THE GREGORY PETER OBI THAT WE KNOW….
PRESENT AND PAST POSITIONS
• FORMER GOVERNOR: ANAMBRA STATE OF NIGERIA
• FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN NIGERIA GOVERNORS’ FORUM
• FORMER CHAIRMAN SOUTH-EAST GOVERNORS’ FORUM
• FORMER CHAIRMAN: FIDELITY BANK PLC
• FORMER CHAIRMAN: GUARDIAN EXPRESS MORTGAGE BANK LTD
• FORMER DIRECTOR: GUARDIAN EXPRESS BANK PLC
• FORMER CHAIRMAN: FUTURE VIEW SECURITIES LIMITED
• FORMER CHAIRMAN: PAYMASTER NIGERIA LIMITED
• FORMER CHAIRMAN: NEXT INTERNATIONAL (NIGERIA) LTD
• FORMER DIRECTOR: CHAMS NIGERIA LIMITED
• FORMER CHAIRMAN: DATACORP LIMITED
• FORMER DIRECTOR: CARD CENTRE LIMITED
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION/ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP:
• Member – Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)
• Member – Nigerian Chartered Institute of Bankers
• Member – Common Wealth Business Council (CBC)
• Member – West African Business Committee (WABC)
• Member – British Institute of Directors (IOD)
• Member – British Nigerian Business Council (BNBC)
• Member – Nigerian South African Chamber of Commerce (NSACC)
INTRODUCED FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES IN NIGERIAN POLITICS
1. The first Nigerian to reclaim his Governorship mandate after three years in courts.
2. The first Governor to come back from impeachment through the courts, after he was removed 6 months into his office by reactionary forces of Anambra politics of those days.
3. The first Governor to go for tenure interpretation when INEC allowed elections to take place in the State when his tenure had not ended.
4. The first Governor to serve 2nd term both in the new and old Anambra State, that is, almost 40 years after creation.
5. The first serving Governor to be appointed a Special Adviser (Finance) to the President.
6. The first serving Governor appointed into the Presidential Economic Management team.
7. Among the first Governors to be honoured with a National Award in 2011, when the honour was extended to serving Governors.
8. Though only the Governor from a minority party, but elected Vice Chairman of the Governors’ Forum.
9. Though the only non-PDP Governor in the South-East then, but elected the Chairman of the South-East Governor’s Forum.
MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEES
10. Federal Government Committee on Minimum Wage
11. Federal Government Committee on Negotiation with Labour on Subsidy
12. Federal Government Committee on Mass Transit
13. Federal Government Committee on Natural Resource Funds
14. National Economic Council Committee on Power Sector Reform
15. National Economic Council Committee on Sharing of MDGs funds
16. National Economic Council Committee on Accurate Data on the Nigeria’s Oil Import and Export
17. Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council
18. Sub-Committee on Needs Analysis of Nigeria Public Universities
19. National Economic Council Review Committee on the presentation on the Power Sector
ANAMBRA UNDER HIM
1. Under his tenure, Anambra State is no longer a pariah State that was scorned and laughed at. For the first time, Ambassadors of such countries as USA, Britain, Russia, European Union, South Africa, Belgium, Israel, Dutch, Canada, Venezuela, Ghana, among others, visited the State.
2. Many International organizations want to identify with Anambra State.
3. Anambra is held by development partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank, European Union as the No.1 State committed to reforms and development.
4. Under him, the Debt Management Office rated Anambra as the least indebted State in Nigeria. In spite of the wonders he was performing in the State, he has not borrowed money from any financial institution.
5. Under him, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria rated Anambra State as the most financially stable.
6. Under him, the Federal Ministry of Works adjudged Anambra as having the best network of roads in the country having asphalted over 800 Kilometres of roads.
7. He built roads in areas of the State that did not have any single road before him because of their difficult terrain, eg, Anambra West, Anambra East and Ogbaru Local Governments.
8. To complement the impressive work on road construction, he constructed over 28 bridges across the State some of which are Odor Bridge, Otuku Bridge, Aghomili Bridge, Ogbonabo Bridge, Obibia Bridge, Ebenebe Bridge, Okpu Bridge.
9. He worked on over 18 medium schemes water projects across the State.
10. Known as the Governor of many firsts, under him, Anambra State had the first Secretariat, first Business Parks, first stadia, witnessed the phenomenal development of the Permanent Site of her University, the first Master Plans for the State’s major cities of Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi, among others.
11. He returned missionary schools, taken from them since 1970 to them, with the grant of 6 billion Naira for the rehabilitation of the schools.
12. He entered into strategic partnership with the Churches for the services their various institutions offer to the State. In health, restored grants-in-aid to them and made available the sum of 3 billion for them to rehabilitate their hospitals. As a result, Anambra came first in 2013 WEAC and 2013 NECO common Entrance examinations.
13. Gov. Obi was the first to provide and distribute to Anambra Schools the following: over 30,000 desktop/laptop computers; generators; internet access to over 400 schools; over 700 buses to schools and provided boreholes to over 300 schools. He built classroom blocks in all the 177 communities in the State.
14. He attracted a lot of foreign investors to the State. Among them are three Fortune 500 companies out of which one of them, SABmiller, has started production.
15. Under him, after investing over 4 Billion Naira in Orient petroleum, the first by Anambra State Government, Anambra has joined oil producing States with Orient petroleum commencing production.
16. He is also worked on over 25 active erosion sites, some completed, others on-going, eg, Umuchiani Erosion, Ebenebe Erosion, Nkpor Erosion, Adazi-Nnukwu Erosion, Utuh Erosion, Osumenyi Erosion, among others.
17. Among his many intangible achievements is the payment of all outstanding pensions and gratuities in the State since 1999 (over N35Billion).
18. Under him, the State Teaching hospital and College of Medicine were conceived and built by him, secured accreditation from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
19. In spite of all his achievements as the Governor of Anambra State, he did not borrow any money from any financial institution nor raise bonds. At the end of his tenure, he left billions in the coffers of the State in the form of cash and investments.
20. As the Chairman of South-East Governors’ Forum, he proved himself a good manager of men by the way the Body spoke with one voice.
21. He never shies away from projects that will be of benefit to the South East in particular and the country at large.
His achievements are legion that an occasion such as this would not have enough time for us to be comprehensive on that. In summary, we can say that he introduced credibility and character into governance. When people disagreed with him as the then Governor of Anambra State, it is always on account of his insistence that the resources of the State must be deployed prudently.