Senator Athan Achonu is the Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party in Imo State.
His story is the average Nigerian story — a strong Igbo family with Christian values, a middle-class upbringing, civil war tragedy, struggles, resilience, hard work, and the unyielding conviction to overcome every challenge that life brings.
His is a story of strength and growth that comes through courage, persistent effort, pertinacious resistance to failure and a blessed life lived in service to others.
Early Life
Born in 1959 to the family of Chief (Sir) T.E.O Achonu, MFR, and Nneoma (Lady) Martha Achonu of blessed memory. He is the 6th child out of 8 Children. His late father, Chief T.E.O Achonu was a family man, community leader, educationist of repute, politician, and a nationalist who played key roles in the political and socio-economic development of Old Mbano Division where he served as Chairman. He was responsible for many of the policies that helped shape education and political developments in old Mbano & old Okigwe areas.
That was the humble, modest family family-driven environment Senator Athan Achonu grew up in education, love for community, and selfless service.
Early Education, Challenges, and Life's Struggles
His early education was at Madonna High School, Etiti, Imo State, and Government College Umuahia, Abia State. He proceeded to John Cabot University, Rome Italy where he had a short study but with a strong desire to create wealth ventured into businesses.
Having lost his right arm as a child during the Nigeria civil war, one would expect him to become angry, depressed, and devastated because of an arm amputated by a dynamite, rather his life's journey took a turn that reflects the words of Dalai Lama - "When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength." Though the scar of the civil war remains visible on his right arm, he exudes the courage of an overcomer, the resilience of a warrior, and the confidence that comes with wisdom and knowledge.
Senator Athan Achonu is better described as an ‘Ideas Distillery’ and smart entrepreneur who saw the need to provide solutions to life’s complex challenges, hence his early entry into business providing solutions with maximum return on investments.
His first major breakthrough as a young man came from initial investments into distributing counterfeit money detecting machines to banks to checkmate fraudsters pumping counterfeit notes into Nigerian banks.
Amongst his successful companies which he built from scratch and took to an enviable peak include Nejach Engineering Limited, Numo Farms Limited, Okebaram Resources Limited, Mathan Nigeria Limited, and Chia Enterprises Limited. He is also the Chairman of Numo Microfinance Bank, a fully capitalized Microfinance Bank.
LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE
Sen. Athan Achonu is an advocate of freedom of speech, fair competition, and equal opportunity. He has pursued this ever since as an individual and as a member of the National Assembly.
On June 9th, 2015, he was inaugurated as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 8th National Assembly. However, in December 2015, the Appeal Court sitting in Owerri, Imo State capital upturned his election at the instance of the candidate of the Accord Party that the Accord party’s logo was not included in the ballot papers used for the 2015 National Assembly election.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY/ SPONSORED BILLS
In his short stay in the National Assembly (6 Months), Senator Achonu representing Imo North initiated several bills including:
1. Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) (Alteration) Bill 2015 with the singular aim of opening up the electoral system to enable Nigerians in the diaspora to vote in elections in Nigeria.
2. Petroleum Act (Amended) Bill 2015: in line with the quest for domestic self-sufficiency in petroleum refining, this Bill was introduced to license Nigerians to exploit marginal oil fields to fast-track local production, increase production capacity, and stop the oil subsidy regime. This bill would have saved Nigeria lots of dollars frittered away through the corrupt oil subsidy.
3. Mining and Solid Minerals Act (2007) (Amendment) Bill 2015: this was inspired by the need to proactively stop illegal mining, which is a major cause of insecurity and mindless killings in parts of the North, especially North-Western Nigeria. The bill was also to encourage the local processing of solid minerals by both local and foreign mining companies in Nigeria, especially given the need for the speedy diversification of the Nigerian economy.
5. Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2015: This bill relates directly to the environment for doing business in Nigeria. It discourages monopoly and cartels and encourages competition and a level playing field for businesses to thrive. It also seeks to protect consumers from abusive practices by businesses.
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Ad Hoc Committees
Before the Standing Committees of the Senate were constituted, he was appointed into two ad hoc Committees set up to address some matters of urgent national importance. They were:
1. The Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the expenditure of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Power Sector from 1999 to 2015.
2. The Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the impact of erosion on federal roads across the country. As a diligent and responsible representative of his constituency, he commissioned a survey of erosion sites in the Okigwe zone and presented same to the Committee. He also led the Committee to visit those sites.
Standing Committees
He was appointed into the following Committees;
1. Vice-Chairman, Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions
2. Vice- Chairman, Committee on Ecology and Climate Change
3. Member, Committee on Interior
4. Member, Committee on States and Local Government
5. Member, Committee on Public Accounts
6. Member, Agriculture and Rural Development
7. Member, Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy
Constituency projects
Though his stay in the National Assembly was short-lived as a result of court processes, he ensured that intervention projects that would empower some Imo North Constituents were delivered to the deserving constituents. These projects include the provision of multi-KVA generators, grain grinding machines, sewing machines, block molding machines, computers, and accessories, and 2 18-seater commuter buses.
