When you consider retiring from your business and handing it down to a much younger individual, do you get nervous? This is a very serious problem with business and leadership when it comes to passing it down to the younger generation. If we do not try to help our next generation of leaders, in terms of support and encouragement, it could lead to disaster.
Recently, the number of young adults in leadership positions all over the globe that are doing excellently well has been on the increase, and this rise is projected to continue in the years ahead. Below are a few examples:
Kim Jong-un, 29, took over as supreme leader of North Korea after his father’s death in 2011. Barack Obama was 46 when he became the president of the USA. David Cameron, 46, is prime minister of the UK. Joseph Kabila was 29 when he became the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2001, and moved quickly to end the country’s civil war by negotiating peace agreements with rebel forces. Mark Zuckerberg, 28, is the CEO of Facebook. Roosevelt Skerrit was 32 when he became the prime minister of Dominica. Nikola Gruevski was the prime minister of Macedonia at the age of 36. Marcus Stephen was 37 when he became president of Nauru. Mikheil Saakashvili became the president of Georgia at 37. Sergei Stanishev was prime minister of Bulgaria at 39. After earning a PhD in history, he worked as a journalist, covering foreign policy.
In addition, the following people also made their mark at an early age: Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Nelson Mandela, Jacob Zuma, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni, Muammar Al-Qaddafi, David Koresh, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Gates, Louis Franklin, Raul Castro, Johnny Cash, Hugo Chavez, Qin Shi Huang, Fidel Castro, John Adams, George W. Bush, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton, Martin Luther King Jr., Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Sonia Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Rudolf Diesel, Christopher Crude, Aliko Dangote, etc.
A human being’s power of thinking and agility is at its peak during the youthful years. In medicine, it’s often acknowledged that the best time for women to produce healthy children is between 18-35 years.
When all the above attributes are put together vis-a-vis the forthcoming Anambra 2014 governorship election, with most Anambrarians insisting on the need for a new blood and a new face, the best candidate that comes to mind is the youthful candidate of about 40 years old who has distinguished himself in the Nigerian business space; a man that has great mental alertness and attitude; the youngest contender on the front burner in Anambra politics of service to the people; the man who has demonstrated unusual success in the business world; the man who has the capacity to increase and sustain the development of facilities in Anambra; the young man with extraordinary stamina to change the face of Anambra – Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, who sits on top of Capital Oil & Gas Limited as chief executive officer.
Several organisations have emerged to champion the quest by Anambra people to produce Ifeanyi Ubah as the next governor of the state, but the one that is currently at the forefront is Ifeanyi Ubah Progressive Forum (IUPF) led by Campbell Ugwunze Umeh, with Onyeka Mbaso as coordinator in Nigeria/Diaspora and Obasi Ifeanyi as secretary general. This group is positioning Ifeanyi Ubah with grassroots projects in all the nooks and crannies of Anambra State, especially in the health sector.
The perceived new kids on the block in the state’s politics are of the view that there is nothing new in governance, insisting that having managed a conglomerate of human and material resources in his business life, Ubah is equal to the task. This is a man God has used to empower people in education through scholarship up to university level. This kind gesture towards Anambrarians has endeared him to many beyond the precincts of the executive governors. Ifeanyi Ubah has absorbed not less than 70 percent of them into his many businesses, the oil and gas industry where he operates. When you give one person employment, you have succeeded in feeding ten others who may be dependent on him/her. This has been Ubah’s principle and it further gives him joy to see people gain from the bounties of his philanthropy.
Capital Oil & Gas Limited is a privately-owned, wholly Nigerian concern and a major player in the importation, storage, distribution, trading and retailing of petroleum products in Nigeria. It is a dynamic, innovative company that is transforming into a leader in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry in the country, an indigenous company that was established in 2001 with oil depot opened for business in March 2007. It already has thousands of workers on its payroll.
The company, wholly owned by Ifeanyi Ubah, is Africa’s strongest and most innovative energy solution provider and also provides excellent products and services tailored to surpass and excite customers’ expectation, driven by a well-motivated and dedicated team of professionals in a friendly environment, using the most modern technology in the industry to deliver optimal returns to stakeholders.
Through Capital Oil & Gas, a socially-responsible company, Ubah has been giving back to the society in the areas of education, infrastructure facilities such as boreholes, electricity transformers, repairs and grading of community roads. This is besides his philanthropic gestures in his individual capacity. Other community involvement and supports for humanitarian crises are: donation to Chinese government for earthquake victims; donation of N20 million security support fund to the Lagos State government; extending an arm of fellowship to widows; donation of a coaster bus to South-east Council of Traditional Rulers; donation of 18-seater Hiace bus to Nigerian Chambers of Shipping; construction of public access roads which include Tex Olawale Street, Apapa, Lagos, among others.
This transformation magic and breath of life into Capital Oil & Gas within a short period is what Ifeanyi Ubah wants to replicate in Anambra State come 2014 for the benefit of Anambrarians. And Anambra people are already waiting for him to set the ball rolling.
Ubah is of the view that power must change from the old to the younger generation, insisting that the trend of government lately demands innovations to take up the challenges of time, and we at IUPF believe that he is the one to restore Anambra to its glory as truly the light of the nation
IFEANYI OBASI
Obasi writes from Lagos.
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