By Ingram Osigwe
For good or for bad, there is always a payback time. Come Tuesday, December 31st 2019, it will be a payback time for Dr. Anayo Michael Ukeje as the legendary Peoples Club of Nigeria International, PCNI rewards his many years of meritorious service to the club.
On that day, PCNI will recognise Dr.Ukeje with the conferment and installation as its Patron. The event which takes place at Dr.Ukeje’s Iyiba Resort, Emeahama, Umuopia, Akokwa in Ideato North local government area of Imo state brings to an exhilarating climax his over a decade and half of selflessness contributions to the survival of PCNI.
Through thick and thin, Dr.Ukeje had ensured that the club which is one of the unifying factors for Igbo elites- business moguls, industrialists politicians and intelligentsia-remained alive and formidable despite the internecine crisis that had bedeviled it.
Dr. Ukeje who is the Founding Chairman Emeritus and Chairman of the Board of Directors of PCNI, Chicago, United States of America, has indeed invested his energy and time in the club.
It is on record that when he relocated to Chicago from the United Kingdom, (UK), to United States (US) there was no Peoples Club Branch in either Chicago area or anywhere in the Midwestern part of the US, because of difficulty in organizing/establishing the Club branches in these areas. Though there were few PCNI members living in Chicago, they were all members of Boston Branch.
Gifted with the uncanny ability to mobilize and breath life into the moribund, Dr. Ukeje did not only organize and establish the Club Branch in Chicago, he made immeasurable material contributions towards its survival, growth, and development in Chicago and Peoples Club Worldwide. He managed the Club in Chicago through the most tumultuous period in its history, including sacrificing his personal ambition by stepping aside as Chairman of the Branch to ensure the survival of PCNI in the area.
He did not just only fight for the survival of Peoples Club in Chicago, he also fought ardently for the survival of Peoples Club Worldwide. When the Club’s National headquarters in Nigeria, due to ill-advise, started illegal suspension of elected chairmen of US branches and random dissolution of elected executives of US branches for advocating for peace and unity of the Club instead of denouncing the US patrons’ lawsuit against HQ, Dr. Ukeje played a reconciliatory roles in counseling these aggrieved chairmen and their executives.
His intervention went a long way in assuaging their anger. It was he who moderated at the first meeting of the Progressive Group of Chairmen and Secretaries in Houston in 2013, the meeting later metamorphosized into the present PCNI-International Leadership Committee (ILC) in Americas.
Not one to be weighed down by visctidutes and obfuscations, Dr. Ukeje navigated through the most debilitating crisis of Peoples Club of Nigeria International, organizing and strategizing with others to give birth to Peoples Club of Nigeria International Progressive Group, which includes ILC Americas and some Nigerian Branches.
The good thing is that his efforts to keep PCNI alive at every juncture did not go unrecognised and unapplauded.For example, for his dexterity in growing the Club and leaving a lasting legacy for it, Dr. Ukeje was nominated by the Club and subsequently elected as the first PCNI Special National Officer (SNO) in Diaspora. He represented not only Peoples Club in Chicago but Peoples Club Worldwide as a plaintiff in a landmark Lawsuit in the US that helped in accelerating the timeline for peace and unification of the entire Club Worldwide.
A few years back, His Imperial Majesty Eze Desmond Ogugua (MFR) also recognised Dr.Ukeje’s unwavering commitment to PCNI and his sacrifices to the club and awarded him the valiant title, “Agu na echemba (the lion that watches over the town) EziUdo Mbaise”.He also made him, his Special Ambassador in Diaspora for all his efforts in nurturing PCNI Chicago and overall landmark achievements at the national and international scenes.
Dr. Ukeje remains one of the notable members that rallied around HIM Eze Desmond Ogugua to intensify his drive for the unification of Peoples Club factions, which eventually led to his convening of PCNI Peace process the club is now implementing.
He is, therefore, being installed Patron of a unified Peoples Club of Nigeria Worldwide.
Dr. Ukeje is a humanist and philanthropist who thinks of the larger good of all, most times, subsuming his personal interest under the larger interest of everyone.
He believes that the greatest gift in life is the gift of wisdom. Coming from a predominantly business family where educated professionals were non-existent during his childhood, he devoted his life conquering illiteracy and illiteracy induced poverty. As a result of Dr. Ukeje’s believe in, and commitment to education, his immediate and extended family, as well as his immediate community, can now boast of multiple professionals in the areas of Law, Science and Arts, Medicine, Business, etc.
Among these are his own daughters, Chideraa Ukeje, MD/MPh, Feinberg School of Medicine; Chinonso Ukeje, MD Student, University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago.
Born to the late Nze Echeghudo Jonathan Ukeje, Dr.Ukeje graduated in 1985 from the University of Maiduguri with Second Class Honors Upper Division in competitive Chemistry, MSc. In Chemistry (University of Lagos) and later went to the United Kingdom for further studies.
A scientist and inventor with bias for pharmaceuticals, Dr. Ukeje has held various leadership and global positions in the Pharmaceutical/Biopharmaceutical Industries, including his current position as Associate Director, Global Pharmaceutical Technology responsible for niche and specialty products in Allergan Inc.; Subject Matter Expert (SME), Manager & Technology Transfer Leader on complex drug products& delivery platforms in Pfizer Inc., USA.
Prior to joining Allergan and Pfizer Inc., he was a Principal Consultant with Hospira-Pfizer Lake Forest, IL, USA. His professional and leadership positions in other Pharma/Biopharma companies and CDMOs include Manager, Process Development. and Clinical Supply at Nastech Pharma; Sr, Product Development Engineer at Catalent Pharma; Sr. Validation and Compliance Consultant at Johnson & Johnson and Principal Scientist, R&D at Morton Grove Pharma.
Dr. Ukeje is lead inventor who authored the emulsion process patent, “Use of powder in drug formulations” as well as powder processing equipment trade secret. He has authored numerous articles including “Predevelopment Tasks for Drug Making” in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (2013) and “The effect of particle size distribution on the rheology of dispersed systems” in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (1999).
Though widely traveled, Dr.Ukeje is very much in touch with tradition and Igbo cultural heritage. This accounts for the avalanche of traditional/cultural titles he has received across Igboland.
Many who are in the know of Dr.Ukeje’s sacrifices for Peoples Club of Nigeria agree that his installation as the patron of the timeless club is fitting, proper and deserving.