By Paulinus Aidoghie
Chairman of Gocuz Group of Companies, Dr. Obinna Uzoh, Esq KSGG, who is marking his 62nd birthday, has sensationally told the story of his life.
The lawyer, teacher, entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician, in this interview, talked about his motivation and humanitarian services, among others.
What makes you happy in life and what makes you sad?
John Lennon said, “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ’HAPPY’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
I had same orientation when growing up. What makes me happy is seeing people happy and making people happy, knowing that this is the key to a good life. Life is tough, but people could still be happy. I like to see the less privileged, artisans, skilled men, unskilled men doing something that gives them joy and prosperity.
I am sad when the reverse is the case. When I see a lot of people out of work, a lot of people not having resources to attend to their needs, it saddens my heart.
You are 62 today; could you tell us about your growing up and future plans?
I was born in Lagos, grew up in my village, Umunnamehi, Ihiala, in Anambra State. I went to primary school and secondary school in my place and proceeded to Lagos to do business and study at the same time at the University of Lagos. I studied Law, and Business Management. I am married with a lovely wife and we have lovely children and grandchildren. My growing up was great. There were lots of experiences and successes.
On my future plans, I will say that I will continue to serve God and humanity in various capacities – in philanthropy, governance, leadership and politics. My life has been that of service. I will continue to try to get an opportunity to serve my people in elective office as that would give me a wider platform and opportunity to do more, more than what I have been doing in my private capacity.
Your birthday falls on the same day Anambra governor is sworn into office, March 17. Does it have an effect on your interest in politics?
No. At the time I contested for governorship of Anambra State in 2003, the handover date was May 29. However, I am happy that it is now on my birthday. My motivation to join politics is because I know I have the competence, capacity and credibility to give my people good governance, justice, equity and fair play in the distribution of democratic dividends and offices. I am always happy to uplift people, put smiles on the faces of people, and help people achieve their talents, goals and aspirations. I have been a philanthropist all my life. I joined politics to have a bigger platform to reach out to the less privileged people.
As an individual, I have been into philanthropy for a very long time. I have done so many good things. I built youth hostels, tarred roads, offered scholarships, donated educational equipment and tools, done free medical outreach, built churches, provided rural electricity to several rural communities, provided water through borehole projects, built houses for the less privileged and built hostels for universities and faculty buildings.
You will see Obinna Uzoh Youth Hostel at Holy Family Hostel in Amansea, Awka. You go to Madonna University, Okija, you see Obinna Uzoh Law Faculty building. I built well equipped ICT centres, etc. I have done a lot of things over a period of 37 years. I have done these philanthropic programmes and projects as an individual. However, I felt that with government machinery, I could do more for the people. That is my motivation to join politics and seek elective offices.
What has life taught you?
My parents prepared me adequately for life’s lessons. Life has taught me a lot. Everything comes from God. Life has taught me that whatever we have or what we are is by God’s grace. Life has taught me to be patient, humble, hardworking, focused and prayerful in whatever situation I find myself. In all situations, give God all the glory. Life has taught me to continue to be humble, determined, persistent and generous.
You are an entrepreneur and a lawyer. How do you combine these two and strike a balance?
Over the years, I’ve groomed professionals to handle all aspects of businesses we are involved in. With technology, it is not too difficult to co-ordinate. Remember that also that there is my family, which is the most important to take care of. No matter what, I try to create time for my home, business, law practice, and politics. As I said earlier, one must be focused, determined, hardworking and prayerful in order to succeed in one’s endeavours.
What do you think of politics in Nigeria generally?
Politics in Nigeria is what it is everywhere in the world. It is a difficult terrain, just like life itself. Everything in life is a challenge. People tell you that politics is a dirty game. I don’t think so. A lot of people get demoralised and discouraged, particularly when you see people like me being hounded. There are people who believe politics is their natural terrain; such people would not want professionals like me, lawyers, doctors, accountants, technocrats, entrepreneurs to come in. When they feel threatened, they will hound you. It’s the same in life. If you want good policies, security, employment opportunities, good health care system, good education, good governance, good people must get involved. What I tell such people is that politics is for everybody. It is an avenue to add value to life.
What do you like or hate about politics?
Politics, some people say, is a profession, while others say it is a game. Through politics, you get into government offices, where you make policies that will affect the lives of people for the best. Whether you are a legislator, minister, commissioner, governor or president, through politics, you touch people’s lives. That’s what I like about politics.
What do I hate about politics? Envy and bitterness are tops. It’s not peculiar in politics though. There are hazards in everything in life. So it is in politics. In civil service, journalism, it will be difficult to say that there are no people who are envious of your rising profile, who would want to pull you down. So, in politics, a lot of people tell you it is a dirty game. I believe in destiny. You have to work hard and pray hard to get there. Never give up.
You contested the Anambra South senatorial election in the last general election on the platform of the Labour Party ( LP). Now there’s a vacancy, with a by-election expected in the next few weeks. What are your plans?
You are right that I contested the Anambra South senatorial election in 2023. I gave a good account of myself. My political party then, LP, gave a good account of itself. We felt that the outcome of the election did not reflect the reality at that time. Remember that LP then won the other senatorial districts in Anambra, while that of Anambra South was said to be different. We challenged the result up to the Court of Appeal.
The by-election took long in coming. The seat became vacant in June last year, when my younger brother, Senator Patrich Ifeanyi Ubah, passed on. His demise was unfortunate. I condole with his family once again.
Now that the Senate has declared the seat officially vacant, I am still interested to serve our people at the Senate. Some things have changed, however, like the political party I belong. I am now a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on whose platform I intend to contest the by-election.
We are waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the time table for the by-election. When this is done, we will take it up from there. The bottomline is that I am running and we are hopeful to get the support of our people.
The Anambra State governorship election is scheduled for November 8 this year. What is the prospect of APC?
I believe that this is the best opportunity for APC to win Anambra State Government House. Some people have said that APC cannot win election in Anambra or that it is difficult for the political party to make impact in South East. I do not think so. What matters is the candidate that will be presented. We are hoping that our party, APC, will make the best choice from the aspirants and that we will go into the race as a united force. The aspirants should pledge to accept the outcome of the primary without the distraction of court cases.
However, it’s my belief that our party-APC should take the by-election seriously by making the right choice of candidate for the Anambra South Senatorial by election.
How has Obinna Uzoh Foundation touched lives?
Obinna Uzoh Foundation has been in existence for over 37 years now. We are doing well with the men, women, youths, children and the less privileged people generally. We have done quite a lot in humanitarian services. As I said earlier, we have built houses for the widows, widowers, less privileged. We have provided clean water, roads, free medical care etc. We have been involved in rural electrification. We have offered scholarships, built school hostels, university faculty buildings, renovated schools and donated church buildings.
Many respected people have testified to my philanthropic character and antecedents, Including the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. (Dr.) Valerian Maduka Okeke, who in an exclusive interview with an international media outfit stated: “ I have closely followed Dr. Obinna Uzoh and his activities towards the less privileged and they are edifying. He had assisted many indigent students through scholarship. He has built houses for the poor, built hostels for students, churches for worshippers of different denominations and he identifies with the poor and the lowly. He has renovated one of the dormitories at the Onitsha prisons. He has not excluded the rich; his friendship cuts across the poor and rich. He has identified with the governments, states and federal. He is a good man in all sense of definition.”
I am motivated by this kind of comments. At 62, I will continue to serve God and humanity.