By Duke C. Duke
The last time I was in Abakaliki, I was discussing with someone about the political aspirations of Distinguished Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Ararume. Amidst the discussion, he asked me, “what exactly does this Ararume do? I mean, what exactly is his job outside politics?”. That question called my attention back to a scenario in this part of the world.
We have chequerred system in this country where some political players do not have a substantive means of livelihood before their now celebrated political entrance. And unfortunately, the masses do not care, nobody wants to know. That is why we have a lot of hitherto jobless people who are now being hailed in politics, just like what we are seeing in Imo ‘agburu’ political dynasty today. So we have a young man whose father-in-law is desperate to dump on the governorship stool of Imo State by all crooked means; a young man who has no traceable means of livelihood before the same ‘nnam-oha’ father-in-law of his, hoisted him on various unmerited positions; a young man whose only qualification was that he is from agburu ha. Anyway, let me leave this for another day and hit the focus of this piece at once.
After Senator Ararume returned from U.S.A. where he obtained his B.Sc. in Business Administration, from the prestigious Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, he went straight to the University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria where he bagged M.Sc. in International Relations. The ambitious young Ararume then, delved into private business and became a key player in that sector.
An employer of labour, Senator Ararume has interest in Real Estate, Insurance, Retail, Trade, Construction, and Banking. He established Exclusive Stores Limited which runs in Abuja and Benin City, Edo State with hundreds of employees across tribes and religion. He is presently putting finishing touches to the Owerri branch of Exclusive Stores where over a hundred Imo youths will be employed soon.
He is also the Chairman of Climax Insurance Brokers Limited, and Harmony Properties Limited. The senator is presently building two industries in Imo State which will provide another hundreds of job opportunities for Imo youths as well as strengthen the state’s economy. In his banking career, the Isiebu Mbano born senator rose to the position of a director in the defunct Inland Bank Plc which is now part of FCMB.
This former Chairman of Southern Senators is a member of many professional bodies among which are: Institute of Chattered Insurance, London: Benin Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture: Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM). Again, in recognition to his accomplishments in business and politics, Sen. Ararume is a recipient of some fellowship merit awards including: Fellow, Institute of Sales Management of Nigeria (FNISM), and Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration (FICA).
The Distinguished Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Ararume has proven himself to be a renowned manager, astute administrator, a great team player and a successful business man.
Now you know…
Duke C. Duke writes in from Calabar.