It first came as an unbelievable inspirational story via WhatsApp: How an ordinary bricklayer without any modest form of education rose within 14 years to become the governor of a state in Nigeria. It was like an inspirational story for ladies not to jump ship in the days of lowly beginning with men in their lives. But alas, after a lot of digging by your favourite YouTube Channel, The Eagle Online Nigeria, it was found to be true.
It was the story of the incumbent governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru, and his wife, Uzoamaka.
According to our sources, the picture that accompanied the supposed inspirational story was taken in 2010 and had the then bricklayer, Nwifuru, his wife, Uzoamaka, and their son featuring. According to the sender of the photograph and inspirational story, the shot was taken in 2010 in Izzi, the village from where the governor hails in Ebonyi State.
Let’s read further what was posted then and regarded as an inspirational story: “Then in 2011 a man picked him and sponsored him into being elected as a member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly where he later rose to the position of a Speaker. He found favour with the then Governor who chose him as APC governorship candidate and today he is a governor. I learnt that he wrote the Senior School Certificate Examination while he was a member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly. If anyone had told his wife that the man he married as a bricklayer would become a governor in just a few years. Despite the fact that her parents trained her in school and also despite the fact that she is from a well to do family, yet she married a poor guy that was moulding bricks for a living. Be inspired by this story, tomorrow is too great, don’t look at yourself based on what you are currently going through, a year is enough for your story to change, keep pushing….”
End of quote.
Now, let’s tell you what your darling channel, The Eagle Online Nigeria found out on the ground in Ebonyi State. The present Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, came from a very polygamous home. His father is a traditional healer who treats various kinds of diseases with herbs. He married about 19 wives. In fact, a few days after Nwifuru was sworn in as governor, the father married a new wife.
Investigation revealed that being a traditional medicine man, some of Nwifuru’s father’s wives were those who came for one treatment or the other, and in the process got attracted to the man, leading to marriage. Some also are women having some health and marital challenges, which separated them from their husbands. Some of them, in the process of receiving healing and help from the man, fell in love with him on account of his good-natured and kind disposition. He is also a renowned farmer.
As it is often the case in polygamous families, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru started early to hustle to better his own lots. He did not have a smooth ride through education but he managed to go through the basics before delving into artisanship. He worked as a bus conductor, bus driver, a bricklayer, and a farmer.
Nwifuru later got attracted to politics and represented his ward locally in party affairs, particularly in the Peoples Democratic Party. He had contested for the position of a Councillor to represent his ward in Izzi Local Government Area without success. It was during the tenure of former Governor David Umahi as the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party that Umahi got interested in Nwifuru, who was then an ex-officio member of the party.
Nwifuru was one of the workers who built the then gigantic PDP state secretariat initiated by Umahi in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital. That afforded him the opportunity to work closely with Umahi who got attracted to Nwifuru’s diligence, dedication and honesty. Umahi picked him, and with the help of the wife of the then Governor, Josephine Elechi, who incidentally is an Izzi daughter, Nwifuru later won the House of Assembly seat of his State Constituency during Governor Martin Elechi’s second tenure as governor between 2011 and 2015. He displaced Augustine Nwankwegu, a lawyer, who wanted a second tenure, having served as the Speaker between 2007 and 2011 during Elechi’s first term.
That marked the beginning of the elevated phase of Nwifuru’s political career. He went back to the Assembly in 2015 under David Umahi and became Speaker for two terms. He was Speaker between 2015 and 2023, and now the governor, succeeding his mentor, Umahi.
Nwifuru entered the University when he was already in his first term in the House of Assembly. He studied Vocational and Technical Education. He enrolled for a degree in Law later in his political career as a State lawmaker.
Nwifuru’s wife, former Miss Uzoamaka Mary-Maudline, was also from a humble background. Her father was an average civil servant who served as Chief Driver to the wife of Martin Elechi during his tenure as Governor. Although she had an averagely decent childhood as a daughter of a civil servant, she was actually not brought up with silver spoons.
Investigation revealed that as at the time Nwifuru met Uzoamaka, probably while the both were in Ebonyi State University, Nwifuru was already making some averagely reasonable money, though not yet in any significant political post. People close to them said Nwifuru was already driving a V-boot Mercedes Benz car, which Uzoamaka often takes to school. Uzoamaka was studying Mass Communication while Nwifuru was in the Department of Vocational and Technical Education. Many people believed that Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru may have contributed reasonably to Uzoamaka’s education. So, what we can confirm at The Eagle Online Nigeria is that it is not true that Uzoamaka married Nwifuru as a very poor man.
But our investigation also revealed that it took guts for Nwifuru to ward off contenders as Uzoamaka was said to be naturally beautiful and attractive. She was said to have attracted the attention of a lot of men but was level headed and knew where she wanted to head. What we could not confirm was if like they do these days, she prayed over Nwifuru’s name before settling for him among her many admirers. In fact, Nwifuru was said to have lobbied greatly to draw her to himself.
Sources said this was why it was easy to start spreading false stories about her after Nwifuru came into power and had some influence to throw around. The move to throw the dirt into the marriage after Nwifuru became the Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly became so thick that some went as low as saying she was having an affair with a police orderly attached to her husband. But this had no impact at all as the marriage moved on rock solid. Our sources said the first couple of Ebonyi State, who are solidifying on the successes of their predecessors, have four children to show for the beautiful marriage.
. Culled from a script of The Eagle Online Nigeria.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
