Connect with us

Featured

Agbekoya and the Yoruba Armoury: Tribute to Tafa Adeoye

Published

on

By Hon Femi Kehinde

The Yoruba Armoury lies in its supernatural myths, pantheons, mores and history.

Conventionally, an armoury is a place, where weapons are kept. But an armoury can also be things or qualities, that can be used to achieve a particular aim.
The Agbekoya Revolt of 1968/1969, establishes Yoruba core values of resistance, defiance, determination, boldness, assiduity and doggedness.
The Agbekoya Revolt is perhaps the best known peasant driven revolt in Western Nigerian history, and the great example of collective action against unpopular government policies.

In the early 50s, the Western Region Government, established local community depots, to serve as off takers for farm produce. The managers of these depots, before buying from farmers, would examine, grade, bargain and agree at a price.

Farmers were subjected to arbitrary standard in the examination of their farm produce and a substantial amount of their farm produce- cocoa, was discarded as unfit for sale and the low prices they subsequently received was a great disincentive. Depot Managers, became local tyrants.

The farmers complained about the neglected infrastructure of roads, they had to travel to reach the depot and a hefty flat tax rate imposed on them became worrisome and burdensome
Farmers were battling with a tax rate of £1:10µ (1Pound 10 shilling.)

As a result of the collapse of the first Republic, on the 15th of January, 1966, General Thomas Auguyi Ironsi, became the Head of state of Nigeria and was succeeded by General Yakubu Gowon, on the 29th of July, 1966 after a successful Military putsch.

In the Western Region, Lf Col. Adekunle Fajuyi also became the Governor of the Western Region, after the assassination of the Premier of the Western Region- Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola on the 15th of January 1966. Fajuyi was equally assassinated, alongside- Aguyi Ironsi, in Ibadan, on the 29th of July 1966 after attending a traditional rulers conference, he conveyed, to explain the veracity of the new Decree no. 34, to our Traditional Rulers.

The duo of Ironsi and Fajuyi, after being murdered in the government House, Agodi Ibadan, by some rampaging soldiers, buried their bodies in a shallow grave in Lalupon, in Iwo Road, Ibadan.
Col. Robert Adeyinka Adebayo succeeded Adekunle Fajuyi, his friend and towns folk i. e. both Ekiti men, from contiguous cities of Ado Ekiti and Iyin Ekiti, respectively.

Adebayo was governor of the Western Region from 1966 until 1971. He was later Chief of Staff of the Nigerian army and later Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna from where he retired. The civil war broke out in Nigeria in 1967 and did not end until January 1970.

States needed resources to run the operations of government. Chief Jeremiah Oyeniyi Obafemi Awolowo, had now become the Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, after his release from the Calabar Prison, by the Federal Government of General Yakubu Gowon.
Adebayo met a very prosperous and robust economy, through Agrarian populism in the Western Region. A sizable population of its citizens were farmers, who were very successful.

Adeyinka Adebayo, looking for opportunities to booster the revenue of the Western Region, imposed a new tax regime on the populace and increased taxable adult tax, from £1:10 µ (One Pound Ten Shillings) to £8 (8 Pounds).

As a resentment, against this obnoxious increase, the farmers formed a union called Agbekoya – (The Union of farmers who reject suffering.)

The Agbekoyas revolted against this arbitrary increase and on the 11th of November, 1968, the Agbekoya Crisis came out full blown when thousands of agitators matched to the Mapo Hall Ibadan armed with sticks, cudgels, weapons and charms, to express their rejection of the new tax as announced by the Governor.

Singing –
“Oke mefa l’ a o San
Oke mefa l’ a o San
Bi o gba kuma
Yi o gba ori bi be
Oke mefa l’ a o san.”
Meaning – “We are paying only 30 shillings. If it cannot be achieved by the application of cudgels, it would be achieved by the application of cutting of heads. We are paying only 30 shillings.“

The government apparatus were equally singing –
“Dan Dan l’owo ori je
Dan Dan l’owo ori je
Tu la si l’aso ibora
Owo Ori l’ a fi ko Mapo”

Meaning – “The payment of tax is compulsory, Just as night cover clothe is compulsory. It is the tax payers funds, that were used to build Mapo hall.”

