The profile of Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, the nominated governorship candidate of the Labour Party of Nigeria for the November 16, 2013, gubernatorial election

1. THE MAN; PATRICK IFEANYI UBAH
By Nkemjika
Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah was born on the third day of September 1971, to the
family of Mr. and Mrs. Alphonsus Ubah of Umuanuka in Otolo, Nnewi,
Anambra State. His parents were teachers by profession. As teachers and
role models, Mr. and Mrs. Alphonsus Ubah instilled in Ifeanyi and his siblings
the priceless virtues of honesty, hard work, independence, perseverance,
selfless service, the fear of God, and the culture of innovative thinking and
creative inventiveness.
In order to ensure that Ifeanyi and his siblings obtained proper post primary
education, his parents carefully apportioned the meager family incomes to
provide for the educational trainings of the children. The result was the
attendance of Okongwu Memorial Grammar School, (OMGS), Nnewi, by
Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah. However the relentless struggles and the
determination of Ifeanyi’s parents encouraged and challenged Ifeanyi as the
first child to resolve voluntarily to assume certain responsibilities, ahead of
his peers, as a way of helping his parents to provide for the needs of the
family.
Ifeanyi’s bold resolution to be directly involved in providing for the sundry
needs of the family was not entirely a happy experience for his parents.
Though it was an encouraging and welcome development and a relieve to his
father, the head of the family specifically expressed grave concerns at the
frightening and looming risk of an uncertain future that faced the family.
However, Ifeanyi very calmly and optimistically assured his father that he
would make him proud in the long run; that he would shoulder the

2. responsibility of providing for the welfare of the entire family and that he
would as well equip and develop himself, intellectually.
In fulfillment of his adolescent visionary covenants and assurances to his
parents, coupled with a focused determination reflecting the boundless and
tireless energies devoted to the pursuits of excellence and extraordinary
achievements, Ifeanyi remained unrelenting in his quests for knowledge-
acquisition and self-development; and accordingly attended several high
profile local and international courses and seminars in leadership and
business management. Propelled by the zeal to further enhance, equip and
fortify himself for the challenges of the 21st
Century, Ifeanyi Ubah enrolled
for the globally acclaimed and prestigious Owner/President Management
Program at Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, an Ivy League
Institution, and came out in flying colours.
Remarkably, in consideration of Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah’s resolute
determination and early life resolution to squarely face the challenges of
existence, coupled with a passion to achieve significant success in his chosen
field of human endeavour, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, has indeed achieved
immeasurable success despite all odds. As a result of his purpose-driven
achievements, and result-oriented contributions to the development of the
Nigerian economy, coupled with foresighted visionary intuition, dynamic
resourcefulness, as well as sustained entrepreneurial ingenuity, Ifenayi
Ubah, was deservedly conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Management
Technology (DMT) by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO),
Imo State.
No doubt, Ubah’s intimidating success profile was not attained by sheer luck
or by any acts of accident, but it is rather the result of a purpose-driven
life, rooted in determination, perseverance and exemplary robust
commitment to prevail in the face of daunting circumstances and
difficulties. Of course, his grand success story had its roots at the early age
of 18 years. He started by climbing patiently the business cum
entrepreneurial success ladder; first as an apprentice, and moved on
subsequently to establish a network of successful regional business
enterprises. His business engagements in the early periods took him to the
neighbouring West African countries which included Ghana significantly. As a

