EARLY DAYS & EDUCATION

Little Ogbonna showed passionate spots for education from his tender times. In strict defiance of stringent circumstances, he enrolled into Offerekpe Agbaja Community Primary School in the year 1991. His continued quest for education took him to Community Secondary School Nwofe Agbaja in the year 1999.

Of a truth, his educational steps were not smooth. For a fact, he attended school at intervals and joined his brothers in rearing of their father’s numerous cattle. But his loving mother, Chief Mrs. Nnenna Okweru Nwifuru and his maternal uncles played significant roles in ensuring that their hardworking son acquired what was the needed Western education, against all odds. By May/June 2004, he wrapped up his secondary school education in pure brilliance.

Upon concluding his post-primary education, Ogbonna, now christened ‘Francis’, having received Baptism – the Sacrament of initiation as a Catholic, began a new leaf of life. At such tender time, he was already a workaholic personality. In other to dislodge idleness and engage in purposeful learning, he took up a menial job which was considered to be above his age, ‘a mason’. He would work in the rain and under the sun all day, mixing concrete – water, sand and cement and carried same to serve his maters. A hardworking boy, focused and laced in humility and simplicity.

A friend of his, described him as ‘Jack of all trades, Master of all’, because Francis enjoyed his passion for hard work and learnt all things – bicycle and motorcycle repairing and worked as a bus conductor. He would come out every day with various tools for different jobs. Should a particular job fail him, he switches to another one on the same day.

In furtherance of his love form Building Construction and innate devotion to learn and improve himself the more, he enrolled into Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, to study Building Technology and woodwork, through his excellence and deftness in the field. The same burning zeal spurred him to go in for a second degree and studied Law at Ebonyi State University. He did not stop there. Being a fine steel in the making, he squeezed out quality time off his busy schedule and bagged a Master’s Degree in Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management from the prestigious Salford University, Manchester, United Kingdom in June 2021.

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS

His passion for education was for an ultimate value – the development of his people and the society. In full knowledge of what was required to attain this ultimate value, young brave Francis made a foray into partisan politics.

His desire to represent his people at such a young age was admirable. His first shot was to represent his people (Izzi West State Constituency) as a Member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly in the year 2007. Though unsuccessful, his effortless stride earned him an appointment as an Ex-Officio State Executive Member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Ebonyi State. He bore the failure stoically with spartan courage and was not intimidated from reaching his goals. In March 2011, he took a second shot, and what a marvellous shot it was! He bounced back with a landslide victory, earning the unanimous mandate of representing his people as a Legislator, at the State Assembly. In the same tenure, he became the Deputy Chief Whip, cum Chairman House Committee on Lands, Survey, urban Development and Environment – a feat thoroughly deserved.

Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru did exceptionally well, that his people entrusted their mandates into his hands again in the year 2015. This time, he emerged Primus Inter Pares – first among equals, the Speaker of the 5th Ebonyi State House of Assembly, on June 8, 2015. The Hallowed Chamber became the best in productivity and peaceful legislation. When re-elected to the State Assembly in 2019, his brilliant antecedents earned him the only Member to have returned as a two-time Speaker in the history of Ebonyi State House of Assembly. So, he was elected the Speaker of the 6th Ebonyi State House of Assembly on June 10, 2019 and ended successfully on May 25, 2023, with a beautiful valedictory session.

He changed the whole ambience of the State Assembly in content and outlook. His reign birthed one hundred and twelve (112) pieces of human-interest legislation. As the leader of the Legislative Arm of the Government of Ebonyi State, he demonstrated unprecedented leadership qualities made manifest in the consistent smooth and harmonious working relationship with the Executive and Judicial Arms. This formed the working engine for the numerous projects achieved by the former Governor, David Nweze Umahi. Such dexterity to duty, excellence in leadership and lawmaking saw him elected by his Colleagues all of the Nation, in the year 2020 as the National Vice Chairman (South East) Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria.

Cumulatively, these great feats pushed the stakeholders and good people of Ebonyi State to employ him as the 4th elected Governor of Ebonyi State during the March 18, 2023 Gubernatorial election. He won on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with 199,131 votes while his closet rival of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 80,191 votes. He is currently, the Governor of Ebonyi State, known for his famous Manifesto – The Peoples Charter of Needs. This is a citizen document that underlines his mission statement, “attending to the needs of the people and not what the Government wants.”

FAMILY LIFE

There is no prestige whatsoever for a king who has no queen. Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is married to a helpful and reliable woman of substance, Her Excellency, Chief Mrs. Mary-Maudline Uzoamaka Nwifuru, First Lady of Ebonyi State. They are blessed with five (5) lovely children. In his immediate household, he is a shinning example of a loving, caring and kind father. He is a Christian who took all the sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation and Marriage according to the Catholic doctrine. He has numerous accolades for his great strides in human and societal development.