Very sure every Nigerian of a voting age must have heard about Mr. Peter Gregory OBI, (CON) who was born on 19th July, 1961 at Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria.
A Nigerian to the core, Peter Obi is married with two children. He attended the popular Christ the King College also known as CKC Onitsha where he obtained his West African School Certificate (WASC). From CKC, he went to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to obtain B.A. in Philosophy.
He is widely read and has since acquired more knowledge having attended the Chief Executive Programme of the Lagos Business School, Nigeria; Harvard Business School, Boston, U.S.A. on Mid-to-Mid Marketing; Harvard Business School, Boston, U.S.A. on Changing the Game; London School of Economics on Financial Management/Business Policy; Columbia Business School, New York, U.S.A. on Marketing Management; and · Institute for Management Development, Switzerland for the Senior Executive Programme.
Also, Mr. Peter Obi, fondly called 'Okwute' meaning the rock, schooled at the Institute for Management Development, Switzerland on Break-Through Programme for CEOs; Kellogg Graduate School of Management, U.S.A. for Advanced Executive Programme; Kellogg School of Management U.S.A. (Global Advanced Management Programme; Oxford University: Said Business School, on Advanced Management and Leadership Programme; and Cambridge University: George Business School on Advanced Leadership Programme to mention but a few.
Previously, Mr. Peter Obi has held provisions of importance across Nigeria including the being the Governor, Anambra State of Nigeria between 2006-2014; Honorary Special Adviser to the President on Finance till May, 2015; Member, Presidential Economic Management Team, also till May, 2015.
In addition, Peter Obi was the Vice-Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum between 2008-2014 and Chairman, South-East Governors’ Forum from 2006 and 2014; former chairmen of Board of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Fidelity Bank Plc; Guardian Express Mortgage Bank, Ltd; Future Views Securities, Ltd; Paymaster Nigeria Plc. as well as Next International (Nigeria) Ltd respectively.
Previously, Mr. Peter Obi has held provisions of importance across Nigeria including the being the Governor, Anambra State of Nigeria between 2006-2014; Honorary Special Adviser to the President on Finance till May, 2015; Member, Presidential Economic Management Team, also till May, 2015.
In addition, Peter Obi was the Vice-Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum between 2008-2014 and Chairman, South-East Governors’ Forum from 2006 and 2014; former chairmen of Board of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Fidelity Bank Plc; Guardian Express Mortgage Bank, Ltd; Future Views Securities, Ltd; Paymaster Nigeria Plc. as well as Next International (Nigeria) Ltd respectively.
Obi equally was the former Directors: Guardian Express Bank Plc; Chams Nigeria Plc; Emerging Capital Ltd; and Card Centre Plc.
The man popular called Okwute among his Igbo brethren, is a member of several professional associations and organisations, comprising but not limited to membership of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG); Nigerian Chartered Institute of Bankers; British Institute of Directors (IOD).
The man popular called Okwute among his Igbo brethren, is a member of several professional associations and organisations, comprising but not limited to membership of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG); Nigerian Chartered Institute of Bankers; British Institute of Directors (IOD).
Noteworthy is that in his capacity as the Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi served as a member of some federal institutions including the Federal Government Committee on Minimum Wage; Federal Government Committee on Negotiation with Labour on Subsidy; Federal Government Committee on Mass Transit; Federal Government Committee on Natural Resource; National Economic Council Committee on Power Sector Reform; National Economic Council Committee on Sharing of MDGs Funds; National Economic Council Committee on Accurate Data on Nigeria’s Oil Import and Export; Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council; Sub-Committee on Needs Analysis of Public Universities in Nigeria; and National Economic Council Review Committee on the Power Sector.
Further, Peter Obi has received many awards and recognitions which are not limited to the "2015: Golden Jubilee Award from Catholic Diocese of Onitsha for outstanding contribution to quality healthcare delivery in St. Charles Borromeo Hospital in particular and Anambra State in general, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the hospital.
"2014: Nigerian Library Association Golden Merit Award for remarkable improvement of libraries in Anambra State, exemplified by our Government's construction of the Kenneth Dike Digital State Library, remarkable upgrade of the Onitsha Divisional Library, and provision of library facilities in secondary schools across the State.
