FIJ
A 2018 study by the World Bank estimated that one out of six Nigerians lives with a disability. Despite constituting an active minority, people with disabilities (PWDs) face severe marginalisation in governance and politics in Nigeria.
Senator Athanasius Achonu is a Nigerian politician who has owned his disability and made a brand out of it. His political sobriquet — the one-armed lion — is linked to the loss of one of his arms, a reality that he has lived with since 1970.
BIRTH, BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION
Achonu was born to T.E.O Achonu, MFR, and Nneoma Martha, on May 31, 1959, in Okigwe, Imo State. He got his primary education at Madonna High School, Etiti, in Imo State. He proceeded to the Government College Umuahia, Abia State.
After his secondary education, Achonu proceeded to John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, where he got a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy. Achonu delved into business very early. In a 2016 interview, he claimed that he got his first million dollar when he was 19 years old.
“I sold counterfeit detecting machines to African Continental Bank. I made about eight hundred and something naira, I changed it to dollars, so that I would become a millionaire,” he said.
Achonu owns several businesses in Imo State, some of which include Neejach Engineering and Okebaram Limited.
ATHAN’S POLITICAL CAREER
In 2015, Achonu contested and won the election to represent Imo North senatorial district, under the aegis of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
However, his victory was overturned by an appeal court in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on the account that Accord Party was at a disadvantage due to a ballot paper error. The party’s logo did not appear on the ballot papers used for the election. In the rerun of the election, Benjamin Uwajumogu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, was declared winner.
