As he attains the age of seventy, Nigerians are celebrating him for his good deeds to mankind and for using his wealth to touch the lives of many people.
Chukwudi Enekwechi
Prince (Engr.) Arthur Eze is well known across the length and breadth of Nigeria as a philanthropist, businessman and politician. His gentle mien and unassuming personality belies his humongous wealth acquired over the years from his forays into the global business world. Recently, he clocked the biblical age of seventy years and as it is customary with him, there was no pomp and pageantry to herald the occasion except that many beneficiaries of his legendary philanthropy chose to celebrate him in a unique way.
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On rare occasions like this it is the norm and tradition for citizens to appreciate such a personage who has over the last four decades continued to use his wealth to impact on the lives of Nigerians, notwithstanding ethnic or religious divide. In the history of Nigeria, perhaps the only personages comparable to Prince Arthur Eze in terms of philanthropy and care for the downtrodden are late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, aka MKO and former President Ibrahim Babangida.
As a businessman, Prince Arthur Eze was the promoter of the defunct Triax Airline which dominated the Nigerian airspace in the 1980’s. Since then he has ventured into other areas of business, with the main focus on oil and gas industry. His oil and gas business conglomerate stretches beyond the shores of Nigeria to other African countries like Liberia, South Sudan, and Equatorial Guinea. He is the founder of Oranto Petroleum International. In fulfillment of the company’s corporate social responsibility and the
founder’s belief in education the company is building an $800,000 school in South Sudan. Many Nigerians especially people from the Eastern part of the country easily remember him as the man who initiated the frequency modulated radio stations across Nigeria. Having returned from his academic sojourn abroad where he bagged a degree in mechanical engineering, he proceeded to Kano in search of business and as fate would have it, he met the former governor of Kano state, late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi who gave him the opportunity to build a frequency modulated radio station in the state.
Subsequently, Prince Arthur Eze travelled to the United States of America and invited his partners for the project. Later, he was to replicate the same feat in the old Anambra State under former governor Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo by building and equipping the defunct Anambra Broadcasting FM Station in Enugu.
Prince Arthur Eze’s legendary philanthropic activities came to the limelight in the early eighties as he was popularly known as ‘’Arthur 1000’’ taking the sobriquet for his regular donations of ‘’N1000’’ to people and communities. Those days the amount represented a very huge donation that an individual can give freely in so many places and at different occasions. In the present time the prince donates hundreds of millions of naira to good causes and sometime he raises the bar to billions of naira as we witnessed at a church function in Otuoke, Bayelsa state during the reign of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Perhaps it is very apposite to describe Prince Arthur Eze in the words of Maxwell Anderson who wrote that: ‘’there are some men who lift the age they inhabit till all men walk on higher ground in that life time.’’ This is the most appropriate way to understand a man who never looks back and continues to embark on good causes in order to improve the lives of his fellow men and women.
Therefore, as he attains the age of seventy years, Nigerians in unison are celebrating him for his good deeds to mankind and for using his wealth to touch the lives of many people. His philanthropy is worthy of emulation in a country where material acquisition among the elite is like a rat race. Wealth in itself is not bad, but the use and deployment of it in the service of mankind definitely elevates the individual to a higher level, where society never fails to appreciate the sacrifices of personages like Prince Arthur Eze.
Despite that this prince from the royal family of Ukpo kingdom in Dunukofia local government of Anambra state was born with a golden spoon yet he has not severed his link with the ordinary people, as he continues to cater for orphans, widows and indigent students who he grants scholarships to acquire the Golden Fleece.
Prince Arthur Eze is one patriotic Nigerian who uses his acquaintance with world leaders to promote vast human and material potentials of Nigeria. Simply put, he is a good ambassador of the country more so as he has built bridges across the country. His faith in Nigeria is unquestionable as he constantly cares and helps to uplift people from all corners of Nigeria.
As he clocks the biblical age of seventy years, Nigerians celebrate him and crave for more charitable rich men like Prince (Engr.) Arthur Eze who has remained devoted to the selfless service of his fellow citizens.
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Enekwechi is an Abuja-based journalist and politician