By Muna Francis
The 1967 civil war which was literally fought on our own end of the country brought a lot of wanton destruction of lives and properties in our region. Succinctly put, at the end of the civil war, the Eastern Region was a shadow of its former self. The region had been razed by the canons from the FG and in a bid to right the wrongs of the war, the government declared the war no Victor, no vanquished and went ahead to commission a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation of the region.
Like Most Government policies, funds earmarked for the reconstruction of the region found their way into the private pockets of government officials. The Igbos once more, picked themselves up, came together and rebuilt their region collectively. A very solid example of this is the Imo state airport which was built from the collective contributions of Ndị Igbo.
This collective spirit of Ndị Igbo is fast eroding as our leaders are now more interested in enriching their families and friends, masters no longer want to settle their boys in the apprenticeship system. This has had a marked effect on the growth of the Igbo nation. We are beginning to forget our story, our past and now relying too much on the FG to develop our region. Our people now build mansions and businesses in faraway lands forgetting that the Igbo land is ours to develop.
Fortunately, we are also lucky to have few great leaders in Igbo land who have not forgotten our roots and our stories. One of such people is Distinguished Sen. Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah. Sen. Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah is an accomplished businessman, a visionary leader, philanthropist and human capital developer.
Last year at the peak of the worldwide coronavirus, Sen. Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, remembered Anambra state and did what was only obtainable when great minds like Dr. M. I Ọkpara were at the helm of affairs. Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah convened a group known as the Anambra Progressives and reached out to Ndị Anambra home and away and convinced them to pull funds together to build hospitals befitting enough to tackle not just the Coronavirus but improve healthcare delivery in the state.
They hearkened to his call and built two hospitals, one at the permanent site of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi and the other at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. And a third one currently ongoing in Onitsha after the one in Nsugbe then being built for Anambra North got scuttled by the State Government. Today by this singular act, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi is gradually returning to its permanent site with that hospital edifice currently providing quality healthcare to millions of Ndị Anambra whilst the one in Awka serves over 10,000 students and the University community as well as residents of Awka and environs.
Most importantly, months after, none of the donors have complained that their funds were mismanaged or looted. Ladies and gentlemen, to me this is the biggest lesson. With Sen. Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, we have a visionary leader who is accountable.
We have in Sen Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah a God-fearing servant leader who is fulfilled having done so well for himself from a young age and whose core mandate is to lift as many people out of poverty as possible.
The above article is indeed one of the several reasons why the name Sen Ifeanyi Ubah reverberates all over the state and the South East region. The reason why an Ifeanyi Ubah stands tall today as the only politician in South East that can pick up any political party and it instantly turns to people's movements.
Won't you rather ride with us?