"2014: Champion Newspaper Most Outstanding Igbo Man of the Decade; The Voice Newspaper (Holand) Achievers Award for Outstanding Example in Leadership and Governance."
In 2013, Peter Obi was declared the "Silver Bird Man of the Year (with Governor BabatundeFashola of Lagos State)" and 2012 he emerged the "Business Hallmark Newspaper Man of the Year." While adding to his list "The Golden Award on Prudence – by the Methodist Church of Nigeria as the Most Financially Prudent Governor in Nigeria" as well as "Leadership and Good Governance Award by The Ezeife Leadership Foundation Award for restoring peace and harmony to Anambra State; Best Performing Governor on Immunization in South-East Nigeria – by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Outstanding Financial Planner and Manager – by the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion for my resourcefulness and creativity in governance" within the period under review.
In 2011, Peter Obi bagged the "Zik Leadership Prize" and a year before in 2010 he was proclaimed the "ICT Governor of the Year – by the West Africa ICT Development Award" whereas in 2009 he became the 'Champion Newspaper Nigeria’s Most Trustworthy Governor Award; and Thisday Newspaper Most Prudent Governor in Nigeria; even as in 2007 he was "The Sun Newspaper Man of the Year Award" just as he was the Nigerian MDGs Office/UNDP Best Governor in the Implementation of the MDGs in Nigeria.
Political reforms:
Due to his steadfast for constitutional reforms, Peter Obi saw to some major changes in Nigerian politics, namely as he was the first gubernatorial candidate in Nigeria to legally challenge to its logical conclusion, his governorship electoral victory that was denied him. He won in the Courts and reclaimed his mandate.
Equally, he was the first Governor in Nigeria to legally challenge his wrongful impeachment and was reinstated by the Courts; He was the first Governor in Nigeria to seek the interpretation of tenures of Governors when INEC allowed elections to take place in Anambra State when his tenure had not expired; the election already concluded was cancelled and he was allowed to complete his tenure; He was the first Governor to serve a 2nd term in both the new and old Anambra State, that is, almost 40 years after creation of the State; He was the first Governor, whilst still in Office, to be appointed a Special Adviser to the President.
Peter Obi, was the first serving Governor to be appointed into the Presidential Economic Management Team and was among the first Governors to be honoured with a National Award in 2011, while still in office.
Although Peter Obi was the only Governor whose political party was in government in only one State, he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum twice; Though the only non-PDP Governor in the South-East (made up of 5 States), he was elected by the other 4 PDP Governors as their Chairman for 8 years rather than the usual one year.
Some fundamental achievements:
Some of his fundamental achievements as governor of Anambra State cannot be over looked by partially outlined below.
1. Anambra was the first State to commence Sub-Sovereign Wealth savings, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. At a time many other Governors were leaving huge debts, I left the equivalent of $500 million Dollars in investment as well as local and foreign currency, including $156 million in Dollar-denominated bonds.
2. For the first time in the history of Anambra State, Ambassadors and High Commissioners of notable countries such as United Stated, Britain, Russia, European Union, South Africa, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Canada, among others, visited the State. Before my tenure, Anambra was practically a pariah state blacklisted by the Diplomatic Corps and international development partners.
3. Development partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank, DFID, the European Union etc., which hitherto were not in Anambra State started working with the State. Anambra was consistently adjudged one of the best states in development partnership and commitment to reforms for good governance.
4. He was recognised as Best Governor by the Millennium Development Goals Office (OSSAP-MDGs) and the UNDP in the implementation of their programmes in Nigeria.
5. The Nigerian Debt Management Office (DMO) rated Anambra as the least indebted state in Nigeria. In spite of visible and measurable achievements recorded in various sectors, the State under him did not borrow or raise bonds for her various projects.
6. The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria rated Anambra State as the most financially stable state in the country.
7. The State's ground-breaking return of schools to their original owners - Voluntary Agencies (Churches) on 1st January 2009, and subsequent partnership with the Agencies in Education, saw the State move from 24th position out of 36 States to Number One in National Examination Council (NECO) and West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations for three consecutive years. This made the World Bank to commission a study, led by the renowned Prof. Paul Collier of Oxford University, on this revolutionary partnership and phenomenal achievement.
