KWENU! Our culture, our future

Of Owele & Oyi

M. O. ENÉ

New Jersey, USA

 egbedaa@aol.com

Wednesday, October 8, 2003

PREAMBLE

An iroko has fallen: Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, the Oyi of Oyi. I have not come to garnish his memory, neither have I come to embellish it. Those who wanted to beat up on Dr. Okadigbo had their chance during his tortuous tenure at the Senate. He survived the assault of 50 storm-troopers in five vehicles bent on bringing back the mace from his official residence. As confirmed by Police Commissioner Young Arabamen, speaking for Inspector General Muslui Smith, the Elián González-style raid to retrieve the mace occurred. The ADC to the senate president, DSP Kene Onwumelu, was arrested and neighboring lawmakers were sent packing; some fled to the US Embassy, fearing that a coup was in progress! Dr. Okadigbo was floored by lies, but he survived to fight another day. He became the running mate of Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, the general who had kicked out his former boss, President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari.

Alas, on Thursday, September 25, 2003, he passed into eternity. Original Chuba, Ekwueme Ogbunike, Enyi Nawfia, Ikenga Iguedo, and the Oyi of Oyi is no more; the man to whom the Ofo Nri was entrusted was taken away just like that! Uwa nke a sef! History will judge him justly. There are lessons to learn, and there is no hiding the fact that his death could have been avoided. Political pundits and people of the pen will have a whole lot to say about Dr. Okadigbo. This piece is not about ifs and whys; it is about fluffing a few facts and adding to the pool of tools with which the memory of the great man from Ogbunike will be judged.

KINDRED SPIRITS

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe -- the Great Zik of Africa -- and Dr. Chuba Okadigbo share many things in common. First and foremost, they were both of the Igbo nation, the only major nation that is wholly inside the geopolitical boundary of present-day Nigeria. They were both of present-day Anambra State, and Okadigbo will be buried a few miles away from the final resting place of Azikiwe. Though Azikiwe made his mark in the media, Okadigbo made his mark in academia at an institution that Azikiwe founded, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Like Azikiwe, Okadigbo waltzed into national politics and rose to become the seventh senate president; Azikiwe was the first. Devoted democrats and rugged republicans, they both abhorred dictatorship. These two erudite elite are both purposeful politicians, popular philosophers, and prominent people of the pen. Later in life, they were both known by their traditional titles: Azikiwe was Owele n’Onicha; Chuba was Oyi n’Oyi. Finally, Okadigbo was an apostle of Zikism, a principle he never abandoned even when he parted ways with Azikiwe in the arena of Nigeria’s nebulous partisan politics.

This is not where the kindred spirit ends.

OF “IBRAHIM” & “WILBERFORCE”

Zik was born Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe in Zungeru, northern Nigeria on November 16, 1904. [Twenty-nine years later, on November 4, 1933, another great Igbo man was born in the same town: General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi]. It is said that a Zungeru shaman saw the young Nnamdi Azikiwe and named him “Ibrahim” because he would be the father of a nation. Years later, he jettisoned the Christian “Benjamin,” just as Obafemi Awolowo dropped “Jeremiah,” and Olusegun Obasanjo dropped “Matthew,” etc. As prophesied, Nnamdi “Ibrahim” Azikiwe founded a nation of nations, and he remained Mr. Nigeria Numero-Uno until he passed in 1996. In appreciation of his fatherhood, Nigeria named so many structures after him, including the Abuja International Airport, the federal university at Awka, etc., and graced the highest currency denomination so far with his face.

Dr. Chuba Okadigbo had no such stellar luck in nomenclature as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, but he was fortunate enough to be on the wings of Zik at Independence in 1960. Born Chinwuba William Malachy Okikadigboli on December 17, 1941, he might have been named after William Wilberforce, MP (1759 – 1833), the British abolitionist who presented the first bill to abolish chattel slave trade in the British Empire in 1791. But Okadigbo was not named “Wilberforce.” I was reliably informed of this assertion by his wife, Lady Margery Okadigbo. The Nigeria media insisted on addressing him as such, even when the other Christian name “Malachy” was thrown in. I believe Dr. Okadigbo never bothered to correct the media because he had tried to do so in a more serious matter without success. If “William Wilberforce” the media wanted him to be for his people, he would carry the cross. And he did his best, no matter what negaholics want us to believe.

