Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi, representing the good people of Imo East senatorial district (otherwise known as Owerri zone), turned 56 on April 2, 2024. There should be a lot of individuals who must have celebrated the same day as their own birthday across the world. However, when the life of an individual is propelled by an extraordinary or uncommon grace from providence, the individual’s birthday becomes distinctive.
Ezenwa is an Igbo name which roughly means the “son king” or more a royal son. Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi was not born in a royal family even though he was not born in a poor background. Ezenwa as a name is not that common among the Igbo unlike other names like Ifeanyi, Emeka, etc. It is a rare name which must be carefully and painstakingly given. The naming of a child is usually done at infancy. Parents give their children names according to either the circumstances of births or their idiosyncratic predilections.
Drawing from this background, the parents of Senator Onyewuchi must have seen the blue blood even if not born as a prince from the famous Njemanze family in Owerri Nchi-ise ancient kingdom before they named him Ezenwa; the son king or the royal son who would succeed them as king. They must have seen the peculiar qualities in him at birth or even while he was still incubating in his mother’s womb to dedicate such a name for him.
Most people who bear rare names usually become great people in life. For instance, Ezenwo (Ikwerre version of Ezenwa) Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers state and current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), can be called a great man even if I detest his style of politics.
Senator Onyewuchi is a man propelled by uncommon grace particularly in his political trajectory. When politics didn’t favour him before 2011, he bore his loss and disappointment in his stride. However, his patience, self restraint, mien and candour yielded fruits in 2011 when he was elected into the House of Representatives for the Owerri federal constituency.
Senator Onyewuchi is a likeable personality, but his political trajectory cum sojourn has always been backed by the divine hand of God. Aside his personal popularity, he has always found himself at the right place at the right time.
In 2011, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was the people’s party in Imo state. He contested on that platform and won as stated above. In 2015, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the people’s party in the state; he was reelected into the House of Representatives for the second time, setting a record as the first and the only one to represent the federal constituency for two terms.
In 2019, he was elevated to the upper chambers of the National Assembly as he was elected a senator on the same PDP platform.
However, he faced his toughest battle in the 2023 general elections. The three strongest political parties, viz, the APC, PDP and the Labour Party presented very formidable candidates for the senatorial district. It would be recalled that Onyewuchi was elected senator on PDP platform. It was almost a given and was actually expected that the party being a minority party or opposition party would grant the right of first refusal to all its senators which was truly the case in almost all the states of the federation. Sadly, in Imo state, those who arrogated to themselves the proprietary ownership of the party denied Onyewuchi a return ticket to the senate. He was about the only or one of the very few serving PDP senators who were denied a return ticket.
His God of uncommon grace quickly intervened and handed him the ticket of the people’s party at the time, the Labour Party. And the rest is history. He remains the only LP senatorial candidate who survived the APC onslaught in the state. The other two senatorial candidates were subdued by the APC’s federal and state might.
Senator Onyewuchi’s political trajectory is propelled and guided by the mighty hand of God (Aka Chukwu di ya). By the end of his current term, he would have been the longest serving national assembly member in the history of the state for a cumulative 16 years in both the red and green chambers. No Imo man or woman has such a record. Nonetheless, that doesn’t make him ineligible for future elections – Senator Ahmad Lawan, Enyinnaya Abaribe, among others, have been in the National Assembly since 1999. Abaribe would be 20 years in the senate by 2027.
Senator Onyewuchi, chairman, Senate Committee on National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), is the master of empowerment. Since 2011, he has empowered thousands of his constituents with lifetime empowerment. He believes in training people on how to fish rather than giving them fish. He is affable, accessible and down to earth. The future is brighter for him and I wish him many happy returns in good health and happiness.
Ifeanyi Maduako,
Owerri, Imo state
