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By Henry Umuahi
The house Uzotex built
Muhammad Ali was not only a titan of boxing, he was also blessed with the gift of the gab. Before, during and after boxing bouts, he delivered powerful punches with wit and wisdom of his words. He had a reputation for his positive and inspirational outlook on life.
It was ‘The Greatest’, as Ali was known, who said: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” If this is true, Chief Festus Uzoma Mbisiogu, president of Blue Diamond Logistics and Chief Executive Officer of Shanghai Engineering Works Limited, must have been paying rent for many rooms.
For Mbisiogu, charity is a way of life. Or rather, it is the very essence of life. Over the years, he has been in the business of changing lives, bringing joy to many people with his uncommon acts of charity.
•Mbisiogu
One can say it is a daily ritual for this quintessential philanthropist to put smiles on the face of at least one person. He belongs to the club of burden lifters.
Mbisiogu took his philanthropic gesture to a new level in January this year when his non-governmental organization, Uzotex Foundation, built and donated a three-bedroom bungalow to a homeless widow and mother of four, Mrs Chinwendu Madueke, at Umunwangwu, Umueshi in Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State.
The house, which is fully fitted with modern facilities and furniture, has a perimeter fence and befitting gate. The icing on the cake of this philanthropy was that Uzotex Foundation empowered Mrs Madueke financially to enable her to be independent.
Rev. Fr. Dike Chibuzor, who officiated at the commissioning of the house, lauded Mbisiogu for his love and support for the less privileged. According to him, what transpired was akin to man being God unto man.
The priest, who is the coordinator of Uzotex Foundation, South East zone, said: “Uzotex is an angel on earth, touching lives. This house is just one of the things he is doing.”
It was testimony galore as the house was handed over to the beneficiary. Many narrated the zealous generosity of Mbisiogu. The monarch of the community described him as a rare breed and a blessing to the community.
For Mrs Madueke and others, it was a day to remember for as long as she lived. She displayed different dance steps and sang happily to the glory of God, who made it possible.
“God, I thank you. Uzotex, I’m very grateful. God is good. God will continue to bless Uzotex, his family and his businesses,” she said.
Again, when Mbisiogu celebrated his 50th birthday recently, he touched the lives of the underprivileged as usual. He said: “I have widows that I have been supporting over the years, young people and so many others. They are uppermost in my plan to celebrate this milestone.”
Explaining his journey into philanthropy, he said: “We live in a community where they cultivate yam and my mum would use a lorry called 911 to carry yam tubers and share to the villagers. So, I copied that from my mum, giving out bags of rice.
“Also, an encounter with a reverend father who I visited in Ideato South (in Imo State) spurred me to do more. There, I saw two women angry, raining curses and shouting. He explained that they didn’t get the two De Rica (cups) of rice he shared . That was my inspiration from 2009, I started sharing between 100 to 300 bags of rice every year.”
Mbisiogu also organises medical outreach to cater for the needs of indigent Nigerians. For being his brothers and sisters’ keeper, he won the prestigious The Sun Humanitarian Service Award 2022.
