11 January 2009
Lagos — Born on December 10, 1968 to Chief Eze Emmanuel Ubani and Lolo Ihuoma Ubani in Abia state, young Anthony Ubani set out at an early age to make a difference in his family, community and country.
By 1995 Mr. Ubani was already making waves and receiving rave reviews in the marketing communications industry for his outstanding work in advertising and public relations. So much so, that in 1998 Ubani received a priority nomination from the American Biographical Institute (ABI) for biographical inclusion in the Seventh Edition of "Five Thousand Personalities of the World". According to ABI, Ubani was nominated "because of his exemplary performance and for the fine example he is setting for his peers and society."
In 2000 he relocated to Abuja and worked at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Institute before moving to the USAID funded Mississippi Consortium for International Development (MCID).
At MCID Mr. Ubani distinguished himself, delivering an all-round excellent performance. Amongst other achievements, Mr. Ubani designed and implemented a program that successfully expanded the operations of the Mississippi Consortium for International Development from only eight States to the thirty six States of Nigeria. He subsequently rose to become the only Nigerian in history to be appointed Interim Country Director at Mississippi Consortium for International Development. For his sterling achievements, Mr. Ubani received a special award for "Outstanding Contribution to the Mississippi Consortium for International Development".
Following a request by the then leadership of the PDP, Mr. Ubani moved over to the Peoples Democratic Institute where he took up appointment as Coordinator, Special Projects and Special Assistant to the Director General.
In 2005, Mr. Ubani was appointed Head by the PDP Secretariat set-up to provide strategic support services to the PDP Delegation to the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC). In the same year Mr. Ubani successfully served as Secretary of the Monitoring Committee of the 7th PDP National Convention.
In recognition of his loyal service to the PDP, his creative, productive and successful work at PDI and his multifarious initiatives and leadership at promoting democracy Mr. Ubani was meritoriously appointed to the office of Ag. Director General, Peoples Democratic Institute in 2005.
In 2008, Mr. Ubani was honored again when he was appointed Chairman, Governing Council of National Legislative Awards. In the same year Mr. Ubani was inducted a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administrators and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria.
A very devout Christian, Mr. Ubani is happily married to Mrs. Oluwatoyin Ubani and they have four lovely children: Natasha, Oluwatomi, Ikechukwu and Murna. He told Nseobong Okon-Ekong that as a practical demonstration of his faith in Nigeria, he married a Yoruba woman and his children answer to Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo names.
Ubani was sweating after a work out at the gym. He started the exercise routine four months ago, when his doctor warned that his health could be endangered. "It was a wake up call. Whatever it is we are running around for, we need to be alive to do it."
All he needed was a foothold in the doorway. It was enough to push his whole body through. In the living room, he found space enough at the gathering of elders. Having appreciated the calibre of persons at the convocation, he took quite a bit of time to engage in meticulous washing of hands. Satisfied with his observance of rudimentary hygiene, Anthony Abisogun Ikechukwu Ubani, Director General/Chief Executive Officer of Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) has been invited to dine with elders. His current designation gives him the privilege of meeting at close quarters with some of the decision makers in government.
Often, this proximity is not for courtesies only. There are other fundamental opportunities that many of his contemporaries only dream about. Ubani's lot has always been tied to civil society work and he has experienced the running of these organisations at local, regional and international levels. He was a foundation staff of the PDI, serving as its first Public Affairs Officer. He left the institute in 2002 to work at Mississippi Consortium for International Development, an American organisation with propensity for democracy and programme building. He worked there for two years.
Having made modest contributions in the organized private sector, Mr. Ubani joined politics in 1998 and was one of the 15 persons that received and inaugurated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area in Lagos. He subsequently won the party primaries and represented the PDP in February 1999 in the Lagos State House of Assembly elections.
He returned to the PDI on invitation in 2004 to work as Coordinator of Special Projects. At the departure of the first DG of the PDI, Dr. Haruna Dabin in 2005, Ubani took over on acting capacity. He held on till he was made the substantive DG in June, 2007. This achievement did not come over night. It is the product of a studious calculation and deliberate planning of a lion hearted sportsman who wins against odds. His incursion into the top rungs of power began with an appointment at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, a Federal Government agency in the Presidency. "I have a history of working NGOs whether it is federal government owned, party owned or international private owned."
His appointment is for a single five-year term and it is a high-tasking responsibility which Ubani is giving his best shot; for obvious reasons. Don't ask him to hazard a guess on what he will do in the future. Reason: The reason is pregnant with meaning. It is in the hands of God and in the realm of conjecture. He is only too grateful for the privilege to serve and wants, at the end of his term, to be able to look back and say to himself that he did a good job.
Recently, Ubani was honoured by the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria. For someone whose work is largely kept under wraps, he was flattered to know that a respected group like the ICEN recognised the proactive intervention of the PDI and sought to celebrate him. He treasures the ICEN plague and has found a vantage position to display it in his office.
In March 2006, Mr. Ubani was elected Member of the prestigious Institute of Directors (IOD) London. In the same year he became Member of the highly acclaimed International Leadership Association (ILA) United States of America. Mr. Ubani is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Mediators & Conciliators (ICMC) and a Distinguished Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International. Recently, Mr. Ubani was officially accredited as a Certified International Mediator by the Mediation Training Institute (MTI) United States of America. Mr. Ubani also holds a professional certificate in Executive Leadership from the Manchester Business School, Manchester University, United Kingdom.
In 2006, Mr. Ubani was inducted a Fellow of the African Business School. In that same year he emerged the Chairman, Board of Fellows of the African Business School. Also in 2006, Mr Ubani was inducted a Fellow of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants. To cap it all, Mr. Ubani received the award of Administrator of the Year 2006.
For his excellent performance and leadership, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2007 confirmed in substantive capacity Mr. Ubani's appointment as Director General of the Peoples Democratic Institute. In 2007, Mr. Ubani received the Young Achiever Award from the Abuja Merit Award and also received the Youth Ambassador for Peace from the Universal Peace Federation and the Youth Federation for World Peace. Also in 2007, Ubani was honoured with the Fellowship of the Institute of Fraud Examiners.
Apparently, his call up at the Presidency was recognition for his brilliant planting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag in Amuwo-Odofin council of Lagos state. In the heat of the sentiments over Bashorun Moshood Abiola's death, Ubani had insisted that Yoruba land is his political turf and could not be bothered by the ethnic sentiments so prevalent at the time. He entered the contest Lagos State House of Assembly. The first hurdle was to get the party's ticket. Not many gave him a chance. There were 50 other candidates in the race. Competition was keen, nevertheless, Ubani was returned as the party's candidate. When he eventually lost to the Alliance for Democracy candidate, the party was satisfied that he had fought a good fight. Ubani was identified as a prized jewel by the party and, therefore, requested to serve in the Presidency.
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