A combined team of the Army and the Police opened fire on the rampaging demonstrators in Mapo, killing about 20 of them.

This was a calamitous error, characteristic of the Military Government. The Crisis spread spontaneously, to other parts of the Western region.

In parenthesis, payment of tax had always been Ibadan’s albatross and deep cause for community anger, anguish and angst.

It was so great in the early 20th century, that taxable Ibadan adults, were usually arrested, hounded in tax custody in Mapo.

It was so grave until the intervention of Sanusi Adebisi Idikan- first Ibadan notable entrepreneur and philontropist. He was an enigmatic personality, that traversed Ibadan’s landscape in commerce, philanthropy and humanness, until his death in 1938.

Ibadan had become then, the most cosmopolitan city in Nigeria and perhaps black Africa.

Sanusi Adebisi Giwa’s acts of philanthropy, were demonstrated in his first tax rescue effort in Ibadan. Payment of tax by every male adult was made compulsory by the Colonial Government. Most Ibadan adults were subsistent farmers, who could not afford the payment of tax and thus evaded tax payment. The punishment for tax evasion, then was detention in Mapo, which also served as the Treasury Office. A detained tax defaulter usually found it difficult to get someone to bail him out, because most adults were tax evaders, and an attempt by a tax evader, to bail a tax evader, would certainly land the rescuer in detention.

Thus tax problem, became such society anguish, that a Balogun of Ibadan,-Balogun Ola, son of Baale Orowusi, committed suicide in protest of the detention of Ibadan young men for tax evasion.

This valiant self murder, was recognized by the Ibadan people, who named him Kobomoje (the one who displayed gallantry against timidity).

The payment of tax, became a social symbol and tax defaulters were usually mocked and despised by the popular song – “Owo Ori ti d’ ode o, o o’ode o baba wa loko san” Meaning – “Payment of taxation has come, our fathers were the first to pay, the idiots and lazy ones who have not paid are in detention in Mapo”

Adebisi was displeased with the tax situation in Ibadan. His philosophy had always been–(the rich must help the poor who are vulnerable) Adebisi had at this time, been one of the first set of Ibadan elites, perhaps if not the first person, to ride a car, apart from his stable of horses.
For effect, he had his horse dispatch rider–Ladimeji to ride in front of his car, on his way to Mapo, to see the Chief Tax Officer for the Ibadan Colonial Office.
In his meeting with the officer, in the Colonial office, he brokered an understanding –
“I want to be paying tax on behalf of every taxable adult in Ibadan.”

The officer was dumb founded, shocked, nonplussed and asked him if he knew the financial implication of his gesture, but Adebisi still insisted.

Henceforth, the Colonial officer would calculate the amount of tax expected from all Ibadan taxable adults and would go to Adebisi Idikan’s residence to collect the money.

The Agbekoya group was led by Mr. Tafa Adeoye- a renowned farmer/hunter from Akanran in Ibadan.

His able lieutenants were – Mustapha Okikirungbo, Tafa Popoola, Adeniyi Eda, Adebavo Kobiowu, Rafiu Ishola, Mudaashiru Adeniran, Adegoke Akekuejo, Alhaji Lasisi Lalekan Akekaka, Waheed Baba Ijebu from Ajibode.
These leaders decided to set an organisational target as follows-

The removal of local government officials pillaging their villages.
The removal of some Baales
A reduction of the flat Tax rate from £8 An end to the use of force in tax collection
An increase in the prices of cocoa
An improvement of the roads leading to many villages.

The peasants- shouting the “oke mefa” slogan, marched through the villages, to dissuade the farmers, not to pay any taxes to the Military governor of the Western States.

Mayhem, pandemonium then descended on the capital city of Ibadan and many other towns and villages of the Western Region.

The theatre of war started from Akanran at Olorunda junction, specifically at Ogunsola area and Akinyode Village, in Akanran Area, in present day Ona-Ara Local Government of Oyo State.

