By Monday Uwagwu
Indomitable newshound, Patrick ‘Oyibo ‘ Mgbodo, it was who, just as the sun was cresting home on its daily journey yesterday called me by phone.
Mgbodo, ubiquitous for his reach and potent for his delivery capacity , after our mutual exchanges of courtesy, said he called to have my opinion on Charles Aniagwu, who would be 53 Gregorian years old today.
Well, I told him I would get back to him with feedback, and after a few minutes, assembled some words into a few sentences and mailed them to him by Whatsapp post.
That was yesterday, as I said, as the faithful tropical Sun bathed Mother Earth with its last golden shafts of ray as it coasted home behind the clouds.
To be fair, I had actually forgotten the September 7 birth anniversary of my colleague, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu.
That was until Mgbodo called to remind me that the man in question was turning 53 ( imagine the cosmological significance of the number: five as the number of grace, and three as the numerological representation of completeness, especially in Christian theology!) today.
Beyond all else, the call made me realize that I needed to do something beyond the few words I scrambled out of my increasingly sticky brain for the importunate Mgbodo.
But what else could I do in the circumstance , and within the limited capsule of time available to me?
Slowly, I tried to update my earlier work on the subject, who is the Commissioned for Information ( Public Communication ) and Works( Rural Roads).
An improved version of that effort is what is hereunder presented.
Long,long ago- I think, that should be 32 years or so ago, I was privileged to meet two truly extraordinarily wonderful Nigerians, with whom I shared a discussion.
The two were top class achievers by whatever yardstick and I was only privileged to have met them at the occasion because they had helped nurture my elder brother, Michael Ahima Uwagwu, during his medical studies at the University of Benin at which he later worked briefly as a consultant and earned, by dint of his exemplary work, the epithet of Dr. No Problem Uwagwu. Yes, there was no problem that he classified as insurmountable, and his legion successes made everyone testify to his exemplary serviceability.
So much for my now late elder brother.
As I said , my elder brother had been nurtured by the two titans .I actually nicknamed them the incus of the medical practice, and by his close association with them, my brother learnt far many good things that no formal classroom setting can offer a student:he had the best of the two geniuses-Prof. John Ebie, the medical wizard from Agbor Alidinma in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, who became the best psychiatrist in the whole of Africa, and Dr. Adeoye Lambo, then Deputy Director – General of the World Health Organization, WHO.
Ebie was also Chairman of the board of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, and former Commissioner for Education and Health in the Mid West Region, the forerunner to Mid West State and later, Bend State.
Both men , noted globally for their professional dexterity and personal integrity, helped hone my elder brother ‘s skills in medical practice and related activities.
So, you can imagine when, at the launching of Project Save at UBTH, I had the rare honour to accompany my elder brother to the venue and to share the company of these great giants of medical practice and personal integrity!
Now, 32 years or so after the event, and the demise of all three, I have never forgotten what both men told me…Apparently drawing from their personal experiences on the global stage, they warned that Nigeria was in grave development danger as it was producing more persons than human beings, as citizens.
Befuddled, I had asked, perhaps out of my inquisitiveness as a young reporter with The Nigerian Observer, what the difference was between a person and a human being.
It was Prof E bie who summed it up thus: A person has only a sense of entitlement which he insists on even in the most undeserving of circumstances and unsuspicious of places, while a human being has an appropriate mix of the sense of entitlement and of responsibility.
He later explained that any society with more persons was doomed to underdevelopment because of the undue sense of entitlement of its citizens who take only from the system without giving anything in return.
The rest as it is said, is history.
Today, long after the sages spoke at UBTH, their words have kept echoing in my mind: where and how does society find the few human beings to run its affairs and put it on a sustainable development pedestal?
Well, the search may not be easy but a few leaders have had the luck of finding some.
One of them is Charles Aniagwu, who today turns 53 years of age.
, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, as everyone can readily recall, was the spokesman of the 2023 Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Born on September 7, 1972 in Akumazi-Umuocha in Ika North East local government area of Delta State, Aniagwu, by his experience, skill and devotion, is a ready made product for core official assignments at the highest level of corporate communication.
