A versatile, dynamic and dependable personality, renowned philanthropist, seasoned professional, a consummate grassroots politician, a great role model, a God-fearing and loving husband as well as a responsible father of his children and several less privileged young people, Honourable Marcelo Nwaji Anyigor has carved a niche for himself in the progressive politics of Ebonyi State and the entire South East geo-political region of Nigeria.
He is an eminent personality whose generous spirit, great managerial acumen, enviable business success and top-notch political clout have continued to be a great source of inspiration to many people of his generation.
Born on 1st October 1981 as the last child of the family, Marcelo Nwaji Anyigor was brought to his great world by Mazi Anyigor Obirija and Madam Chinyere Anyigor, a humble Igbo Catholic Christian family in the Ikwu-ano community, Amoffia Ukawu in Onicha Local Government of Ebonyi State. His father was an accomplished farmer while his mother was a petty trader in Amoffia.
For his primary education, Marcelo attended Amoffia Central School, Ukawu in Onicha Local Government between 1988 and 1993 after which he proceeded to Ukawu Secondary School also in Ukawu for his post-primary education between 1993 and 1999.
Following the completion of his secondary education, moved to the Southwest region where he stayed with his older brother in the ljebu-Ode area of Ogun State.
Arising for his penchant for trade and lucrative business, Marcelo engaged in a variety of trade and agricultural production, especially rubber planting and exportation.
Given his quest for more knowledge and to enable him to equip himself to stand in vantage recognition among his compeers in the future, he gained admission to pursue a Diploma in Law at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State between 2004 and 2006.
Subsequently, the workaholic and adventurous young Marcelo travelled to South Africa in search of greener pastures but later returned to Nigeria. He later regained admission in 2015 to Olabisi Onabanjo University where he bagged a degree in Mass Communication from the Noble Citadel of Learning in 2019.
An epitome of humility and great strength of character, an embodiment of integrity, transparency and open-mindedness, Marcelo possesses the finesse of great men and women in history who rose to prominence from obscurity given the interplay of providence and the special grace of Almighty God over his life.
At the tender age of 20, Marcelo was unanimously elected the President of the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria (CYON) St. Anthony Catholic Church, Ijcbu-Ode, one of the biggest Catholic Churches in Ljebu Diocese, and later became the diocesan Vice President of the organization by dint of his charismatic posture and exemplary leadership qualities, not minding the fact that he is from far away South East region.
A born leader by dint of his natural qualities. Incidentally, his eldest brother, Chief Mathias Anyigor was one of the strong pillars of the ANPP in Ebonyi State where he served meritoriously as the party chairman in the Onicha Local Government area for a good eight years. Consequently, Marcelo was inspired by the doggedness and forthrightness of Chief Mathias Anyigor who got him involved in various party activities and grassroots mobilization.
Afterwards, Marcelo offered himself greater leadership responsibility by contesting in 2011 to represent the good people of Onicha East Constituency in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly on the platform of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) but he later stepped down his aspiration on the advice of the party leadership. He also became a National Delegate of the ANPP for about four consecutive years before the merger of the legacies parties that formed the AIl Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014.
Marcelo's strong determination and networking skills made him join hands with like-minded progressive
elements in the Southeast and other regions across the nation to birth the Tinubu National Initiative (TINYI) and was subsequently appointed the Southeast coordinator of the group.
Served during the same period as the South East Regional Coordinator of the Progress Movement (PYM).
With a strong conviction in the Tinubu welfarist ideology, Marcelo launched himself into the Timubu School of politics where he networked and worked closely with other progressive cement in and out of the South East region and across the length and breadth of the Nigerian nation. In 2009, Marcelo Anyigor joined a pro-Tinubu, youth-driven organization, Asiwaju Grassroots Foundation (AGF)and in early 2010, he established the AGF in his home state, Ebonyi State. In 2012 when AGF held its National Convention at the National Stadium, Lagos State, Marcelo Anyigor was the only person from the entire South East region that attended the memorable event.
Challenged by this development and by dint of his organizational acumen, he soon established the Enugu State chapter of the group in 2013, followed consecutively by the Abia and Imo State chapters in 2016 respectively and finally in 2017, Marcelo established the Anambra State chapter of the Asiwaju Grassroots Foundation.
It is noteworthy that he did not just create the State structures of the group, Marcelo appointed their respective executive bodies and placed the State Coordinators on a meagre monthly salary on the account of his coffers.
After about 13 years in the saddle, and in the light of the urgent critical need to expand its network, build more bridges, accommodate other promising and progressive young politicians across the nation and also get itself prepared for the imminent take-off of the presidential campaign of its Principal, Mentor and Chief Role Model, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Asiwaju Grassroots Foundation (AGF) metamorphosed into what is today referred to as Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023.
