By Chinedu Opara
Looking at Distinguished Senator Francis Ezenwa Onyewuchi’s life trajectory, there is every reason to believe his destiny was revealed to his father, Chief Olumba.Onyewuchi before he was born fifty three years ago.
It seems while the man slept before his birth an angel of the Lord came to him saying: “Arise and take note, the child your wife is about to deliver will take over from you,”
” He will step into the big political and leadership shoes you will leave behind and continue your life of service to God and humanity.”
“And by so doing he will ensure your good works and legacies would not die but, continue to live after you have joined your father in heaven.”
Being an ardent christian with rock solid faith comparable to that of Moses, Chief Onyewuchi from available evidence today completely submitted to that divine command.
One powerful irrefutable evidence of his obedience could be seen in the name he bestowed on the baby boy after birth.
It is an open secret that Senator Onyewuchi is not his first child nor first male child yet, he gave him a name that suggested that he was born for a special purpose.
He called him “Ezenwa.” In its ordinary sense “Ezenwa” can be interpreted to mean ” a man or a family’s greatness/ royalty lies on their children. Beyond that surface interpretation that name also connotes something extra which is that even though the onus of keeping their family/ fathers heritage alive lies on all their children, it is most likely that particular son who bears that name that
will grow up to fit into that role.
Apart from Chief Onyewuchi exhibition of fore knowledge of what his son is today, his immediate Orji community also seemed to have heard similar voice because long before Senator Onyewuchi won his first election in 2011, the community had already seen him as a perfect replica of his father and so awarded him the chieftaincy title of ” Ebubedike Orji 11.”
Before him his father was Ebubedike 1, a title his community and in fact, Uratta Clan bestowed on him in appreciation of his unprecedented contributions to the growth and development of Orji, Uratta, Owerri and indeed, old Imo State.
Two of such giant strides would suffice here to buttress this point. Senator Onyewuchi’s father was among the leaders from old Owerri Local Government Area who fought and succeeded in making sure Owerri became Imo capital 1976.
He was also one of the kitchen cabinet members and key actors in Dee Sam Mbakwe second republic adminstration whose lofty records of transformative leadership remains unequalled and unmatched till this day.
By any standard these two particularly that of Dee Mbakwe government are worthy legacies that should not only be preserved but, actually improved upon and taken to another level for the good of the people and the state.
And so it came to pass that fifty three years ago the baton to keep the good works and many more of Chief Onyewuchi alive was handed down to the young Ezenwa Onyewuchi.
The race to keep up those good works has not really been an easy one but because it is his destiny, he has been doing it with so much passion and panache.
Indeed, an objective appraisal of the lawmaker’s performance so far would show that he has dutifully been fulfilling his destiny as he is completely focused on rendering selfless service to God and humanity.
It should be pointed out here too that Senator Onyewuchi’s journey to getting to his destiny vehicle was not without initial hiccups. At the outset it seemed it was an impossible mission but as one in whose dictionary that word does not exist, he never gave up. It was that unyielding spirit that propelled him into contesting for Owerri Federal Constituency seat three times in a row before mother luck eventually smiled on him in 2011.
Since that breakthrough under the platform of APGA the lawmaker has not looked back. He has continued to push the frontiers of good governance and delivery of dividends of democracy to his people and in return they have tenaciously stood by him.
Right now a telepathic relationship exists between him and Owerri people. Actually, signs that such amity was been built emerged in 2015 when against all odds he grabbed the record of breaking the jinx of one termism in Owerri Federal Constituency. It is on record he is so far the only legislator who has ever won a second term bid in the area in recent history.
Really, he never did anything extraordinary. He simply did the ordinary things extraordinarily by making sure he had one project in every community in Owerri Federal Constituency and the rest like they say became history..
Undoubtedly, it was that eye popping scorecard that caught the attention of the larger Owerri Senatorial Zone and they in turn massively voted him in 2019.
Senator Onyewuchi has so far not disappointed them in the Senate. Apart from making the voice of Owerri Zone heard loud and clear on the floor of the senate, he has emerged one of strong Igbo voices championing and fighting for Igbo interest in the Senate.
While vigorously defending Igbo interest the lawmaker has also done spectacularly well in the job of lawmaking. He was named one of the best performed senators in 2020 with his impressive record of six bills and four motions in under one year.
Even more outstanding is his senatorial district outreach. He has so far commissioned at least one project in all nine local government areas of Owerri Zone.
Over forty others including legacy projects like road construction, ICT Centres, Skill Acquisition Centres have been completed or nearing completion.
Soon, he will begin another round of projects commissioning while at the same time fighting tooth and nail to attract more projects.
Indeed, it is been a success story thus far. Senator Onyewuchi is doing justice to his vocation and gallantry fulfilling his destiny and if he keeps up this tempo then he will certainly finish on a high note.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY THE PEOPLES SENATOR!
