Tears For Christy Essien Igbokwe

By Chuks OLUIGBO

The sad news of the death of Nigeria’s Lady of Songs, Chief Mrs Christy Essien Igbokwe, MON, was announced on Thursday, June 30, 2011. She died at a private hospital in Lagos after being ill for three days, according to reports, at the age of 51. The actual cause of her death is not known, but reports say the singer/actress was diagnosed with a hole in the heart during her first pregnancy, but she was quoted to have said that it got healed miraculously. 

The late Christy Essien Igbokwe

Born on November 11, 1960 in the present day Akwa-Ibom State, South-South Nigeria, Essien had a hard start in life. Having lost her mother at age 13, she spent her teen years under the tutelage of her mother’s friend, Mrs Maria Chukwu, who hailed from Isuochi, Abia State. It was Mrs Chukwu who encouraged her singing career and bought her a fairly used cassette player to record her songs.

She began her musical career as a secondary school girl, singing at various clubs in Aba, Abia State such as Uka Onu’s Club and Unikoko. She would later feature in ‘Now Sound’, a musical programme on NTA Aba.

When Chika Okpala’s (Chief Zebrudaya) sensational situational comedy, ‘The New Masquerade’, hit the airwaves, Essien was in the cast. She played Apena, wife of Jegede Shokoya (played by Claude Eke who died in 2002). Her appearance on the cast of the drama series was providential. As at the time she was featuring on ‘Now Sound’, ‘The New Masquerade’ was also airing on NTA Aba. During one of the recordings, she noticed that a cast member was rehearsing his lines incorrectly and corrected him. Unknown to her, she had landed herself a role in the series. She would later feature in a number of Nollywood movies, prominent among which was “Flesh and Blood” produced by Ameze Imahriagbe.

Essien Igbokwe’s first album, ‘Freedom’, was released in 1976, when she was only 16. She followed it up with ‘Patience’ and ‘Time Waits for No One’ in 1978, ‘One Understanding’ (1979), and ‘Give Me A Chance’ (1980). She had over ten albums in her kitty. However, music critics say her hit album, ‘Ever Liked My Person’, released in 1981, remains her best LP. The album, released under the London-based Lagos International Records, which promoted Nigerian pop music in Europe and America in the 1980s, featured production from one of Nigeria’s top producers, Lemmy Jackson, who was often referred to as Nigeria’s Quincy Jones. Some of her popular songs include ‘Omo Mi Seun Re Re’, which was so popular that a number of African countries sang their own version, ‘Hear the Call’, and ‘Tete Nu Na Ula’, a wake-up call for the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria.

Christy

In 1987, the year Akwa-Ibom State was created, she composed and performed 'Akwa-Ibom Mmi' (My Akwa-Ibom). That composition would later become some sort of state anthem. She ran an NGO, Essential Child Care Foundation, which is involved in child welfare needs and rights, as well as an entertainment outfit, Soul Train Entertainment Limited.

A rare mixture of talent, skills, brain, guts, and enormous inner strength, she once described her brand of music as universal music, which she said cuts across all segments of the society and appeals to all tribes; and her musical career as “great and wonderful”. She, no doubt, was a born singer. As she once affirmed: “Music chose me. In all my years in music, I never struggled to do anything – write songs, play the instruments as well as produce the music. Everything comes naturally – the lyrics, bass, guitar and piano lines.”

Essien, though Ibibio by birth, spoke many Nigerian languages fluently and sang in the three major Nigerian languages - Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa – as well as her native dialect, and her songs drew heavily from culture and tradition. This earned her an appeal which cut across tribal lines. Nation building, peace and tolerance, and moral uprightness remained recurring themes in many of her songs.

As the first female president of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, PMAN, she had outlined ways to fight piracy in Nigeria’s music industry, including partnering with the government, corporate bodies and individuals, but things did not work out because the government of the day lacked the will power.

Her stage appearances were numerous. Some of the recent ones include the Inspire Africa Benefit Concert (January 2009), where she performed alongside her son Kaka, who is a hip hop artiste and producer, and the MTN Musical Festival, a musical show of old and new-breed musicians, also in 2009.

Unarguably one of Nigeria’s finest and foremost female singers, Christy Essien Igbokwe garnered many awards in the course of her musical career. These include Nigerian Lady of Songs Award, which was unanimously given to her by all entertainment journalists in Nigeria in recognition of her enormous musical talent, International Special Achievement Award (Mexico 1983), Africa Music Mother Award (1984), World Song Festival Award (Los Angeles), Queen of Music International Award, Association of Theatre Arts Practitioners Award (Lagos 1996), Outstanding Achievement in Female Uplifting, and the National Honours of Member of the Order of the Niger, MON (2002).

