Mbisiogu bags Igbo person of the year award

By Patience Egwuwa   

For demonstrating exceptional effort for the advancement of humanity, he was recently honoured by his people who felt that he deserved the award giving to him. IgboAmaka, a pan-Ibo organization, organized the award which was celebrated in Lagos State, South-West Nigeria.
China based Nigerian businessman, Mr. Festus Mbisiogu was full of surprise when he was called to the podium during the presentation of the prestigious Igbo Person of the Year Award, at a well-attended ceremony in Lagos.
According to the organizers of the ceremony, the Igbo Person of the Year Award is one of the most prestigious and highly rated awards used to recognize Igbo achievers and friends of Ndigbo, who have distinguished themselves in their areas of calling for the advancement of humanity.

So it wasn’t an abnormal thing when Mbisiogu, the Managing Director of Blue Diamond and a philanthropist was presented the award for his outstanding contributions to the establishment of a Nigerian consulate office in Guangzhou, China where more than 15 million Nigerians reside. 
Also honoured at the event is Africa’s most decorated footballer of all time, Kanu Nwankwo who was presented with the All-Time Igbo Personality Award in Sports.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s foremost writer and producer, the late Amaka Igwe, received the Igbo Personality Life-Time Achievement Award (posthumous), while Africa’s heavyweight wrestling champion, Osita Offor known as Ultimate Commander also received the Igbo Personality Life-Time Achievement Award in sports.

Reacting to the award Mbisiogu quipped.

“I find it difficult to believe this because I am doing what I am doing out of the love I have for my people.  I didn’t even know that a group like IgboAmaka was watching what God was doing through me”, Mbisiogu revealed. 

“After I relocated to China from our head office in Dubai, I discovered that many Nigerians fly all the way from Guangzhou to Beijing in order to process their papers. The presence of the Nigerian government was not felt in Guangzhou because the embassy is in Beijing. Meanwhile, only a small number of Nigerians reside in Beijing. About 80 per cent of the Nigerians in China are actually in Guangzhou. On a speed train, it is about 18 hours. So, to and from is a total of 36 hours.
According to him, the suffering of Nigerians in China put pressure on him to start thing what he could do to ameliorate their suffering.

“I thought about what I could do about it. I decided to reach out to the Nigerian government. I cried out to them to give us a consulate in Guangzhou. Many Nigerians are in prison in China and no one is tracing them. Nobody knows where they are. You cannot blame the ambassador in Beijing, he cannot be everywhere no matter what he does.
“But if we have a consulate office in Guangzhou if there is any problem we can run to the office for assistance. But then there was nowhere to run to. So, the first thing I did was to reach out to the Nigerian government through the media”.

Mbisiogu said he called for the establishment of a consulate office in Guangzhou and narrated the suffering of Nigerians in that town and the President hearkened to his call to establish the consulate.

“Some months ago, we got a consulate office in Guangzhou and there was excitement everywhere. The people there have also given me an award like this one for my contributions in making their life better in China. The award was also in recognition of his far-reaching efforts at providing portable water for the people in his local government in Imo State”, he stated.
“Before now, people find it very hard to get water in Ideato South. About two years ago, I made the decision to give water to my people when I found out that very young children were still trekking long distances to fetch water, the way I had done while I was growing up. I promised to use some of the money that God has given me to see how I can help my people in this regard. Actually, since I started this project, God has been blessing me the more. We started with five boreholes in my own community, but with the request from other Ezes around our community, the project has been expanding. 
Mbisiogu confessed that that God found him worthy to carry out the very task. According to him, he was just an instrument in God’s hands to do what he did.

“This award will motivate me to do more. When I received their letter about four months ago, I was impressed. I didn’t even know that Igbo Amaka was watching what God was doing through me. I feel very happy about it and this award for me is an encouragement to keep up the good work”, he added.

“As I am talking to you, another set of boreholes will be commissioned next week. I am really excited about this award.”
At the event, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Audu Ogbeh described Mbisiogu as very befitting of the award.
Ogbeh, enjoined Nigerians to avoid the temptation of seeing only politicians as worthy of honour According to him, he had known the recipient for over two years and described him as a very likable person.
“He is my friend. I have known him for two years now. I am very excited about his personality, his desire to help his people. He is out to help his community and I want to say here that we must not see politicians as the only people worthy of honour and news”, Ogbeh said.
“People like him need to be encouraged,” Ogbeh said. “Otherwise, I won’t be here now because I’m very busy. But I am here to encourage him. We should encourage other young Nigerians too who are doing things to better their communities.”
For the Eze Ndigbo in Lagos, Eze Nwabueze Ohazulike, the event provided the opportunity to showcase Igbo culture and traditions. He said the event was a way of reviving the Igbo culture and tradition and pleads that the Igbo culture shouldn’t be allowed to die.

“The event is helping to revive our culture; that our culture cannot die, as some people have foretold. I am very happy and that is why I am here. Igbo language and culture is gaining their rightful place in the country”, he explained.
“Every year, we do celebrate the new yam festival in Lagos. We are doing it because we don’t want our culture and tradition to die”.

While commending the charitable works that Mbisiogu has been doing, the monarch enjoined other young people to take a cue from him and contribute to the good of the country.
Meanwhile, the Director, Igbo Person of the Year Awards Project, Mr. Obi Nwachukwu explained that the group, IgboAmaka was out to acknowledge those who have distinguished themselves in their calling.

“We work with every pan-Igbo organization like the Aka Ikenga, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, etc. the maiden edition was held in 2010. It honours people who have gone the extra- mile to better the society”. According to him, the award was aimed at standing them out for the upcoming generation to see and emulate. “That is the drive for this award”.
The procedures for awarding people with such prestigious honours start with the yearly call for nominations from every pan-Igbo organization to forward names for the award.

“Then there is an advisory body that decides who becomes the winner of the award. At the end of their consultations last year, the body in their wisdom decided that Mr. Festus Mbisiogu was in the best position to receive the award for 2014,” Nwachukwu explained