THISDAYonline

Shakespeare may not have reckoned with men of Festus Odimegwu's fiber when he rhetorically stated in Romeo and Juliet, "what's in a name? That which we call rose by any other name would smell sweet," he posited.

Odimeywu by direct transliteration means that which is marvelous or awesome.

In Igbo mythology, names do conjure the essence of the being and often times, people live up their names, same fits into the man Festus Odimegwu, the icon and an essential Igbo titan whose path is strewn with marvelous achievements.

His 50th birthday may have come and gone but there is more to this corporate guru that must be chronicled for scholars who are willing to drink from the fountain of this man's accomplishments.

In a private party he hosted in his country home recently as a fallout of his town's new yam festival, the guests savoured more of the man than the dishes.

Although what was supposed to be a treat to a select few turned out a peace parley, courtesy of Chief Hope Uzodinma's thoughtfulness to broker peace between the host and his community with Eze Okwuaka, the whole event turned out to be a celebration of excellence for a man whose corporate exploits astound even his detractors.

Watching him across the dinner table penultimate week in his spacious and tastefully furnished country home, the image of a corporate top player calling the shots at the highly successful Nigerian Breweries Plc. could not fit in.

Perhaps, his was a case of a man who easily re-adjusts to his environment. Little wonder he easily combines life as a village man and that of a corporate guru and colossus.

That cuts the picture of the man, Eze Festus Odimegwu who recently turned 50 years.

The event was the new yam festival of his town in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State, which eventually turned into a peace parley courtesy of a peace deal brokered by the real Onwa in Imo State, Chief Hope Uzodinma between Eze Festus Odimegwu and His Royal Highness Eze Godwin Okwuaka and their communities over a chieftaincy tussle that has spanned over 24 years.

The eerie climate of the rather private dinner arranged by Eze Festus Odimegwu as a side attraction to the town's new yam festival celebration soon turned into a frenzy of activities culminating in the peaceful settlement of the protracted inter communal impasse.

The role played by Chief Hope Uzodinrna was most remarkable and instructive.

To me, the joy of having two friends re-unite after a long drawn battle of supremacy reached its crescendo.

Eze Godwin Okwuaka served with me on the Board of First Aluminum while the Nigerian Breweries Chief Executive is a fellow Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Marketing. One can then imagine the kind of emptiness that goes with coming in-between two estranged friends.

We thank God that the peace move was successful and today we will be glad to reap from the goodies that would accrue Dom the coming together of such men of statuture with wide contacts and influence which could be positively tapped for group good.

The 50 years Eze Festus Odimegwu has spent on this planet earth is one replete with pursuit of excellence, setting targets and goals and pursuing same with single-minded determinism to turn them into pieces of achievement.

Odimegwu structured his life, academic and career pursuit in such a manner that none of them would suffer any set back and that perhaps explains the successes that dot his paths right from school, to his office and even amongst the common folks in his area.

For a man who naturally would have been submerged to insignificance by his rather conservative course of choice, chemistry, to have made such remarkable impact in the area of marketing to a point of bagging a Fellowship of that highly rated Institute smack of a statement in competence, flexibility and capacity to effectively rise up to the demands of ones environment.

Odimegwu's exploits at the Nigerian Breweries Plc. signposts the rare adroitness of a well-bred corporate titan and the vintage visage of a challenged Igboman.

With the Odimegwus, Akunyilis, the Okolis of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, the Prof. Maurice Iwus, Prof. Barth Nnaji, Prof. Chinu Achebe and a host of other very successful and referral great achievers, it has become obvious that he Igbos have the men and material who stand tall amongst supposed equals.

Does it not therefore amount to group stigmatization that even with the very enviable records of such stars and many more others, detractors still view the Igbos from the prisms of that unrefined trader adept at shortchanging competitors to have undeserved business advantage.

In Festus Odimegwu and the other crop of Igbo talents, one sees the face of a new Igbo society driven not by men of means without brawn but by men whose pedigree, sense of responsibility and accomplishments would earn them recognition and respect from even amongst the most subjective- minded assessor.

If there is any group that would share from the modest achievement of this corporate team player, it is the Nigerian Institute of Marketing that has the rare blessing and luck of having one of its Fellows living out the essence of marketing and drawing from its resource pool to turn the Nigerian Breweries Plc. into one of the greatest investors in the Nigerian economy.

The success of the Nigerian Breweries must be seen from the prisms of a test case of the efficacy of effective corporate marketing and management which must be recommended for adoption by organizations striving to survive the tempestuous climate of corporate inertia.