She is survived by her husband, Chief Edwin Igbokwe, former Executive Director of Punch newspaper and publisher of Glamour Trends, whom she married in 1979, and four children. But she is mourned by all Nigerians.

Adieu, Nigeria’s Lady of Songs. We will miss you, but your melodious voice will be a constant reminder that you once walked these paths. May your soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.

Okorocha Promises To Complete All Abandoned Projects

Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has promised that his administration will complete all ongoing and abandoned projects initiated by the past administration, saying that his administration will not jump into initiating new projects at the detriment of the uncompleted ones that are spread all over the state.

He stated this in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Wednesday, June 29, after inspecting the secretariats of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, both under construction.

“Let me reiterate that all the ongoing projects will be completed by this administration. This government will not subscribe to the euphoria of 100 days in office which often leads to embarking on and rushing new projects, thus compromising standard. I will rather prefer to settle down and plan for the betterment of the state,” Okorocha maintained.

The governor, who was visibly angry with the poor level of work done by the contractor handling both projects, also sounded it clear to all government contractors that his government will not compromise shady and poor quality of jobs. He therefore advised the contractors to improve on the quality so that both projects will meet the required standard.

Barth Nnaji: The Modern-Day Energy Reforms Champion

By Benjamin UDODIGBO

Barth Nnaji

When in June 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan announced his choice of Prof Barth Nnaji as the Special Adviser on Power, applause trailed the appointment because it was one of those rare round-peg-in-a-round-hole moments in Nigerian public administration. Across a broad spectrum of Nigerians, it was generally agreed that Prof Barth Nnaji’s acceptance to serve was indeed a demonstration of the kind of love for country that only true patriots possessed. He promptly reported for duty, rolled his sleeves and got busy with the mandate he was given.

 

For the records, his appointment came on the heels of a rock-solid suitability and qualification for the office, having served as Nigeria’s Minister for Science and Technology in the past. Bartholomew Nnaji, the Nkanu, Enugu State native, is a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering at the Universities of Massachusetts and Pittsburgh in the United States of America. There is no gainsaying that he is a renowned global expert in robotics engineering. With degrees in physics, industrial engineering and operations research, and honours as varied as United States’ Secretary of State’s Distinguished Public Service award 1995, Fellowships of Institute of Industrial Engineers and Nigerian Academy of Sciences, he is as much sought-after in the United States of America as he is in Nigeria, his home country.

In demonstration of his belief in and unalloyed faith in the Nigerian project, he envisioned, initiated and founded Geometric Power Limited to complement the power generation needs of dear fatherland. This indeed is a practical attestation to his oft-stated policy of ‘walking the talk’ as opposed to luxuriating in the ambient comfort of easier climes thousands of kilometres away while throwing jibes at the government of the day.

The job of advising the President on power is indeed one of the most challenging in the country, not only because it interfaces directly with the aspirations of every Nigerian to have regular electricity supply in order to stimulate our industrial transformation, but also because it contends with one of the most potent bastions of corruption in the country. It was this same bulwark of corruption that stood in the way and made nonsense of the clearly-stated mission of our very own Bola Ige to deliver steady electricity to Nigerians within six months of assuming office as Minister of Power and Steel in 1999.

In Prof Nnaji’s own words, “The President said that we should go and drive the Power Reform Act, to see electricity Power Reform Act 2005 implemented and in doing that, we are to work with various agencies of government responsible for that.” He was also charged along with other members of the task force to fast-track power improvement in the short term, and fully address power delivery in the long term. His team and himself have already dug in and are carrying out the President’s mandate, but a motley crowd of malcontents including agents of the old order, generator and candle importers, diesel marketers, ‘general contractors’, and indolent staff of PHCN have vowed to ensure they do not succeed because of a rabid fear of becoming redundant. What this tribe of traducers fail to grasp, however, is that with the quantity of resources at their disposal, they could afford to invest in power generation, distribution or even marketing. And having keyed into the national aspirations of the country, they become patriots.

The good professor was accused of not being fit for the office, being an operator of an independent power plant (IPP). Perhaps upon realising that his participation as a stakeholder in the industry prepared him adequately with the requisite information and skills needed to drive the reform agenda (after all when you need a surgery to be done, you seek a surgeon and not a physician), they have suddenly changed their swansong to the fact that his Geometric Power Limited is yet to take off. The question is, how patriotic can a man be to please Nigerians? The man decides not to allow for a clash of interests since his job at the moment involves monitoring and regulations, and the detractors are already in town!

Discerning Nigerians, however, are not lost on the true mission of the critics. President Goodluck Jonathan has taken his time since inauguration to studiously seek and assemble a crack team of able and capable Nigerians to drive the goals of his administration. The campaigners only desire to hurt the prospects of this brilliant reformer in place of another business-as-usual fellow so that PHCN will remain the market place it has always been.

