Chief Maja Emeka Alex Umeh, a former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism under the Peter Obi regime in Anambra state has recounted his experience in life in the last 62 years of his sojourn on planet earth, saying that it has been a fruitful journey so far. He said life has a lot to offer but one needed some introspection to determine choices to be able to plan for success.
Born on 7th October, 1960 in Enugu, Chief Maja Umeh hails from Amichi in Nnewi-South local government area of Anambra state. His father was Ogbuefi Dominic Umeh, a civil servant and his mother was a teacher and business woman at different times. His father worked at P&T Enugu and later retired and took a church work as Catechist.
Chief Maja Umeh was born into a family of eight children where he was the 7th child of his parents even though the cold hands of death took two of his siblings away and only six of them are alive today.
He attended St. Mary’s Primary School Uwani Enugu and because of the Nigerian Civil War, they relocated to Amichi where he later completed his primary education at St. Eugenia Primary School Amichi Nnewi-South. Thereafter he proceeded to Christ The King College Onitsha where he got his school cert in 1977.
He was admitted into the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1979 where he graduated in the Department of Political Science and later bagged a Master’s Degree in Political Science.
Thereafter, he left for Kaduna state for his one year compulsory National Youth Service Scheme. After serving his father land, Chief Maja Umeh also lectured briefly at the Nigerian Defence Academy from whence he launched himself into private practice. Chief Maja Umeh founded ALDOVE Limited (A Real Estate and Construction Company) and had been in real estate business for many years until he was called up by the Peter Obi administration to come and serve his home state.
First he was appointed a Political Adviser by ex-governor Peter Obi and later became the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism till the end of Peter Obi’s administration.
Chief Maja Umeh who belongs to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), said he has a very sweet family life and a peaceful home. He said himself and the presidential candidate of Labour Party for 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi were bosom friends at Christ The King College Onitsha during their secondary school days.
That their friendship also extended to the University of Nigeria Nsukka where he recalled how Peter Obi was the greatest financier of his aspiration to the Students’ Union Presidency. That Peter Obi contributed about N800 to fund his campaign to the Students’ Union Presidency as at 1982 at the University of Nigeria Nsukka.
He said they also met the incumbent governor of Anambra state, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. The former image maker of the Anambra State Government reminisced on how Soludo and himself were actively involved in campus politics on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the 80s.
He said they were quite friendly and that Soludo displayed exceptional leadership traits even as a university undergraduate. That he was not surprised Soludo not only became Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, he also became a State Governor because he has shown such manifestations even as a university student.
At 62, Maja Umeh counted his blessings, naming them one by one. He said, ” I have had a very wonderful life. I am somebody who does not expect much from life. My attitude to life is governed by my religious convictions. My 62 years have been eventful. I have come across a lot of good people and I have also come across a lot of treacherous people. Life has indeed been fair to me. I am a titled Ozo man in Amichi. I am Okwaka-Amichi. I am also Anya-Amichi. I have been involved in community development services, donating to charity, securing employments for people and have contributed immensely to human capital development in my immediate environment.
When I had opportunity to be in government, I attracted a 22 kilometer road to my community. The road span from Ichida in Anaocha local government area through Azigbo in Nnewi-South, Amichi, Osumenyi and ended at Akwaihedi. That road was the first major road that opened up Nnewi-South local government area. And in recognition of that, the local government authority wrote me a letter requesting to name the road after me but I declined. In appreciation of that road too, my traditional ruler gave me the title Anya Amichi Ji Afu Uzo because I went to the government and used my eyes to attract something tangible to my community. The traditional ruler of Akwaihedi also gave me another title as Omeru Mma Akwaihedi because of the 22 kilometer road I attracted which passed through his community. “
Umeh also disclosed that he attracted several borehole water facilities in medical centres across the community and ensured that schools in the community benefitted from government largesse as those were some of the little contributions he made in order to represent his community well in government. As a former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Anambra state, he said it was under his tenure that Mmechi Aro Anambra was formed.
He said the idea behind Mmechi Aro Anambra was to improve the tourism potentials of the state. He said it was formed as a universal mass return for Ndi-Anambra every December which always began with interdenominational church service and thereafter metamorphosed into series of fun fare comprising music carnivals, youth jamborees, masquerade festivals, cultural dances and the like.
The former Anambra commissioner stated that the Peter Obi’s administration gave a big boost to New Yam Festivals when he was the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism.
He equally stated that the New Yam celebration was boosted because the Federal Government Department of Tourism built a Fish House in Arugungu Kebbi state in commemoration of the Arugungu Fishing Festival and built one house for Osun Osogbo in the West as well as New Yam House in Igboukwu for the Southeast region.
That under his watch as the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, he discovered that the way the Northerners celebrated the Arugungu Fishing Festival was a common thing for the North and that Osun Osogbo Festival was also a common thing for the West but the New Yam House at Igboukwu was not a common phenomenon in the Southeast. So he championed the communalism of the New Yam Festival amongst the five Southeast governors which he said yielded abundant positive results.
Although he observed that the culture and tourism sectors seemed to have had a quantum leap over the years, he expressed reservations concerning the decline and gradual extinction of Igbo language amongst the three major languages in the country. He was equally optimistic that the likes of Professor Pita Ejiofor founder of Otu Suba Kwa Igbo group, has been working assiduously to recreate the culture of speaking Igbo language especially as it concerns instilling the culture in the children.
He also observed that there has been a significant improvement and sophistication in the Igbo dress code as truly exemplified in the creativity of young people adding some sort of style and fancy to the Isi Agu attire of the Igbo heritage as well as the dress code of the incumbent governor of Anambra state Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, whom he said has consistently and passionately promoted the Akwaete local fabrics in his official dress to work.
Chief Umeh whose 62nd birthday anniversary coincided with Nigeria’s 62nd Independence Anniversary, noted that at least there is a country called Nigeria and people still live in it. He said the economy has been nosediving, culminating into the present status quo. He said Nigeria is suffering from leadership problems which he also said is responsible for youth restiveness across the country. He however expressed hope that Nigeria will never be the same again after the 2023 presidential election because Nigerians according to him, are no longer gullible. Umeh stated that Nigerians decided to take back their country since the ENDsars saga; that it would no longer be business as usual, no matter who wins the presidential election next year.
According to him, there is a 3rd force now in the country as evident in so many movements like the Obidient Movements and some others ensuring that Nigeria does not remain the same after the presidential election. He said the issue now was not about Igbo presidency but Southeast presidency because South-south and other geopolitical zones according to him, have had their turns in the presidency except the Southeast zone.
Chief Umeh maintained that the next president of Nigeria must come from the Southeast. That Nigerians have said that they are not part of the elitist conspiracy to deny southeasterners presidency, stressing that the Southeast have materials with the requisite credentials to provide quality leadership that would take the Nigerian nation out of her present socio-economic and political quagmire.
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