It is an established fact that Dr. Okadigbo plotted the mainstreaming of ex-Biafrans into Nigerian politics in 1979. By the end of the day, the East had the vice presidency, the senate presidency, the speaker of the house of reps, and major ministries. It also a known fact that Okadigbo was instrumental to the return of Ikemba Nnewi, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, an event that ended the Nigeria-Biafra War politically. This act ranked only second to the psychological triumph marked by the domination of African soccer by Rangers International Football Club of Enugu soon after war, thanks to Chairman Christian Chukwu, Emma Okala, the Atuegbu brothers, etc. and of course, Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo. To end the war institutionally, Okadigbo’s impressed on General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida with a powerful memo to create more states in the southeast region. “The hands across the Niger” is also his baby. Dr. Okadigbo footprints are also left in the six-zone geopolitical structure. The war over, he defined the next step: marginalization -- “a policy and program of exclusion.”

Recently as the President of Senate, Dr. Okadigbo brought a fleeting independence to legislature. He minced no words in condemning the violence visited on the people of Odi, for which the Ijaw remember him as “a friend of the Ijaw nation.” He did his best to install a legislative culture that is truly democratic, but crab mentality in power struggle thwarted his efforts. On the Sovereign National Conference, he told TheNews:

 “… I come from a background of being a former Biafran. All the issues you are talking about, SNC, and so on were all settled at Aburi. It was the failure of the Nigerian government to implement them that led to the war. So I would not want a repeat performance of that.”

 [TheNews, May 29, 2000].

Anyone who thinks of his people in taking a stand on such national issues as the contentious the Sovereign National Conference deserves the respect of all, even when we disagree with the position. Dr. Chuba Okadigbo was a politician per excellence, a political scientist of repute, a powerful partisan strategist, and a prince of politics: urbane, classy, erudite, astute, and dedicated to law and order. To those who accused him of flamboyance, Okadigbo the quintessential Igboman had this to say:

What is flamboyance? Because I carry my horsetail? How I carry myself is between me and my God. I am not supposed to be genuflecting as I walk in order to show humility. Humility for what? To whom? Because I am Senate President, I should now start genuflecting when I never did it at the age of five or that I should not wave my horsetail?

BE THY BROTHER’S KEEPER

During one of the trips for independence negotiation, some politicians who had not been to England tagged along. It was during one of those trips, as street-story has it, that Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa allegedly went overboard with his love for English tea: he did not know to turn his cup, until Dr. Azikiwe reminded him at the 50^th that he was not obliged to drink the nonstop refills! But Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara, Dr. Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe, and or some other Igbo fellow was not sitting close enough to benefit from Azikiwe's wisdom. So, to avoid any unpleasantness from his brethren, Zik volunteered to say the grace. He was obliged. He spoke in Igbo: Iheonukara na Ozumba, umunne m: a na-eji mma n’aka nri; a naghi esu achicha na mmiri oku…. All these we pray through Christ our Lord….” In case you were wondering, Zik used the opportunity to remind his brethren of table etiquettes, especially to keep the knife on the right hand, even if it is clumsy eating with the left hand -- which is considered rude in Igbo culture, and never to dip bread in tea -- as was common in Nigeria.

Dr. Chuba Okadigbo was not as diplomatic as Zik, nor did he have to be, when a situation to defend his fellow Igbo presented itself. It was during President Shehu Shagari’s administration. Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was the vice president. Dr. Okadigbo was the political adviser to the president. Alhaji Umaru Dikko was whatever he wanted to be; at some point, he was the de facto president. According to a dear friend who was in the know, the four top politicians met regularly. At such meetings, Umaru Dikko flexed his political muscles with no-holds-barred, Hausa-Fulani arrogance. He got carried away and soon started addressing VP Ekwueme as “Alex.” But, as Igbo sages would say, a drunken pussy cat has never met a mad fox.