At this very crucial time in our national development, President Goodluck Jonathan must be encouraged by well-meaning Nigerians not to give in to any attempts, overt or covert, to intimidate and derail his desire to completely reform the economy starting with the power sector, a task which he has already started but needs to actively pursue now in the spirit of continuity and consistency. In this connection, Prof Barth Nnaji is most suited to drive the power sector ambitions of the new administration. This is one appointment for which Nigerians in due time will remain very grateful to Mr President.

Their Lies Will Catch Up With Them

By Modestus OKAFOR

If one accepts what one reads on the internet and newspapers, sees on the television, and hears on the radio about Nigeria, one is bound to conclude that Nigeria is a haven. This is because Nigerian governments are specialists in recruiting professional liars whose sole duty it is to feed the populace with false information. At the federal, state and local government levels, government agents tell us what they want us to believe because we do not even have any means to verify whatever they tell us. And so, they feed us lies.

They tell us that all roads in the country have been fixed, all railroads have been re-activated, pipe-borne water now flows to every home, education has been made very affordable and reachable to 150 million Nigerians, security of lives and property has been beefed up, food sufficiency has been guaranteed by government, the nation’s reserves have been increased, and health facilities have been made available to all. Nigerians also hear of government interventions in the health and education sector, but these institutions remain deplorable such that the wealthy have abandoned them for private and foreign ones, leaving a greater number of the Nigerian poor to languish in poor health and ignorance. We also see pictorials where efforts to guarantee sufficient power and petroleum supply had reached concluding stages, where all industries had received a facelift, where adequate artilleries and soldiers had been provided to protect the country’s sovereignty, and where government had secured adequate social security for its citizenry. Yet majority of Nigerians live primitive lives of drudgery, deprivations and lack.

At the end of every Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, there are briefings telling Nigerians that all their problems have been deliberated upon and would soon be solved. We hear such long sentences like: “Council had deliberated on the sufferings and plight of the eastern-bound travellers from Lagos occasioned by the deplorable condition of the Lagos-Ibadan-Ore Expressway and has approved the reconstruction of the road to Messrs ABC at the cost of $XYX.” The speaker, often the minister of information, would add, “This is in tune with the desire of the federal government to make every part of the country accessible and promote business and communication”. Several times too we have heard the FG announce that the Ajaokuta Steel Company is being refurbished as contract for its re-vitalization has been awarded to a foreign company, yet the company has remained unproductive. The second Niger Bridge which successive governments had repeatedly announced that it had been awarded, and sometimes that it was nearing completion, still remained one of the cardinal campaign promises of President Goodluck Jonathan to the South-East. Ironical indeed!

The state and local governments are not left out in this festival of deception. While the citizenry groan under poverty, they spend millions of naira posting fake beautiful pictures on the pages of newspapers and on the internet, announcing their ‘giant strides’. These helmsmen also crisscross the length and breadth of the country to receive well publicized awards and accolades from self-serving organizations while their people feel no impact of good governance at home. Regularly we see moribund facilities constructed in the 1970s and 80s repainted; we see state governors install make-shift power generating sets and invite the president who punctiliously commission such only for it to stop work the next day. Because they believe Nigerians are fools, they cow everyone into submission and send their foot-soldiers and very few beneficiaries to shut everyone up. And when it is time for re-election, they intensity their ruse in the media and cast aspersions on anyone bold enough to challenge their deceits.

As Nigerians mourn their loved ones lost in several attacks occasioned by security breaches and as we scamper for safety, we should recall that at several times, government had assured us that it has put everything in place to guarantee the safety of lives and property. They use the available police personnel and weapons to guard themselves, leaving every other Nigerian’s life to chance. We hear in the media how every facility has been put in place to forestall break-down of law and order and also hear top presidential aides telling us that government had approved supply of sophisticated weapons and detectors for the Nigerian Police. Yet at every turn, robbers and other criminals, militant groups and even mobs brandish highly sophisticated weapons that beat the police. Next, same government officials would trade more lies about how a retired Inspector General of Police had embezzled funds and how the Police Equipment Fund had been misappropriated, yet nothing would be done to prosecute such embezzlers. When they tell us that they will fish out those who killed our fathers, our brothers, sisters and kinsmen, we know that such statements are mere colloquium. They promised to fish out the killers of Bola Ige, Funsho Williams, Marshal Harry, Apo Six, and others, yet no clue has been arrived at. Sometimes, to hide their inefficiency, they parade innocent youths as culprits. But the recent blast in the seat of Nigeria’s security outfit has proved that the force has been slumbering.

