By Prof. Anthony Oha
(Oka Edemede 1 of Umuchukwu)
The other side of a person refers to some aspects of his life not well known to everyone, even though that aspect has helped to define what the person has become to the society. Someone could have a golden personality that’s enshrined inside him but not known to those who are not very close to him.
There are many people we judge wrongly without really knowing whom they are. Many people adjudge PAM as a philanthropist, industrialist, politician and business man but he’s far more than that. He has also been a human mentor to the youths, a help to the vulnerable and an enabler of good things in the society. But all these are not his other side.
Prince Alex Mbata became a topic with his recent political upheavals but he’s a man full of surprising possibilities not known to those who talk about him. Yes, he’s a builder of positive strides in this generation and impacts to elevate his people. Unlike many philanthropists, he had carved out a niche for himself by using it to reach the unreached. He has reached and still reaching the people who needs the reach in our society.
This international industrialist from the Owerri occupies a place that has linked the world with Imo State. He has given employment to many Nigerians while creating the atmosphere where expatriates from Asia, Europe and America and kept to interact and build the capacity skills in our people. He has brought some pride to the African race. His strides in this direction are second to none as he prefers investing in man than in personal mien. He sees human elevation as one way of upholding God’s plan of men on earth. It is his own way of espousing and making his society better even far from the political field.
Now let’s elucidate and reveal the other side of Prince Alex Mbata. The curiosity now is to know his unknown life. It’s very possible that many of his friends may have known him to be a man who has high obeisance to the sacred more than the profane. The truth is that many people are unaware that PAM is also a minister of the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul gives six virtues that men of God should pursue and which are seen in PAM: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness (1Tim.6:11b)
It’s rare to see a politician who is truly a practical Christian because of the distractions of politics. This is why today many Christians avoid it but to chicken out because one wants to avoid being contaminated amounts to allowing the evil ones rule over the righteous ones. Being a Christian does not mean that one should become complacent to leadership. Leadership built on righteousness makes a society grow without corruption, malapropism, parochialism, nepotism and all negative ‘isms.’
PAM understands the essence of the Godhead in human development. By keeping God’s commandments, PAM believes the people he will govern will flourish. In Psalm 116, it is written “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.” What else should come from PAM for us except being blessed from his righteous leadership?
Wealth and riches are in God’s house, and His righteousness endures forever. Let’s not downplay that aspect of Alex Mbata’s otherside because it takes a leader with the fear of God to make positive impacts in people. A political leader like PAM is not interested in what he will gain in terms of acquisition of properties and money but will sleep well when the people are given the dividends of democracy. Many people don’t know him to realise that he’s a rare breed of God. There are many people who proclaim that they know God but live in subjugation of people around them. This is what PAM abhors.
It is often said that people recognize God when they experience tough times but those who recognize God even when they’re in wealth and affluence deserve to be seen as people with the true fear of God. The Bible said that it will be difficult for a rich man to make heaven because he is often driven off because of his wealth. King Solomon worshipped God more in wealth and lived to please God. This is PAM’s way with God. He preaches the gospel with practical exuberance rarely observed among the rich. What we need to do is to look beyond his political dispositions and understand his selflessness.
Owerri zone will be lucky to have him in the saddle and we will experience a unique kind of representation in the red chambers. He will fight like a lion to protect our interest and grab our needs and bring them home like an eagle. The Holy Spirit which he will work with will direct his path to do the needful for us. We will experience a tsunami of political possibilities that will upturn the odds of the past. He will attract the best for the zone and use his wealth of experience to turn the zone to the best.
The truth remains that men who live and work with the fear of God make exploits and do extraordinary things that are not imaginable with mere human eyes. A godly man shows his love for God through his actions, loves his fellow men and prays for them. With PAM, Owerri zone will be safe in God’s hands. This is the other side of PAM that many do not know.
©️professoroha@outlook.com