8. The State also entered into strategic partnership with the Churches in the Health sector. This symbiotic relationship resulted in a tremendous boost to health care because of the services offered by health institutions owned by Voluntary Agencies, while the State restored grants to the agencies and made available to them more than 50 million Dollars in various types of support.
10. Through partnership with the Church in the Health sector, his Government funded the transformation of -:
a: Iyienu Hospital, Ogidi;
b: Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala;
c: St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha;
d: Holy Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha; and
e: St. Joseph Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu.
His Government also built the Joseph Nwilo Heart Centre in St. Joseph, Adazi-Nnukwu, where heart operations are now being performed.
11. His Government won the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (1 Million dollars) as the best-performing state in immunisation in the South-East. With complementary funding from our Government, they used the money to build 10 Maternal and Child Care Centres across the State, particularly in rural communities, in partnership with the Churches.
12. The State was the first to procure and distribute more than 30,000 computers to secondary schools, including 22,500 from HP. The Managing Director for Personal Systems Group HP Inc, Mr. FabriceCampoy described the deployment as the biggest of such projects in the Middle-East and Africa.
13. Anambra State Government provided Microsoft Academies to more than 500 secondary schools, which the Head of Microsoft in Nigeria (Mr. Ken Span) described as the biggest such deployment in Africa so far.
14. The State provided Internet access to more than 500 secondary schools, which the CEO of Galaxy Backbone (Mr. Gerald Ilukwe) characterized as incomparable to any in the country.
15. More than 700 buses were provided to secondary schools in the State by our Government.
16. Boreholes were provided in schools all over the State.
17. Numerous classrooms were built in all the 177 communities of the State.
18 As part of the efforts to turn around the economy of the State, a number of companies were attracted to build their facilities in the Anambra State. A case in point is SABMiller, the 2nd largest brewery in the world, which built their first Green Field facility in the State, which is today one of the most successful facilities they operate globally.
19. A number of other companies followed the SABMiller initiative and were all supported and encouraged under our Government; a good example is INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company, from which our government bought more than 1,000 vehicles.
20. Anambra State for the first time started close collaboration with recognized government security agencies (the Police, Army, Navy, Department of State Security, Civil Defence, among others), offering them various types of support including provision of more than 500 security vehicles. The improvement in security was phenomenal, such that the former IG of Police (Abubakar Mohammed) lauded Anambra State for not witnessing any bank robbery in my last three years in office.
21. To further enhance security, Anambra State provided at least one security vehicle to each of all the 177 communities in the State as well as various organizations such as markets and Churches.
22. His Administration conceived and built, from scratch, the first state-owned Teaching Hospital, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu teaching Hospital, Awka.
23. His Government commenced the planned development of the Igbariam Campus of the ChukwuemekaOdumegwu-Ojukwu University, including the fencing, construction of internal roads, electrification, construction of the Faculty of Law, Auditorium, Administrative Block, Faculty of Agriculture, Management Building, among others).
24. His Government attracted the World Bank support on erosion - National Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) - to Anambra State.
25. His Government was the first to do Poverty Mapping in Nigeria, as a guide for the effective implementation of our poverty-alleviation strategies.
26 His Government, for the first time, undertook the aerial mapping of Awka as well as the production of Structure Plans for Awka Capital Territory, Onitsha and Nnewi.
27. During his tenure and with his Government's support, Anambra State became an oil producing State.
28. He built the first Secretariat Complex to house State Government Ministries that were hitherto scattered around the State.
29. His government commenced the development of the 'Three Arms Zone' comprising Government House/Governor’s Lodge, Legislative Building/Speakers Residence, and Judiciary Building with Chief Judge’s Residence.
30. By the end of his tenure in 2014, more than twelve (12) health institutions, including two hospitals, had secured accreditation; when we took off in 2006, no health institution in Anambra State was duly accredited.
31. Anambra State was the first to undergo national peer review, which scrutinised State Governments for good governance, through the State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM), an initiative of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in collaboration with the DFID.
Further, Peter Obi has received many awards and recognitions which are not limited to the "2015: Golden Jubilee Award from Catholic Diocese of Onitsha for outstanding contribution to quality healthcare delivery in St. Charles Borromeo Hospital in particular and Anambra State in general, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the hospital.