Now they have promised to unravel those who killed innocent youth corps members in the North in the aftermath of the elections and have set up a committee on this. The committee would be allocated heavy funds and logistics, but as usual, nothing will come out of it. My advice to all who lost their loved ones in the post-election violence is to take solace in the Lord and look up to God for he gives and he takes and knows the process through which everyone would return back to him. Of course, this is why Nigerians are very religious; their lives are not guaranteed naturally.

It is disheartening that in today’s Nigeria, government is of less value to the citizenry – the people provide almost everything they need in life. Government is not helping in agriculture for farmers still embrace the pre-independence skills, till the ground with hoes and cutlasses and harvest the same way their grandfathers did. Many Nigerians still rely on the traditional healthcare, and even those who had embraced the Western system are reverting to the former since they can no longer afford the latter. Government’s supply of power and water is so erratic that Nigerians now rely on generators and privately-developed boreholes. Even in education, those who can afford it take their children to qualitative schools owned by private individuals or groups here and abroad. Government is not providing jobs and not encouraging investments, but is shutting down the existing ones, suffocating financial institutions, and killing research. While millions of Nigerians wallow in poverty, die young and live unfulfilled lives, government officials are busy sharing the proceeds of Nigeria’s oil wealth among themselves.

No doubt, Nigeria needs a true government if it has to make a headway. Sincere individuals occupying leadership positions should champion a complete review of the government system to allow for less corruption and sleaze. Yes, the masses have made the mistake of allowing the iniquitous take seats of power in the past but there are still opportunities ahead to change the tide. They did it in the last election where they chose, in some states, their popular candidates. They must do it again. We need governments that will protect our lives, provide power and water for us, give us good education and health, and create enabling environment where business would thrive. 

Okafor wrote in from Owerri, Imo State. E-mail: modeokafor@yahoo.com

How Gov Okorocha Is Remaking Imo

By Chuks OLUIGBO

That Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha defeated Ikedi Godson Ohakim at the April 26 and May 6, 2011 gubernatorial elections in Imo State to emerge as Imo governor has become part of history. Same with the fact that Okorocha was sworn in on May 29, 2011 as the fifth democratically-elected governor of the Eastern Heartland.

 

The emergence of Rochas Okorocha was widely hailed, not only in Imo State, but all over Nigeria. Many also described it as ‘the Imo Revolution’. And indeed, looking back at the events of those few weeks leading up to the elections, the electoral process itself, and Okorocha’s subsequent victory, one cannot agree less. Imo people stood up in one bunch and chose a man after their hearts.

But the revolution did not end with the elections. In fact, it would be more appropriate to say that the true revolution began after the elections. While many re-elected and newly-elected governors are still basking in the euphoria of post-election victory, Owelle Okorocha has already gone to work, at such speed that some analysts have said that the man is in a haste to move Imo forward.

No doubt, the task ahead of him is enormous. He gave a hint that he understood this in his inaugural speech when he said: “I know you expect so much from me. I know you believe in me. I know you believe I can deliver. And I promise I will deliver.”

In addition to the ‘backward progression’ that Imo has known since after Sam Mbakwe, his predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim, had created more problems for him. In the dying hours of his maladministration, Ohakim had announced free education to Imo children and approved the N18,000 minimum wage for civil servants as recommended by the Federal Government. These were clearly done in bad faith in order to create initial hassles for Okorocha.

But Governor Okorocha was not daunted by these antics. He took up the challenge and, there at the inauguration ground, he promised to exceed the achievements of the Mbakwe administration, considered to be the best Imo has had in its thirty-five years of existence. In practical terms, he announced the granting of free education to Imo children in primary and secondary schools. He also promised to provide jobs for unemployed Imo youths. However, he was silent on the issue of minimum wage.

To show that he was not making empty promises, on June 5, 2011, barely six days after his inauguration, during a thanksgiving Mass in honour of the new administration at Maria Assumpta Cathedral, Owerri, the governor announced a cut in the state’s annual security vote from N6.5 billion to N2.5billion, saying that the difference, N4 billion, would be used to cater for the free education he had promised at inauguration. Earlier, he had said he would also give up his salary for the same purpose. This was in line with his inaugural promise that “if the only reason that I will be poor in this life is to serve my people without being corrupt, then I declare myself a poor man from today onwards”. By that statement and the actions that have followed, he sent a clear signal to those who would work in his government that his isn’t going to be a government of ‘come and chop’.

Also, in his inaugural speech, the governor had sounded a note of warning to Imo workers that his administration would not condone any form of indolence and truancy. “For every worker in the office,” he had said, “there is an unemployed person out there waiting to take up your place.” And just few days into his administration, he took Imo workers by surprise when he arrived unannounced at the Imo State Secretariat complex along Port Harcourt Road, Owerri where most of the state ministries are located. The governor, who arrived there as early as 7:30 am ordered that the gates of the Secretariat be locked at 8 o’clock on the dot. Surprisingly, not many workers were in the office at that time. When the governor began his office to office tour, many workers who got wind of what was happening reportedly scaled the fence to sneak into their offices.

