By Emmanuel Achilihu
It has become fashionable in Abia’s political gossip circles to whisper that Chief Eric Opah, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Abia State, “lacks capacity.”
It is a lazy argument. And it collapses the moment you enter his boardroom.
Capacity is not noise on Facebook. Capacity is not how loud you shout at a rally. Capacity is what you have built, who you have led, and who is willing to work under your leadership.
Chief Eric Opah is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune Global Shipping and Logistics Limited, one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous logistics giants, with interests in Fortune Marine and Energy Services Limited, aviation, and oil and gas logistics.
This is not a one-man business centre in Aba. This is a company where Americans, Pakistanis, Indians, Europeans and Nigerians take instructions from an Ngwa man from Mbubo, Umunna-Nsulu, Isiala Ngwa North.
If you have never managed a multi-national, multi-racial workforce, if you have never met a monthly payroll that runs into millions of dollars, if you have never negotiated freight and oil and gas logistics deals against global conglomerates, you cannot understand what capacity means.
Let’s be clear about the record:
He did not start yesterday. He cut his teeth at Panalpina World Transport Group, the global pinnacle of shipping and logistics. He was the man who helped establish China Southern Airlines cargo operations in Nigeria as Director of Cargo Operations.
In 2006, he founded Fortune Global. Today, that company is ranked among the fastest growing companies in Nigeria by the Tony Elumelu Foundation/All World Network USA ranking. He sits as *Chairman, Nigeria-America Chamber of Commerce, Abia Chapter, Associate Member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Logistics.
In 2023, the American Heritage University of Southern California, USA conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration for industry excellence. In 2025, he was crowned The Sun Entrepreneur of the Year.
Is that a man who lacks capacity? Or is that the very definition of capacity that Abia needs?
Those who say he lacks capacity have never built anything that employs 20 people. Opah employs hundreds, including expatriates who fly into Nigeria to work for him. He manages vessels, aircraft cargo, oil rig logistics, and complex supply chains that keep Nigeria’s economy moving.
If he can manage Americans and Pakistanis in a high-stakes global shipping business where a single mistake costs millions of dollars, is it managing Abia State’s resources that will be too difficult for him?
Abia does not need a career politician who has only managed political slogans. Abia needs a boardroom general, a man who understands compliance, transparency, and global best practices — the three mantras Fortune Global is known for.
The APC has not presented a learner. The APC has presented an employer of the world.
Ask the over 150 staff working for him — they will tell you: The man has capacity.
Emmanuel Achilihu writes from Amade.
Capacity? Ask The Americans And Pakistanis Working For Eric Opah
