By Ethelbert Okere
My young friend and colleague, Collins Opurozor, put me in a very difficult situation with his recently published write-up entitled, “The Painful Desecration of Nnanna Ukegbu’s Memory By Chima Amadi”. I kept asking myself, how do I handle this? Before the article, I had come across his altercations with the media handlers of Dr. Chima Amadi himself and apparently, the article in question was meant to be one of Opurozor’s missiles in the direction of the other camp. But unfortunately for both Opurozor and I, am the major, if not the only casualty of his attack. Mr. Opurozor and I are both appointees of the current administration in the state. Perhaps unknown to many, we both belong to Governor Hope Uzodimma’s media team and we meet quite regularly.
So, my problem was, how would I let the public know that my colleague’s claim that Dr. Amadi’s presence at the public presentation of my book on Dr. Basil Nnanna Ukegbu, amounted to a “desecration” of the latter’s memory is false; without appearing to be part of his fight with the other camp? Matters were not helped when I began to get calls from some indigenes of Ngor Okpala, where both Amadi, the late Dr. Ukegbu and I come from, wondering why I, being the chief host and of that event, has not debunked Opurozor’s false claims and that I stand accused for providing him the missile with which he fired – not at Dr. Amadi – but at the memory of the late icon. Is it not clear that I was – and probably still is – in a big dilemma? On one hand, Opurozor, as I stated earlier, is my colleague and as the saying goes, dog does not eat dog.
On the other hand, my people in Ngor Okpala have come out to argue that Opurozor’s claim was meant to diminish the importance of an event they most cherished because it was in honour of the memory of one who most of our people – in Ngor Okpala – would say remains the best to have come out from amongst them, and I did nothing about it.
In the article, Opurozor claimed that Dr. Amadi came with “hired tugs” whose presence “shattered” the “solemnity” of the event. This is absolutely false. Agreed, there was a group of young men and women who came with Dr. Amadi but I can state without any fear of contradictions that they were not hired, let alone being thugs. Even though they are members of the Mazi Organization (TMO), majority of them are natives of Ngor Okpala who came to join in honouring their late icon. I can remember that at least three of them came to where I was sitting – I sat at the back of the hall all through the occasion – and said to me, “Oga Ozi Imo – that’s the fond name I am known for right now in Ngor Okpala – “Igbaliala” (You have done well). A few greeted me as “Ndaa Ethel” (Big Brother Ethel). No youth from any other part of Imo state would address me as “Ndaa”.
Opurozor referred to the young men (even though majority of them were young ladies) as “unkept” with “the stench of sweat and street followed them” (sic). It should be expected that Opurozor might have been hurting from the altercations he is having with Dr. Amadi’s media men, as earlier noted, but he went to the extreme to employ hyperboles that amounted to a clear insult to those brothers and sisters of mine who came to cheer me up. Well, what can I say other than to tender my sincere apologies to them both individually and collectively?
Opurozor claimed that he left immediately upon sighting Dr. Amadi and his group but if he had exercised some patience, he would have discovered that it was the presence of those young men and women that gave the event the population it needed to be what it turned out to be. I may cause to be published photographs of the event showing where the people he was referring to as “unkept” and with foul odours were seated with measured comportment.
Of course, it is needless to state that the presence of Dr. Amadi himself added a lot of dignity to the event, without diminishing the significance of the presence of both my former boss, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim and the highly revered Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu, in order not to ventilate Opurozor’s insinuations that they felt uncomfortable with his presence. If anything, one of the Professors who was at the high table with Amadi and others called me late in the evening of that day to ask “Who is that chap? He spoke so brilliantly”. Before that event, Dr. Amadi had eulogized me for my thoughtfulness in writing the book in honour of Dr. Ukegbu who he said taught his father at the Owerri Grammar School, Imerienwe, which the latter founded in 1958 at the age of 28. As I noted earlier, while I would never get involved in the fight between Opurozor and the Amadi camp, it would be unheard of for me to allow the falsehood peddled by him about that event to linger.
The book, in question, “THE PURPOSE OF MY LIFE: AMAZING STORY OF DR. BASIL NNANNA UKEGBU” is my thirteenth work, including the one, NIGERIA: AGENDA FOR A MODERN, POLICE FORCE which earned me a prize for literary excellence by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in 1991, that is, thirty four years ago. About five of the books were publicly presented but I must state that none of the events was as successful as the one on my work on Dr. Ukegbu.
Those who were present would remember that Dr. Amadi pledged the sum of two million naira for the reprinting of the book to be distributed in all public secondary and primary schools in Ngor Okpala. The pledge was immediately redeemed and the book since reprinted and distributed as directed. I am still getting calls from well-meaning Ngor Okpala indigenes, both at home and abroad, requesting for copies of the book. Just a few weeks ago, one of our people saw me and said to me that he hopped I will print more copies of the book to be either sold or distributed during Dr. Ukegbu’s burial now scheduled for December this year. If the event of December 24, 2024 was a “desecration of Nnanna Ukegbu’s memory” as Opurozor claims, my good people of Ngor Okpala would not be showing this level of interest on the book.
Interestingly, Opurozor acknowledged the presence of another revered son of Ngor Okpala, Dr. T.O.E. Ekechi, at the occasion. Ekechi is from the same town, Imerienwe, as Dr. Ukegbu. Why did he not storm out of the venue as Opurozor did? Other prominent sons of Ngor Okpala who graced the occasion but whose presence Opuruozor failed to acknowledge, include HRH Eze Eme Njoku, Dr. Barrister George Eke, Chief Bona Nlemadim, Mr. Ngozi Olehi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Okenze Sylvester Obinna, Chief Ben Kaduru, many media practitioners of Ngor Okpala extraction and a host of other categories of people including more than ten well-known actors in Nollywood.
How come that they did realize that the memory of their legend was being desecrated as Opurozor claimed? Do outsiders cry louder than the bereaved? As I noted earlier, this intervention has nothing to do with the fight between Opurozor and the Chima Amadi. It is merely to solicit for help in pleading with my brethren in Ngor Okpala, who were described in such unprintable words, by my own colleague, to please forgive and forget.