On Monday, June 6, he made his maiden broadcast to Imo people, where he announced the dissolution of the 27 local government councils in the state, something the people had been clamouring for given the hazy circumstances under which the local government administrations came to power. He also dissolved the countless development centres created by former governors, Achike Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim; the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers headed by Obi of Obinugwu, His Royal Majesty, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, who also doubles as chairman, South-East Council of Traditional Rulers; and the interim management board of Adapalm appointed by Ikedi Ohakim and headed by Deacon Kieran Onwuzuruike. He also suspended the Vice-Chancellor of Imo State University, Owerri, Prof O. E. Nwebo and in his place appointed Prof B. E. B. Nwoke, until then Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the same university.

He further put on hold the 10,000 jobs created by the Ohakim administration and set up a committee to review the process and make recommendations. In a quick reaction, the affected employees converged at the Imo State Secretariat to protest what they perceived as gross injustice against them. Some of them who spoke to the press said they were not politicians and so nobody should play politics with their employment. All they asked for, they said, was to be given back their jobs, their only source of livelihood at the moment.

But the government quickly doused their tension. While addressing the aggrieved youths, the Imo deputy governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, assured them that nobody was taking away their jobs from them. Rather, because the process through which they got employed was faulty, they had no real jobs at the moment. As such, the process needed to be reviewed so that they could be given proper employment.

In a related development, some of the 305 councillors in Imo State who were dissolved alongside the chairmen of the 27 local government councils also demonstrated in Owerri, the state capital, to protest their dissolution. They were not allowed anywhere near the Government House, and so took to the major streets. In the process, about 100 of them were nabbed by the police for disturbing the peace of the state.

On their part, the sacked 27 local government chairmen filed a suit against the governor contesting the legality of his dissolution of the councils. In a similar vein, they also pleaded the court to grant them an injunction restraining the governor from dissolving them and from appointing caretaker committees. The plea was struck out by the court on Monday, June 20, 2011 while a new date was fixed for hearing on the substantive suit.

Also, the governor has quickly constituted his cabinet (commissioners and special advisers). The cabinet, which many observers have described as star-studded and designed to meet the developmental needs of the state, parades such personalities as Chief Mike Okiro, former Inspector-General of Police (SA Security), Prof Fabian Osuji, former Minister of Education (SA Education), and Nwankwo Kanu, ex-international soccer star (SA Sports). One of the nominees, Prof Viola Onwuliri, wife of the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, and Ohakim's running mate in the 2011 governorship election, snobbed the nomination and refused to appear before the House of Assembly for screening.

Imo people and Nigerians in general have continued to laud these revolutionary steps by the people’s governor. Their only concern is that these should not turn out to be initial displays intended to impress the people and win their hearts, after which the governor will relapse into inertia, leaving the people who had reposed so much hope on him forlorn and disappointed. Their thinking is that if Imo has to leap and not crawl, if it has to measure up with other states in Nigeria in terms infrastructural and other developments, then the revolution must continue at the pace it has begun.

Ifesinachi: The Legend Of Igwe James Ogbonnaya Mamah

By Chuks OLUIGBO

June 1, 2011 marked one year that Igwe James Ogbonnaya Mamah, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Ifesinachi Group of Companies, passed on at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York, the United States of America. Today, he is fondly remembered by the Igbo race, especially the people of Umuozzi in Enugu State, for his immeasurable contributions to the development of the community in his lifetime.

Late Igwe J. O. Mamah (Ifesinachi)

Life And Times

As someone once wrote about the late great son of Igboland, business mogul and philanthropist of note, a peep into his life and times can be likened to “an intriguing enquiry into the ontology of human resilience; into the infinitude of the height and space available to every person for advancement and self-actualization, even in the absence of an ennobling pedigree. It may indeed be likened to an epistemological foray into the dialectics of the triumph of the human with over-daunting circumstances; into the boundless compass or horizon of progress for those who strive, who dare, and hence, venture into the certainty of victory.”

His Royal Majesty, Igwe James O. Mamah, Ekwueme 1 of Ugbaike, Ohabuenyi 1 of Umuozzi Autonomous Community, and traditional ruler of Umuozzi, Enugu State, was born in 1944, in the heat of World War II. His father, Mamah Apeh, died about a month before he was born. To mitigate the pain of his paternal loss, he was named Ogbonnaya, meaning “his father’s incarnate”, a name anchored on the belief that the late Mamah Apeh was back in the new born baby.

Knowing no father, the young Ogbonnaya was left to the care of a step-father, Ossai Ike. Unfortunately, and as if death was determined to keep him permanently on the ground, Ossai Ike died too, and that ended the dream of further Western education for James, even though he had successfully passed the entrance examination to St. Augustine ’s College, Onitsha.

