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By Ene Ojukwu
The life of Engineer David Nweze Umahi, immediate past Governor of Ebonyi State and the Deputy Leader of the Nigerian Senate, is an enthralling narrative of what hard work, diligence and the favour of God can do in the life of man.
He was born jnto the humble family of Elder and Deaconess Joseph and Margaret Umahi Nweze in the ancient town of Umunaga, Uburu, in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
Through a combination of learning from personal examples and teachings from home, church and school, Umahi grew up to become very bright, God-fearing, hardworking, extremely quick at sizing up situations and thinking on his feat. It was with the above as his guiding ethos that he built his Brass Engineering and Construction Company Limited into a multimillion-naira business concern from scratch. From practically nothing, he showed how the human mind could transcend the impossible, make finite infinite and bridge the divide between faith and reality.
From childhood, Umahi was able to see the world differently from the crowd, always seeing opportunity where others saw problems. He was imbued with an underlying confidence in being able to come up with the right decisions. Indeed, he can be said to be endowed with a prescient gift. But why not, he is a man of prayer. With God directing his steps, what the public sees is a man endowed with prescient attributes.
Having passed his WASCE in flying colours in the sciences from the prestigious Government Secondary School, Afikpo, many took it for granted, indeed openly canvassed that he would study medicine, a course that was not only prestigious at the time but a sure guarantee of comfort. But he opted for civil engineering, a course that many did not credit with much prospects as they preferred petroleum engineering. However, a few years after his mandatory National Youth Service Corps assignment, the success of Umahi as a civil engineer was so stupendous that every young person in Uburu and its environs wanted to study civil engineering. To this end, there are only a very few families in Uburu today that do not boast of an engineer. Such is the positive influence of Umahi on his environment.
One other most strategic prescient choice of the young David was in his choice of wife. Many of the immediate family members felt that the first thing he should dabble into shortly after National Youth Service Corps should not be marriage. But when he saw the dazzling Rachel Ogonna Chukwu, he knew that he had seen his missing rib and was not willing to wait a minute longer. The choice turned out to be a most strategic one as Her Excellency, Deaconess (Mrs.) Rachel Umahi, has over the years proved to be a very strong source of support and a jewel of inestimable value not only to Umahi and his immediate family but to as many as have come under her sphere of influence.
While many would prefer to erect a good house for themselves first before thinking of God, Umahi was a sterling opposite, as he used the first major money he earned in life to erect a church for God at a time when he had no place of his own to lay his head. The attribute of putting God first in everything has remained a constant streak in the life of Umahi. For instance, he handed over the multimillion-naira hall of the prestigious Osborn La Palm Hotel and Suites in Abakaliki, to his church gratis for years, with them moving only after he erected a magnificent worship place as theirs. As Governor, Nweze Umahi also built and handed over four magnificent church buildings to four different denominations in Uburu as a parting gift in a place known as Church Avenue today. I have no doubt that this is one of the attributes responsible for his steady rise and affluence in life.
Besides his love for God, another distinguishing feature of Umahi’s life is overwhelming generosity. In a country where the wealthy are known for their avarice, insensitivity and lack of humanity, Umahi stands out for his depth and consistency in his commitment to the well-being and advancement of society. For him, helping people comes naturally, as he believes that he was blessed to be a blessing.
His open-handedness is simply the manifestation of a fundamental generosity of spirit, reinforced by a wonderful mother and wife with hearts of gold.
Umahi is a proof that the possession of great wealth does not result in the loss of humanity. He is equally a great believer in equity and fair play. His insistence on the equitable distribution of political positions and appointments has ensured that places that would not have tasted power and certain high positions have got them, a feat that would not have been possible if population or might were to remain the deciding factors. It could be argued that Umahi’s epic battle for equity as an aspirant for Ebonyi State governorship position was aided by the fact that he came to equity with clean hands. As our elders would say, “he was prescient that the gods would choose him to serve them and he avoided taboos from time.”
History will continue to remember that his support for the candidacy of Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru as Ebonyi State Governor and his subsequent victory did not only deepen power rotation in the state but also institutionalized it.
An intense individual with a legendary stamina, Umahi makes crucial decisions day after day on less sleep than the average man needs. His photographic memory and his attention to every detail are no doubt contributory to his superlative success so far in life.
People who encounter him for the first time leave him in awe, amazed or intimidated by his acuity. His force of intelligence and personality are overwhelming, yet he remains accommodating and accessible.
A question that never stops to agitate the minds of those who know him has always been “how could he keep pushing himself and everyone around him so relentlessly when he had already achieved more than is meet?”
The answer is that he is passionate about everything he does. He gets joy from the adrenaline, the action.
The same commitment he put in making money as a private entrepreneur is what he puts in playing Table Tennis and football. To him, what is worth doing is worth doing well. History attests to the fact that he is the only second term Governor in Nigeria who kept working till the day he handed over. Indeed, many would argue and rightly too, that he achieved more in his second term in office as Governor.
It must be recalled that it was Umahi’s demonstrated personal integrity, hard work, excellent credentials and unassailable track record of performance that made him the perfect choice of Chief Martin Elechi, when he needed a safe and astute person to put Ebonyi State PDP (his former party) back on track when it was threatening to unravel at its seams due to the leadership tussle that engulfed it at the time, a task that Governor Umahi discharged creditably, becoming the cynosure of all eyes in the country, such that his resourcefulness, diligence, management of people and resources received numerous and local recognition. His boss, Chief Martin Elechi was so impressed that he christened him “the all-conquering Chairman” and went ahead to nominate him as his running mate, saying that “Engr Umahi as Party Chairman, made the running of Ebonyi State easy for him.”
As a two-term Governor of Ebonyi State, His Excellency Governor Umahi did not just enthrone a new era but changed the narrative of the State such that the once derided State became a reference point of good leadership and infrastructural transformation.
Manifest during his leadership was his capacity to engage others in constructive dialogue and an ability to rally all political tendencies in the State together. That they all found space to share on the Umahi platform in a symbolic gesture of unity, most of them sworn enemies, that do not see eye ball to eye ball, attests to Umahi’s character as a bridge builder and an accommodating politician with large heart.
Like a meteor seen once in a blue moon, Engr Umahi had blazed a brilliant trail across our economic and political firmament, expanding the possibilities of what can be achieved. His breeds on earth are always on a bold mission to right the many wrongs of the past by redressing the present and creating the right path for the future, a feat that he has continued to creditably achieve.
In the Senate, he emerged the choice of his party as the Deputy Leader of the 10th National Assembly.
Distinguished Senator David Nweze Umahi is a holder of the prestigious National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger, a fellow of several reputable organizations and recipient of innumerable leadership awards, including the highly rated Sun Man of the Year Award.
This is wishing him a happy 60th birthday and many more healthy years in the service of the Nation, humanity and God.
• Ojukwu, a political analyst and media commentator writes from Abakaliki