"2014: Nigerian Library Association Golden Merit Award for remarkable improvement of libraries in Anambra State, exemplified by our Government's construction of the Kenneth Dike Digital State Library, remarkable upgrade of the Onitsha Divisional Library, and provision of library facilities in secondary schools across the State.
"2014: Champion Newspaper Most Outstanding Igbo Man of the Decade; The Voice Newspaper (Holand) Achievers Award for Outstanding Example in Leadership and Governance."
In 2013, Peter Obi was declared the "Silver Bird Man of the Year (with Governor BabatundeFashola of Lagos State)" and 2012 he emerged the "Business Hallmark Newspaper Man of the Year." While adding to his list "The Golden Award on Prudence – by the Methodist Church of Nigeria as the Most Financially Prudent Governor in Nigeria" as well as "Leadership and Good Governance Award by The Ezeife Leadership Foundation Award for restoring peace and harmony to Anambra State; Best Performing Governor on Immunization in South-East Nigeria – by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Outstanding Financial Planner and Manager – by the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion for my resourcefulness and creativity in governance" within the period under review.
In 2011, Peter Obi bagged the "Zik Leadership Prize" and a year before in 2010 he was proclaimed the "ICT Governor of the Year – by the West Africa ICT Development Award" whereas in 2009 he became the 'Champion Newspaper Nigeria’s Most Trustworthy Governor Award; and Thisday Newspaper Most Prudent Governor in Nigeria; even as in 2007 he was "The Sun Newspaper Man of the Year Award" just as he was the Nigerian MDGs Office/UNDP Best Governor in the Implementation of the MDGs in Nigeria.
Political reforms:
Due to his steadfast for constitutional reforms, Peter Obi saw to some major changes in Nigerian politics, namely as he was the first gubernatorial candidate in Nigeria to legally challenge to its logical conclusion, his governorship electoral victory that was denied him. He won in the Courts and reclaimed his mandate.
Equally, he was the first Governor in Nigeria to legally challenge his wrongful impeachment and was reinstated by the Courts; He was the first Governor in Nigeria to seek the interpretation of tenures of Governors when INEC allowed elections to take place in Anambra State when his tenure had not expired; the election already concluded was cancelled and he was allowed to complete his tenure; He was the first Governor to serve a 2nd term in both the new and old Anambra State, that is, almost 40 years after creation of the State; He was the first Governor, whilst still in Office, to be appointed a Special Adviser to the President.
Peter Obi, was the first serving Governor to be appointed into the Presidential Economic Management Team and was among the first Governors to be honoured with a National Award in 2011, while still in office.
Although Peter Obi was the only Governor whose political party was in government in only one State, he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum twice; Though the only non-PDP Governor in the South-East (made up of 5 States), he was elected by the other 4 PDP Governors as their Chairman for 8 years rather than the usual one year.
Some fundamental achievements:
Some of his fundamental achievements as governor of Anambra State cannot be over looked by partially outlined below.
1. Anambra was the first State to commence Sub-Sovereign Wealth savings, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. At a time many other Governors were leaving huge debts, I left the equivalent of $500 million Dollars in investment as well as local and foreign currency, including $156 million in Dollar-denominated bonds.
2. For the first time in the history of Anambra State, Ambassadors and High Commissioners of notable countries such as United Stated, Britain, Russia, European Union, South Africa, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Canada, among others, visited the State. Before my tenure, Anambra was practically a pariah state blacklisted by the Diplomatic Corps and international development partners.
3. Development partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank, DFID, the European Union etc., which hitherto were not in Anambra State started working with the State. Anambra was consistently adjudged one of the best states in development partnership and commitment to reforms for good governance.
4. He was recognised as Best Governor by the Millennium Development Goals Office (OSSAP-MDGs) and the UNDP in the implementation of their programmes in Nigeria.
5. The Nigerian Debt Management Office (DMO) rated Anambra as the least indebted state in Nigeria. In spite of visible and measurable achievements recorded in various sectors, the State under him did not borrow or raise bonds for her various projects.
6. The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria rated Anambra State as the most financially stable state in the country.
7. The State's ground-breaking return of schools to their original owners - Voluntary Agencies (Churches) on 1st January 2009, and subsequent partnership with the Agencies in Education, saw the State move from 24th position out of 36 States to Number One in National Examination Council (NECO) and West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations for three consecutive years. This made the World Bank to commission a study, led by the renowned Prof. Paul Collier of Oxford University, on this revolutionary partnership and phenomenal achievement.
