Val Ozigbo stands out in the galaxy of candidates for the November 7, 2021, Anambra gubernatorial election not because he is flying the flag of a popular party but because he is the knight in the shining armour for Anambrarians.
You need not be clairvoyant to tell that Anambra is in dire need of fresh breath after eight years of mindless suffocation. And who will bail the cat?
Here is Ozigbo. Young, energetic, urbane, cerebral and unassuming yet well wired. His robust academic resume, uncanny strides and exploits in the corporate world firmly project him as the breath of fresh air Anambra urgently needs.
Come November 7, Anambrarians will be saddled with a simple choice: Choose as their next governor a compassionate, shrewd, urbane and cerebral manager of men and resources or a perpetuation of the dark, anachronistic politicking and voodoo governance Anambra has endured.
Ozigbo represents the former. In him, American author John C Maxwell’s characterization of a leader takes flesh and blood. Maxwell: “A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way”
Starting as a young goal- getting financial manager, the PDP candidate have traversed the business and financial firmament leaving impactful and enduring imprimatur in all spheres- hospitality sector, banking, manufacturing, energy etc
Until March 2020 when he quit to explore other areas of service to humanity, including the possibility of serving Ndi Anambra as governor, Ozigbo was at the driver’s seat of Transactional Corporation of Nigeria, Transcorp, a top-flight business conglomerate with an interest in agriculture, banking, hospitality among others.
For example, while at Transcorp, Val developed five new projects worth over $500 million including two new hotels in Lagos and Port Harcourt as well as other retail facilities that catapulted the conglomerate to a global height.
He obtained a degree in accounting from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in 1994 and an MBA in Banking and Finance from the same University in 2000.
In 2004, Val Ozigbo obtained an MSc in finance from Lancaster University, United Kingdom.
Ozigbo’s rise to the top of the corporate ladder was swift and meritorious. Before he was appointed the CEO of Transcorp, he had17 years of experience in the banking sector working with notable Nigerian banks including NAL Merchant Bank, Diamond Bank, Continental Trust Bank, FSB International Bank, Standard Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa and Bank PHB.
In 2001, Ozigbo was Acting Regional Director of FSB International Bank but returned to pick up the position of Head of International Banking at the United Bank for Africa (UBA) in 2004.
Anambra is in for impactful, purposeful leadership as Ozigbo awaits coronation on November 7.
– Peter Osakwe wrote from Inland Town, Onitsha.