Governor Adeyinka Adebayo had insisted on using his power, to curtail the crises. Armed police men stomed the villages.
According to Alhaji Lalekan Lasisi Akekaaka, one of Adeoye’s formidable lieutenants, “when they came, our leader Baba Tafa Adeoye was at Akanran while we stayed at Olorunda junction. Baba has said we must not do anything to respond to whatever the government did to us until he was around personally. He said we should not talk until after he must have responded to whatever they asked him. As the police were marching towards us, they were singing that we were stubborn people, who were playing with death. Immediately they got to Olorunda Junction, they shot at two of us. Once they shot two among us, the rest of us went into hiding because Baba Tafa had instructed that we must not respond.”

”The news got to baba and so he came to Olorunda. The news got to him through “Aroko” (the Yoruba traditional GSM). As soon as he got to the police men, one of his guards standing beside him, saw that someone beside him had been felled by the police bullet, he said, so you people indeed came to fight, baba Tafa was not weilding any gun then, so he commanded a gun in the air and shot at the police.”
“It was that single shot that triggered the unrest making many of the police men to start falling that day.

That was how it went and it set up an up roar and its effect resonated through all Yoruba towns and villages.”

At Isara, the Palace of the Odemo- Oba Adeniran Akisanya was torched and his esteemed library was burned. His Mercedes Benz car was equally burned to ashes. Oba Akisanya was a foremost Nigerian Nationalist. He had contested election to the legislative council in 1943 on the platform of National Youth Movement, against Ernest Ikoli.

Akisaya managed to escape to Lagos.
At Ijebu Igbo, the Orimolusi- Oba Adetayo Sami, woke up on December 16,1968, to find out that his Palace had been taken over by demonstrators, who were armed with cudgels, charms and dane guns. His Palace was burnt as well as his cars.
How he escaped, was unknown. Three days later, when he came back to the Palace, the demonstrators regrouped but couldn’t find him. He escaped again.
The Agbekoya Revolt was equally serious in major prominent towns and villages—Ede, Oshogbo, Oyo, Ikire, Gbongan, Iwo, Ile Ogbo, Ejigbo, Ikirun, Ila-Orangun,Ilesha and so many others.

The most violent of the revolt and rampage, was in the city of Ogbomoso- the city of late Samuel Ladoke Akintola, former Premier of the Western Region and that of the raving war impresario – Brig. Benjamin Adekunle, popularly called Black Scorpion and Commander of the third marine commando in the Biafra war- Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded him. Benjamin Adekunle had just been given the chieftaincy title of Asipa of Ogbomoso, by the Soun,- the weekend before the crisis.

Samuel Lodoke Akintola was the previous holder of that title. The rampaging protesters, and tax agitators, mounted a road block at the entrance of the town of ogbomoso, raided the Palace and demanded for Soun Olajide Olayode.
The Soun was seized and killed. His body was dismembered and his head, displayed on the street by the agitators. It was alleged that a traditional native broom, filled with charms, was used to cut his head.Five of Soun’s chiefs, one of his wives and a son were equally slaughtered.

A number of civilians also were killed and wounded as Police and Army units moved in to take over.

As a method of protest, against the military government, the Agbekoya attacked major symbols of power, including court houses, setting free thousands of prisoners. The Agodi Prison in Ibadan, was emptied. Several arrests were equally made.

Tafa Adeoye had now become Agbekoya’s most prominent leader and symbol of the struggle. A folk hero.
In October 1969, chief Obafemi Awolowo who had recently been released from Calabar Prison and now Minister of Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal executive Council, had to travel to Akanran Ibadan, to meet with Tafa Adeoye. Awolowo made a well publicised trek through the Bush- about Two kilo meters, and consequent upon this visit, many of the demands of the Agbekoya were met.

An armistice was reached. The hitherto flat tax rate of 1 Pound 10 Shillings increased to 8 Pounds, by the Adebayo Government, was reduced to (£2)Two Pounds a year.

An amnesty for tax defaulters was declared and Agbekoya members were soon out, helping local tax officials in the task of collection.

The Adebayo Government, still baffled at the enormity of Tafa Adeoye’s power, and needed to arrest him, to find out the myth surrounding his power. In plotting these, a pretty Police detective was detailed to get the job done. She was an Inspector of Police. She approached Tafa, who was reputed to be all charms, to make friends with him.

