TDIt was a Saturday, just before noon, when Senator Uche Ekwunife called me on the phone and asked me to come to her office in Awka with a few former Presidents-General whom I could reach for a meeting at our earliest convenience.
My mind immediately told me it had something to do with politics and perhaps how we could assist her in a political campaign.
That was not something I could accept at the time because I was already committed to another politician.
The other colleagues I contacted also thought the same thing. We all believed that Senator Ekwunife wanted to discuss politics with us.
Three days later, we were at her office around noon. After serving us drinks, she was about to begin her speech.
We sat down comfortably, waiting to hear the familiar word we had all expected: Politics. But we were completely wrong.
She went straight to the point. “I called you people here to encourage you past Presidents-General to come together and form an association where you, as former community leaders, can continue to contribute your ideas, experience and wisdom to the development of your communities, your local government areas and our state.
“You may have handed over the office, but you have not handed over your brain!”
She explained that an association of past Presidents-General could be useful in many ways.
It could help promote peace and unity in communities, encourage development, settle disputes, advise younger serving leaders and help attract development to communities using the contacts and relationships we had built during our time in office.
She also saw the possibility of using the association as a platform for welfare programmes for past Presidents-General.
She took us completely by surprise. We did not allow her to finish her speech before we all rose in a spontaneous ovation.
We appreciated the wisdom behind her idea, and there and then, we made a firm pledge to implement her advice as a matter of urgency.
Immediately after leaving her house, we started contacting more former Presidents-General.
By the end of the following week, we had contacted more than thirty former Presidents-General, and almost all of them expressed great interest in the proposed association.
In the coming months, the Association of Past Presidents-General of Anambra State was formed and protem officers appointed to kick start the Association, pending a formal election and inauguration.
What started as an idea in one woman’s sitting room had become a reality. And that was only the beginning.
Today, ten years later, APPAS has more than 800 active members, made up of people who have, at one time or another, served their communities as President-General.
Virtually every community in Anambra State is represented.
Among the members are serving or retired professors, retired judges, lawyers, business moguls, media gurus, celebrities and people from many other professions and walks of life.
But perhaps the most important thing is not simply the number of members.
The real achievement is that the association has continued to focus on the same basic objectives Senator Ekwunife enunciated when she first introduced the idea.
The association has remained focused on using the experience of past community leaders for the good of their various communities and Anambra State, with a strong and functional welfare scheme for members.
It has remained an avenue for people who have served their communities to continue contributing their ideas, experience, contacts and wisdom to community development.
And throughout these years, Uche Ekwunife has remained close to us as the Mother-General, counsellor and benefactor who paid the first two years rent for our office and assisted us in the registration of APPAS, in addition to facilitating employment for over 20 of our members’ children.
There is another piece of good news. Like a mustard seed, Uche Ekwunife’s idea has grown beyond the boundaries of Anambra State.
The idea has now spread to the South-East level under the name Association of South-East Past Presidents-General (ASEPP).
The association holds its convention every three years. The last convention held at Tuscana Hotel, Enugu, was attended by several eminent people, including then governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Senator Ben Ndi Obi, former governor of Enugu state and former PDP National Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo and others.
Owerri is expected to be the next venue later this year, with Chief Hope Uzodinmma as special guest.
So, from a small gathering of seven former Presidents-General in Senator Ekwunife’s house, the idea has travelled far beyond what any of us could have imagined that Saturday morning.
Looking back today, ten years after that memorable meeting in Senator Uche Ekwunife’s house, one cannot but appreciate the depth of her foresight, sense of community welfare and vision of service to the people.
She saw something many people fail to see: that when a community leader leaves office, his or her usefulness to the community does not end.
The title may go. The official responsibilities may end. But the experience, wisdom, contacts and love for the community remain.
That was the real beauty of Uche Ekwunife’s vision.
Ten years later, the journey from APPAS to ASEPP is perhaps the clearest testimony to the strength of the idea she planted that day.
It is only proper that we pause and say a big thank you to the woman who saw tomorrow.
Thank you, Senator Uche Ekwunife, for your vision and foresight.
Mazi Mazi Omife Omife (Mbuze Mbaukwu) is the Founding National President of the Association of Past Presidents General of Anambra State.
