Ifeanyi Ubah: Energy man with uncommon energy By Ayo Akinola The biblical cliché in the holy writ of proverbs which says: “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before men of low estate” aptly describes Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, the Labour Party governorship candidate for the November 16, 2013 elections in Anambra State. That Capital Oil and Gas Limited, which he founded and manages, is today a leading force in the downstream of the petroleum sector of the Nigerian economy is a testimony of a man with an uncommon vision, energy and propensity to turn ordinary stone into precious gold. Knowing Ifeanyi Ubah at a close range has afforded me the opportunity to appraise him in an objective manner. You cannot work with him if you are the lazy type. He is passionate with little details such that nothing escapes his sights. He seems to see beyond the ordinary, which makes him to personally attend to little details until he achieves the desired perfection. It is deliberate to have chosen the above title. Yes, Patrick has an uncommon energy. He works round the clock. He sleeps little, if at all, or so it seems. And I mean it. A few encounters will demonstrate the above. As his media handler, I once accompanied him on a visit to a television station in Lagos that has national network coverage. He was one of the only two leading contenders to the governorship seat of Anambra State invited to the special edition of a live politics-related programme of the television station. It was a one-hour programme which time had to be shared between him and the other candidate. The other candidate, a well-known “come-back seeker” had the ‘advantage’ of having to come on first in the live programme. As he was being interviewed, I sat in an office with Patrick, waiting for his turn. With the help of a small monitor in that office, Patrick revealed himself as a good listener. He listened attentively to his opponent’s talk and he took notes. He was silent all through this time. And he maintained a frank demeanour and candour. Then, it was Patrick’s time to take the studio seat. The klieg light turned on to him. His erstwhile serious, frank demeanour suddenly switched. Beaming with smiles, he answered all questions put to him quite satisfactorily such that I was proud of him. He exuded rare confidence throughout the length of the live interview. “Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah,” asked the anchorman “where did you get this infectious confidence of winning the November 16, 2013 elections, from?” As if he was expecting such question, Ubah answered “From God…remember that he who has God is in the majority. I am the only candidate without a godfather. But, also, I am the only candidate with a well thought-out manifesto, with offices in all the wards and local governments in Anambra. “I am the only candidate whose success in the primary election was not mired in any controversy “I am the only candidate among the fore-runners not using state funds and without any financial backer from any state government. “With all damaging rumours against me, it takes a man without any skeletons in his cupboard to come out to say, ‘I want to contest’ “I challenge all those parading as contenders to this post to a debate. I want them to tell the whole world where they are coming from, what they have done for the people, what are their antecedents, what is their address? “Why is it that everybody is suddenly interested in being governor of Anambra? What do they have to offer? Let them tell the whole world. What is their address? I have an address but they don’t have”. Because the programme started late due to the Presidential Chat, you would have thought Patrick would rush home to retire to his cozy bed after the encounters in a live television programme, for which he had but a very short notice. But you are in for a surprise, as it seemed his day had just begun. His working day starts five in the morning and ends five the following morning, probably with short dozing which does not last for more than 15 minutes. In his early forties, Patrick’s life has intimately defined what a typical Nigerian or black youth ought to be: enterprising, trustworthy, forward-looking, eager and above all, compassionate to the less privileges like the widows, orphans, physically challenged, unemployed—they are his friends—he lives among the people. They throng his Umuanuka Otolo-Nnewi residence in Nnewi morning, afternoon and night. His local Umuanuka Otolo-Nnewi community in Nnewi, Anambra State, just like his Omole Phase 2, Lagos residence, is beneficiary of his community projects like paving-stone laid road and his self-powered street lights. He has a foundation that caters for his numerous philantrophism. an asset to Anambra if elected governor. He, no doubts, possesses the youthful vibrancy in the mould of Babatunde Fashola, Governor of Lagos, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo. ■ Akinola, consultant to Ifeanyi Ubah Campaign Organisation, writes via dolam2005@yahoo
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:02:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015