Andy Uba; Politician from Anambra State who served as the longest, most trusted and closest aide of President Obasanjo. Uba was also senator of the federal republic from 2011-2019. Slim, averagely tall and not given to much talking, his friendly self-effacing mien contrasted sharply with the strong apparatus of power he was surrounded with. Born in Enugu on December 14, 1958 to the family of Philip Ngameje and Bessie Chinwe Uba of Uga in Aguata Local Government area of Anambra State, he had both his primary and secondary education at Enugu, finishing from the Boys High School, Awkunanaw. He went abroad for his tertiary education at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, from where he obtained his first degree in Geology in 1984. His flair for academics propelled him to obtain a master’s degree in 1994 from the California State University. He is married to Gloria with whom he raised four children.
Living most of his adult life in the United States, Andy Uba worked with Golden State Mutual Insurance in California, USA between 1985 and 1992. In 1992, he opened a chain of health clinics around different states in the USA that specialise in conducting evaluations for the United States government on workmen’s compensation claims. Operating the health clinics involved working In partnership with as many as 200 doctors and physical therapy specialists across the United State. As a man with unquenchable thirst for knowledge, he attended Buxton University in the United Kingdom for his doctorate degree in Bioscience, which he got in 1996.
In 1998, Andy Uba joined the presidential campaign team of Olusegun Obasanjo and was subsequently appointed the Nigerian president’s Senior Special Assistant on domestic affairs. He was to serve in this capacity for seven and half years before a delegation of his home state, Anambra State House of Assembly openly requested the President to release its indigene to come and rescue his home state from what they called “the clutches of misrule”. He used his position and influence to attract several high-profile federal appointments and projects not only to Anambra State but the entire South-east geo-political zone. This was made possible because of the contacts and goodwill he garnered from working in such close proximity to the president. In 2007, the Obi of Uga, his home town, Igwe Felix Ezenwugo, conferred on him the chieftaincy title of Ugo-Mba of Uga. Not to be outdone, the traditional rulers of the entire Old Aguata Union (OAU), which comprises autonomous communities of the old Aguata Local Government area [Aguata, Orumba North and Orumba South) also conferred on Andy another chieftaincy title of Aha Eji Eje Mba of old Aguata[i].
The Andy Uba Foundation in his name was formalized in 2004 and two years later built a Mass Communication Auditorium with an FM Radio Station at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka,(UNN). He also founded the Philip Uba Foundation (PUF) in memory of his father[ii]. Andy Uba’s election as the state’s governor in 2007 was nullified and Peter Obi who had been governor before was restored to his position[iii].
[i] TELL, January 8, 2007
[ii] Nation, May 26, 2013
[iii] Newswatch, September 10, 2007
