Dr. Chris Ngige |
There is no doubt that
right from outset, the personality called Dr.
Chris Ngige had always has a date with history one way or the other. As a
growing young child, Ngige had always carved a niche for himself in all his
endeavours. During his days at St. John Secondary School Alor which is also his
town, Ngige was an exceptional student. No wonder he switched from Commercial
to Science subjects in class four and still made distinction in his school
certificate result in 1972. At University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Ngige
studied Medicine and graduated with flying colours in 1979, despite continuous
involvement in almost all the extra-curriculum activities within and outside
the campus.
Upon graduation, Ngige
unlike many of his colleagues who travelled to overseas or picked jobs in
multinational companies opted for a job at the Federal Ministry of Health where
he worked for years, before leaving voluntarily in 1998 as Deputy Director of
Hospital Services, Federal Medical Centres, and Teaching Hospitals. While in
the Federal Ministry of Health, he was instrumental to the establishment of
permanent sites for most of the federal medical centres and teaching hospitals,
especially in the South East zone. In continuation of his burning desire for
public service in which he has proved his mettle, he ventured into the murky
waters of Nigerian politics as one of the founding fathers of the Peoples’
Democratic Party, (PDP). He was appointed the protem zonal publicity secretary
of the party in the South East in 1998, and later the assistant national/zonal
secretary of the party in the South East zone between 1999 and 2002. The same
year, he was conferred with the national honour of Order of the Niger, OON, for
his diligence, track record and accountability in public service.
In 2003, Ngige had
concluded plan to contest for Anambra Central senatorial seat before he was
persuaded by the party stakeholders including the then President Olusegun
Obasanjo to contest Anambra governorship seat. This was at a time Anambra State
and PDP were in dire need of a worthy governor following the abysmal
performance of the then state governor Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju. Within the short
period of Ngige’s administration in State, he redefined governance and provided
a different kind of leadership that was unprecedented in the history of the
state.
Till date, Ngige’s landmark
achievements, especially in the area of infrastructural development that cuts
across the state, are obvious and verifiable. A feat his successors have been
battling to measure up with, but to no avail. Ngige’s demystification of the
political godfathers in the state at the risk of his life will remain a case
study for student of political history in the country. His survival of his
political abduction on July 10, 2003 by his estranged godfather, Chief Chris Uba, in connivance with
security agents, was a clear manifestation that God was with him and he has not
completed his good work for his people. The judicial/ presidential conspiracy
that led to his removal from office as a governor was known to Nigerians. It
was obvious that his removal from office was not about winning the election,
but his refusal to open the state treasury to the godfathers which was the
tradition in the state before he assumed office.
Upon his removal from
office, he was given a clean bill of health by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) led by its chairman then, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Ngige as matter of
principle left the PDP and co-founded the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),
with the likes of Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu,
former Vice President Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar and others. This was at a time nobody gave his new party any
chance of making an in-road into the South East zone, but Ngige proved the
doubting Thomases wrong as the party has remained a force to reckon with in the
zone, especially in Anambra State, where the party won national and state
assembly seats during the 2011 elections.
It was that year that Ngige
defeated Prof. Dora Akunyili of APGA
in a keenly contested Anambra Senatorial seat election, despite Anambra State
government’s support for Akunyili. While in the Senate, Ngige sponsored bills
and contributed logically in debates. He awarded scholarship to many students
in his zone and provided jobs for several others. Not left out in his largesse
are several communities in the zone, he provided with borehole and electricity.
Ngige worked assiduously alongside others for the successful merger of the key
opposition parties that metamorphosed into the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ngige served as the secretary of
the first rancour-free national convention of the party that produced the
present leadership of the party led by Chief
John Odigie-Oyegun.
At the peak of the 2015
general elections, Ngige was among the few men of character who solidly stood
for the presidential candidate of his party APC, Muhammadu Buhari, especially in the Southeast zone, where many were
beclouded by financial gratifications and sentiment. True to Ngige’s belief and
conviction, Buhari won the presidential election. This was despite the
collective conspiracy by few disgruntled PDP elements in the zone to ensure
that Ngige did not return to the Senate, and probably emerge the Senate
President.
But in the face of all
these, Ngige’s people have taken solace in the fact that the “Change” which he
worked for has finally come for the good of Nigerians with the Muhammadu
Buhari’s presidency. This singular event has vindicated him as a man who saw
tomorrow, when others are more concerned about today, immediacy and lining of
their personal pockets at the expense of others. There is no disputation that
at 63, Dr. Chris Ngige still has a lot to offer Nigerians in his burning desire
to serve humanity selflessly at all times. (Guardian)
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