3. result of his remarkable early success, his earnings capped at the one million
Naira mark, at the age of 19 years.
Ubah specifically carved a niche for himself within a short time as a major
player in the booming tyre export trade from Nigeria to Ghana, and supplied
the products to notable traders in Ghana which included Kingsman
Enterprises. The proceeds of this lucrative venture were ingeniously
reinvested in, amongst other things, the purchase of his first house in
Ghana. The next business destinations were Liberia and Sierra Leone. The
civil war in Liberia however had adverse effect on Ubah’s trans-West African
business concerns and served as the first test-case for Ubah in the
unpredictable and fluid business environment. The civil war in Liberia
ultimately forced Ifeanyi Ubah to relocate to Lagos, Nigeria, and to re-
strategize.
Essentially, the strategic response Ifeanyi Ubah applied was the lateral and
vertical expansion of his business interests to include the supplies of auto
spare parts to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which eventually
served as his host nation and the primary base of his business activities on
the African Continent for a reasonable time. Apart from re-launching his
business and breaking new grounds business-wise, Ubah’s gift and talents
equally manifested in the leadership qualities he exhibited in the DRC that
accorded him recognition and finally elevated him to the position of the
President of the Nigerian Community, at a relatively young age. As the
President of the Nigerian Community in the DRC, Ubah was saddled with the
challenges and the arduous responsibilities of providing food and housing for
hundreds of Nigerian refugees who fled the neighbouring Congo Brazzaville
as a result of political crises and instability that engulfed the nation.
In the DRC, Ifeanyi’s business engagements blossomed and thrived
enormously. His foray into the automotive spare parts supplies proved to be
rewarding. The endeavour elevated him to the status of a major importer of
auto spare parts. New opportunities opened up and Ifeanyi creatively and
astutely exploited same by participating in several international trade fairs
and exhibitions mounted by auto manufacturers and dealers in places such
as the Automotive Industry Week, in Las Vegas, USA, and the
Automechanika,in Frankfurt, Germany. From the DRC Ubah equally
established strong presence in the United Kingdom, Belgium, South Africa,

4. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and a host of other prospective and
lucrative locations. The following notable companies and organizations
engaged in, and accordingly cherished meaningful mutual beneficial business
transactions with Ifeanyi Ubah: AE, Payen, Kolben Co., and Anglo American
Industrial Co-operation, in South Africa. In Europe, Belgolaise (Brussels),
Belgium, and AE Automotive (Leeds) UK, were other notable associates of
Ubah’s fast growing business concerns.
Principally Ifeanyi Ubah’s ultimate emergence as a business mogul and oil
and gas magnet, as well as an entrepreneur with international muscle,
recognition and stature, dates back to his clairvoyant, strategic and
visionary decision to embrace the highly challenging and high-risk but
equally potential opportunities he acutely spotted in the oil and gas
industries. With the establishment of Capital
Oil(www.capitaloilandgasind.com) SPRL in the DRC, which Ubah effectively
used to facilitate his dealings and activities in the oil and gas business, Ubah
laid the foundation, retrospectively though, of his future business empire
(unarguably the backbone of Ubah’s current multi-billion Naira mega
business concerns). Ubah’s business relationship with Ibeto Petrochemical
Nigeria Limited in the oil and gas was very significant and proved to be
highly rewarding, especially in providing Ubah the platform to procure
products for supplies to Capital Oil SPRL clients in the DRC, which included
government agencies.
In fact, in a similar situation to the unpalatable Liberian experience, which
orchestrated the forced relocation to Lagos, Nigeria, of Ifeanyi Ubah’s
erstwhile tyre business, the outbreak of political instability and armed
struggles in the DRC equally resulted in Ifeanyi Ubah fleeing the chaotic and
restive DRC entity to relocate and establish a new base in Nigeria. Despite
the sudden change experienced in relocating to a new and more complex
business environment and turf in Nigeria, Ifeanyi bounced back and adapted
quickly to the demands of the volatile oil and gas business in Nigeria,
courtesy of his mentor, Cletus Ibeto, who provided necessary logistics
support to Ubah’s business, and equally tutored Ifeanyi on the intricacies of
the oil and gas climate in Nigeria.
By 2003 and 2004, through foresighted, visionary and uncanny strategic and
analytical abilities, Capital Oil delved into haulage, transportation and retail
of petroleum products. In 2006, Capital Oil built its first strategic depot and