Subsequently, Hon. Marcelo Nwaji Anyigor was unanimously chosen as the South East Zonal Director of the vibrant, youth-driven and frontline campaign organization. In March 2022 when Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023 was inaugurated by the current Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Kashim Shettima, Hon. Marcelo alongside the five State Coordinators from the South East was handed over the mandate to propagate the Tinubu-Shettima presidential campaign and the Renewed Hope agenda throughout the length and breadth of the South East geo-political region. It is refreshing that Hon Marcelo Anyigor not only worked assiduously as expected, but he also joined hands with other party stakeholders in the region to ensure the victory of Governorship, Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates of the party across the five States in the entire South East Region by mobilizing about 5000 registered voters and the massive distribution of campaign materials such as T-shirts, Face caps, Banners and Fliers to different states and campaign venues.
This, among other factors, led to the landslide victory of the APC in Ebonyi and other states in the South East region during the National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections in February and March 2023 respectively.
Aside from his remarkable political activities, Hon Marcelo is an accomplished investor and seasoned professional who has always put in his best to add value wherever he finds himself. Following his highly productive stint in private business outfits such as Deal Banter Limited and Judmako Nigeria Limited where he was in charge of strategic policy formulation and human resources management and having worked meritoriously with his employers over the years, within which he had gained a wealth of experience and business networking skills in the various sectors of the economy, Marcelo Anyigor got determined to be self-employed by becoming an independent producer and supplier of raw rubber since 2015 to multi-nationals such as Dunlop and Michelin companies.
He is currently the Executive Director of Marcelo Devon Company Limited. As God would have it, fortune smiled on him and this enabled him to make huge profits from the business.
Based on his much-valued forthrightness, integrity and quality service delivery in business transactions, he soon became a household name in the rubber supply chain of the nation's agricultural sector where he carved a niche for himself within a few years. Presently, Hon. Marcelo is the Country Executive Director of AGILE WITHOUT BORDERS, an international Consulting firm with offices in the United Kingdom, Canada and Nigeria, he is also a West Africa Associate Partner of Polaris Triton Group.
It is worthy of note that Marcelo's political trajectory in the core of progressive politicians especially of the South West extraction was born out of his familiarity with progressive politics back in Ogun State where he stayed with his elder brother for more than a decade. Incidentally, while understudying the progressive politics of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu when the latter was the Governor of Lagos State, Marcelo was fascinated by Tinubu's outstanding courage, doggedness, profound vision and farsightedness, generosity, large-heartedness, developmental strides and the lofty transformation of Lagos to a Megacity of global reckoning.
However, Marcelo Anyigor was more intrigued by the way the then Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu managed the resources of Lagos State whilst the State was starved of federal allocation for almost three years during the PDP-led Obasanjo administration at the centre. More importantly, Marcelo admired the exemplary qualities of Tinubuas a bridge-builder and great mentor of men who made himself a ladder for younger people to rise to lofty heights and enviable positions of public duty and impeccable reference in Nigeria and overseas.
A fearless and dynamic investor and an excellent manager of human and material resources, his remarkable success in the large-scale farming and export business encouraged him to throw his hat into the ring and become involved in other intercontinental business engagements.
Today, by the special grace of Almighty God, Hon. Marcelo Nwaji Anyigor has emerged as a well-respected social icon and a personality of compelling socio-political reckoning not only in his home town but also in the entire South East region and the Nigerian nation at large.
Marcelo's compassionate spirit and commitment to alleviating the poverty conditions of the downtrodden people made him invest in several philanthropic and community intervention projects, especially among Ebonyi State indigenes in the diaspora. He is a generous giver. He has brought hope to the hopeless and succour to the sorrowful through his philanthropic gestures within Ebonyi State and beyond. His annual scholarship scheme for indigent students in public secondary and tertiary institutions enabled many youths to fulfil their dreams and aspirations to get educated.
As if these were not enough, it is instructive to note that numerous young school leaders and artisans have had their lives transformed and they continued to relish the various skill acquisition that he had sponsored in various vocations such as welding, furniture making, soap making, the baking of cake, hat making, tailoring and fashion design, hairdressing and cosmetology, block moulding, horticulture and landscaping and so on. He not only ensured the successful graduation of the hundreds of beneficiaries who attended his sponsored training programmes but also made available them working equipment and tools for them to be self-employed and self-reliant in their respective vocations.
But having realized his interventions can not sufficiently meet the big challenges confronting his people at the local and rural levels, Mr. Marcelo Anyigor decided to offer himself for leadership at the Senatorial level to contribute most resourcefully to policy decisions capable of changing the fortunes of Ebonyi South Senatorial District and to transform the lives of the suffering masses in the rural and urban enclaves within the district.
Hon.Marcelo Anyigor is happily married to Mrs. Elizabeth Anyigor and they are blessed with wonderful and equally promising children to the glory of Almighty God.
Given his great strength of character, sense of social etiquette, profound humility, deep passion for service to humanity, remarkable gestures as well and sweeping record of achievements in business, Hon. Marcelo Nwaji Anyigor is yet another illustrious son of Ebonyi State with promising attributes to be regarded as one of the new generation of leaders of the new Nigeria of our dreams.
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