By Sunday Oyinloye
Last week, the World Igbo Youths Assembly (WIYA), the youth arm of Ohanaeze Ndigbo honoured a member of the Governing Board of the North East Development Commission,(NEDC), Representative Sam Onuigbo and Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa with the unique and prestigious award of National Builders in recognition of their outstanding leadership , mentorship and lifelong service to humanity.
Those who are familiar with the positive impacts Onuigbo had made at the state, national and international level were not surprised that he was one of the two people so honoured from Abia state. What underscores the uniqueness of the award is that its cuts through the 7 seven Igbo speaking states in Nigeria.
Little wonder Igbo youths listened to the former National Assembly member with rapt attention as he addressed them at the ceremony in Umuahia , Abia State.
Rt. Hon. Onuigbo urged the youths to start building a promising future for themselves by making hard work their priority and shun any act that might tarnish their image as well as the image of Ndigbo.
The NEDC Board member who notes that Nigeria is fast evolving into a true democratic nation challenged the youths to prepare themselves for leadership roles.
In his words: “I want to encourage you to keep your hands clean. I am advising you to learn, work hard and remain focused.”
While promising to continue to mentor and empower the youths, the former National Assembly member who represented Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency expressed gratitude to The World Igbo Youths Assembly for honouring him and elder statesman, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa
Representative Sir. Onuigbo was inducted into the first ever National Assembly Most Valuable Parliamentarian Hall of Fame in May 2023. He was part of five Senators/Members out of the 469 members of the 9th National Assembly to be so honoured.
High Chief Onuigbo (Odozi Obodo Gburugburu) is the only Honourable Member or Senator from southern part of Nigeria to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The final five inductees emerged after four screening processes spanning three years, through several appraisals by independent and globally recognized appraisers using the metrics of Value, Volume, Impact, and Progression.
He was chosen in recognition of his contribution to the 9th National Assembly on the basis of qualitative impact, and value especially for his sponsorship of the Climate Change Act 2021 which is inter-generational, globally impactful, and has the capability of laying the foundation for a sustainably developed Nigeria.
Onuigbo trained in Finance, Accounting and Corporate Governance. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, London; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management – Chartered; Member, ASIS International, Virginia, USA and Patron, Nigerian Institute of Management, Umuahia Chapter.
After nearly 18 years of unbroken and meritorious service with the US Embassy, Nigeria, during which he held the highly sensitive position of the Supervisory Fraud Prevention Specialist, he voluntarily resigned with many meritorious honour awards.
He is a recipient of several Meritorious Honour Awards from the US Department of State; Professional and Vocational Service Awards from Rotary Club International; Award of Honour from the Forum of Commissioners of Finance of Nigeria; several Long Service Awards from the U.S. Department of State; Letters of Commendation from two former US Ambassadors to Nigeria.
At the National level, Onuigbo was Special Adviser, Public Affairs, Office of the Speaker of the 6th House of Representatives, National Assembly. At the state level, he was Commissioner, Ministry of Lands and Survey and later, Commissioner for Finance, Abia State
Rt.Hon. Onuigbo was the first Representative from his constituency to be re-elected. He sponsored motions and bills that have impacted the lives of not only his constituents, but also Nigerians at large.
In 2019, he was elected to the Board of Global Legislators for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) International, as the Vice-President Africa (the first Nigerian to be so recognised). He was also the President of GLOBE Nigeria, after serving as its Vice-President between 2016-2019. He was the Chairman of Climate Parliament, Nigeria.
Representative Onuigbo was recognised as one of 30 Top Global Leaders on Climate Action by the New York-based Business Insider on 27 November, 2023. He was also recognised by the 10th House of Representatives as a Worthy Ambassador of the House on 28 November, 2023. Besides, University of Nigeria Nsuka, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka also honoured him with Leadership Awards on Climate Change
Onuigbo began advocating for LG autonomy after serving in different capacities as Special Adviser to the Speaker of the 6th of the House of Representatives, Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Commissioner for Finance, Abia State, and his subsequent election into the House of Representatives in 2015.
In an exclusive interview with Green Savannah Diplomatic Cable in July 2024, Onuigbo had said “I started agitating for Local Government autonomy out of experience and first-hand knowledge of how far the system suffered undue interference from state governments.
“The issues of insecurity, youth restiveness and unemployment were direct fallouts of lull in the activities at the third tier of government which has been starved of funds by the state governors. Democracy could not bear dividends because that tier of government was made an appendage of state executives”.
Barely a month after he received letter of commendation from the secretariat of GLOBE international in Brussels, Belgium, and a week after receiving similar letter from Climate Parliament, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, (now Chief of Staff to the President), Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in December 2021 described Onuigbo as a dogged and committed lawmaker.
Speaking at the presentation of the award of “Dean of Bills” to Representative Sir Onuigbo by the National Assembly Press Corps, Gbajabiamila said, “It is not about the number of Bills, but the quality. The Climate Change Bill is one of those Bills that affect every one of us for life. Climate Change is topical. Onuigbo was dogged and committed throughout the period of fighting for the passage of the Climate Change Bill and has earned my respect for this”.
In January 2024, Onuigbo was unveiled as the Nigerian Patron of Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet), a climate change and sustainable development network with over 300 organisations drawn from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.
Representative Onuigbo is indeed a man of the people who has impacted positively in not only at the international level, national level, but also his Federal Constituency.
Ara Tucker gives an insight into the importance of giving back to the society; “it’s so important to have a genuine human regard for the people who work for you. To be a person of integrity, fight for people when they aren’t in the room, and do what you say you’re going to do.”
Findings by Green Savannah Diplomatic Cable reveal that he has been actively involved in community development since his undergraduate days. Onuigbo believes that development and growth of the nation can only take-off first from the development of the communities.
When he was working with the U.S Embassy in Nigeria, Onuigbo was able to attract the building of a block of classrooms to take care inadequacies of classrooms for pupils
Representative Onuigbo also founded a public secondary school called Ambassador’s College Obuohia Obi-Ibere. He did that to save his people from having to walk over 12 kilometers to school daily.
Over the years, he has been able to build schools, hospitals, rehabilitate roads, carry out erosion control works, provide trainings and empowerments, electricity, offer scholarships, and many more for his constituents.
It is therefore not surprising that Representative Sam Onuigbo was one of two distinguished people from Abia State who were honoured by the World Igbo Youths Assembly.