5. commissioned the facility in March 2007. The second depot was successfully
completed a year later in 2008, and in 2010, the third deport was added. In
2011, the number of Capital Oil strategic depots increased to four with the
addition of Oil Force facility to Capital Oil strategic storage network of
facilities. Ubah also championed the building of strategic regional reserve
depots within the geo-political zones of Nigeria: Suleja, in Niger State,
Funtua, in Katsina State, Enugu, in Enugu State, Warri and Koko, in Delta
State. These storage infrastructural developments have created thousands
of jobs for Nigerians, and mostly for the youths. This has been in keeping
with Ubah’s belief in the tenets of the aphorism that “wealth and job
creation are an art, and empowerment is an obligation”.
Inspired, encouraged and equally motivated by the desire and the zeal to
accomplish and achieve more successes in the oil and gas sector rather than
rest on his oars, Ifeanyi Ubah led his team to acquire more strategic and key
assets in the oil and gas business. These include the largest fleet of marine
vessels, barges and tug boats, as well as a large fleet of oil tankers. These
strategic assets can be described as the flagship in the arsenal of Capital Oil
and Gas Industries Ltd in the globally competitive oil and gas business. In
this context, Ifeanyi Ubah, has disclosed that “Capital Oil’s depot facility
network, with 32 loading arms and a combined capacity to berth 3 to 6
vessels simultaneously, is the largest in Nigeria”. Of course, in terms of
provisions for necessary logistics support to the transporters of petroleum
products to consumers in the different locations in Nigeria and in the West
African sub-region, Capital Oil has to her credit a parking lot with the
capacity to accommodate 1,100 trucks at any given time.
Primarily, Ifeanyi Ubah’s core business interests are evidently in the oil and
gas, port and harbor facility investments, specifically on the African
continent. He has equally spread his economic dragnet and strategically
diversified his investment portfolios to include: property and estate
development, telecommunications, commodities trading and importation,
financial institutions and healthcare services. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, as an
accomplished and astute leader and captain of industry sits on the board of
several companies including: Knoll & Hachfer Engineering Co. Ltd., Chevron
Oronite & Chemical Co. Ltd., Hero Communications Ltd., First Nigeria
Independent Oil Co. Ltd., Commodity Giants Nigeria Limited, Oil Force
Nigeria Limited and Capital Group Congo S.A.RL., in the Congo DR.

6. 1. In terms of international recognition, Ubah was profiled by the Oxford
Brooks Magazine as one of the “Forty under Forty 2009”, a list of the top
forty Nigerian business leaders under the age of forty in 2009
(elombah.com/index.php/articles.../16199-the-man-patrick-ifeanyi-ubah). Ubah
is also a philanthropist. Perhaps, driven by the desire to give back to
society, he established the Ifeanyi Ubah Foundation, which gives students
scholarship, drills boreholes for communities, installs electricity
transformers, repairs and constructs roads, provides free fuel to Okada
riders and bus drivers regularly in his petrol stations in Anambra State.
Ifeanyi Ubah, out of his milk of human kindness, has consistently distributed
kerosene in all the regions of Nigeria, including the highly volatile areas, in
order to alleviate the plights and wanton sufferings of the poor masses who
ordinarily would not have had any access to this product or even purchase it
at the subsidized price of N50 per litre.
As part of Ubah’s corporate social responsibility and sustainable community
development program, he built and donated a students’ hostel at the
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. He equally built and equipped with state-
of-the-art technology, a 160 seat capacity ICT Centre for the Nigerian
Defence Academy, Kaduna. In the same vein, Ubah is sponsoring the building
of a befitting ICT Centre for the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Ubah has
completed and donated the Anglican Bishop’s Court to the Awka Diocese
valued at 60 Million Naira. He is also single-handedly building the Catholic
Cathedral of the Nnewi Diocese, said to be the largest in Nigeria.
A family man, Ifeanyi Ubah is married to Uchenna Ubah, a graduate of
business administration from Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria. Ubah
maintains that his marriage “was the beginning of God’s manifestation in
my life, by blessing me with a jewel of inestimable value – my wife, the
mother of my five children”. Ubah is a humble, faithful and trustworthy
person. In all his sojourns, tribulations, achievements and celebrations,
Ubah closely identifies with his friends. In fact, his friends form essentially
part of his strengths. He appreciates his friends enormously and has no god-
fathers, but only God. That is why Ubah is fondly called Ebube Chukwu
Uzo, meaning “placing God first in all we do”.
At a very early age, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah developed and has consistently
exhibited the unyielding knack to prevail even against the greatest odds. He

7. has remained steadfast to this hard-earned but well deserved enviable
reputation up to the present times. He has exhibited an uncommon resolve
to realize his visions, achieve his goals and objectives in life; irrespective of
the magnitude of the obstacles or oppositions encountered. “I don’t shy
away from challenges. I draw strength and inspiration from God and face
challenges head on”, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, has consistently declared with
confidence. These reassuring words evidently reflect the outlook, the
philosophy and the sense of conviction of Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah – resolute,
bold, courageous, resourceful and optimistic.
Article written by Nkemjika---a Research Writer and Media Consultant.
Posted to SlideShare by: The Media Team Of Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi
Ubah For Governor Of Anambra State Of Nigeria on the November 16, 2013
Gubernatorial Election