In Nigeria, you can only address your peers by their first name and in private. Even when a elected executive is your bosom friend from kindergarten or a junior blood brother, you start and finish every sentence with “Your Excellency…” Note: Alex was the dully elected Executive Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Umaru was a mere minister, an appointee of the executive. Chuba the presidential political guru did not find it funny. He hoped someone would correct Umaru. No one did; not Alex, not Shehu. One day, Chuba waited for Umaru to strike. He did, and Chuba struck back: “Umaru,” he cautioned, “if you call my brother ‘Alex,’ I will call you brother ‘Shehu.’”

Uneasy laughter ensured, but the matter was settled for good. Dr. Alex Ekwueme got his deserved dues thenceforth. [A similar situation of disrespect would come up at the constitutional conference during the General Sani Abacha era; Ikemba Nnewi was in the house to defend the gentle giant Ekwueme, and the rest is history.]

DISRESPECTING THE DEAR DEPARTED

It will probably come as a shock to many that Okadigbo did not insult the Great Zik of Africa. The media is still saturated with “rantings (sic) of an ant” or is it “a ranting ant.” Dr. Okadigbo tried so hard in his lifetime to cleanse the silly slate without much success. Although it did not directly affect his rise and fall and rise in politics, many attributed his misfortune at the pinnacle of legislature as a manifestation of “Zik’s Curse.” Post August 8, 2000, the day Okadigbo resigned from the senate presidency, former old Oyo State Governor, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, a Second Republic political ally of Dr. Okadigbo, told reporters in Ilorin, Kwara State: “I think the matter of Okadigbo is a tragedy, it looks as if the Azikwe’s curse has come home to roost against him. He is a respected gentleman and besides Ekwueme, his picture stands in my sitting room.” So, right there and up there, people still transmitted the “curse.” Even in death, the Guardian of all papers, the same paper that flew the infamous “ranting” kite, alluded to the so-called “Zik’s Curse.” In “Okadigbo dies at 61,” the Guardian wrote on September 26, 2003:

From that position [Political Adviser to President Shehu Shagari], he railed against anybody who opposed the ruling party. And once, the Great Zik, Okadigbo's own mentor, came under his fire. He poured so much venom on the old man that an embittered Zik issued a scathing statement against him and anybody who made mockery of his old age. “They shall die unwept and unsung,” Zik cursed.

Dr. Azikiwe could not have been referring specifically to Okadigbo, since he did not mock anyone’s age. Even if we assume that Okadigbo’s partisan assertiveness rubbed the Great Zik wrongly, he was not alone. Zik was an accomplished politician; he knew the rules of the game too well. Long before Okadigbo, there was Dr. K. O. Mbadiwe, whom Zik reportedly labeled a political erubeghi (neophyte) -- as opposed to him, a political agafe (colossus). Then there was General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu in Biafra, and Ajie Anthony Ukpabi Asika in East Central State. Above all, common sense dictates that Dr. Okadigbo could not have used the term “ant” to describe his master and mentor -- the Great Zik of Africa-- even if he were in a drunken or drugged daze. From Newswatch interview of December 1, 1997, we cull the following excerpts:

Newswatch: Did you call Zik a ranting ant?

Okadigbo: No, I did not. What happened is this: Zik wrote this long testament-like essay, after the 1983 election. And I tried to say that the problem was to find the basis of that loss in his party [NPP] and the PPA. So I used the Igbo proverb which says: [“Onye debe nti n’ani, o nu ugoli agbisi”] which translates thus: “If you put your ear on the ground, you will hear the ranting of an ant.” But  Guardian newspaper, in a mischief so colossal that we are talking about it today, and probably till tomorrow, simply forgot the parable and said, “Zik is a ranting ant” --  Chuba Okadigbo. Everything I have done since then to say it is not true had not worked.

