Celebrating a man of no-mean feats

BIRTH sets a man on course through the orbit of life. The unpredictability of life makes every birthday worth commemoration. But more noteworthy is the content of every life lived owe to history.

  AS THE man, Willie Maduaburochukwu Obiano coasts through his life’s mission with many positive strides to improve humanity and leave behind much to cherish, a peep into his life, humble background and what he has made of it gives good chapters for history and many books.

  DEFINITELY not born with a golden spoon, or blue-blooded, he has ploughed his life into greatness and royalty with each turn of event in his life becoming remarkably historical.

  AGULERI, Anambra East Local Government Area is the place of his birth. His late father,  Philip Obiano was a school teacher and his mother, Christie Obiano, a trader at the time of his birth.

  His education took off from Holy Trinity School, Onitsha – a Catholic missionary school. After a successful completion of his primary school education, he proceeded to Christ the King College (CKC),  Onitsha. He obtained a Grade1 category pass in his  West African School Certificate (WASC) examination  in 1974.

  He first showed signs of his future greatness when he won the John F Kennedy Essay Competition in the same year and gained admission two years later into University of Lagos; where he studied for a  bachelor of science degree and graduated in 1980, on a second class upper division in Accounting and Marketing.

  HE BEGAN his working career with Texaco after his National Youth Service in 1982.

  IN 1991, he joined Fidelity Bank Plc and had a blazing career which saw him rise to the position of executive director before his retirement in 2012. During his banking career, Obiano attended many advanced training courses; including ‘Conflict Managing Change and Crisis Resolution’ at Andersen Consulting in 1997, in London. He also attended Harvard School of Business for a course in ‘Best Practices Leadership and Stamford Business School, California.

  UPON  ending  his banking career on a high note, duty call further beckoned yet again on him to lead Anambra State as her governor. The gubernatorial election held in the state on November 16, 2013, offered him  the springboard to secure the people’s mandate with a resounding victory. The duty stead gave him a  showcase  to unveil to the world, the leadership peculiarities that make him  genius in human and resource development.

  SWORN-in on March 17, 2014, as governor of the state, Obiano hit the ground running with comprehensive routing of criminals who hitherto ravaged  the state. To the disbelief of people who knew the level of crime in the state before he assumed office,  a long-craved sanity came to the state.

  HE FOLLOWED the feat up with unprecedented frenzied spate of infrastructural  projects in the state,  cutting across all sectors in  such a manner that,  less than three years into his administration, Anambra had her first three flyover bridges in the state capital, Awka.   Remodeled facilities emerged in secondary schools across the 21 local  government areas of the state. He  improved revenue  base of the state, evolved a more functional social system and the lands almost sleepy cities came alive. With his coming, Anambra became   recognised in  both national and international stages as one of the most progressive states in Nigeria.

  EVOLVING from new ideological, social, economic, cultural and political transformation verve, ndi Anambra found in Obiano, a man and leader whose  political directions are humane and unrestrained in  services to the people – a trait so rare in  contemporary politicians.

  IN RESPONSE to his unassailable  achievements, ndi Anambra handed him a second term office  with an  overwhelming victory  that saw him win all the 21 local governments in the state in  the November, 2017 Anambra guber election.

  WILLIE Obiano gave  Anambra a Passenger and Cargo Airport; an  International Conference Centre: incredible urban-rural road networks that cut across even the most remote communities;  a growth in agricultural  production, commerce and industries and economic   activities got hugely revamped. He gave a boost to investors’ confidence in the state.  Under him, Anambra began to retain  her  status as   true business hub of Nigeria  – a status she was originally primed for.

  AMAZING as these feats may be, they may not mirror Obiano’s  humane personality as his human development programs have all significantly promoted wealth creation, reduced poverty, empowered the youth and made the grassroots part of the drivers of economy and governance.

IT IS surprising that despite his high socio-political status, he chooses to be with the masses and on his several birthday occasions, he had preferred low-key celebrations and opted to have his friends and acolytes channel whatever resources they arranged for the occasion on his behalf to go on charity to the needy.

  INDEED, Obiano is a man of uncommon feats! Anambra cannot have enough of a man with such large heart. Bravo, man of the people!