Prince Arthur Eze And The Politics Of Empowerment -By Stan Uzoma

In Igbo land there is saying that when real men fight it is the women that bear the tale. This may be analogous to the oft-repeated words by philosophers that great minds discuss ideas; lesser minds discuss events while inferior minds discuss people. This does not in any way implies that women are of lesser or inferior mind. In my everyday life I have always tried to refrain from discussing people for obvious reasons but my experience in public policy analysis has thought me that some men because of their position in the society are like institutions and so discussing their roles would be tantamount to discussing contemporary issues (ideas and concepts) and ignoring their roles will be a great disservice to the society. Thus, part of public discourse essentially involves discussing the roles of those who wield political influence. Criticizing or commending their roles would amount to public advocacy or indulging in acts capable of inspiring others to work for the good of the society. And one of those individuals I find worthy to discuss his roles in contemporary Nigeria politics is Prince Arthur Eze, the flamboyant, redoubtable and controversial political juggernaut from Ukpo kingdom in Anambra State.

Prince Arthur Eze does not need introduction as most of the information concerning him is in the public domain. He is an icon, a political enthusiast, a leader of the people, a business mogul and a philanthropist per excellence.

No doubt Prince Arthur is a newsmaker and so name-droppers and those seeking relevance always wish to entangle with his name. Arthur Eze is a phenomenon. You can’t stop talking or writing about him. He is a factor in contemporary Anambra politics; a common denominator in the state political equation. He is unique and inscrutable in his ways. You can only ignore him to your own peril. Those who recognize this fact always try to leverage on his generosity and influence. He is not one of the run-of-the-mill politicians who believe in pauperizing the people in order to remain relevant. Rather he believes in empowering the people in order to maintain his relevance. There is no who-is-who in Anambra State politics of today that did not benefit from his act of generosity.

Prince Engr. (Dr.) Arthur Eze was born not just to be a blessing to people around him but nay to humanity. During and immediately after the Civil War, it is said that he used his vehicle to ferry stranded people from place to place. This was how he earned the nickname Arthur-1000 because his vehicle number plate then was ECF 1000. In 1979 when he returned to the country upon the completion of his studies in California State University, Long Island, USA, he started his own business. His company Triax got a contract to build television station in Kano and many other states across the nation. Thus, while his mates where looking for job, Prince Arthur was running his own company and creating jobs for others.

He has a clear vision of why he had got himself entangled in the murky waters of Nigerian politics. In the annals of Nigerian political history, only very few people can come close to Prince Arthur Eze’s altruistic and vicarious posturing. In 1960 Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu was offered the control of the Nigerian Finance Ministry, being the biggest financier of the then NCNC that had formed coalition government with the NPC, but he declined prompting the nomination of Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, because Sir Ojukwu’s role in politics was not to seek elective position or to hold political office but to support what he regarded as good courses. And so it is with Prince Arthur Eze. He is in the politics of empowerment of the people not in the politics of self-aggrandizement.

His choice of political role models exemplifies the fact he, Prince Arthur Eze knew ab ovo what his mission into the political arena was. He has no misgivings at all about his mandate and political philosophy. He is in it not for personal aggrandizement but to empower people, build capacity and uphold the dignity of man. He believes in the politics of empowerment and wealth-creation. He is convinced that it is in so doing that poverty, the vicious circle of underdevelopment and its associated problems can be reduced to the barest minimum and the society will be safe for everybody including the affluent class. And in a peculiar kind of way, he has consistently and positively influenced his socio-political cum economic environment by his uncommon act of philanthropy: giving scholarship to indigent students, empowering start-ups, providing social amenities, donating to charitable courses, donating to institutions, fighting for the course of the weak and vulnerable groups.
He believes every politician and every public office holder has a responsibility to articulate, support, promote and dutifully implement policies and programs that seek to promote common good and the well-being of the people. Of course, the inability or the deliberate refusal of the political class to identify and attend to the problems of the people is obviously the bane of Nigerian politics. This may be the reason why he is very much interested in grooming, mentoring and sponsoring future leaders irrespective of political affiliations.

Truly, in an environment riddled with abject poverty and underdevelopment, politics of economic empowerment is required to alleviate poverty and reduce social vices. He has demonstrated acute environmental awareness as did Dr. M. I. Okpara and Chief Sam Mbakwe his political role models; who worked assiduously for the economic emancipation of their people in their time.

As naturally as sugar attract ants so does success attract envy and so has Prince Arthur Eze’s success attracted “enemies” who indulge in smear campaign against his person. But he should not be bothered about that rather he should be bothered about what the people say about him. Jesus Christ was bothered about what the people thought about the nature of his messiahship and hence he asked his disciples who did the people say that I am? He did not ask whom did the Pharisees say that I am?

And because he is different from the generality of other politicians, he is often misunderstood. Arthur friendship with the government at the center is not for selfish reasons but out of the conviction that it is God that institute leaders. It is also out of interest of his people who are always crying of marginalization in Nigeria. Contrary to the insinuations of mischief-makers, he is not doing it to protect his business. His wealth is not from investments in Nigeria alone.  His company Atlas Oranto Petroleum is the largest holder of oil exploration blocks in Africa. He has 22 oil and gas licenses across 12 places across Africa. And so with or without Nigerian government his offshore business in other countries can go on uninterrupted. Under Abacha he attracted the creation of Dukunofia Local Government with the headquarters in Ukpo and influenced the appointment of some state administrators and some ministers into Abacha’s cabinet. In the present regime, he has influenced the establishment of additional police zonal command in the South East.

Arthur has always been an advocate of good governance. So, it was on the basis of this that Prince Arthur Eze now made the comment that his governor who refused to conduct local government elections should tell the people what he has done with the local government allocations, a statement that has strained his relationship with his state governor. Do we fault Arthur for demanding accountability from the governor or for attracting police zonal command in his home state or for demanding equity and justice?

Indeed Prince Arthur Eze has done so much to empower his people. But his people Ndi-Igbo are not good at praise-singing and hero-worshipping. But that does not mean that he is not appreciated or celebrated at home. Were he to be a Yoruba man his praises would sang to high heavens by his people.

Stan Uzoma
A consultant and a leadership strategist