He is a product of multiple tertiary schools: Auchi Polytechnic (ND in Mass Communication): Ogun State Polytechnic (HND Mass Communication); University of Calabar (PGD in Public Administration) and Enugu State University of Technology (M.Sc in Human Resource Management- 2023). He had earlier attended Ndemili Grammar School, Ndemili, where he earned the school certificate.
As with theoretical engagement in schools so with practical experience in industry, Aniagwu has had vast relevant experience as a practicing journalist, media consultant and spokesman for sundry interests/groups.
After, his NYSC programme (where he was Information Officer in Yobe State Ministry of Information); he became Politics Correspondent (DBN TV); National Assembly Correspondent for DAAR Communication Plc 2005 – 2015; co-producer/presenter, Political Forum for Raypower FM (2006 – 2015); Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa (2015 – 2019); member, Publicity Sub-committee on the 2018 Flood Management (2018); member, Delta State Governorship Inauguration Committee, Delta State, 2019); Chairman, Publicity Committee 2020 Flood Disaster Management Committee (2020 – 2022); Commissioner for Information, Delta State (2019 – 2023) and spokesperson, Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign (2022- 2023. Aniagwu has since returned to the familiar terrain of the Ministry of Information where he serves as Commissioner for Public Communication, effectively combining the portfolio with that of Commissioner fur Works in charge of .Rural Roads.
With more than 22 years of practical experience on the job, he is an acknowledged expert in perception management.
Aniagwu, by both the written/spoken words and body language, is a master communicator whose on-the-job efficiency made the Atiku/Okowa ticket a prime buyer’s choice in the lead up processes to the presidential election of 2023.
His thorough analysis of issues and sharp, credible deductions therefrom, laced with an enchanting candour and an enthralling language power stood him out and gave a significant edge to the PDP’s Atiku/Okowa ticket.
He replicated the same with amazing accuracy and proficiency at the state level, when as Commissioner for Information and (before then) Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okowa, he had to speak for the government and the governor.
He sustainable amazing tempo of efficiency with an effortless eafy that is befuddling, if not actually mysterious.
But Aniagwu’s efficiency is not only at communication, undoubtedly good though he is at it: he has an alluring personality that disarms even the most cynical and an infectious level of confidence and capacity that earns him conviction and cooperation on issues involving him and others. With a deep wealth of experience and a welter of relevant facts to readily draw from, Aniagwu speaks with effortless ease, the ease that flows from a focused mind and an adroit, liberal heart.
On the job, too, the master communicator has delivered. While it is said that the tempo and quality of development of any sector of the economy of any state is largely dependent on the disposition of the principal (State Governor), it also goes to credible effect to hold the disposition of the principal is largely influenced by his main lieutenant commissioner in the affected sector. And the on-the-job efficiency of Mr. Aniagwu, both as Chief Press Secretary and Commissioner, bear eloquent testimony to this fact.
As civil commissioner under Governor Ifeanyi Okowa , Aniagwu ensured that the state media outfits – The Pointer, DBS Asaba, and DRTV, Warri, are in a far better operational and aesthetic state than they had ever been, while the wellbeing and work environment of the media workers were equally enhanced.
Yes, much more remains to be done to make the media houses more competitive.
Of that there can be no doubt, but what is also not in doubt, even for the briefest capsule of time, is the capacity of Aniagwu to consistently press the right buttons to ensure that the media outfits under his watch, and with a listening Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, get a well deserved and long over due face lift.
Deltans wait for that day, which they hope may not be too long in coming.
For now, what else can I say than to wish my beloved friend I prefer to call my junior brother, a well deserved birthday and many happy returns?
As his indigenous Ika middle name ( Ehiedu) suggests, may his destiny continue to lead him on to higher and greater successes and many, many more fruitful years ahead
As he marks his 53rd birthday today there is little doubt that the promising young man I first met as an intern at Government House, Benin (while I was The Observer correspondent on that beat, then) and has now become an expert communicator, is set to further market the state and its people, using the operational code of the Oborevwori administration as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).
Aniagwu is happily married to his heartthrob, Jane Chinenye Aniagwu, by whom he has promising children.
