It is not often that I write about a person and expose it for public consumption. But because of the dearth of heroes that has afflicted our country, we would be missing the point if we don’t highlight some of those that have shown consistent streaks of a brighter future that has been receding faster than the morning star while we collectively harvest the whirlwind that comes with such atrophy. Emeka Ugwu-Oju is certainly one of the shinning lights in a dark, fearful and dreamless night that bodes such anxiety amongst a people that have been recurrently subjected to serious hiding by adult delinquents and their standpatters.
I got to know Emeka Ugwu-Oju when the need arose for the formation of a group that would play a critical role in stemming what was emerging to be a deliberate careering of the ship of state to a certain fatal end. This was the reading by some well-meaning Nigerians in the mid-term of the first term of what later proved to be a disastrous Obasanjo epoch. That meeting, with several well-intentioned and detribalized Nigerians from all parts of the country was to midwife the Good Governance Group and he was the Convener. I was to become the Secretary of the group that made several futile efforts to contribute to what was becoming a fatal leadership dementia that took away ten years of the lives of the average Nigerian and is still counting!
The organization of the GGG was fluid and it was so because most of the members were people that held high commanding positions in critical sectors of the Nigerian state but who still found enough space in their hearts to feel highly concerned about the drifting of the Nigerian state to perdition. Membership itself was fluid and these were so because the group felt there was no need to injure the interests of some of the members in the pursuit of the good of all but merge same in a complimentary effort to excurse for a well-governed state. The story of the Good Governance Group would be told another day but suffice it to say that it conducted the well-received GSM referendum on the viability or otherwise of the notorious third term agenda, with a view to showing that Nigerians were indeed averse to that evil agenda, using scientific and verifiable means.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
Emeka Ugwu-Oju trained as an Economist at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and worked as a banker before he resigned to chart the course of private enterprise. Today, he has his hands on so many vital sectors of the economy and has made tremendous success of these efforts. Perhaps, he pays back to the society through the noble projects and initiatives he has undertaken and they are still counting. Curiously, all his efforts have been channeled towards the attainment of a good and well-governed society; dreams that are turning to shocking mirages as the country regress in geometrical terms in recent times but he is not flagging either. He played a very critical but silent role in the NADECO movement, which secured the present mis-managed democratic dispensation. He remains one of the critical pillars to such other vital groups as Ndigbo Lagos, Ohaneze Ndigbo, South East/South South Professionals, the GGG, as I earlier mentioned, and so many other groups. As in NADECO, in every group he has been involved, he remains one of the main financiers, even when he does this role with a certain level of discreetness that disarms even the most pious of members. While coming from one of such meetings, some light years ago, armed robbers riddled him with bullets near his Lekki home but it was simply inspiring that from his hospital bed overseas, he was still calling friends to ensure they never flagged from the quest for a good society. This was at a time many thought he would abandon the struggle and enjoy his peace. It was as if the attack re-ignited his passion for a good Nigerian society.
It is easy to find out that in all his civil society involvements, he is driven by a common concern for the good of the Nigerian state and its people and even when those around feel less perturbed about the disastrous course of the Nigerian nation, he exudes tremendous confidence that things can still work aright. He devotes much time to meetings and workshops where the topic revolves around how to get things aright for Nigerians to breathe a fresher perspective into governmental delivery for the good of all. He is always concerned about actions plans and how to set them flying. To do this, he devotes a sizeable chunk of his waking time to meetings and there are days he shuttles between five or six not-for-profit meetings with similar agenda on how to rescue the sinking Nigerian ship. In such meetings, he is sure to devote his brilliant endowment and his available resources to get things going, even when others are not so generous to the common cause. He can never stop believing we can pull this endangered chestnut called Nigeria from a raging conflagration! Simply, he is ubiquitous!
Emeka Ugwu-Oju is vastly connected but this does not prevent him from mingling and identifying with Mother Theresa’s Poorest of the Poor. He does not subscribe to the intercalary of class and status. He is a good mixer that can source comfort in virtually all known social classes and strata. Disarmingly humble, self-effacing, almost shy, not for him is the riotous claiming of glory and the other vanities that shed our good qualities. Not for him is the vainglorious jostling for space, which pep our human failings. He does not aim for the diadem but warms the back seat, even where he played the pivotal roles. He sees himself in the humble lights of a co-worker and not the leader. He does not relish hugging the limelight and does not engage in glory taking. He would rather see himself as a facilitator, a convener, an organizer, a servant, a catalyst and as an agent of positive change than the leader. This humble estate provokes his fun as much as being seen as simply ‘Mr.’ in an age of rank emptiness, vaunting ambition and consuming vanity. He does not court public office and political ambition, as he believes he can serve society better in effectively investing in the quest for the good society.
He is eternally concerned about issues of morality and best practices, not only in the formal sector but also in the informal sector. He celebrates merit and is wont to go to any length to identify with one, even when that does not come with pecuniary pay-offs. He slots into his very busy private life, the time to identify with friends and share their high and low moments. He keeps tabs with friends and associates in a manner that he always puts you in deficit because one can hardly match his dexterity.
On Thursday, 16th May 2009, Emeka Ugwu-Oju hit the mid century mark when he clocked 50! In his traditional manner, no parties are being thrown except that his lovely wife is organizing a thanksgiving Mass at the Catholic Church of Divine Mercy, Lekki and refreshments thereafter at his Lekki home. One cannot but wish this pro-democracy activist, this cerebral economist, businessman, nationalist and stickler to public morality many more years in service to the nation. I have the firm belief that he remains among the very soul of the thinning chord of decency that still hold our fractious nation together. I also acknowledge that many Emeka Ugwu-Ojus abound in Nigeria but they are stifled by the wild weeds that are presently chocking the life out of all of us in Nigeria. He remains the few positive, efficient but quiet institutions that show the light on what we could be if and only if we do not have a bestial leadership in place. We must celebrate them and hoist them as desirable options in the face of confounding hopelessness. Happy Birthday, Emeka Ugwu-Oju and many happy returns.
Peter Claver Oparah.
Ikeja, Lagos.
E-mail: [email protected]
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });