Akpokuedike: Duty Call in Anambra

By Ike Chioke

This book recounts Willie Obiano’s personal and family life and then treats his key accomplishments as Governor of Anambra State, Nigeria, from March 2014 to March 2022. Governor Obiano waged Nigeria’s most successful war against the coronavirus, built the Anambra International Airport under two years, developed the Awka Millennium City, and completed the Anambra International Convention Center. Obiano also built the Awka City Stadium. He beautified Awka and other Anambra cities with modern, well-lit bridges and roads. His legacies include giant strides in agriculture, education, healthcare, infrastructure, the economy, and investments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Feb 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781543768978

Ike Chioke

Ike Chioke has over 30 years of investment-banking experience, having worked at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Smith Barney in New York and London. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, chairs the board of the Anambra State Promotion & Protection Agency, and runs Afrinvest West Africa. Ike is married to Yvonne, and they have three children. Ike is a generous philanthropist who supports education, sports, and the arts.

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ISBN

ISBN: 978-1-5437-6896-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5437-6898-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5437-6897-8 (e)

02/09/2022

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CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Willie’s Pedigree

Chapter 2 Biafra

Chapter 3 From CKC to Unilag

Chapter 4 From First Bank to Fidelity Bank

Chapter 5 Willie and Ebele

Chapter 6 From Candidate to Governor

Chapter 7 Philanthropy, Mentoring, and Governance with a Human Face

Chapter 8 Securing Anambra Lives and Property

Chapter 9 Agriculture and Infrastructure

Chapter 10 Business, Economy, and Industry

Chapter 11 ANSIPPA: Gold Rush to Anambra

Chapter 12 No Child Left Behind: Akwukwọ Na-Asọ Ụsọ

Chapter 13 Healthcare, Obianocare, and Coronacrisis: Mbelede Ka E Ji Ama Dike

Chapter 14 Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport

Chapter 15 Consolidation Through the Soludo Solution

Conclusion

Bibliography & Sources

PREFACE

Joining Afrinvest UK in London in 2002 marked a massive entrepreneurial transition for me as it was the first time in over a decade that I had worked for a company that was not global in its reach, size, and scope. As a partner in the young firm, my remit was to build out the investment-banking capabilities of Afrinvest particularly in Nigeria, the dominant economy in the coverage region. By 2003, I had relocated to Nigeria to be closer to our growing clientele. Within months of being based in Abuja, I realized the need to incorporate Afrinvest in Nigeria to enable the firm to get engaged directly with publicly listed and large multinational corporations. Subsequently, in June 2004, Afrinvest (Nigeria) Limited was born.

About the same time, the Central Bank of Nigeria, under the Governorship of Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, announced the Nigerian banking sector recapitalization policy requiring all banks to raise their capital to a minimum of N25billion by December 2005. The recapitalization policy ushered in the biggest wave of capital raising and mergers and acquisitions transactions that the country had ever seen. Within an 18-month period, the capital markets industry recorded over $5billion of transaction value with 82 banks recapitalizing or merging into 25 banks by December 2005.

It was during that frenzied, fast-paced, mentally and physically challenging recapitalization period that I met Willie Obiano (Akpokuedike). Afrinvest had been mandated by FSB International Bank early in 2005 to either raise capital or find an appropriate merger partner for the bank that would enable it meet its recapitalization target. After evaluating many prospects, our sights fell on Fidelity Bank and with the informal approval of the dominant shareholders on each side, we began the extensive analysis, review, due diligence, evaluation, and documentation of a potential merger.

Willie, who was then an Executive Director at Fidelity, was responsible for managing the very intensive due diligence exercise the Fidelity team conducted on FSB. I came away very impressed by his contrarian yet diligent and highly professional approach to uncovering issues on the prospective target. Our professional relationship began from that transaction and has matured to one of true friendship, loyalty, and mutual respect. The transaction evaluation period took several months and ultimately concluded successfully with the merger of FSB International with and into Fidelity Bank before the December 2005 deadline.

When Willie informed me in 2013 that he was going to run for Governor of Anambra on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), I was initially taken aback but subsequently delighted to support his new calling. I then devoted my financial-advisory skills and expertise into developing the first of many economic blueprints for Anambra. By that time, Mark Okoye, who used to work in Afrinvest’s investment-banking division, was already a Special Assistant in charge of budget and planning for outgoing Governor Peter Obi. Therefore, it was easy to coordinate my comments on the Anambra Economic Blueprint with someone on the ground who was familiar with the challenges the state faced at that time.

Willie won the election and was sworn in on 17 March 2014 as the 4th elected Governor of Anambra State. A year later, Governor Willie Obiano set up the Anambra State Investment Promotion & Protection Agency (ANSIPPA). Mark became its pioneer Executive Director, and Afrinvest was mandated as a financial adviser and portfolio manager for ANSIPPA shortly afterwards.

My appointment as ANSIPPA chairman in mid-2019 gave me a closer look at the workings of the Obiano Administration in Anambra State and increased my admiration for Governor Obiano. My close observation of his leadership style and accomplishments inspired me to write this book. I felt I should place on record the remarkable public-service legacy of this unusual man. Initially, this was planned to be a much smaller book dealing only with Governor Obiano’s two terms as Governor of Anambra State. During the research, however, it became clear that I needed to delve into his personal history for a better understanding of the man.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to the numerous individuals and groups that contributed to the research, preparation, writing, and publication of this book. Chinua Asuzu led the research team. In this endeavor, he was helped principally by Chidirim Ndeche, Ify Aronu, Amaka Chinenye Onyechi, Ayotunde Abiodun, and Soorefunmi Olanrewaju. Chidirim prepared some of the drafts from which significant portions, encompassing several chapters, were written. Chidirim also interviewed many official sources—she’s a highly effective interviewer. Ify conducted field research all over Anambra State, including Aguleri, Awka, and Onitsha. An incisive interviewer who never takes no for an answer, Ify also interviewed several official and unofficial sources and submitted helpful transcripts. Ify created most of the dialogues included in the work.

Amaka Chinenye Onyechi and Ayotunde Abiodun did the documentary research for chapter 11 (‘ANSIPPA: Gold Rush to Anambra’). Ify Aronu conducted the interviews. Amaka is a lawyer; Ayotunde is a law student; and Ify is a mass communications practitioner. Ayotunde did most of the research for chapter 14 (‘Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport’). Both Amaka and Ayotunde researched for chapter 15 (‘Consolidation Through the Soludo Solution’). Ifeanyi Agwuncha also contributed to the research for chapter 15.

Soorefunmi Olanrewaju transcribed several interview recordings.

Chinwe Nsofor, Dunnni Taiwo Fagbule, and Mercy Williams helped immensely with various logistical aspects of this work.

Ajọfịa Nnewi, the great masquerade, is the source of some of the Igbo maxims and proverbs used in this book. Emeka Asuzu (Agbogidi) supplied more Igbo adages.

I must also acknowledge as many of my sources, both documentary and oral, as space can permit, including the following:

1. HRH Igwe Alexander Ene Chioke (1922–2015)

2. Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS)

3. Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA)

4. Azu Ishiekwene, author, investigative reporter, and member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors

5. C. Don Adinuba, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Anambra State Government

6. Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, and Governor-Elect, Anambra State

7. Hon. Chinedu Obidigwe, Member, House of Representatives

8. Chuka Nnabuife, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Anambra Newspaper & Printing Corporation

9. Chuks Ezewuzie, attorney and Senior Special Assistant to the Anambra State Governor on Disability Matters

10. Daniel Scott Ofoneme, Special Assistant to the Anambra State Governor on Digital Communications

11. Duro Onabule, veteran Nigerian journalist

12. Chief Dr Ebelechukwu V. Obiano, philanthropist and First Lady of Anambra State

13. Ejike Abana, broadcaster, editor, journalist, and media strategist with the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS)

14. Ejike Anyaduba, Media Assistant to the Anambra State Governor

15. Dr Emeka Arinze, Special Assistant, Media, to the Anambra State Governor

16. Hon. Emeka Asoanya, Transition Chairman, Onitsha South Local Government Area, Anambra State

17. Emeka Ozumba, Deputy Chief Press Secretary to the Anambra State Governor

18. Emmanuel Addeh

19. Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), UK Government

20. Ifeanyi Afuba, journalist and writer

21. Dr Ifediora C. Amobi, Managing Director, Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA)

22. Ikenna Aniagbaoso, Senior Special Assistant to the Anambra State Governor on Media

23. James Eze, Senior Special Assistant to the Anambra State Governor on Media

24. Jide Ikeako, former Managing Director, Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA)

25. Prof. Kate Azuka Omenugha, Commissioner for Basic Education, Anambra State Government

26. Mark Okoye, Commissioner for Economic Planning, Budget, and Development Partners, Anambra State Government

27. Maxim Uzoatu, author, journalist, poet; Director, Borodoro Publishing

28. Michael Okonkwo, Commissioner for Housing, Anambra State Government

29. Mike Obiajulu Meze, reputation-building and management consultant; CEO, Winning Concepts Public Relations Ltd

30. Njideka Okoye, journalist and reporter, Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS)

31. Hon. Dr Nnamdi Nwadiogbu, Transition Chairman, Oyi Local Government Council

32. Obi Aniesodo, Senior Special Assistant, Public Utilities, to the Anambra State Governor

33. Okechukwu Anarodo, Special Assistant to the Anambra State Governor on Media

34. Oseloka Obaze, administrator, author, diplomat, politician, former United Nations official, former Secretary to the Anambra State Government

35. PricewaterhouseCoopers

36. Primus Odili, Chief of Staff to the Anambra State Governor

37. Prof. Solo Osita Chukwulobelu, Secretary to the Anambra State Government (SSG)

38. Chief Tony Oli, Chairman, Anambra State Sports Development Commission

39. Chief Dr Uche Nworah, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Anambra Broadcasting Service

40. United Nations

41. Dr Victor Ike Oye, National Chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance

42. Willie Nwokoye, Principal Secretary, Government of Anambra State

43. Chief Dr Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State (2014–2022)

CHAPTER 1

WILLIE’S PEDIGREE

Anambra State

Ọganiru abụrọ maka onye nkolopu obi.¹ Progress is not for the despairing or the fainthearted. Anambra people are neither despairing nor fainthearted. Willie Obiano is neither despairing nor fainthearted.

Anambra State of today was created on 27 August 1991 as a carve-out from the old Anambra State, which itself had been created in 1976 with its capital in Enugu. Today’s Anambra State has its capital at Awka, arguably the fastest-growing city in West Africa. Anambra’s land mass covers an area of 4,844 square kilometers, making it the second smallest state in Nigeria. (Lagos is the smallest.) Anambra shares boundaries with Delta to the West, Enugu to the East, Imo, and Rivers to the South, and Kogi to the North. Anambra is the second most densely populated state in Nigeria after Lagos, with an estimated average density of 1,500–2000 people per square kilometer.

Anambra is the healthiest, smartest, and wealthiest state per capita in Nigeria. Anambra has the highest density of [dollar] millionaires per square kilometer among all of the world’s rural areas.² Anambra has the lowest poverty rate in Nigeria today with a GDP of $12billion and a per capita income of $1,750 as of 2020. Its Onitsha Main Market is widely recognized as one of the largest commercial centers in West Africa. Nnewi, the billionaire playground, hosts the only automobile-manufacturing business in West Africa. Anambra people outside Anambra State remit over $1billion annually to Anambra. The state is also estimated to host the highest concentration of entrepreneurs per square kilometer in Africa.³

In southeastern Nigeria, Anambra is the most naturally endowed. Anambra has natural gas, crude oil, bauxite, ceramic, and very arable land. The discovery of crude oil in the state has placed it on a whole new stratosphere with a world of possibilities waiting to be exploited.

Most Anambra people (98%) are Igbo; 2% are Igala. Anambra took its name from the majestic Omambala River, a tributary of River Niger. Anambra is the second most urbanized and cosmopolitan state in Nigeria, again after Lagos, with about 60% living in urban areas. Anambra has 181 communities organized into 21 council areas. The state is home to the ancient towns of Aguleri, Nri, and Onitsha.

Aguleri

Aguleri is a rural community in the Anambra valley. It’s the largest town in and the headquarters of Anambra East council area. Its population is close to 900,000; its land mass is about 380 square kilometers. Aguleri has 3 main quarters: Enugwu na Eziagulu, Igboezunu, and Ivite.

Because of the fertility of its soil, Aguleri is the food basket of Anambra State.

Aguleri boasts an ancient, sacred, and unbroken cultural, historical, and spiritual significance in Igboland. This accounts for the people’s justifiable pride in their hometown. Aguleri people are enterprising, entrepreneurial, industrious, self-reliant, and fiercely independent. Hence, Aguleri is virtually self-sustaining. Most Aguleri public infrastructure has been built by the people themselves. These include the Aguleri Community Bank, Aguleri Postal Agency, Aguleri Town Hall, Building Materials Market, Col. Mike Attah Secondary School, Eke Ugwuna Adagbe Market, Good Evening Daily Market, Igbo Osisi Market, Immaculate Heart Specialist Hospital, Ivite Aguleri Primary Healthcare Center, Justice Chinwuba Memorial Secondary School, Nkwo Igboezunu Market, St Joseph’s Memorial High School, and Willie Obiano Secondary School.

Willie Obiano’s mother, Christiana

Willie Obiano’s mother, Christiana Chinelo Obiano (née Manafa), fits snugly into Dr Emeka Arinze’s definition of a true mother and her role in her children’s life: A mother is someone who takes the place of others but whose place no one else can take. She holds her children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.⁴ But how did Christiana earn the sobriquet of Nne Ndi Fada? Anambra transport mogul and billionaire, Augustine Ilodibe of Ekene Dili Chukwu fame, was nicknamed Augustine Nwa Fada (‘Augustine, priest’s child’) not because he was born to a priest—he wasn’t—but because he was brought up by one. By a similar token yet by contrast, Willie’s mother Christiana was nicknamed Nne Ndi Fada not because any of her children became a priest—none did—but because she brought up or succored several Catholic priests. First, her own younger brother, Meze, became a Catholic priest. By way of visiting their fellow priest, many early missionaries, including some Irish clergy, settled at Christiana’s family home. Initially intending to stay only a short while, these clergymen lingered for long on account of the extravagant generosity and hospitality of Nne Ndi Fada. A gifted chef, Christiana prepared delicious meals for the young priests. Among those clergymen she welcomed into her home were these well-known personalities: Dominic Cardinal Ekandem (1917–1995) who became the first West African Catholic bishop⁵; Father Gbuzue; and Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (1903–1964), an angelic Aguleri-born priest.

It was the saintly Father Tansi that baptized Christiana. The name Christiana was chosen at her baptism because of her family’s early conversion to Christianity and their giant contributions to the Catholic faith. Tansi also taught Christiana at St Joseph’s and St Raphael’s primary schools, Ezi-Agulu, Aguleri. A woman of great faith, hope, and love, Christiana ridiculed adversity. She laughed in its face. She trusted God and feared nothing. She forgave and overlooked wrongs done to her and her family, had no regrets, and lived in the present. Joy was her constant companion. Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.⁶

Blessed Father Tansi was ordained on 19 December 1937. He worked in several parishes, including his native Aguleri, Akpu/Ajalli, Dunukofia, and Nnewi. He trained and inspired Francis Cardinal Arinze, whose recommendation contributed to Tansi’s beatification by Pope John Paul II on 22 March 1998. Here are the words of the Supreme Pontiff on that occasion: Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and, taking the Christian way of life as his own, he made it truly African and Nigerian.⁷ Blessed Tansi’s feast day is 20 January.⁸

Catholic clerical influence was strong in the formation of Willie Obiano’s pedigree, both patrilineal and matrilineal. And as Ndigbo say, Mother is supreme. Nne ka. A specifically influential figure in Willie’s mother’s, thence Willie’s life, was Dominic Cardinal Ekandem, one of the staying clerical guests in those days.

Ordained 7 December 1947 by Bishop Charles Heerey, the Obio Ibiono (Akwa Ibom)-born Rev. Fr Ekandem was, in his first decade as a priest, a frequent guest at Christiana’s family home. Fr Ekandem founded the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSP). Within 7 years of his ordination, Ekandem was consecrated bishop on 7 February 1954 by Bishop James Moynagh. On 24 May 1976, Ekandem was created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

As Christiana was mothering a slew of Catholic priests, a well-educated, ambitious, disciplined, well-groomed, and highly civilized Catholic gentleman—but by no means a priest—was admiring her, first from a safe distance, later more closely. Christiana was a charming young lady, but her beauty wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the young man. Christie was hardworking, humble, hygienic, prayerful, religious, and respectful. As the eldest child of her parents, she helped them keep discipline in the home. Her two brothers and five sisters deferred to her. Her poise of character, equability of demeanor, and high personal standards of cleanliness, ethics, and morals stood her apart from her contemporaries and in good stead with the adults and elders. She was graceful, gracious, queenly, and stately.

Willie’s father Philip woos, then marries, Christie

The besotted young man was Philip Onuorah Obiano. His affection for Christie went beyond youthful infatuation, as he would soon prove. He hailed from Umuanaeveli, Egbeagu village, Aguleri. His own personal decency, discipline, and education impelled him to be on the lookout for a life partner with matching qualities. Philip desired a wife with whom he would embark on a holy relationship. Such characters were few. Because Philip was a young man, physical beauty also mattered to him.

Before Philip Obiano made his move on Christie Manafa, he had been noting her early arrival to church activities, her dedication, honesty, simplicity, and humility.⁹ He reported his interest in Christie to his ụmụnna (extended family), who in turn inquired about Christie’s family and parentage in the age-old tradition of iju ase (pre-marital inquiries and investigation). Nwoke chọọ ịnụ nwanyị, a sị ya jụkwaa ase maka na mgbọrọgwụ utu ka mgbọrọgwụ ọjị.¹⁰

The ụmụnna’s findings were positive: Christie’s family, the Manafa family of Idigo, Ezi-Agulu, Aguleri, had a long and unblemished history in Aguleri and beyond. The Manafas were not within any of the forbidden degrees of consanguinity with the Obianos, whether by religion or by tradition. They were also a healthy stock: zero history of mental illness and scant history of physical illness. And importantly to Philip, the Manafas were early converts to Christianity. They were Catholics. Indeed, one of Christie’s two brothers, Meze, was a seminarian.

Christie Manafa thus boasted an impeccable pedigree. The coast was clear. Philip took his family to Christie’s home for the traditional proposal. This was successful, whereupon the traditional marriage ceremonies were duly performed. The main event, however, was the wedding in the Catholic church. Both families were staunch Catholics, and, for that matter, still are. By the wedding date, seminarian Meze Manafa had not only been ordained a priest but had also received the honorific title of a Monsignor. Monsignor Manafa officiated at his sister’s marriage to catechist Philip Obiano.

Willie Obiano

Willie Obiano was born on Monday 8 August 1955 in Aguleri. He was named Mmaduaburochukwu Ikechukwu. Each component of his name had been carefully chosen. Among Ndigbo, names express potent messages, powerful prayers, and hopeful prophecies. Names also serve to secure legacies, reassure families, detect latent talent, inject boom, reject doom, tell a story, allegorize a phenomenon, analogize a set of facts, or memorialize an event. Times and tides of a child’s birth may suggest the child’s name. Igbo names are never random. They enact destiny or make history.

For the Obiano family, Mmaduaburochukwu was a bold declaration by the child’s father Philip that mortal humanity could never approximate eternal divinity. Ikechukwu (Power of God) was his mother Christiana’s prayer that her son would depend on divine inspiration rather than human guidance. In choosing this name, Christiana was echoing two of her favorite scriptures: (a) Psalm 146:3 (Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help); and (b) Proverbs 3:5 (Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding). The combination of Mmaduaburochukwu and Ikechukwu would serve to remind the bearer of those names to