The war lord fell in love with this pretty lady and “married” her. A trap was set and appeared to have caught a big prey. After two weeks of the dalliance, romance and “marriage”, plain clothes Police men stormed Tafa Akanran’s residence, and arrested him, for the offence of organising tax agitation against the government.

This perhaps may sound like the popular Samson and Delilah story in the bible.
Delilah, a beautiful lady had seduced Samson, (a soldier chosen by God to destroy the Philistines); in order to know the secret of his strength and destroy him.

After Tafa Adeoye’s arrest, Lasisi Lalekan Akekaaka, his second in command, was invited to the government secretariat Ibadan, to attend a meeting of Yoruba groups who had assembled to find solutions, that would ensure a lasting peace. Akekaaka’s, followers escorted him as usual to this meeting.
His followers were hailing him, to the annoyance of soldiers, who had prevented them from following their leaders.

To ensure orderliness, a soldier guard, slapped one of the Agbekoya boys.
The Agbekoya boy slapped him back, because he felt he should not be treated like a common criminal, and also when he did not fight with him.

The soldier felt embarrassed that a civilian slapped him, and he brought out his gun and he shot at the Agbekoya boy about five times, but nothing happened to the boy. The bullets could not just penetrate.

In Yoruba land, in the midst of warfare, any object could be commanded to serve a different purpose.

In 1983 in Akure, as an aftermath of the election of Michael Ajasin of the UPN and Michael Omoboriowo of the NPN, the people of Ondo State and Akure felt cheated by the unjust announcement and declaration of Akin Omoboriowo as the winner of the gubernatorial election.
They went on rampage and caused mayhem and violence. Properties were destroyed. The buildings of Chief Agbayewa and Hon. Olaiya Fagbamigbe were burnt to ashes, when a piece of egg, was thrown at their houses and the eggs became a combustible instrument. Some mobile police officers deployed to quell the violence, found it difficult to put off their clothes.

Conventionally, and in science, a combustible material is something that could easily be ignited and burned, but an egg had served this purpose in the Akure Crises.

Tafa Adeoye, despite being captured by the luscious power of women, like in the Samson and Delilah story, still remains, a folk hero of the Agbekoya struggle, May his soul and those of his comrades who rescued the Western Region from unjust taxation, continually find peaceful repose with the Lord.

Article by-
Hon (Barr) Femi Kehinde
Former Member, House of Representatives
National Assembly Abuja, representing Ayedire/Iwo/Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency of Osun State, (1999-2003)
&
Principal Partner
Femi Kehinde & Co (Solicitors)
Ibadan, Lagos and Abuja.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured

Ozekhome Hails Goodluck Jonathan on 67th Birthday

Published

on

By

Leading human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Prof Mike Ozekhome, has celebrated former President Goodluck Jonathan as he turns 67 today.

In a heroic-worded eulogy, the renowned author, who recently launched 50 books at once, praised the former president for his gigantic strides during his tenure, and for putting the nation above his personal interest in the aftermath of the 2015 general election.

Below is Ozekhome’s full statement:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR BROTHER AND GOOD FRIEND,DR GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR

BY PROF MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN, CON, OFR.

GEJ, you are a true democrat in the truest sense of the word.More than 8 years after you left office, many Nigerians are still yearning for your kind of humane and purposeful leadership that shunned discrimination, tribalism, sectionalism, prebendalism and cronyism.

Nigeria surely prospered under you, overtaking South Africa as the biggest rebased economy in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. For the common man,life was good. You certainly made your mistakes, like us all humans and mortals. But your gargantuan pluses far outweigh your few minuses. God has indeed been very kind to you, raising you from a bootstrap state of nadir to the zenith of power as president of the biggest democracy in the black world. But you never allowed power to intoxicate or overwhelm you as an aphrodisiac.

