If there was any Nigerian who died with unfulfilled wishes for the country, it has to be Okwadike, Chukwuemeka Ezeife. When his family announced his passing on December 15, 2023, after battling to remain involved in national issues despite a debilitating ailment, the elder statesman was leaving without fulfilling his dreams for the country.
Ezeife was a man of many parts. He was a former governor of Anambra State; former Political Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo; president of the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum and a chieftain of Ohaneze Ndigbo and other national fora. Ezeife was a distinguished leader, a beacon of hope for the youth and the aged.
The latter years of the Harvard-trained economist and international academic were marked by a great effusion of philosophies and reminiscences of his ardent desire to see Nigeria truly united and a prosperous Giant of Africa.
In one of his numerous engagements before the 2023 general elections, where he received an award from a group of northern youths, Ezeife assured them that “Nigeria would become what God intended it to be because of all the resources given to us; Nigeria will become a superpower and raise the respect and dignity of all blacks in the world.”
Ezeife is one of the few men who attained immortality by demonstrating through their lives that life continues beyond death. The lives of such men suggest that there is significance to all we accomplish in this life. It would imply that even when a person passes away, their suffering, good deeds and even evil deeds will all have significance for those who will live after them. This line of reasoning suggests that the only thing that gives our time on earth meaning is the hereafter. Men like Okwadike left enormous imprints on the sands of time, having made their time here on earth sublime. Okwadike’s legacy will be remembered for good.
Uduak Edward wrote from Karu, Abuja
