Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chief Ben Etiaba, is the first son of former Anambra State governor Dame Virgy Etiaba.
In this chat with FRED IWENJORA, Etiaba gives insight into his ever gregarious life as a former two-term Chairman of ICAN, United Kingdom and District Societies; Chairman of Nnewi Community Association, Great Britain and Ireland; Chairman of the London Group of Nigerian Professionals in UK; Chairman of Enugu Sports Club; and as a young Traditional Chief installed by Nigeria’s longest serving monarch HRH Igwe (Dr) Kenneth Orizu 111 CON of Nnewi in 2003.
He also shed more light into the life and character of his mother, Dame Virgy Etiaba also fondly known as Mama Anambra, whose widowhood at 43 years of age later transformed into a great public figure in Nigeria, raising a young family of four sons and two daughters and now, Matriarch of 27 including six spouses and 14 grandchildren.
Etiaba also discusses the circumstances behind his mother’s emergence as deputy governor and later governor of Anambra State adding that sometimes, being a former governor’s son can be a burden.
How do you feel to be first in many things; a young Nnewi traditional Chief at the time, first and only two term Chairman of ICAN, UK and more?
I believe that we are all actors in life. Even before we are formed in our mother’s womb, our script has been well written. We just come into this world to play out these scripts. Nature and nurture as well as happenstance will always play their own roles. Above all we have all been destined to play certain roles in life except if we choose by ourselves to derail, we all must fulfill those roles in life. These are the basic tenets that have guided me in life.
These are my thoughts about life. I believe that if one is serious minded and honest enough, prayerful, dedicated and altruistic that one will live out whatever God has willed out for us. And in His own time, the same way he brought us into this world, He will call us back. That is life for me in a nutshell.
I became Ifennia Nnewi at 40. What I found interesting in that was that Igwe Orizu, the longest reigning monarch in Nigeria today was crowned in June 1963 and I was born in September 1963.
I was told that my mother was heavily pregnant when she attended the Igwe Kenneth Orizu of Nnewi coronation. I heard that my mother was so heavy with me that she remained in the car and couldn’t join the pomp and pageantry of the coronation event. Now interestingly, when Igwe Orizu was 40 years on the throne, he chose 40 prominent citizens of Nnewi to honor and I was one of them. I was 40 years old at the time.
Now becoming a revered Chartered Accountant
I chose my professional path as a Chartered Accountant and became a Fellow of the UK body before becoming a Fellow of ICAN in Nigeria. I also became Chairman of ICAN, United Kingdom and District Societies and would most humbly say that I was the only elected Chairman of ICAN UK who served out two terms. I won my second term unopposed too.
When in 2021 I decided that people should hear my voice and my political ideology, I joined the governorship race in Anambra State. I am quite pleased with that political outing as I learnt so much about the murky waters of Nigerian politics and lost nothing quite frankly. My political bent and ideology is now very well known. Unfortunately in Nigeria, political parties are vehicles to capture power. But I have done my bit and know that you do not have to be a governor to make a positive impact in society. That is why you see me and say I am gregarious.
A friend of many years standing once told me he has never understood how any human being who isn’t holding any public office, any vote, subvention or allocation of funds attached to any office, wakes up everyday telling everyone that society must be better. What we lack in Nigeria is leadership that is honest and selfless. I believe that leaders should process thoughts differently and that this difference in leadership pathway is what Nigeria lacks and what Nigeria needs because we need to have leaders who know that leadership is not business. We need leaders who understand that leaving positive legacies behind is far better than leaving fat personal bank accounts and monies for yourself which your generations may never need.
Many believe that the son of a former governor must be very privileged
When my mother became governor, I was still living in the United Kingdom. The fact that she was governor did not bring me back to Nigeria from the UK. I returned to Nigeria after her tenure as governor and after she handed over to Mr. Peter Obi. But she was always a mother to us, a mother in government and her role in politics gave her the appellation Mama Anambra. We as her children and family did not give her that name. Ndi Anambra who actually witnessed her motherly leadership disposition gave her that name. She was a widow and not expected to rise beyond what traditionally in Africa was expected of widows. I believe it was an act of God. Again I believe destiny played its role. She being a child of destiny was nominated as Deputy to Mr. Peter Obi.
Not many expected them to win but Ndi Anambra voted massively for that ticket. They were denied their position for three years before they got it back. And after a few months, Mr Peter Obi was impeached unfairly. She, being a mother, knew that impeachment was just very unfair and handed over power back to Peter Obi when the coast became clear after the court judgement that she did not appeal. It took a mother to do that. You know all that people do to seek and get power and how they want to hang onto power. But none of the trappings of power meant anything to her. That is, to me, enough legacy to bequeath to us her children and family. These are enough pointers to her children to be focused on selfless leadership if we have the destinies of many in our hands as leaders. It is easier to live a simple life than to be lured into the trappings of lucre. That seems to be what our people readily go for. Instead of being leaders, our people are political businessmen.
