor Ugwuanyi personifies and exudes uncommon and incredible humaneness and kindness.Another philosopher Socrates, said that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” And what better time is there not only to examine but to celebrate this quintessential statesman’s sojourn on our terra firma as he gallantly gallops steadily and majestically with just two years away from the threshold of three score.
On the occasion of Governor Ugwuanyi’s birthday, we are grateful for the landmark achievements he has recorded in Enugu State since taking office in 2015. Delivering a speech at Okpara square, following his maiden gubernatorial victory, the Governor had promised that it was not going to be business as usual and outlined a roadmap for the future. Like a 19th century explorer planning a voyage into new horizons, he urged us aboard his ship giving us a sneak peek into the destined cornucopia and his advanced navigational tools and systems. What would have ordinarily evoked skepticism based on antecedents of vehement promises left unfulfilled by political demagogues, instead, inspired an unflappable sense of belief and relief. Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, having gloriously emerged from the House of Representatives at the end of years of astute people-oriented lawmaking, was wholeheartedly accepted and believed by Ndi Enugu. Everything about him was different and reassuring – his persona, mien and aura. Add these to his track record of consummate public service and you begin to get a clearer picture of why his victory felt like refreshing dawn after a long dark night for people, especially the downtrodden.
We celebrate the birthday of a great equalizer! About 7 years into his regime as Enugu’s servant leader, rural communities in the state which have suffocated endlessly, have had asphyxiating knees taken off their necks and acquired a new sense of belonging which has evaded them for long. Governor Ugwuanyi had launched an aggressive grassroots development campaign in his first weeks in office. Bothered to the point of outrage by the gaping rural-urban chasm, the Governor applied himself to complete restoration of Enugu’s rural landscape. In the short time that he has had, despite crippling economic realities, extensive road networks and other infrastructures have emerged, often in defiance of topological, technical and logistic limitations, reconnecting the fringe locales to the state’s economic arteries. New school and hospital buildings have been built and old ones rehabilitated in every rural community in Enugu State, to raise the standards of education and healthcare. Social amenities including potable water and electricity have been provided to rural communities that for years lacked them. Massive capital investments like the establishment of the first degree-awarding University of Education in the southeast; in the Awgu local government area, are opening up remote terrains to new vistas of development opportunities.
Governor Ugwuanyi, in addition to his mission to pull rural folks from the ruins of neglect and suffering, quickened the upward trend of urban renewal in the state. As impressive as the construction of new roads and gigantic buildings witnessed under his administration has been, the Governor has turned the capital into one of the most resilient and fastest growing cities in the world based on multiple indices, inclusive of diversifying its economy and plugging it into the global digital grid. He breathed life into abandoned sectors like tourism as well as commerce & industry to expand the states’ portfolio of revenue earnings and thrust it into the epicenter of global attention. Now, tech-supported businesses are popping up in every corner in Enugu State, benefitting from the youthful workforce the Governor has galvanized through various education sector reform initiatives and skills acquisition programs. The Unity Park is perhaps an insignia of Enugu’s resuscitated tourism sector.
All over the state, you would see and hear people celebrate Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s birthday irrespective of age, background, culture, philosophy, ideology and political leaning. This is because of what this legend of a leader represents – unity in diversity, egalitarianism and peace. Whichever way he has managed to pull it off, Governor Ugwuanyi fostered state-wide reconciliation across political and sociocultural divides. He united warring parties and engendered crisscrossing goodwill. The people have not forgotten that Enugu’s political circle periodically sank into a battle arena in ancient Greece where gladiators fought barbarically for freedom and glory, but in this instance, the people’s patrimony and political brigandage. Then came the fierce force of final renaissance, which is Governor Ugwuanyi, who reengineered Enugu’s political climate in furtherance of a new trajectory, creating a space where ideological differences and conflicting political interests dimmed to let service of humanity assume and assert refulgence. We celebrate a servant-leader like no other, who inspires everyone to see the best in others and seizes every opportunity to advocate for togetherness and mutual understanding.
What better day than today to reflect on the words of the American Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer, Henry Ward Beecher? “Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.” His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s 58-year sojourn on earth has been the quintessence of purposeful living and the stuff of greatness, and we anticipate his inevitable ascension to a higher pedestal for even wider radar of impact on humanity. May the lessons to be learned from his life not be drowned in the merriment the occasion rightly deserves. Happy birthday to you, our great leader, consensus builder, trail blazer, gentleman par excellence and rabbi! Cheers to your glittering new age, sir!
Steve Oruruo is the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information
