Prince Emeka Egwuekwe is the CEO, Prince Interior Furnishing and Furniture Company Limited. In this piece with Abba -Eku Onyeka, recently in his office in Abuja, the Worldwide President General, Ezumezu Umunri, who doubles as Apakata Onyii 1 of Enugwu Agidi na Umunri, describes Ubah’s exit as the death of Anambra’s needed governor. Excerpts.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah has recently died and his burial is ongoing, what will be your message to his Otolo, Nnewi, his senatorial district, and Anambra State in general?
We are deeply morning him, because he is a great loss to his Otolo, Nnewi, Anambra South Senatorial District and Anambra State in general. An exceptional senator, he is also a huge loss to his political associates, which I am one of them and we are yet to recover from the shock and vacuum. His death will affect the political future of Anambra State in 2025. Distinguished Senator Ifeanyi Ubah’s death is one death, too many deaths.
What will be your message to his senatorial district and Anambra State in general?
Firstly, I send my condolences to his nuclear and extended families. I pray that God be with them so as to know that all is not lost. I also sympathize with my state, Anambra, that has been hungry for a true leader like Ifeanyi Ubah, who I have sat down with several times and discussed at length with on what he has for the state. And in him, I see Anambra of our desire in terms of economic and security aspects. He has the quality we need in Anambra as a governor, because we need a core business mogul, who is well exposed like Ubah.
As an industrialist, I know what Ubah has done in the area of the economy, with regard to oil and gas, among others and we know how to turn the economy around for every body’s interest and all these, Ifeanyi Ubah has at the tip of his fingers. As an oil mogul, his oil and other companies, created a lot of employments to many; and his football club created opportunities for youths.
In Nnewi, his community, Ifeanyi Ubah built a classical internation stadium, which some states are yet to build. Having seen the stadium. When I asked him the motivation behind the edifice, he responded that it is very important to invest for the youths’ future, and he is restless in what will go for his people.
As a legislator cum businessman, he was able to secure his constituency, because you don’t hear about kidnappings and other similar vices there. Having said this, his death has created a big vacuum and that is why we are crying.
In terms of governance, Ebubechukwuzor proved that he knows politics of acceptability. Before joining the national party and main stream of politics, he won senatorial seat under an unknown political party. If he were able to win senatorial seat several times through an unknown party, he will do wonderfully well in his new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), where I belong to.
It was Ubah that brought me into the APC and since then, I have been enjoying what is expected one to enjoy in a political party. When he was bringing us into the APC, he said, for Ndigbo to move forward, they should join central party and shun regional party that will not do anything for them.
He was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and you must be a big politician and open to hold such position, dine and wine with the senate leadership. Openness, generosity and sincerity in all his doings, are the magic behind his success. He doesn’t hold anything back, like Tinubu and that is the life of a politician. Tinubu can give you anything within his reach, if you encounter him and that is the way Ifeanyi Ubah is. When I asked him if Mr President will accept his governorship ambition under the APC in Anambra, he promised to take me to Mr President, but he first took me to the National Chairman, who told me that this is the person Mr President wants as the APC governorship hopeful in Anambra.
In Atlanta where I represented an association from Anambra, when I brought the issue of Ifeanyi Ubah being the next governor of our state, with the reason that we are tired of technocrats, they bought the idea. In Anambra, we have seen the performance of our governors to be compared with that of Peter Obi, a trader and falls into the category of Obi and he is the kind of person we need in the state.
Does he deserve special burial by senators?
He should be given a national burial. We thought that Anambra governor would have ordered a day or a period of morning for him, because he deserves that and his achievements so far has made Anambra proud. He was able to curtail insecurity in the state, making it possible for us to travel. But now that he is no more, we can’t travel easily again. So the senators shall be in forefront in his burial, because he is the prince of the senate.