You showed uncommon humility and selfless leadership- a servant leader. As a living icon phenomenon, you have exemplified the quintessence of the highest virtues and nobility of a good man. At a time Nigeria was on the precipice of collapsing under a looming electoral inferno in 2015, you placed the national interest above your personal interest by conceding defeat to then candidate Muhammadu Buhari, even when votes were still being counted. Your immortal words before that historic occasion to the effect that “My ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian” easily placed you in the pantheon of rare heroes. The words rekindled the genre of Abraham Lincoln’s imperishable words during his 18th November, 1863 Gettysburg declaration, that “Democracy is government of the people, for the people and by the people”. Your continuous shuttle diplomacy across the world with which you illuminate dark electoral crevices has proven you to be a world leader of respected pedigree.

Through you, Nigeria exports Democracy.

Happy birthday to an iconic and uncommon democrat.

Continue Reading

Featured

For Globacom, Everyday is Christmas

Published

on

By

Globacom Limited, Nigeria’s telecommunications giant, continues to showcase resilience and innovation, reinforcing its market presence and bringing value to its loyal customer base, which remains a central asset to the company.

Despite operating in a very competitive industry, Globacom has achieved steady growth and stability. Its main focus has been on advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation.

Guided by a long-term strategic vision, Globacom is setting the pace in customer engagement, turning 2024 into a year of “Christmas is every day” for its subscribers. Through substantial investments in network expansion and customer rewards, Globacom has achieved significant milestones in customer loyalty, aiming to support subscribers with impactful services amid the festive season.

With a focus on bridging the digital divide, Globacom continues to support Nigeria’s tech-driven ecosystem, empowering individuals and businesses. The group has made significant strides in aligning its objectives with Nigeria’s digital literacy goals, as seen with the launch of a learning management solution that trains up to 100,000 users monthly on key digital skills, including blockchain, digital marketing, and artificial intelligence. This initiative supports Nigeria’s goal to produce 3 million technical talents by 2027.

Further positioning itself as a tech enabler, Globacom announced four upcoming digital innovation hubs to foster entrepreneurship in Nigeria, with the first set in Lagos by Q4 of 2024, followed by hubs in Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Abuja by mid-2025. These hubs aim to create new opportunities in tech and digital services for Nigeria’s growing economy.

Beyond telecommunications, Globacom actively contributes to government-led initiatives in education, agriculture, and transportation, extending its digital solutions to sectors beyond telecom.

In October 2023, the telecom giant underscored its role as a significant industry player by paying N156 billion ($210 million) in spectrum renewal fees, reinforcing its dedication to regulatory compliance and ongoing growth in Nigeria’s telecom landscape.

Globacom holds a leading position as Nigeria’s home-grown telecom provider in a particularly money guzzling venture. It has never failed to live up to expectations. The telecom behemoth further expanded into financial services through its MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank (PSB) launched in October 2022.

MoneyMaster PSB leverages a network of 100,000 agents to offer essential banking services, including deposits, remittances, and prepaid cards, supporting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) financial inclusion goals for the nation’s 79 million underbanked and unbanked citizens.

Globacom’s commitment to innovation, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction continues to define its legacy as a pillar of Nigeria’s digital economy, positioning it as a key player in the nation’s journey towards a digitally inclusive future. Globacom remains the pride of Nigeria.

Continue Reading

Featured

Ode to Chinua Achebe (1930–2013)

Published

on

By

By Barr Ifemeluofuma Atuanya

Iroko Ogidi, twenty and six years have lapsed since you wrote a befitting epitaph for my late father, Engr. Udemezue Atuanya (former Perm Sec/Controller of Works, defunct – East Central State) who attained immortality ahead of you.

Crafted with clinical precision this epitaph remains a tonic for my soul. An evergreen and never ending one; deeply resonating the profound legacy of my late Dad fondly called Okigbo.Okigbo was your friend, your soul-mate, your confidant, your kinsman and above all your in-law (Mrs. Agnes Adaosodi Achebe nee Atuanya was his first cousin). Yours with him therefore was an enviable affinity, far from a quicksand union. A friendship in which you proved to be a long distance runner.

Dike Ogidi (the grand one), now that your years have expired and you have gone the way of all mortals, it is obvious you cannot transit unsung and uncelebrated in the hearts of those that adored you. Hence, as thenudging and the prompting of affinity beckoned on me to pen this piece; I was to say the least star-struck, fully confronted by your larger than life image too huge for a mere narration. But I leverage on the fact that this is only a lullaby to bid you goodnight as you begin your eternal slumber in forever land.

Anya fulu ugo (the unique one), you were a rare breed of humanity; a man of priestly disposition and quiet dignity, an embodiment of deep thoughts and little talk. You were unapologetically your own person. Simple and unassuming, without airs nor chips on your shoulders. You were truly a breed apart, a locus classicus of uncommon carriage and decorum.

Like the Biblical city set on a hill, completely devoid of a hiding place, you were a world brand and the headline of history!

Your life was neither a cameo appearance nor a wink in the dark. You were never in the backburners or backwaters of life. You didn’t tiptoe through life. You were not a side attraction, mba nu! (No!) You played mainstream.

The highpoint of your life was your scholastic profundity. You were the grandmaster and presiding deity (Agaba Idu) of the literary world. You were not just a man of letters but of profound letters; the herald of African literary Renaissance.

Whether a broad stroke or a short take you never failed to pen a masterpiece, such that re-wrote the destiny of the entire black race beyond comprehension.

Your scholastic wizardry utterly demystified racial stereotypes and became the ultimate game changer in the condescending view points and warped consciousness of colonial writers like Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness), who felt the Ebony race is savage and less human. Suffice it to say that your literary fecundity syndicated the caveat that Africans must not be judged by color but by content, lending a vigilant voice to the legacy of Martin Luther King (Jnr).

Little wonder the superb articulation of your skill and sagacity caught the attention of the African living legend; Nelson Mandela that he referred to you as the writer in whose company the prison walls came down.

Agaba Idu, in life you were a colossus nay in death a colossal loss. Not just to the black race but to Ogidi in particular. More so since you sustained a flamboyant banner for her when it seemed her glory had departed (Ichabod).

For once upon a time in the history of this country Ogidi was a dynasty of icons. What with the rare breed of Ogidi Engineers that called the shots at the then Ministry of Works and Transport, defunct East Central State. I am talking about Udemezue Atuanya; Super Perm Sec. and controller of works, my uncle Maduegbuna Unobagha, Christopher Udokwu (odu) Augustine Achebe, Chike Ifekandu, Steven Okoye etc that shone like million stars in their hey days.

Oh! how I relish with extravagant passion, my Uncle Eric Atuanya (Ezefum); pioneer and and iconic legend of the then Mobile oil Nigeria, Walter Onubogu (renowned medic and former Minister for Health, defunct Eastern Region), BVO Amobi (then Igwe Ogidi and famed Medic), Justice Alfred Obi-Okoye (deified jurist), John and Oby Okaro (a double dose of medical lngenuity), Egwu Atuanya (Iconic Pioneer Medic of the National Assembly Clinic, Lagos), legendary Nweze Udokwu (profound progenitor of phenomenal Nike Grammar School, Enugu), Nwafor Agulefo (A list Medic), Ernest Okocha (Engineer per excellence), Dr Nwasike of Ikenga Ogidi (primus inter pares) Ikwuemesi (of Sosoliso fame), Dr Ojuche of Nkwelle Ogidi (exceptional Medic) and lots more too numerous to mention and too monumental to keep memories distant.
Oh! Ogidi lnwelle, what gallery and galaxy of super stars you suckled, what an enviable pedigree!

But alas Ogidi Idemili it is no longer uhuru for you. At some point in your golden history you began to nose dive. Like a missing chord in a grand Orchestra you began to pale into obscurity. You made a wide berth from the frontlines and headlines of Nigerian history. What a far cry of yester years! So apt for this scenario is the indelible and highly redeeming question of my dexterous and dynamic Governor Mr. Peter Obi: Is Anambra state cursed or are we the cause? And so do I ask: Is Ogidi now cursed or are we the cause? Have we
overdrawn our Account in the history bank of this country? Why are we no longer upstream and mainstream? Why?