So, he left school. But he would not join other youths of his time who made a vocation of farming and roaming the verdant forests of Enugu-Ezike hunting for nchi, igero, osa, and other animals. He had a dream: to ultimately conquest want, demystify affluence and influence, dominate the business firmament, and become a force to reckon with in black Africa. And he would grow, with time, from a lowly, deprived, obsequious runner of errands into a business mogul who would later bestride the business terrain like of colossus.

In 1960, Ogbonnaya moved to Onitsha, where he worked a houseboy in the house of a certain Mr Gabriel Broderick of No. 5B, Venn Road, Onitsha. But his sojourn there was not destined to last long. A sudden illness forced him to return home. When he recovered, he opted to join the Police Force. All the efforts of his elder brother to get him enlisted proved abortive.

In disappointment, Ogbonnaya travelled to Sapele in the then Mid-Western Region where he worked briefly as a lumberman. He did very well in the log business, aided by his height of over six feet and his well-developed muscles. In Sapele, he learnt the culture of saving, and in no time he had made a little savings with which he returned to Onitsha to try his hand in other things.

At Onitsha, he bought a truck and joined the truck pushing business. Within one year, 1961-1962, he had acquired six trucks and began to rent out trucks to fellow truck pushers. At the same time, he worked as a conductor on the side, apprenticed to one Chief Michael Okoh. He later sold all his trucks, then twelve in number, and on May 2, 1965, bought his first vehicle, a partly used mini-bus, at the price of one hundred and two pounds.

When it was time to name his business, Ogbonnaya, like a true Igbo son, after meditating over his life, his orphanhood, early struggles, and the penurious circumstances of his mother, circumstances that led to her death in utter misery, came up with the name, Ihe Uwa Si Na Chi, an acknowledgement of destiny as the determinant of human affairs. Thus, the Ifesinachi Transport business was born.

He then went into business partnership with Mr Martin Odo, a motor spare parts dealer. Between them, they had five vehicles but at the outbreak of Nigerian Civil War in 1967, they went their separate ways. At the end of the war in 1970, Ogbonnaya returned to Onitsha to pick up the pieces of his war-ravaged vehicles. Two years later, he bought a second-hand 911 Mercedes Benz lorry at 900 pounds. The vehicle was nicknamed Awala-Awala, a metonym for speed or easy locomotion. And he drove it by himself. As a driver, he was the travellers’ delight and, in the course of time, he was nicknamed “De Governor’s Benz”.

In 1974, Ogbonnaya bought another 911 lorry from Leventis Motors Ltd on hire purchase at the cost of 1500 pounds. By 1977, Ifesinachi Motors had ten lorries in its kitty. The emergent transport whiz-kid confounded business rivals and admirers when he bought a brand new, well appointed Mercedes Benz model 0364 (a.k.a. Brazil), bringing the total number of buses in the fleet to ten.

In spite of these accomplishments, Ogbonnaya still continued to drive, carrying passengers on the long, stressful, perilous journey to Lagos. It was not until his employees prevailed on him to cease carrying passengers that he let go and ascended to the more befitting and dignifying position of MD/CEO of Ifesinachi Transport Ltd, a company that has today acquired offices in two-thirds of the states of Nigeria, with three regional headquarters in Abuja, Lagos and Onitsha.

Igwe Mamah did not confine himself to the transport business alone. He also diversified into the areas of petroleum, vegetable oil production, courier services, and banking. His other businesses include Ifesinachi Petroleum (IFEPET) Ltd, Jamesongigye Vegetable Oil Nig. Ltd, Ifex Express Ltd, and so on.

The  introduction of community banking system by the then government of General Ibrahim Babangida inspired Igwe J. O. Mamah into community banking which he brought down to his people to encourage them to save and invest. On 25 February 1993, the Umuozzi Community Bank was commissioned. He also established Obollo Urban Community Bank at Obollo Afor. With the introduction of Microfinance Banking system by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Umuozzi and Obollo Urban Community Banks were issued with banking licences and began operations as microfinance banks.

In appreciation of the standard he set at Umuozzi Community Bank, Igwe Mamah was nominated as the patron of National Association of Community Banks in Nigeria.

The Royal Stool

James Ogbonnaya Mamah was very prominent among Nsukka indigenes living at Onitsha. He fought doggedly for the cause of the Nsukka man in particular, and of the Wawa man in general. He fought with courage and determination the stigma attached to the name “Wawa man”, “Nwa Nsukka”, and so on, with the result that the name became even more associated with success. And so, on December 22, 1988, in recognition of his contributions, he was crowned the Igwe of Umuozzi Community. His candidature for the stool was unanimously adopted.

