Early beginning

Honorable Ifeanyichukwu Lawrence Ugwuanyi, fondly known as Gburugburu, is the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State for the Saturday, April 11, 2015 polls. He is acclaimed to be the people’s choice and the collective voice and aspiration of the people of Enugu State. He is the anointed successor to Governor Sullivan Chime to take the state to the next level. Hon. Ugwuanyi is humble, god-fearing and friendly. He is a great politician, grassroots mobiliser, silent philanthropist and an epitome of humility, love, hope and selfless service to humanity.

Born on the 20th of March 1964 to the family of late Chief and Mrs. Lawrence and Veronica Ugwuanyi of Ohom-Orba in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, the young Ugwuanyi was the first child of his parents, with four other surviving siblings and one late brother. The young Ugwuanyi attended St Mary’s Primary School, Uwani, Enugu, and thereafter proceeded to the prestigious St. Theresa’s College (STC) Nsukka for his secondary school education which he completed in flying colors. He was to later bag Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration from University of Nigeria.

Raised by devout Catholic Church cum civil servant parents, the young Ifeanyi could boast of receiving the best in parenting and guidance. His late father, Chief Lawrence Ugwuanyi, was a staffer of the University of Nigeria, while his late mother was a renowned lecturer at the Anambra State University of Science and Technology – now Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT). Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi received very remarkable parenting and mentoring from his beloved mother, late Mrs. Veronica Ugwuanyi, a strict lecturer and disciplinarian. Mrs. Ugwuanyi imparted discipline, integrity and love for service to humanity on her son, Ifeanyi. Mrs. Ugwuanyi was known to be a voice for the less privileged and the down-trodden, an epitome of compassion, humility, selflessness and love. She was also known to have raised so many indigent children who were not related to her alongside her six biological children. It is therefore very easy to trace Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s uncommon empathy, love of God, humility, compassion, hard work, philanthropy and love for humanity to his mother, Mrs. Veronica Ugwuanyi.

Illustrious Career

Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s career history is a glorious one that climaxed in his elevation to the position of Managing Director/CEO of one of the nation’s foremost insurance broking firms, Premier Brokers Insurance PLC. It was from here that Hon. Ugwuanyi delved into politics to represent his people, Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency, at the Federal House of Representatives in 2003. At the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi sough the betterment of his constituents from Igboeze North Local Government and Udenu Local Government. Igboeze North and Udenu are in the North of Enugu State, Nigeria. Igboeze North LGA with an area of 293 km² and a population of 259,431 (2006 National Census) borders Kogi and Benue states. Enugu-Ezike is the Headquarters of Igboeze North LGA. Udenu has Obollo-Afor as Headquarters. Geographically, It has an area of 248 km² and a population of 178,466 (2006 Census). Presciently Udenu has three development centres and about 25 autonomouscommunities. The development centres include Udenu, Udunedem and Orba. The economy of Udenu LGA is dominated by food production and local business. Being the last major Igbo town, Obollo-Afor, the headquarters, is a very popular stop-over location on the A3 Highway from East to North via Benue State.

In the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Ugwuanyi is the Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Transport. He is also the Chairman of the South East Caucus of the House of Representatives. Hon. Ugwuanyi is one of the best brains in the House – known for his strong intellectual abilities, legislative prowess, friendliness, bridge-building and love for hard work, commitment and service to the people. He has become “one of the strategic thinkers of the House of Representatives, a silent operator whose committee has collaborated well with all the Heads of the agencies in the maritime sector to engineer the revolution, going on in that facet of our national economy.” Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is a Leader of men.

Apart from chairing the House’s Committee on Marine Transport of the 7^th National Assembly, he has, at various times in his illustrious legislative career been a Member of Committee on Defence, Population, Aviation, Privatisation and Commercialisation, Science and Technology, States and Local Government Affairs, to mention but a few. He has equally been Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Public Service Matters and Committee on Pensions.

Did Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi deliver to his constituents? Yes, he did and so well too. Apart from ensuring adequate representation in the House of Reps, he initiated and completed many Constituency projects like provision of farmers’ loan scheme to enable the farmers in Udenu/Igboeze North Federal Constituency have access to soft loans; construction and renovation of schools, skills acquisition centers, health centers for primary health care, numerous boreholes, among many others. He also has a scholarship scheme for his constituents.

Emergence as PDP Governorship Candidate

Hon. Ugwuanyi’s decision to serve the people of Enugu State as Governor received unprecedented acceptance, endorsements and goodwill. His emergence witnessed ground-shaking enthusiasm, staunch support, excitement, euphoria and acceptance as evidenced in his adoption as the Consensus Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the people of Enugu North Senatorial Zone.

In the words of His Excellency, Sullivan Chime, “Hon. Ugwuanyi is a humble man who hardly distinguishes between the rich and the poor, the low and the mighty, the haves and the have-nots and, above all, a bridge builder who will no doubt unify the entire Enugu indigenes.” The emergence of Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the candidate of the PDP was not the handiwork of a few politicians but the wish of the people of Nsukka – Enugu North and the entire Enugu people. There is no doubt that with his background, character/persona, and experience Hon. Ugwuanyi has the capacity to deliver quality governance to Enugu people and further expand the frontiers of peace and development in Enugu State. He will do all he has said he will do. He has the capacity and will power to deliver.

Expectations of the people
Enugu people expect so much from Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as their Governor come May 29, 2015. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has all it takes to become an unrivalled achiever and the people’s true leader. The challenge to the in-coming Governor is to effectively employ the many resources available to him in the state, human and material, in the proper combination in pursuit of the many responsibilities his office entails.

The people expect him to engineer further development of the state immediately he assumes office. They would want their Governor to give them more dividends of democracy. They want stronger institutions in the state; they want better roads, electricity, public utilities, welfare, healthcare and education. Enugu people would want a Governor Ugwuanyi to tackle youth unemployment and social vices. Security needs to be sustained, if not improved upon. Enugu State has enjoyed relative peace and good security during the tenure of Sullivan Chime and a Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is expected to maintain peace and order in the state.

The next Governor is expected to unify the different parts of the state and Hon. Ugwuanyi, by virtue of the nature of his emergence (the people’s choice) is well positioned to maintain peace and unity among the people of Enugu State. Equity and justice must reign for the state to develop. Nsukka people would want the Governor to extend development, especially good roads and industrialization, to the zone.

As a legislator par excellence, Hon. Ugwuanyi is expected to engineer stronger, more-rewarding better and harmonious Legislature-Executive-Relationship in the state. His understanding of the dynamics of both arms of government is a plus and the state should benefit from it. Hon. Ugwuanyi by his experience and method of emergence is expected to be very successful at uniting the party and the people – galvanising the people’s energies towards collective good. The people of Enugu State expect that Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as their Governor will effectively respond to crises, both natural and man-made. The people expect him to always “do something” to address the problems of the state, more and better than anybody else (past Governors) had done.

Enugu people also expect that as their Governor, Hon. Ugwuanyi will exert quantum strength outside the state, including at Regional, Federal and global levels. Hon. Ugwuanyi has built bridges across Nigeria and the world to ensure that Enugu State benefits from her relationships and partnerships. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi knows and understands the political, economic and social dynamics of Enugu State and Enugu people expect him to put that to their greater advantage. Naturally, a governor who assumes office with a bigger bank of skills, knowledge, popularity and experience will be able to move into the job more quickly and easily. Enugu people expect Hon. Ugwuanyi to be swift in taking Enugu State to the next level.

•Ike Ezugwu is an Advertising Practitioner and a Social Commentator based in Lagos. Photo shows Hon. Ugwuanyi.