SMART OKAFOR: MY TESTIMONY FROM THE GROUND LEVEL PERSPECTIVES

SMART OKAFOR: MY TESTIMONY FROM THE GROUND LEVEL PERSPECTIVES

By Ugojersey

Growing up in my ancient hometown Nnewi in the late eighties was a memorable and endearing one.

The young lads of my days engaged happily in extracurricular activities like Football, Sprint etc and in various church activities like the Catechism classes, Altar Serving and Catholic Boys Organization, where characters are moulded into becoming responsible citizens of our society.

It was around the year 1988 that my path crossed with that of Mr. Peter Nonso Okafor, aka Smart, while performing our duties and obligations as young Catholics in the areas of Altar Serving, Catholic Boys Organization and Catechism Classes.

Public Education System, I must state, was the order of the day in our days, as against the Private Education System that is obtainable nowadays.

I also came across several names that later turned out to be my class mates, some in the primary school while others in the secondary school and the university.

Notable among such names are: Mr. Ifeanyi Okonkwo, Fr. Francis Nwizu, Mr. Azuka Odulatu, Mr. Kenechukwu Okafor, Mr. Austine Ikwuezumma, Mr. Cyril Odenigbo, Mr. Michael Okafor, Late Fr. Christopher Ugochukwu, Mr. Pius Iyoke, Mr. Christian Agwuncha, Mr. Valentine Onuchukwu, Fr. Stanley Orazulike, Mr. Paschal Njoku and Mr. Kingsley Onuchukwu, to mention but a few.

The early training and moral coaching given us by the church had great impact on us, hence, making us all responsible young people we all have emerged to be till this present day.

On the academic sector, I got transferred from St. Charles Borromeo’s Primary School in 1990 and was enrolled at St. Peter Cleaver’s Catholic School, which later renamed Oduda Central School, Nnewichi, Nnewi.

It was by this time that I became a classmate to Mr. Peter Nonso Smart Okafor; and we shared the same bench three years later in Primary Six B under the tutelage of Mrs Adeze Uzogo.

The young Peter Nonso Okafor back in the days was a boy of steady good character, well mannered, very studious and serious minded. Despite the fact that he lost his father few years later and was raised up by his hard-working mother, he had steadily risen through the years as a young chap with a lot in his kitty in the areas of good public conduct and leadership.

His leadership qualities, charisma and indelible legacies were laid bare in his days as a student of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State.

He showed his negotiating skills from his first year and a mastery in brokering deals without any records of violence in his final year, through the following ways:

1. In his first year, he served as the Minister for Transport in the Students Union Government. In this capacity, he brought the transport fare down from N30 to N10.

2. In his final year, 2006/2007 academic session, he was elected the Student Union President and it is on record that he was the first SUG President outside the Old Aguata LGA. He was able to bring down the school fees from N30,000 to N10,000. He also brought a lasting peace between the school and the host community. He made the students have a sense of belonging and not being harassed unnecessarily by lecturers for fair scores.

Now, after his school days, he was the only youth sent to America in the Obama administration to represent Anambra State under the LEAP AFRICA Program.

He is one of the youngest recipients of Henry Dunant Gold Medal of Red Cross and Red Crescent. He is also an awardee of the coveted Nigerian Youth Leadership Award of Leap Africa, funded by Ford Foundation and International Youth Foundation USA. He was a former National Youth Council Chairman, Anambra State Chapter.

It was Shehu Usman Dan Fodio that once said, “you know that conscience is an open wound only truth can heal.”

As a people of common destiny, we have wandered off the wrong path in making so many wrong choices in the areas of leadership and that has made Anambra State and Nigeria retrogressive and a toddler almost at the age of 60, since independence. We can’t continue in this wrong pa

All we need at this moment is to make a detour and start choosing the right people to represent us.

Come this Saturday, March 9, 2019, Smart will be contesting to represent Nnewi North at the Anambra State House of Assembly under APGA. A vote for him will be a vote for accountability and super-quality representation for the people of Nnewi town. Vote him for he is the right man for the job.

Ugojersey writes from Nigeria