In an effort to raise the standard of the traditional stool in Enugu State by the then military administrator, Colonel Mike Torey, Igwe J. O. Mamah was nominated as the first vice chairman of the Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers. His performance earned him the royal support of his colleagues who then nominated him as the state chairman in 2000. He reigned successfully throughout his tenure and, at the time of his death, he was the Patron of the Traditional Rulers Council of Enugu State.     

Family Life

Igwe Mamah was a very good family man. In 1970, he married Nnemuruoha (Mrs.) Grace Mamah (Nee Agbedo), and in 1984 he also got married to Mrs. Patricia Mamah. Both marriages were blessed with twelve children: six boys and six girls.

Philanthropic Works

Like St James, his patron saint, Igwe Mamah believed that faith without good work is dead. His philanthropic works cut across charity, education and human development. Some of these include the construction of a multi-million naira resort centre for the University of Nigeria Alumni Association in 1990; moral and financial support to the Faculties of Agriculture and Engineering at UNN and also the Faculty of Engineering at ESUT and IMT, respectively; founding and sustaining the Community High School (formerly Technical School), Ugbaike; drilling of a borehole for his community for water distribution, which was commissioned by the then military administrator, late Air Commodore Emeka Omeruah; single handed sponsorship of the rural electrification project of his village and his financial support to other communities in Enugu Ezike and beyond for rural electrification projects; sponsorship of sports activities by the donation of trophies and reasonable sum of money; and remarkable donation during the launching of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.

He was also a prime mover of Adada State creation, to which he contributed immeasurably, and a member of the Committee for the Actualization of the Creation of Adada State.

Honours And Awards

In his lifetime, he received numerous awards and honours, both local and international. They included Nigerian Road Safety Commission Safety Transporter of the Year Award (1990); Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, Award (1990); Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCO) Award (1990); Nigerian Union of Journalists Life Patron Award (1991); Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Best Transporter of the Year Award (1992); Nigerian Union of Journalists Best Transporter of the Year Award (1992); First Patron, Center for American Studies, CAST, University of Nigeria Nsukka (1999); University of Nigeria Distinguished Alumni Development Award (2001); Justice of Peace, JP, (2001); National Merit Award of Member of Federal Republic, MFR (2002); and Doctor of Business Administration, DBA, (Honoris Causa), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2006).

Final Word
Continue to rest in peace, the great Ifesinachi, worthy son of Igboland. We miss you, but we are consoled that the legacy you left behind will continue to remind us that someone like you once passed through this land. Adieu!

Gov. Okorocha Nominates Commissioners, SAs, As Samuelson Iwuoha Emerges CPS

By Chuks OLUIGBO

Okorocha: Imo State governor

Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has sent a list of his commissioner nominees to the Imo State House of Assembly. The nominees include Mrs Veronica Adaora Ijezie, Mrs Ann Dozie, Chief Christian Ejike, Lady Chioma Ogoke, Chike John Okafor, and Barr Soronnadi Njoku, who contested the Ngor-Okpala/Aboh-Mbaise Federal Constituency seat under the umbrella of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in the 2011 elections and lost to the Peoples Democratic Party’s Emeka Ihedioha, present Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps.

Others in the list are Dr Njoku Obi, Comrade Kenneth Emelu, Chief Jerry Okoli, Nze Enwerem B. Ogueri, Barr Nelson O. Ezerioha, Emeka Ndukwu, Barr Steve Ahaneku, and Prof Mrs Viola Onwuliri, wife of the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, and running mate to ex-Governor Ikedi Ohakim at the 2011 governorship election.

Also sent to the House was the list of special advisers. Below is a list of the special advisers and their portfolios: Chief P. C. Onuoha (Political), Prof Francis Dike (Legal), Nick Opara-Ndudu (Economic), Nwankwo Kanu, ex-international soccer star (Sports), Dr Sylvanus Amechi (Health), Prof Fabian Osuji (Education), Prince Macdonald Akano (Projects Monitoring and Evaluation), Chief Mike Obioha (Tourism and Culture), Chief Raphael Ekezie (Petroleum), Jude Ejiogu (Internally Generated Revenue), and Chief Mike Okiro, former Inspector General of Police (Security).

Both lists await House ratification.

Meanwhile, some Imo people have lauded the list, saying that it is reminiscent of the days of Dr. Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe. One commentator said: “The list of SAs is the best I've ever seen in Nigeria; the commissioners' list aims to balance political and development needs. In all, it is a good list.”

In a related development, the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Ben Uwajimogu, has appointed Mr Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha as his Chief Press Secretary. Iwuoha, who was allegedly flogged by ex-Governor Ohakim right inside the governor's office for publishing materials that exposed the fraudulent transactions of the Ohakim government, was a House of Assembly aspirant for Nkwerre State constutuency under the ACN in the 2011 general elections.

