From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Eight years after leaving office as governor of Anambra State, Peter Gregory Onwubuasi Obi, despite having not occupied any other public office since then, is at the moment one of Nigeria’s most popular public persons.
Pundits are of the opinion that Obi’s high profile antecedents showcased publicly from the time he ran for public office as governor in 2003, the three years he spent in court to reclaim his mandate, the time he was in court again to fight his impeachment, his tenure interpretation suit in 2007 that led to his eventual victory and altering the governorship election calendar and introduction of staggered election as well as his outstanding performance as governor can be traced to his family foundation and marriage which have all been dubbed excellent.
They are of the view that his driving force has been anchored on good home upbringing and Christian background, which nurtured him to goodness and greatness.
Mr. Obi, who hails from Amatutu village, Agulu community, Anaocha Local Government Area, Anambra State, was born on July 19, 1961 in Onitsha.
His parents Josephat (now late) and Mrs. Agnes Obi were good Christians who resided in Onitsha early enough before the civil war. The father, Josephat made money early in life and owned the popular Ideal Soul Super Market in Onitsha then. Agulu people pioneered super market and confectionary/ bakery business in Nigeria and they have remained leaders in that sector till date.
His father’s death in 1968, when Peter was barely seven, and the effects of the civil war crashed the super market business and they started from ground zero after the war.
An octogenarian and Onitsha indigene, Onochie Ibekwe told Saturday Sun that he could recall with nostalgia when the Ideal Soul Super Market was booming and the family was the cynosure of all eyes then, as the late Josephat Obi had a Mercedes car then, a great luxury for the few rich in that late 50s and 60s.
Onyebuchi, grandson of the Obis also narrated to Saturday Sun that her mother Agnes told her stories of how their mother (his grandmother and Peter Obi’s mother) suffered and passed through the fire literally after the war to raise the status of the family again when she lost her husband and all their fortunes after the civil war.
“Because of the family background and the discipline of Obi’s mother, men who married newly then normally brought their wives to Mama Agnes to train for them. She had a domestic training centre then, where the young girls were groomed into better wives for their husbands, inculcated with the right values and morals and also taught skills like weaving, bakery, sewing among others.
“This virtuous woman, Mama Peter Obi popularly known as Madam Nado, still standing today trained the 10 children single-handedly in industry, dedication to duty, fear of God and hard work that today all of them including the deceased families are success stories.
“Through their mother’s struggle, she raised the Nado Restaurant building still standing today at Modebe Avenue, Onitsha; another building at Old Hospital Road and their family house in the village,” he said.
Media reports had before now ascribed four people as Obi’s siblings because those four were somehow in the limelight. But Saturday Sun can authoritatively state that Obi’s parents bore ten children, though two are now late, leaving eight alive. The first child of the family is Dominic Obi, an engineer residing in Onitsha. Following Dom was Bibiana, who married an Ukana, Udi, Enugu State man, but she died in 2018.
The late Bibiana was the immediate elder to Ireanus Obi, now late too. Ireanus was the man behind Techno Oil in Lagos, and the wife now manages the flourishing oil company, which can be rated among the top ten in the petrochemical oil industry in Nigeria today.
After Ireanus is Damian Obi, another successful businessman based in Lagos. Damian is the immediate senior to Martina Obi, a Rev. Sister with the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary. Sister Martina, the nun is the immediate elder to Peter Obi.
Peter is the immediate elder brother to Rev. Fr. Fabian Obi, a Catholic Priest of Awka Diocese ordained on August 12, 1989 and presently, the rector, Blessed Iwene Tansi Major Seminary, Onitsha, owned by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Onitsha Province. Rev Father Obi, who has a striking resemblance with Peter, holds a doctorate degree in Ecclesiastical History from the Pontifica University, Gregoriana, Rome, Italy.
After Father Fabian is Agnes named after their mother. Known as Mama Chioma. Agnes is the brain behind Bibiana Bread (named after their late elder sister), a flourishing bakery in Awka, Anambra State.
Agnes is the immediate senior to Francis, another of Peter Obi’s sibling, a medical doctor resident in the USA. Francis is the immediate senior to Ndibe Obi, the high flier, who is the face behind Next Cash and Carry in Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities. Ndibe is the last born in the family.
Onyebuchi also noted that the discipline instilled in the Obi family by the parents still remained strong till today that all of them still dine from the same plate without rancour, while the family remained cool headed and minded its business when Peter was governor for eight years in Anambra State.
Valentine Obienyem, Obi’s media aide said Peter’s marriage and the kind of woman he married also consolidated his success stories.
Obienyem said the character of the Obis and his wife Margaret reflected in their own family too as their two children, Oseloka and Gabriella, are also pursuing their life dreams instead of depending on their father’s image and connections.