News Talk on Dr. Eberechukwu Fortunate Uneze on the event of his 43rd birthday
By
Francis Udoka Ndimkoha of Imo State University Alumni Association.
It is that timne of the year, again, when a young, ebullient and quintessential philanthropic mind
Dr. Eberechukwu Fortunate Uneze remembers the day he was born. The man, Dr. Eberechukwu Fortunate Uneze is the 5th of 8 children born to the family of Late Chief Cyril and Mercy Uneze on the 11th of June, 1974 in the ancient city of Bida, Niger State. He hails from Obiokwu, Amakohia-Ubi in Owerri-West LGA, Imo State.
Young Eberechukwu Uneze showed early signs of greatness, in his childhood, by distinguishing himself in everything he found himself doing, especially in academics. He was lucky to have parents who were not just teachers but also good Christians and through them he learnt the virtues of hardwork, diligence and dedication to duty.
Throughout his academic career from Amakohia-Ubi Primary School (1979-1986), junior secondary education from Amakohia-Ubi Secondary School (1986-1988) and senior secondary education from Presentation Secondary School Ogbaku (1988-1991). He showed great promise which encouraged his parents to continue saving money to enable him proceed to Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria, where he acquired a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. It was during his academic career that his love for the less privileged and the downtrodden started manifesting itself, as he would willingly share whatever he has with others. The situation was the same even in the University of Strathclyde and the University of Kent, both in the United Kingdom, when he went for his post graduate studies, he wouldn’t mind inconveniencing himself to ensure the welfare of others and to put smile on sullen faces.
It is this philanthropic mind that led him to institute the Ebere Uneze Foundation (EUF) to promote to a national stage, the causes his parents pursued while alive. It is ultimately, this foundation with which he has been touching lives, unannounced even before he became a national figure. The foundation which is yet to announce its presence in the media circles was founded in honour of his parents Late Chief Cyril and Mercy Uneze, both of them teachers and destiny shapers who during their life contributed immensely towards the growth and development of education in Amakohia ubi their immediate community and even beyond. Late Mrs. Mercy Uneze, the mother of Dr. Ebere Uneze supported maternal health, helped combat maternal mortality and assisted women with fertility. With this background, it was obvious that Dr. Ebere Uneze could not go wrong. He already had his role models and mentors, under the same roof and lived to learn on daily basis.
Widely known as one of the leading development thinkers in Nigeria and Africa, Uneze is a regular contributor to international policy seminars on Africa’s growth and economic development with over 10 years of experience in handling results-based development and public policy projects. This practical experience is what has brought to bear on his foundation and gone ahead to set up a lot of young people in business, by giving them non-interest and non-refundable seed money to invest in the business of their choice, so as to become entrepreneurs and job creators. Plans are in top gear to expand the scope of this unusual philanthropy, to accommodate more people, before the year runs out.
It is no gainsaying the fact that what he has been doing on his own, all these years, will receive a big boost, now, in his capacity as Executive Director of Assets Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, a position he has held since August, 2015.
No wonder the five communities that make up Umunwoha ofo ise, namely, Ohii, Orogwe, Amakohia-Ubi, Ndegwu and Irete came together on the 27th of May, 2017, to honour him with the chieftaincy title of “Ikemba Umunwoha”, in a grand reception that has lingered in the minds of Imolite till date.
What can else can we say to a good man? Dear Ikemba, it is our prayer, and the prayer of all who has come in contact with you, that God should to bless you, to keep you alive and keep you in position to enable continue to shower you benevolence and unusual magnanimity on people around you, to the Glory God, in Jesus name. Amen.
Happy 43rd Birthday, Ikemba Umunwoha, Dr. Eberechukwu Fortunate Uneze. Executive Director, Assets Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON. You are a shinning star.
This news talk was written by Francis Udoka Ndimkoha of Imo State University Alumni Association.