Such sensitive, touchy but relevant issues as outsourcing which in political parlance is tagged privatisation, market positioning, product differentiation, market segmentation, motivation which leads to commitment, brand building and product promotions that are tangential to organisation's high performance are factorial in placing NBL on the top of the ladder and it took the managerial sagacity of a visionary Chief Executive to harness these essentials to advantage.

At a time when the socio-economic problems of this country have grown to alarming proportions, resulting in high rate of unemployment, low value of the Naira against world currencies, poor infrastructural facilities, bad roads etc, it could be heartening to note that Nigerian Breweries under the able leadership of Festus Odimegwu has proved to be a responsible corporate citizen willing and determined to assist the government in addressing the motley of socioeconomic challenges of the day.

Since the second coming of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, apparently having learnt the ropes in the art of governance under a democratic setting, he has through choice of cabinet members proved to have capacity to now address the problems of the country.

One can imagine that in corporate citizens like Nigerian Breweries, the government would have good testimony of the capacity of our environment to sustain great investments.

The credit should go to that Igbo boy who was able through managerial competence to effectively harness the material and human resources of the NBL and pepped it up with a heavy dose of marketing strategizing technique to turn NBL into a giant in not only its sub-sector but amongst top level industries in Nigeria.

The concept of total marketing which Festus Odimegwu and his team embraced has further strengthened the teaching that marketing remains a veritable option in not only guaranteeing high corporate performance but also in promoting and projecting government programs and activities.

It has variously been argued that part of the inaction in government business is the obvious absence of intellectual and marketing content.

We that sleep, live and talk marketing, feel fulfilled and availed by the exploits of the NBL Chief Executive and the remarkable transformation that has become the lot of the brands churned out by the Brewing giant.

While one celebrates the accomplishments of Festus Odimegwu at 50, it would be apposite to state that the Igbo nation can only continue to be counted on the path of excellence when less energy is exerted on things that tear us apart. We should operate not like the broomstick but the broom head.

When the difference that exist between us are allowed to be blown out of proportion to a point of putting a hedge or knife at the string that hold us together; the resultant effect would be a group turn against itself and the implication would be a good grazing ground for detractors and those people that harbour anti-Igbo sentiments.

One wonders whether political differences or its fallouts in other parts of the country receive the same newspaper celebration as the case with or amongst the Igbos.

Perhaps, the difference lies in our character and style, which often times do us in but suffice it to say that not even our Republicanism downplayed the primordial systems of crisis management and resolution amongst our people.

One doubts whether there is any part of the country where the Igbos resident there do not host town union meetings, the essence of which in the main remains to discuss development programs, settle inter and intra-communal feuds and discuss such sundry issues that promote communal cohesion and interpersonal dependence.

The whole essence of painting this picture is to remind us that that great virtue of Igbos have proved most effective in ensuring lasting peace amongst feuding parties as against the modern court system.

Justice which remains the pivot or the essence of adjudication may sometimes be sacrificed on the altar of legal technicalities which therefore leaves scares in the hearts of feuding parties unlike the Igbo adjudicatory variant that addresses all issues even the ones not found on codified legal ideals.

It is on this score therefore that one supports the peaceful resolution of the Anambra saga in the interest of lasting peace in the state.

Without prejudice to the various legal actions already instituted by the parties, greater wisdom demands that a political solution must be explored because any other action would definitely set the state on a portal of anxiety, uncertainly and tension and the larger society would be worse for it.

The outsiders that beat the drumbeat of war may have the last laugh when the State starts reaping the ugly seed of the whirlwind. God forbid!

The camaraderie brought by the peace move initiated between Eze Festus Odimegwu and Eze Okwuaka by Chief Hope Uzodinma recommends the interpersonal option to resolution of feuds.

No one can quantify what the two communities may have lost in the past 24 years or more that this feud lasted. Same fate awaits anyone or group that do not learn from the experiences of people who still carry the scare of bad blood. In unity lies strength.

In Chief Hope Uzodinma, one can always count on the possibilities inherent in peaceful resolution of any crisis no matter how intractable. One would equally commend the humility and open-mindedness of Eze Odimegwu and Okwuaka because if they had dug in, all efforts would have been futile.

As we celebrate the 50th year of Eze Festus Odimegwu it would be important to remind him that the light, which he brought to shine at NBL, would equally fit the Igbo race that is in need of a rallying point.

We are almost running in a widening gay with little or no definite step as to the right path that would lead to a glorious end.

The challenges for this worthy son should transcend corporate exploits and we hope it would not be considered a tall order.

Chief Ohakim, a Management Scientist, is a Fellow of NIMARK