8. The State also entered into strategic partnership with the Churches in the Health sector. This symbiotic relationship resulted in a tremendous boost to health care because of the services offered by health institutions owned by Voluntary Agencies, while the State restored grants to the agencies and made available to them more than 50 million Dollars in various types of support.
10. Through partnership with the Church in the Health sector, his Government funded the transformation of -:
a: Iyienu Hospital, Ogidi;
b: Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala;
c: St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha;
d: Holy Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha; and
e: St. Joseph Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu.
His Government also built the Joseph Nwilo Heart Centre in St. Joseph, Adazi-Nnukwu, where heart operations are now being performed.
11. His Government won the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (1 Million dollars) as the best-performing state in immunisation in the South-East. With complementary funding from our Government, they used the money to build 10 Maternal and Child Care Centres across the State, particularly in rural communities, in partnership with the Churches.
12. The State was the first to procure and distribute more than 30,000 computers to secondary schools, including 22,500 from HP. The Managing Director for Personal Systems Group HP Inc, Mr. FabriceCampoy described the deployment as the biggest of such projects in the Middle-East and Africa.
13. Anambra State Government provided Microsoft Academies to more than 500 secondary schools, which the Head of Microsoft in Nigeria (Mr. Ken Span) described as the biggest such deployment in Africa so far.
14. The State provided Internet access to more than 500 secondary schools, which the CEO of Galaxy Backbone (Mr. Gerald Ilukwe) characterized as incomparable to any in the country.
15. More than 700 buses were provided to secondary schools in the State by our Government.
16. Boreholes were provided in schools all over the State.
17. Numerous classrooms were built in all the 177 communities of the State.
18 As part of the efforts to turn around the economy of the State, a number of companies were attracted to build their facilities in the Anambra State. A case in point is SABMiller, the 2nd largest brewery in the world, which built their first Green Field facility in the State, which is today one of the most successful facilities they operate globally.
19. A number of other companies followed the SABMiller initiative and were all supported and encouraged under our Government; a good example is INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company, from which our government bought more than 1,000 vehicles.
20. Anambra State for the first time started close collaboration with recognized government security agencies (the Police, Army, Navy, Department of State Security, Civil Defence, among others), offering them various types of support including provision of more than 500 security vehicles. The improvement in security was phenomenal, such that the former IG of Police (Abubakar Mohammed) lauded Anambra State for not witnessing any bank robbery in my last three years in office.
21. To further enhance security, Anambra State provided at least one security vehicle to each of all the 177 communities in the State as well as various organizations such as markets and Churches.
22. His Administration conceived and built, from scratch, the first state-owned Teaching Hospital, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu teaching Hospital, Awka.
23. His Government commenced the planned development of the Igbariam Campus of the ChukwuemekaOdumegwu-Ojukwu University, including the fencing, construction of internal roads, electrification, construction of the Faculty of Law, Auditorium, Administrative Block, Faculty of Agriculture, Management Building, among others).
24. His Government attracted the World Bank support on erosion - National Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) - to Anambra State.
25. His Government was the first to do Poverty Mapping in Nigeria, as a guide for the effective implementation of our poverty-alleviation strategies.
26 His Government, for the first time, undertook the aerial mapping of Awka as well as the production of Structure Plans for Awka Capital Territory, Onitsha and Nnewi.
27. During his tenure and with his Government's support, Anambra State became an oil producing State.
28. He built the first Secretariat Complex to house State Government Ministries that were hitherto scattered around the State.
29. His government commenced the development of the 'Three Arms Zone' comprising Government House/Governor’s Lodge, Legislative Building/Speakers Residence, and Judiciary Building with Chief Judge’s Residence.
30. By the end of his tenure in 2014, more than twelve (12) health institutions, including two hospitals, had secured accreditation; when we took off in 2006, no health institution in Anambra State was duly accredited.
31. Anambra State was the first to undergo national peer review, which scrutinised State Governments for good governance, through the State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM), an initiative of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in collaboration with the DFID.
So, why will you not want such a man to be your next president come 2023? So Nigerians wake up.
Remmy Nweke
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