• Gov advises Ndigbo against personality-driven business models

Former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has said the exit of Governor Peter Mbah from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) symbolises the total collapse of PDP’s dominance in the South-East region, where it controlled the five states in 1999.

Meanwhile, Governor Mbah has advised Ndigbo to move beyond personality-driven business models towards structured, multi-generational institutions.

Okechukwu, a foundation member of the APC, stated that the fall of the PDP in the region vindicated the late Chuba Obadigbo, who had warned that the PDP’s practice of rewarding “good deeds with bad coins” would ultimately harm the party.

He argued that Okadigbo’s experience — from the 1999 Jos presidential primary, where the former Vice President and PDP co-founder was sabotaged, to the 2003 election, where Ndigbo naively ignored the Buhari/Okadigbo ticket — remains a historic lesson.

Speaking to journalists in Enugu yesterday, Okechukwu criticised the PDP’s “utter disregard” for equity and justice, especially in 2023, when the party breached the Fourth Republic’s long-standing zoning convention.

He recalled that at the Port Harcourt presidential primary, no southern aspirants participated, despite repeated appeals for fairness and rotation.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back, Okechukwu noted, was the deliberate marginalisation of the South-East during the controversy over the National Secretary position.

He cited the communiqué issued by the PDP South-East Zonal Executive Committee (ZEC) after its meeting at Government House, Enugu, on May 14, 2023, which warned: “In the event that the South-East’s position that Sunday Udeh-Okoye should replace Sen Samuel Anyanwu, who left to contest the Imo governorship election, is not implemented promptly, the South-East PDP, as a family, will be compelled to reconsider our relationship with the PDP going forward.”

Okechukwu also referenced remarks by former Senate President and PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, who “decried the continued trampling of the South-East PDP despite the region’s unwavering loyalty to the party since 1998.”

While officially commissioning the Enugu office of Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Governor Mbah, represented by his Deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, was particular about making businesses endure from one generation to another.

The opening marks the arrival of 30 years of experience in investment banking, asset management, and securities trading in the state.

The governor stated that the Igbo must embrace a structure that would ensure that their businesses outlive the founders in order to grow and sustain the economy of the South-East region

“We, Igbo people, are known for strong personalities. Everyone wants to own an Ifeanyi Ossai Nigeria Limited. But we must evolve to build systems like Guinness or Nigerian Breweries that outlive their founders.

“Businesses cannot thrive where support services that drive investments do not exist. The kind of services Afrinvest offers, from capital mobilisation to business structuring, is the very backbone of a sustainable economy,” he said.

Mbah described Afrinvest’s arrival as “timely and transformational,” emphasising that the company’s range of services would strengthen Enugu’s investment ecosystem.

He urged Afrinvest to help local entrepreneurs move beyond personality-driven business models towards structured, multi-generational institutions.

Encouraging Afrinvest professionals to engage with the state’s numerous tertiary institutions to inspire students and young entrepreneurs towards building sustainable, knowledge-based enterprises, he added, “With the number of universities in Enugu, we should be leading a knowledge-based economy. I urge Afrinvest to visit these institutions and help shape the next generation of business leaders.”

The Group Managing Director of Afrinvest, Dr Ike Chioke, said the firm had long considered expanding to Enugu but found the right environment under the Mbah administration.

“We had planned to come into Enugu three years ago during the administration of the former governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, but it did not materialise. When Mbah came on board and began transforming Enugu into a business-friendly environment, the urgency to open this office increased,” Chioke said.

He explained that Afrinvest would bring its broad experience in investment banking, asset management, securities trading, trusteeship, consulting, research, fintech and microfinance to help businesses in Enugu grow sustainably.

Chioke noted that many successful Igbo-owned enterprises collapsed after the founders’ demise due to weak governance structures.