Why Abians yearn for Ogah

Uchechukwu Samson Ogah is imbued with the necessary leadership ingredients required of anyone who wants to lead a highly resourceful people like Abians. These are lacking in the current leadership. A leader must be ready at all times to identify and show empathy for the people. It would appear that John Mason saw through the heart of Ogah when he said that “the true measure of a person is in his height of ideas, the breadth of his sympathy, the depth of his conviction and the length of his patience”. The burden of the people, Ogah sees as his; their cries pricks his heart and their pain, pains him more. This explains why Ogah’s philanthropic gestures, his humanist bend resonates throughout Abia State. For example, his foundation, the Uche Ogah Foundation, founded in December, 2001, has provided economic and medical succour to many in Abia State and different communities across the nation. In the last couple of years, Ogah has also offered scholarships to many students across the country in addition to sponsoring free medical services in different parts of Nigeria. He has equally built and equipped a number of modern hospitals in his native community, Uturu and other communities in Nigeria. Ogah also partnered with a number of medical centres, including the Hopeville Rehabilitation Centre, to fabricate artificial limbs and calipers for people with disability. He has also instituted a chair at the Abia State University and is building a 5,000 capacity auditorium in the same university.

Abians are in unanimity that Ogah is a liberator and shackles breaker who is needed more than ever before to free Abia from misrule. And they eagerly wait to crown him their next governor via their votes next year.

A recipient of the National Honour of Order of the Niger (OON), Ogah was born to Chief Wilson and Ezinne Pauline Ogah of Onuaku Uturu,Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State on December 22, 1969.He attended Ishiagu High School, after which he worked at West African Examination Council (WAEC) from 1986–89, before he proceeded to the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu State where he obtained Upper Credit at Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in 1992 and Distinction at the Higher National Diploma (HND) Level in 1995 in Accounting. He also attended University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) where he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in 2005.The oil mogul equally has a Bachelor of Science degree (Banking and Finance) from Ogun State University and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Lagos. Ogah obtained his ACA in 2007. He is a Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); Fellow, Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Shipping; Fellow, Employment & Career and member, Chartered Institute of Bankers.

The APC governorship candidate began his career as a banker with his National Youth Service year at NAL Bank Plc. He took up employment at All States Trust Bank, where he worked for about two years before joining Zenith Bank in 1997. At Zenith Bank, he set a record of growing a new branch from zero balance sheets to over N9 billion and rose to the position of an Assistant General Manager (AGM) in Zenith Bank. He resigned in 2007 to pursue a career in entrepreneurship.

Upon exiting the Zenith bank, he founded Master Energy Group. Ogah is currently the President of Master Energy Group – a conglomerate with workforce of about 42, 000 with interests in oil & gas, banking, insurance, aviation, shipping, dredging, logistics, construction, travel services, and power.

Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited has grown into a conglomerate with investments worth tens of billions of naira. At a time when investors were exiting the Niger Delta region because its security challenges, Masters Energy City invested billions of naira in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Ae single investment, a 158,000 tonne petroleum products storage facility provided direct employment to over 600 citizens of the Niger Delta region, and over 4,000 ancillary positions.

Masters Energy City contains a fabrication yard which fabricates and constructs equipment for use in the oil and gas industry and other sectors. The fabrication yard has constructed two different 1,000 MT capacity barges and is presently constructing additional three barges.