How can you define Dame Virgy Etiaba, your mum, widowhood and more?
My mother is naturally a very happy individual. Any one who knows my mother knows one word about her; Gratitude. She is forever grateful for what God and indeed any one has done for her and for the little she has. My mother was a teacher and if you know teachers of old, you should expect certain values and virtues to be found in all their dealings in life. My mother has remained a virtuous woman in all the years I have known her. She was 20 heading to 21 when she had me so you can understand what I am saying. She did not come from a poor family. Her father was a goldsmith, a big business at the time and still is today. Her background was such that she didn’t have to struggle but she was sent to relatives for better training in Kano. This meant that she was brought up properly.
So you see she was not exposed to the wild side of life. When she became widowed at 43, there was no life she tasted before being married that she was longing for. So all she did was to embrace God asking for mercy in raising four active young men and two wonderful daughters. I was 23 heading to 24 when my father died. I can most happily say today, I have risen to the pinnacle of my profession as a Fellow of ICAN, my two brothers are at the height of the legal profession as SANs. I have a brother who is based in England and doing very well as a Publisher. One of my sisters is with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while the baby of the house is an AGM at Fidelity Bank. The two ladies are married to lawyers.
One of my nephews has just been called to the Bar too. Another nephew of mine, my sister’s son will also be called soon. In all, my mother has 14 grandchildren, 7 boys and 7 girls and thanks to God, none has derailed but rather all competing positively to be upright. This is the reason we are a grateful family with much gratitude to God always. Since our dad died in 1987, we have turned into a family of 27 from a family of 7 at his demise. God has blessed the man who started it all in his absence, our late father. It is all the blessing of God and not of our making.
Do you miss studying law as a first son of a lawyer?
I absolutely do not miss studying law at all. It was a decision I took when I was young to chart my own course in life. Let me tell you what informed that decision. My father gave me his name. I am Bennet Jnr. I believed quite early in life that if I went on to study law, I was going to be another Ben Etiaba, lawyer. That meant that I was never going to have my own distinct identity. I was not going to rise above his wings and shadows. I never wanted that. In fact most of what I achieved was before anyone knew my family name in Nigeria’s political space. I was first Chairman of Nnewi community Association of Great Britain and Ireland in 1991.
The first Nnewi Students Union meeting in the UK was in the 1960s when my father who had studied law in England. Justice Ubaezuonu, Senator Onyeabor Obi, Dr Dozie Ikedife, Prince Belonwu Iwuchukwu, Engineer Nelson Esomeju and co were members of that meeting in the 1960s. After the civil war, Nnewi did not have a Union in the UK until 1991 when I became the first Chairman even as a bachelor. In my tenure as Chairman, we invited Ikemba Nnewi Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu as a special visitor to us since the end of the civil war. Ikemba gave me a letter of commendation for this act and I cherish this letter forever. It was after that I became Chairman of ICAN UK in 2003. Again when Nigeria set up an elite group of Nigerian professionals in the UK, all members of this group elected me Chairman of this group in 2005.
My mother became deputy governor and later governor in 2006. So I feel that whereas I am so proud of my mother and will never trade her for anyone, all her children are achieving greatly in their own various rights. Many people are happy when they say he is Virgy Etiaba’s son but I do not want to come into a place to meet a preconceived notion of who I am because of who my mother is. I want to be seen and experienced because of my own paths in life.
You are seen as a highly sociable homo sapien, what drives this character?
When I returned to Nigeria, I made a conscious effort and decision that I wanted to lead. I found out that if you were outside the room suggesting to leaders, if you are not leading, you may be annoying them. I also found out that one did not have to lead only in government. I just decided I was going to lead in any organisation I found myself in so as to be able to make a difference.
Anywhere I have led, I believe I have been able to make the difference I planned to make. I believe I have made positive changes wherever I have been a leader including as Chairman of Enugu Sports Club. I live for legacy and not for money. I am not a poor person by all standards but no one can attribute anything that I have to any leadership position I have held in the past.
My Igbotic thoughts!
When I turned 60 in 2023, the University of Nigeria asked that I deliver the Ethical Leadership Lecture of that year. The idea was to let Nigerians and indeed Igbo people know that if we continued doing things the same way, we will continue to get the same results. As you know, in Africa leadership drives everything. I believe that if we decide to change the mindset selflessly in an ethical manner, we would drive the right change to produce the right result.
We as Igbos have had such times when such happened and I mean in the years Dr Michael Okpara led Eastern Nigeria. He led in a selfless and altruistic manner and gave us the result we needed at the time. This resolve made Eastern Nigeria one of the fastest growing economies of the world at the time. If we are able to find such leaders, we could move and turn our problems around for better. For now though, let us also acknowledge that we have never had it as good as we now have, with the present crop of governors in the South East. What we have in the South East today is most encouraging.
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