Last Sunday 10th April 2022, City People Management visited PDP presidential aspirant Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa. It was a courtesy visit led by the Publisher of City People Magazine, Seye Kehinde and Seun Emmanuel, our Online Editor. We seized the opportunity of our visit to interview him. He is one of the leading aspirants in the party. He is a brilliant technocrat turned politician.
Let’s tell you more about him. Many don’t know, Mazi Sam Iheanyichukwu Ohuabunwa is a Pharmacist by training. Heread Pharmacy at the University of Ife, lIe- Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) graduating in 1976. He obtained post-graduate education in Organizational & Corporate Management at Columbia University, New York, USA and in Executive Business Management at the Lagos Business School, Lagos, Nigeria. He received an honorary Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Degree from Gregory University Uturu Mazi Sam is a fellow of several professional groups, the most prominent being Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria( FPSN), Fellow of the West African Post-graduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm), Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Pharmacy (FNAPharm), Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management (FNIM), Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing in Nigeria (FNIMN), Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (FNIPR), Fellow of the Association of Corporate Governance Professionals of Nigeria (FCGP) and Fellow ofthe Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC)
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa joined Pfizer Products Plc in 1978 as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative and rose to become Chairman/CEO of the company and Regional Manager for Pfizer West Africa in 1993. In 1997, Sam led the Management Buyout (MBO) of Pfizer Inc shares in Pfizer Products Pic, transforming the resultant company –Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Products Plc into a medium-sized Research & Development based healthcare company. He voluntarily retired from the company in 2011 after 33 years in the industry, 18 years of which were at the CEO level.
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa is an entrepreneur and investor who has been involved in founding and managing several businesses, in many of which he still serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Sam has been exceptionally involved in economic advocacy for several years. He was Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), President of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), President of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and Chairman of the Organized Private Sector (OPS). He was actively involved in fashioning out VISION 2010 and VISION 2020 strategic documents. Despite Mazi Sam’s extensive involvement in private sector leadership and corporate management, he has also gathered a lot of experience in the Public and Government Sector, both at the State and Federal levels. He was Chairman of Abia Polytechnic Governing Council, Chairman of Abia State University Teaching Hospital Board and currently serves as the Chairman of the Abia Public-Private Partnership and Investment Promotion Council. At the Federal level, he had served on the boards of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Manpower Board (NMB) National Institute for Social & Economic Research (NISER) and the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI). Most recently, he served on the Boards of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD).
On the political Front, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa has served on many Presidential Committees and Taskforces, the prominent ones being the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC), Presidential Steering Committee on Global Economic Crisis (PSCGES), and the Presidential Committee on Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SURE-P). He was a member of the National Political Reform Conference of 2005. At the Community Level, Sam is a Christian, Knight of St Christopher, National Director of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, Past President General of Nzuko Arochukwu, Chairman of Business Development and Investment Committee of the Alaigbo Development Foundation, and member of the Ime-Obi of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
Pharmacist (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa is the immediate past President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), President of the Association of Corporate Governance Professionals of Nigeria (ACGPN) and the Convener of the NEW NIGERIA GROUP (NNG).
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa is a bundle of talent, multi-skilled, proven servant leader, entrepreneur, lay minister, social worker, Nation builder, writer and author. He is happily married to Lady Stella Omude Ohuabunwa with Five Children and many grandchildren. For his sacrifices and services to his Community, Profession and the Nation he has been variously honoured, particularly being one of the few living Nigerians to receive three National Honours – Member of the Order of the Niger (MAN) in 2001, Officer of the order of Federal Republic (OFR) in 2011 and the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) award in 2018. Mazi Sam credits all his achievements to the Grace of God as he prepares to do more for God and the Country.
He revealed his approach to solving the Critical Challenges Facing Nigeria today. He says.
•Solve Poverty and that will largely solve the problem of corruption.
•Solve Injustice and that will largely deal with insecurity.
HOW TO SOLVE POVERTY:
•Ensure Liberating Education for all citizens especially the youths (Incorporating entrepreneurial education)
•Introduce Quality and universal healthcare(Largely through compulsory health insurance
and integration of Traditional and alternative Medicare)coupled with maintenance of environmental
hygiene and universal availability of potable water and electricity (In all villages and towns in the Nation)
•Achieve Citizen economic empowerment, especially for our women and the youth
(including innovative land use capitalization)
•Creation of business and career promoting & enabling environment
•Economic deregulation and extensive private sector participation through liberal incentives •Diversification of the Economy away from oil to export-driven manufacturing and value addition to
massive commercial agricultural output.
HOW TO SOLVE INJUSTICE:
•Create equal citizenship rights (No privileges, no sacred cows)
•Ensure minimum quality of life for every Nigerian(Rural and Urban)
•Take absolute responsibility for the life and safety of every Nigerian citizen
•Remove all forms of discrimination or marginalization ( real or perceived), including
Bias against women and those living with disabilities
•No criminal will go free and no Innocent will be criminalized (Make rule of law a national credo)
•Enthrone a transparent and accountable governance system (Enhance the office of the citizen and
allow free press)
•Liberate the federating units to flourish and prosper in competition with each other
•Enthrone an incorruptible judicial system (That works for the poor and the rich)
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