SOUTH EAST DEVELOPMENT – AKU RUO ULO
Senator Athan Achonu is the initiator and promoter of Aku Ruó Ulò- a 'think global, build local' ideology inspired by the need to champion the strategic and sustainable development of South East (Igbo Land). His passion for the survival and sustainability of the Igbo race is infectious and unflinching.
Ikemba's vision of Aku ruo ulo is an idea that positions the Igbo Nation as a critical, growth-driven, technologically-versed, wealth-creating, and industrialized population. It is a reminder of the authentic ingenuity of the South Easterners. It is built on the 'gather to build' ideology rather than that of 'scatter'.
Aku ruo ulo reinforces integrity, diligence, and transparency rather than enforcing criminality, Yahoo Yahoo, corrupt leadership, and an 'ego mbute' mentality.
The Mission of Aku Ruo Ulo is to promote among the Igbos and to the global community, an emerging market economy that will transition from a low-income- underdeveloped- neglected economy towards an industrialized economy that focuses on quality education, agriculture, IT, security, manufacturing with modern standards in a 4th Industrial Generation.
Aku ruo ulo is built on 7 Key Focal Areas-
Security, Infrastructure, Education, Agriculture/Tourism, Manufacturing, Employment, and Excellence in Leadership
Wealth Creation & Youth Employment
Senator Achonu as a private individual has focused on achieving one of the core objectives of the Aku ruo ulo Agenda, which is to "promote local investment in agriculture, education, manufacturing, etc in the South East". A visit to his Numo Farms Kuje, FCT, and Umunumo, Ehime Mbano will change your perception of Ikemba, hence the capacity to drive the biggest community investment advocacy (Aku ruo ulo) in the SE.
The Numo Farms Limited, Umunumo is the biggest agricultural business in the South East. A multi-billion Naira agricultural investment holding- 260 Greenhouses with 72 already completed and functional (tomatoes, pepper, vegetable, lettuce, etc), 6 Artificial Rivers, (each with an installed capacity to produce 1 million fish per month); 5000 capacity Cattle Stockade, Snailery, hatchery, Ehi Igbo, etc.
The farm is also equipped with a State-of-the-art laboratory which helps to provide analytical data for process and production.
For ease of access, he built a 2.5km road with dual drainage leading to the farm with 2 bridges to create access to and from the farm. Another 6km road (to access the farm from another axis) with 2 bridges and 5 box culverts is underway.
The agricultural tourism opportunities at the Numo farm for tourists, health and wellness enthusiasts, researchers, and primary and secondary school students, are huge.
With uncommon passion to drive investment in tourism, and building on the hospitality potential in Owerri, the proud capital of Imo State (Eastern Heartland), Senator Athan acquired the defunct Progress Bank building from NDIC. He also acquired a 60% stake in the Imo Hotels property adjacent to the building. His vision was to redesign the interior area of the building into a 5-Star International branded hotel and to build the biggest mall in Africa- and by this offer a complete and exquisite experience to local and international visitors.
PHILANTHROPY, LIFE OF SERVICE & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT*
Senator Athan Achonu lives a life of giving, philanthropy, and shared humanity. He uses his God-given privileges to assist the less privileged and provide educational scholarships for many students in the Okigwe zone, skills development, employment opportunities, and international educational and business opportunities for young people.
He also collaborated in building several community development solutions including, support to school building projects, rural road maintenance, and construction/asphalting in his community, partnered in the building of Churches. He also built and equipped the Reverend Father’s house in St. Charles Parish Umunumo, Ehime Mbano; as well as attracted several Federal Government road projects to his senatorial zone.
Yearly he organizes medical outreach programmes for communities in the Okigwe Zone including a recent Cervical Cancer Screening and Elimination Program for Women in the Okigwe Zone. This program involved high-end screening measures like HPV Typing as well as LBC and Visual methods. The core objective was to raise awareness, help in early detection, treatment advisory, and elimination of the disease from the the Okigwe Zone.
COMMUNITY SECURITY/SUPPORT TO NPF
Senator Achonu, being a man of peace understands the nexus between security, investments, and community development. He has shown and continues to show leadership towards resolving the insecurity bedeviling the South East, especially in Imo State. At different times, he has donated operational vehicles to the Nigerian Police Force, and to the community vigilante in the 3 autonomous communities in Umunumo Ehime Mbano. He has also supported and donated funds to nearby communities and villages to help them tackle their internal security challenges.
In a bold step towards supporting the Nigerian Police Force nip insecurity in the bud in Imo State, he requested and got approval from the Inspector General of Police to repair 9 Police Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC). He contracted and paid Innoson Motors to repair the APCs at the cost of 160m Naira.
FAMILY LIFE
Senator Athan Nneji Achonu (One Arm General) is a family man, married to Lolo Aisha Chiamaka Achonu and blessed with 5 children. He loves his wife and children.
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It's Athanable
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