Coat Of Many Colours: A Review Of Akachi Ezeigbo’s Heart Songs

By Dumbiri Frank EBOH

There has always been this argument between perfectionists and their opponents as to whether the world would be a better place if everything were just perfect. While the former feel the world would be a haven in this utopian state, the latter contend that oppositions are what actually provide the rhythms that help to spice up a process. The opponents claim that the real worth of light would not be fully appreciated if there were no darkness. One may liken this rhythm to the pumping in and out of blood through veins and arteries in the body, which ensures that human life goes on.

In Heart Songs, the award-winning collection of poems by Akachi  Adimora-Ezeigbo, the issue is taken  up into a higher realm of understanding. The collection could be likened to a musical instrumental with various strings that tug on sensitive issues that affect our heart. The tune you get – whether sad or joyful or otherwise – may well depend on the particular string you pick or pull. Depend on the particular string you

For instance, the first section of the collection is something you may safely subtitle “Victims upon Victims” even though its title really is Satirical Tunes. This is in view of the gruesome images and sad emotions which the poems that make up the collection evoke in the reader. Poems such as ‘Homeless’, ‘The Ism Of Race’, ‘Fallen Tyrant’, or ‘Victims of Our War’ are a collective sad commentary on our socio-political realities, not just as a nation but as a rapidly globalizing village of different races. While acknowledging that the victims of these short-comings are ordinary men and women who fall as unfortunate prey, the poet wasted no time in pointing the finger of blame on the real culprits:

                         

How many war mongers pause to think of the tragedy                                

Their actions spawn 

Like a pond full of tadpoles?

How many warlords worry about the bloodbath…

The next section is a string that tugs at an entirely different portion of our heart. As the title, “Praise Songs: Celebrating Lives”, suggests, the section is made up of ballads rendered in free verse and dedicated to some units of humanity whose images touch the soft spot of the human mind. The praise song has always been the African or traditional form of expressing emotion through poetry, so it is not a surprise that the poet should adopt this form of celebration.

The title of the third section looks rather deceptive. “Njakiri: Songs in Pidgin” would conjure up an image humour and comic elements intended to lighten the tense emotion occasioned by the first two sections. But alas! This is not the case. True, the language deployed – Pidgin English – is comical, but the emotional purgation earlier expected may not be there after all. It is a mastery of   the art which only great writers like Akachi Ezeigbo can effectively deploy to hold down an audience with humour while actually addressing serious matters bothering the society.

Prof Akachi Ezigbo: Author of Heart Songs

In this section are poems like ‘Cultism’, ‘Nudity’, ‘Monkey Dey Work Baboon Dey Chop’, ‘Tornado Jam London’, ‘Cancer’, ‘Suffer Head Immigrate’, ‘Sex Machine’, etc. Perhaps the message to take home here is that of the futility of materialistic cravings – which, to a large extent, is the root cause of most social ills:

As man live na so man dey die

Big man, small man death dey wait for am.

The next three sections – “Gendered Musing”, “Love Songs”, and “Random Songs” – touch on the various aspects of human existence that provoke emotional appellations. While “Gendered Musings” takes a new approach towards the male-female bilateral foundation of nature, “Love Songs” takes a deep look into the intricate feelings that accompany love and other such bonding, and “Random Songs” is a harvest of songs dedicated to a variety of issues and themes. In a way, “Random Songs” seems to be a poetic enquiry into the diversity that makes up the human psychology. From the sublime ‘Unresolved Question’ to the mundane ‘Lagos Slum’, this interesting section comprises themes that are wide and varied.

The last two sections that bring the collection to a close are titled “Memorial Songs” and “Songs for Women”. “Memorial Songs” is a compilation of elegies and eulogies for some departed heroes that cut across different sections of the society. There are echoes of Bola Ige, Murtala Mohammed and Ezenwa-Ohaeto, the late poet.

Poems or sections that come last in a collection are most times strategically placed for prominence because they remain with the reader long after he/she has dropped the book. So, it is not surprising that the poet places the section dedicated to her own sex in this vantage position. In this last section, “Songs for Women”, pathetic themes affecting women are explored. However, there is an ‘Ode To The Successful Woman Writer’.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that Heart Songs is a collection that explores humanity itself from a variety of periscopes. It is not a surprise that the collection won the 2009 ANA/Cadbury Prize for Poetry.

Not only does the collection explore these diverse themes, the poems themselves are cast in free verse rendered in simple-diction-in-simple-language style. The merit of this is that it categorizes the collection into what is known in poetry parlance as “popular poetry” – a category which even those not versed in poetry can read, experience, and enjoy.

This is one collection that will certainly find its feet in the clustered poetry world and may end up immortalizing the poet. It’s just a matter of time.