The highly dialectical expression used by Okadigbo could pose a problem for someone who is not well-versed in Igbo. Another version of the proverb is: “Onye dewe nti n’ana, o ga-anu igba danda,” which simply translates as: “If one keeps his ear to the ground, he will hear the drumbeats of ants.” If Okadigbo had used this more commonwealth-Igbo version, maybe, just maybe, we would never have heard about “ranting.” Question: Who actually translated the proverb? Was it Okadigbo himself or the reporter? In the version Okadigbo used, the term “ugoli” could have been translated as “chants (of joy or grief).” I wonder if ants rant or chant. Then again, do they beat drums? Go figure! In the interview, Dr. Okadigbo revealed that he called Dr. Azikiwe “immediately”; being a former newspaperman, he understood that “they have to sell their paper.” Dr. Okadigbo made his peace with the Great Zik, his mentor and his master; the matter was thereafter between him and his personal providence, chi.

UNSUNG AND UNWEPT?

It is so amazing that some disrespectful, push-on-the-pen writers have latched onto the “ranting” brouhaha to disrespect the dear departed, a far more abominable deed than mocking old age, albeit that of a living legend. No one deserved to be tear-gassed to death. No matter how we cut it or stitch it, in Dakar or in Dar es Salam, it is a shame that the former number-three citizen of Nigeria was subjected to such a treatment. Then again, a former number-two and a friend of Okadigbo, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, was thrown into jail and injected to death (The President pardoned the ‘Dr. Death’ himself last October 1.) Also, a former number-one citizen was jailed and left there to die a slow death. He survived and lived to tell the story. Oh yes, the President himself: General Olusegun Obasanjo. Lest we forget, Bashorun M. K. O. was locked up for years without trials and with the connivance of some fellow Yoruba elite, and then dispatched on his way out of the dungeon with a cup of tea in his hand! It is fast becoming a tradition to maltreat those who have served Nigeria. We should therefore not be surprised that people devise colossal corrupt ways to stay above the fray long after they must have left office. Examples abound; enough said.

While it is not yet certain what exactly happened to Dr. Okadigbo, he has become the first victim of the withdrawal of security details from prominent personalities. Those who endorse the new rule fail to consider the fact that Nigeria is not the United States of America. Even here, it would be unthinkable for President Bush to withdraw the security details of Vice President Al Gore, especially if they were still in court contesting the 2000 elections. If the perks and paraphernalia of office of the Governor of Kano State are not enough to protect two Igbo giants, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo and Chief Johnny Nnia Nwodo, then something is wrong with the way Nigeria is currently wired. Could you imagine a guest of the Governor of New Jersey being tear-gassed and not air-lifted to the best medical facility in America?

We cannot be blinded by superstition that we don’t see what we are doing to ourselves. It has nothing to do with the curse of Azikiwe, Awolowo, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, or Ahmadu Bello. When Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola failed in his presidential bid, some writers floated the “Curse of Awo”; ditto when General Olusegun Obasanjo found himself in General Sani Abacha’s gulag. Obasanjo rose from the shadows of the valley of death, from prisoner to president. Maybe the “Curse of Awo” is yet to catch up again with Obasanjo, just as the “Curse of Zik” supposedly caught up with Okadigbo in Kano of all places. Haba!

No one knows it all; we are not talking physical science or secular justice here. The point here is that if anyone should die unwept and unsung, it is not Dr. Chuba Okadigbo. He is dead all right, but there will be plenty of tears from his beloved ones, and I am sure Nigerians will appreciate that this prince of politics passed through the country. There may be the Law of Karma, but no mere mortal has the right to apportion divine punishment. In Igbo theosophy, it is all up to individuals and their personal providence: Nke onye na chi ya, which was why Okadigbo said: “How I carry myself is between me and my God.” Therefore, we should forget about tears for Okadigbo: He is dead. He does not need our tears in his present state of passage. Everyone is indebted to the Earth deity, and the debt will be due when it is destined. Dr.Chuba Okadigbo has gone to pay his debt, just as the Great Zik before him; no one knows who is next because to know would be the end of knowledge.

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