Pius Anyim’s Ultimate Dream at 61

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Senator  Anyim Pius Anyim will mark his 61st birthday on February 19, coming after his Diamond jubilee last year. It is a remarkable milestone because it is said that after the 60th birthday man celebrates a new life.

What is even more remarkable about him is that at diamond plus one, he isn’t growing older; he is simply growing wiser in all the best ways.

At 61, rather than going into a well-deserved retirement, he is setting another goal for himself and dreaming a new dream for his country.

That has been the trajectory of his remarkable life – a life of total commitment to a country he believes deserves much better.

Anyim’s life has been an incredible journey of providence and service to a country that has given him inestimable opportunities.

Born on February 19, 1961 in the bucolic Ishiagu community, Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Anyim has, indeed, come a long way.

Like most Nigerians of his age, he attended public schools starting from Ishiagu High School (St. John Bosco), the Federal School of Arts and Science, Aba and later, Imo State University, Uturu (1983-1987) where he bagged a degree in law.

His life of service started during his Youth Service.

Posted to Sokoto State in what many will now look back and remember as years of innocence, Anyim began to realise the essence of his life, which is public service. And the truth that has held firm ever since is that the easier he finds that transcendental essence, the more intensely his star shines. 

He served as the Co-ordinator, Youth Mobilisation Programme in Sokoto State. In 1992, Anyim became the Head of Protection Department at the National Commission for Refugees, Abuja. The job included the provision of legal services and political protection for refugees, becoming a quintessential public servant.

But realising early in life that the most practical and effective way to impact more lives for the common good is through political office from where he can authoritatively and fairly allocate the collective values of the people, Anyim threw his hat into the political ring.

More remarkable is the fact that his people saw and believed fervently in his bright star which was already illuminating the entire landscape. It was, therefore not difficult for them to buy into his vision.

In 1998, at the young age of 37, Anyim joined the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) and won a Senate election. Even when the death of Sani Abacha on June 8 put paid to that victory, he marched on with the unwavering support of his people.

During the transitional regime of Abdulsalami Abubakar, he joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and again ran successfully for election to the Senate in 1999.

Anyim took office in the Senate in May 1999, and at the relatively young age of 39, was elected President of the Senate in August 2000. That was when Nigerians became acutely aware of his remarkable leadership qualities.

The Red Chamber was in crisis before he was elected Senate President.

Two Senate Presidents – Evan Enwerem and Chuba Okadigbo – both accomplished politicians who had been on the quicksand political stage for a long time, had been impeached. Nobody gave the starry-eyed Anyim a chance.

But contrary to expectations, he stabilised the Senate and creditably held the office until May 2003.

 In the three years of his stewardship, the National Assembly (NASS) played its checks and balances role effortlessly, but of course, to the chagrin of an overbearing executive.

Anyim is one Nigerian politician who knows how to rein in his ambition if it will serve public good. But he is also a man of remarkable political foresight. He knows when to throw the political dice and when to hold back his aces.

It is this incredible gift of political clairvoyance that informed his decision not to seek re-election in 2003. But he never disengaged from politics.

In January 2010, he led a delegation of 41 eminent Nigerians that called on President Umaru Yar’Adua to urgently transmit a letter of his incapacitation to the NASS to salvage the nation’s democracy that was then tottering on the brink.

That strategic intervention ultimately forced the hands of other senators to pass a resolution on February 9, 2010, to make Vice President Goodluck Jonathan Acting President.

In May 2011, Anyim was appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) by Jonathan.

As SGF, he was the engine room of the government. So well did he do the job that Jonathan tapped him to head Nigeria’s Centenary celebration, the country’s most epochal anniversary.

At 61, Anyim has set another goal for himself, which predictably is entwined with his ennobling vision for the country. He wants to be President.

He captured his new dream most succinctly in a recent interview with TheNiche when he said: “I aspire to be President of Nigeria because I believe that by my experience, what I know about Nigeria, my very deep knowledge of the country, I will be able to run an inclusive government that will build consensus, restore peace, refocus Nigeria and make the country a place that all of us will be proud of.”

That dream sums up the man Pius Anyim. He believes Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the 19th century American poet’s admonition that, “In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”

Anyim’s simplicity is disarming. His patriotism is without compare. Perhaps, what stands him out most is his utmost belief in the maxim of the American journalist, Henry Louis Mencken, that “honour is simply the morality of superior men.” Anyim is a man of honour.

Fortunately, Nigerians have taken notice.

As he continues to speak to both regional and national issues, with courage and conviction, many now look up to him as the balm sorely needed to heal the wounds of the country’s badly lacerated body. He has demonstrated with his life’s trajectory that law, spirituality, politics and philanthropy fundamentally address the transformation of the human condition for good.

But he has worked hard to earn his stripes.

He confessed recently that he has never slept more than four hours in all his adult life, which explains all the achievements, because as Longfellow also said: “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”

And Anyim has made a remarkable success of both his private and public life. He has bagged the following qualifications and honours: LLB. Honours, 1987 (Nigeria); BL. 1989 (Nigeria); LLM. 1991 (Nigeria); National Honours of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s second highest National Honour; President of the Senate and Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

An exemplary bridge-builder and foremost humanist, Anyim has also been successful in his private legal practice. He is currently the managing partner of “Prestige Law Resource Partners”, a fully integrated and multi-dimensional business law practice.

A good family man, in Anyim, Cyril Connolly’s assertion that “The true index of a man’s character is the health of his wife,” crystalizes. The union is blessed with three children.

Any other man who has been able to chalk up glittering achievements such as Anyim’s in the last 61 years will not be blamed if he decides to go on permanent retirement. But not Anyim.

Even with all his achievements, he is still saddened by the fact that his beloved country has not been able to realise its immense potentials.

This reality drives his quest for the presidency. He is in it because he believes he can add value.  His ennobling vision for humanity, deep faith in Nigeria and quest for equity, fairness and justice are the propellers of that dream.

At 61, the man from Ishiagu has a lot to be grateful for. A man of deep faith, he owes all to God even as he makes one more request from his Maker.

“God help me to pull Nigeria from the brink.” That is Anyim’s ultimate request at 61.