FAREWELL,  IFEANYI UBAH

 OBINNA CHIDOKA pays tribute to his friend, brother, businessman and politician, Ifeanyi Ubah

I had waited for over four days to write this tribute because I believe in Jesus Christ and in his redemptive nature, His resurrection powers and His abiding love to us mankind and just like Lazarus who rose from the dead four days later that this scenario could play out here. 

I was barely awake on Saturday morning 27 July 2024 when my wife said to me “I think something happened to Ifeanyi Ubah, I’m seeing the news that he is dead but I blurted out: stop it, and turned on my side to continue sleeping. Then I heard the distress from her voice, “ I think Ifeanyi is dead “ !!!

In late 2007, after Rt Hon Dimeji Bankole was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, a few of us were in his entourage to visit his home State of Ogun. The first stop was the Government House where we were to meet the then Governor Gbenga Daniel. We were seated in the living room waiting for the Governor to arrive. I had wanted to get something I forgot in the car so I went outside and I heard someone said, “Obi kedu? I looked back and I saw a young man, average height, stocky and brown in complexion, and I wondered aloud what this Igbo man was doing in Ogun State Government House. He laughed and said with self assured confidence, my name is ”Ifeanyi Ubah Capital oil” (and this is how I saved his name on my phone till this day!) as if I should know who he is..! I actually didn’t know but asked what he was doing there and he said he came with someone from Lagos on our entourage but was told only Honorable members can go in. 

Also with self assured confidence.. I told him to come in with me but he refused saying he didn’t want any embarrassment. I insisted whilst assuring him no one would.

As we came into the room, I saw an empty chair and I told him to sit, not realizing that the Hon member sitting there went to ease himself. When he came back the guy was furious and even questioned Ifeanyi for being there..Ifeanyi looked at me and said ..”Obi okwa m gwa gi agwa”! (Obi I told you) I quickly calmed everyone down and gave Ifeanyi my seat and the staff there was asked to get me another chair and he sat in that meeting with the Governor and Honorable members!

When we got back to Lagos, driving up the drive way to Eko Hotel, I saw Ifeanyi in front of the hotel, more like directing traffic, given out orders to drivers and other people around him and I said to my self, who is this ubiquitous guy! It was later that evening that I learnt that almost all the cars in the convoy to Ogun State was owned by him and he paid for all the rooms we stayed in at Eko Hotel for that courtesy visit.

That was the beginning of our friendship with one of the most generous beings I have to come to know and whom I fondly called Agu. Sometime in 2008 my younger brother Bishop Sam Chidoka, CEO Kairos Capital, whose company then, UBA global Markets had a meeting with Capital oil and during the introduction Ifeanyi asked him if he was related to me; he then sent a message through him to me afterwards.

It was after Bishop Sam told me of his encounter with Ifeanyi that I visited him at Capital oil depot in Apapa and I saw the expansive behemoth of oil & gas operations he was sitting on! It was a massive, well run operation which was expanding rapidly. 

We hit it off quickly and almost on a daily basis we get to the depot at about 11am and stay till 2am. It then dawned on me that Ifeanyi was a workaholic. There are too many stories to share but I will narrate a few. 

I recall visiting his depot at Suleja, Niger State. We had barely slept the previous night and early in the morning we set out for Suleja. Half way into the trip the driver said he was sleepy and Ifeanyi decided to drive the car. By the time he got to the depot, his staff, the driver, and myself were all asleep. He woke us up and we did the inspection after which he drove to Abuja Airport. We boarded a chartered plane to Lagos and headed straight to his office in Apapa.

I remember late Chief Ojo Maduekwe as Foreign affairs Minister, asked me to look for a business man who will be on his entourage to Canada. Without hesitation, I suggested Ifeanyi. 

They went on that trip and Chief Ojo was impressed at his knowledge of the oil & gas sector during his meetings with the Canadian business community. Ifeanyi was very elated that he was part of Government delegation and told anyone who cared to listen. That meant that the Government bought him a ticket and he was entitled to a stipend, referred to as estacode. He will later confide in me that, that was the first time anyone, in this case the Government, spent their money on him, he was the one always spending money on others! 

After our traditional wedding in Awka in 2009, Ifeanyi drove my wife and I in his Rolls Royce from Awka to Obosi. I remember seeing the picture we took that evening in Obosi in his house in Lagos. 

I remember asking Agu how come he spoke fluent French and he told me the story of how he arrived Congo as a young man with only a polythene bag and through hard work had a meteoric rise to prominence with access to the then President Kabila. He told me a lot of stories about his life and times in the Congo which I can not share here. He told me of his ordeal and very near death experience after the assassination of President Kabila, and how he miraculously survived a well orchestrated plan to eliminate him due to his closeness to the late President.

I guess Ifeanyi had an interest in politics, judging from the numerous visits he got from politicians and those he supported with a lot of money but didn’t show it initially until sometime towards the 2013 Gubernatorial elections in Anambra State. So on this given day he told me about his plans to contest for the Gubernatorial elections and gave the instance of those he had supported but who had disappointed him on getting elected.

For me it wasn’t a very difficult stance to take as I told him not to join partisan politics and honestly didn’t think he should contest especially as he has a thriving business. And with the benefit of hindsight I don’t think his political achievements could have outweighed his emerging enterprise! 

But that was the turning point in our friendship. 

And so for many years we parted ways only to reconnect now and then and one such reconnections was on Sunday March 3, 2024. Ifeanyi, my brother Osita Chidoka (Ike Obosi) my kids, myself and Vin Onyeka boarded the same flight from Asaba to Abuja, I invited him to the Sunday brunch at my restaurant Citro Abuja and we all had a great time. We had varied discussions about life, Nigerian politics and US politics. We had such a great afternoon that we all agreed to meet again but this time at Osita’s dining table where we have a tradition of having lunch with friends, with loads of arguments and discussions on Sunday evenings.

Unfortunately that Sunday evening with Ifeanyi will not hold anymore, not in this earth life. In my sober reflection I look at death and say.. death don’t do it, don’t do it but death did it..! And there goes Ifeanyi Ubah, my friend and brother, who like any other mortal had his flaws but whom I will always remember as one of the kindest souls I know!

Good night!

Hon. Chidoka – Ife Idemili  is former House of Representatives Member for Idemili North & South Federal Constituency of Anambra State