Seeing Uche Nworah Beyond Being An Igbo Culture Aficionado -By Isaac Asabor

Whenever Chief (Dr.) Uche Nworah, Ezeudo Enugwu-Ukwu na Umunri, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) is introduced at a forum, what comes to mind is that he is an Igbo culture aficionado. Yes! He is unarguably an Igbo culture aficionado as he has since his return from the diaspora been demonstrating his knacks for Igbo culture and traditions. In fact, if there is any Igboman whose mindset is deeply rooted in what can in this context be called Igbo ‘Aku Luo Uno’ Philosophy, he is unarguably the one.

However, to the perception of this writer about him, and to not few Nigerians that are abreast with what his personality is made, seeing him goes beyond an Igbo culture aficionado. After all, personality is something that people tend to think a lot about when they meet new people, whether through work, school, or social events. It is often their personality on which we immediately focus. Whether they are nice, helpful, outgoing, or shy are just a few of the things that people assess as they evaluate the people around them.

The foregoing virtues that are inherent in Nworah’s personality are just the drives that contributed to positioning him on the enviable pedestal he has been standing on over the years, and there is the hope that he will by each passing day be mounting on a higher pedestal in no distant time. Not few readers of this piece might have wondered about what has character got to do in Nworah’s successes or achievements over the years. To such people, it is expedient to acquaint them with the words of Frank Damazio in his work, “Character All Leaders Must Have” wherein Damazio said, “The Lord cares about a leader’s lifestyle and character, not just his gifts and anointing. While the gifts of the Spirit are given freely, character development comes only with time, at great personal effort. This is why God invests time into His leaders, disciplining them, stretching them, and developing in them the character they need to become vessels of honour for His use”.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is little wonder that his reformation streaks at the ABS has remained unprecedented, and may unlikely be replicated or surpassed. This is as he has through Governor Willie Obiano rejuvenated the broadcasting service as the governor has invested extensively in both equipment and human Resources. Under him as the managing director and chief executive officer of the broadcast station, ABS has turned to a brand new digital radio and TV complex that can compete with any other digitalized station in any part of the world.

With up-to-date transmitters and other equipment, ABS has become a global media brand as it now serves a worldwide audience.

Not only has he brought his expertise to bear on the broadcast aspect of ABS, he has deepened the entertainment aspect of the station that ABS Film Village which has been a work in progress will be completed as planned by February 2022. He made the disclosure on January 24, 2022 after inspecting the ongoing construction at the site.

For the sake of clarity, the ABS Film Village is a partnership project with Alkebulan Productions. When completed, the Film Village will be available for rental to film makers, and will also serve as production hub for students of the ABS Film Academy. It will also serve as a tourist attraction and cultural centre, while students can also come on excursion.

In the realm of advertising profession, Nworah has no doubt made a mark as he had long ago armed himself with knowledge in that field as well as equipping himself with positive energy, an uncanny ability to work with the best of talents and a drive to remain focused regardless of the strident noise of the marketplace. These all worked to his advantage and eventually elevated him to the status of a guru in his chosen field.

Unarguably due to his commitment and passion in the profession, he was on January 19, 2022, alongside other distinguished advertising practitioners, found worthy to be inducted as a Fellow (FRPA) of the advertising profession by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). In his response to the award he said, “For us in the advertising industry, this is our own ‘SAN’ (Senior Advocate of Nigeria in the legal profession)”.

Chronicling his journey into the world of advertising, he said “My journey into the world of advertising started in the late 80s when as a young man growing up in Aba, Abia state (then Imo State), I chanced upon a book, ‘Advertising’, written by Winston Fletcher. I had gone to Milverton road, by Aba main Motor Park to buy the latest instalments of James Hadley Chase novels. Back then, for some reasons, the book sellers displayed the books on the sidewalk thus tasking potential book buyers to bend down and pick the title they wanted. I could never understand why they did that, and wondered why perhaps they could not display the books on a table”.

Indeed, without any scintilla of exaggeration, Nworah is passionate and committed in everything he does. So, it cannot be a misnomer to conclude that he is a man of many parts that cannot be parochially seen through the lens of culture and tradition.

In fact, without doubt, it cannot be mistaken that Whitcomb Riley (A Poet) had someone like him in mind when he authored “A Man Of Many Parts Poem, which goes thus: “It was a man of many parts/Who in his coffer mind Had stored the Classics and the Arts And Sciences combined/The purest gems of poesy Came flashing from his pen—/The wholesome truths of History/He gave his fellow men.

“He knew the stars from ‘Dog’ to Mars/And he could tell you, too/Their distances–as though the cars/Had often checked him through–/And time ‘would take to reach the sun, /Or by the ‘Milky Way,’/Drop in upon the moon, or run/The homeward trip, or stay.

With Logic at his fingers’ ends, /Theology in mind, /He often entertained his friends/Until they died resigned; /And with inquiring mind intent/Upon Alchemic arts/A dynamite experiment—“.