This is the type of life changing experience that one usually comes across either in the Bible or in fairytales, but I was a witness to this event, and I so testify…

Chukwuebuka Asika was a struggling boy who finished secondary school, took JAMB twice without success and ended up a road sweeper, starting out to work cleaning the city streets as early as 5:00a.m every day.

The only child of his parents has as passion singing and music, which he uses his spare time to practice. This frequently pitched him on a collision course with his father who felt he was wasting his time. He joined his church choir a few years ago, and mother luck shined on him recently on the day of the Festival of Nine Lessons at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu.



He performed the ‘Largo Al Factorum’ from Rossini’s Opera The Barber of Seville. It was a powerful rendition. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who was a guest at the event was awestruck; So was the audience. The governor asked him right there and then… “Make a wish….”

Chukwuebuka dreamt of owning a design house and a tailoring training institute. Instantly, Governor Ugwuanyi doled out a largesse, which had this poor guy shedding tears and rolling on the floor. He literally had to be straitjacketed or he would have injured himself. It was a tear-jerking moment for many of us present.

Today, Chukwuebuka is actualising his dream, acquiring floor space, industrial machine and generator, and other equipment for his institute. When we tracked him down recently, he had this to say… “I am just a struggling boy from Atta, Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State. I love to sing. My parents never believed any good could come from this. I used to feel I disappointed them, being their only child, but I never gave up. Who will believe that a road sweeper like me will experience this good fortune from a stranger? I never got the chance to thank Governor Ugwuanyi for changing my life. I pray God to meet him at every point of his need as he has done for me”.

At a function yesterday I reminded Governor Ugwuanyi of his act of benevolence which he had almost forgotten, and he simply said… “Ambassador, I was a child of poor parents, so I have walked a few miles in that boy’s shoes. Our fate in this life lies in the hands of God”.

I start this New Year with saying Bravo to an exemplary and compassionate leader, a shepherd of dreams, a humble servant of his people, magnanimous to his predecessors; benevolent to his benefactors, a destiny changer. Again I say, may your shadow never grow Dim.

To all struggling youth out there, never give up on your God-given talent. Patience and perseverance are the true conquerors of time….

• Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu is former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain and widow of Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Ezeigbo Gburugburu).

http://igberetvnews.com/1227270/ugwuanyis-miracle-road-sweepers-destiny/

There seems to be a online media team dedicated to the promotion of Ugwuanyi

Any little thing the administration of Ugwuanyi does is splashed online as the next wonder of the world

It only remains for them to tell us that Ugwuanyi's fart smells better than Roses

ok

Ugwuanyi as a governor and politician is a rather humble man...
With obvious or even some fatal human flaws.. But who hasn't got one?
Compared to most politicians, d man is Humane.

gidgiddy:
There seems to be a online media team dedicated to the promotion of Ugwuanyi

Any little thing the administration of Ugwuanyi does is splashed online as the next wonder of the world

It only remains for them to tell us that Ugwuanyi's fart smells better than Roses

i initially thought the same of the Governor , in fact i initially labelled him a good for nothing Governor and an over hyped achiever until recently when some events made me realize i could be wrong.

At the beginning of the year , what ordinarily would have turned into a major disaster in enugu and entire south East was averted when the fire that was initially about the engulf and destroy the Ogbete Market Enugu ended up being curtailed and put off by traders before fire service men arrived.

while traders talked about the fire , they were thankful to the Governor who had sometime in December 2019 organised a fire drill for the traders and trained them on how to put off fire and equipped them with fire extinguishers, this was the saving grace for Ogbete Market.

A similar fire incidence happened in Umuahia and razed down a wooden product market , destroying property and means of livelihood for thousands of Abians this 2020 without any remedy