The celebrant and I met by chance, and since then, we have been a very close friend.
Our first meeting took place in Anthony’s residence in Lagos, and as we departed on that faithful day I was astonished at his gentle, quiet and simple disposition towards me. His humility, kindness and deep religious nature was disarming and thereafter endeared him to my mind. On Saturday, July 18, 2015, Dr. Anthony Obiora Chukwuka will be clocking 52 years on earth. At a relatively young age, he started through share determination and hard work excelled in very many business areas where even his childhood friends and business allies gave him the slightest chance to succeed.
Whenever, he is asked the magic wand behind these strings of achievements, he chuckles with a smile and say, “no magic about business, all that it takes, is careful planning and hard work.” He is extremely careful enough, not to be loud and blowing the trumpet about his business successes. I will therefore, not be surprised, if he refuses to mark the day even with his close friends and business associates.
The Tony that I know will rather prefer to seat quietly with members of his immediate family at home, meditate and thank God for witnessing yet another day and another year in good health.
I have therefore decided to do this tribute in recognition of his extreme kindness and numerous charity works across the country which most people are not aware of or familiar with.
For the number of years, I have known Anthony, one thing that cannot be taken away from him is his composite religious values, ethics, and morals, and amazingly he doesn’t wear these qualities on his sleeve. He walks the talk. This is a quality that is rare to most rich and mighty men and women in Nigeria.
The scarcity of these qualities seems to be the reason, why some of our rich men and women especially politicians do not know that whatever they are today, it is God that has made them. As we usually say in Nigeria; “No condition is permanent”.
But Anthony knows that without God, he would not be where he is today. From what I have seen or heard in almost all his remarks in private and in public, he confesses God’s favour in his life. In his lifestyle, Anthony exhibits prudence, and his commitment to religion bears eloquent testimony to this God-consciousness and the fear of the Holy Spirit in all his undertakings.
Dr. Chukwuka’s entire life is a case study in the area of hard work, entrepreneurship and transparency. In 1980, at the tender age of 17, young Anthony armed himself academically only with the West Africa School certificate when arrived in Lagos, to begin a new life as an only son amidst seven elder sisters. He lived with his maternal uncle as an apprentice, hawking ladies shoes in Idumota in central Lagos.
As young as he was then, he resolved very early in life, never to do anything that will soil, disgrace or discredit his family name. His watchwords are hard work and being industrious which thereafter became his major focus. Young Anthony began his business life as a hawker of ladies shoes, and not satisfied with that type of business, and without any formal training or advice, he ventured into medicated drug sales and retailership. After several years of ups and downs coupled with intense struggle and hard work, he established one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria today. This venture eventually paid off within a period of 30 years and made him one of the major players in the country’s pharmaceutical industry. The company he established within this period, is today one of the biggest employers in the Nigerian Industrial Sector with a staff strength of over three thousand including top flight pharmacists and other professionals, numbering over one hundred. His company has the highest number of efficacious top range anti-malaria drugs in the Nigerian and West African market.
In a country where over 65 per cent of clinical visitation are malaria based, it is worth mentioning, that the visionary and entrepreneurial skills of Dr. Chukwuka has substantially facilitated and reduce cases of infant and maternal mortality alongside other categories of death directly traceable to the malaria scourge in Nigeria and Africa. This is in fulfillment of one of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) globally.
After making a huge success out of his business endeavour, Dr. Chukwuka’s friends, his business associates and employees were shocked beyond words, when he announced his decision to further his education; saying “ he will not be competent to chair or seat on the board of the company I have laboured to build and make effective decisions without the requisite educational background”. He enrolled with the University of Lagos where he read Business Administration and immediately proceeded to one of the Universities in England to do a Master Degree programme. In recognition of his rare and exceptional entrepreneurial skill, he was bestowed with a honourary doctorate degree in one of the leading Universities in Nigeria.
Dr. Chukwuka’s benevolent nature has also brought succor to very many families who in their life time would never have dreamt of finding help in Nigeria. His Eze-Fakego Foundation (good name is better than wealth) has continued to provide scholarship to brilliant but indigent students across the country from secondary to university level. He has excelled in community service in an around his place of birth. He has built town hall in his village and other neighbouring villages in Eastern Nigeria. As a matter of deliberate policy, he organized a programme annually for widows and other deprived persons in the society to give them a sense of belonging and ray of hope. He ensures that very poor people in the society who have no hope of living in decent structures get new homes; he not only built new structures but renovated existing buildings and accommodation for these groups of people.
Yours sincerely, once had a major medical challenge and when he got to know of it, without blinking an eye ball he wrote off my medical bill to the surprise and admiration of members of my immediate family. There are so many other people too numerous to mention here who have tasted the benevolent spirit of this icon, and also benefited from his kind gesture.
As one tries to appreciate him, he is quick to say, “Please do not bother to say thank you, I would not have been able to amass this wealth without the strength, skill and power that God gave me. I believe that the skill and power to make money is a gift from God Almighty”. That is how simple Anthony Obiora Chukwuka could be. As you mark yet another year Tony, I wish you continuous growth in good health, long and fulfilled life and an enduring testimony at the end of your race here on earth. Happy Birthday, my cherished and beloved friend and brother.
Mr. Omonhinmin is a Lagos based Media Consultant.