But as I pondered with apostolic sobriety, my intuition is deafened by the sound of abundance of rain. Yes in my mind’s eye I see thick clouds aligning and realigning to drench Ogidi with the double honour of former and latter rains, such that Ogidi will yet again reap a bountiful harvest. Like the proverbial phoenix Ogidi shall rise from the ashes of her past glory to dizzy heights of prominence. Breaking forth like waters, she will yet again break ground and breakthrough to redeem her star-studded years in all spheres of endeavor. Already people like Ada Unobagha (Solicitor General, Anambra State), Lawrence Ikeakor (Hon. Commissioner for Health, Anambra State), Bob Manuel Udokwu (Senior Special Assistance on Creative Media Anambra State and Nollywood guru), Ada Ehigiamusoe (Justice of Benin High Court), Chiedu Osakwe (Former Ambassador and Director of Accessions World Trade Organization, Geneva Switzerland) are eloquent telling points in this regard. So to Nkwelle Ogidi, Ikenga Ogidi, Umuanugo, Umudoma, Ire etc I make bold to say; it is morning yet on creation day for you! Post Nubia phoebus!
Oh! What a digression. Chinualumogu are you still online? I only made a brief detour to make a case for the diming destiny of Ogidi Inwelle, our common patrimony. More so at your demise.

As my ink dries on this piece and I begin to bid you a final goodbye, I must not fail to mention that controversy barely parts company with Patron Avatars like you. And so it was, akin to the deified African masquerade that does not exit an outing without erupting violent clouds of dust, deafening ripples (not likely to evaporate in a hurry) ushered your final departure. What with the raw umbrage and rabid vituperations that confronted your final offering to humanity. Or better still; the last testament of your literary exploits titled: There was a Country. Not a talk in the margins, this Best Seller is so pungent and penetrating; belching and pulsating with controversy. But as the hullabaloo raged, you meandered through the landmines of verbal artillery and veered into eternal glory!

Then I wondered could this book be Pandora’s Box? Has it caused things to fall apart and anarchy unleashed upon the earth? Capital No! It is simply the parting shot of an ardent marksman. The signature tune and sign off phrase of a departing legend. Oh! How you stirred the hornet’s nest, ruffled feathers, rattled nerves and bowed out when the ovation was highest!

What a clinical finishing!

Whether demonized or canonized, lauded or loathed, it remains an undisputed fact of global history that you were truly a genius! You are gone, but you rocked the red carpet of history in no mean way; making full proof that death is not the greatest loss in life but what dies inside a man when he lives and/or what dies with a man when he dies. You were none of such you died empty totally discharging all your potentials. To wit a clear handover of baton to upstarts in the relay race of life. Good finish!

Chinualumogu, well done and fare thee well as you journey to the land of eternal consequence, where you will definitely walk tall among our ancestors.

Na gboo! (Fare thee well) Iroko Ogidi!
And to the living may we aptly be reminded that we are all transient toys in this fleeting game called life.

Now that your remains have been gracefully lumbered to dust, I cannot affirm any less that truly, there was a man!

Barr. IfemeluOfuma Atuanya is the daughter of late Engr. Udemezue Atuanya of Umuosodi, Nkwelle Ogidi, Anambra State. She is an Attorney, a published Author, a Sociologist and a public speaker, and can be reached via ashestobeautyng@ gmail.com and 08147492771

This piece was first published in 2013.

HERE ARE SOME REVIEWS FROM READERS:

Wonderful! I’m satisfied. R.I.P Chinua Achebe – Rico De Red

Nice one bro. He is truly a legend – Vic Popee

A long but very interesting piece. Barr Ofuma, thanks for a job well done. One can easily say that Ogidi people have a flair for writing. God bless you – Engr. Arinze Nnoka

Excellent and a thought through piece for an extraordinary as well as distinguished citizen. He will surely be missed – Emeka Belonwu

Ogidi Kwenu!! I am proud to be a daughter of the land. Thank you Ofuma… – Nanma Okafor

You said it all, thank you very much oke nwadi-ani – Chris Ogo

Just seeing this piece to a man more deserving. Great job Ofuma. Ogidi mulum ma fenyenam nni. Ogidi is rising again! – Nkiru Okongwu-Eziakor

Continue Reading

Trending