By Dare Babarinsa
Dr Alex
Ekwueme occupied a unique space in Nigerian history. As the first elected
Vice-President, Ekwueme was the face Nigeria advertised to the world that
indeed the Igbos were back into the mainstream of Nigerian politics after the
gruesome Civil War that ended in 1970. After that war, he made more money and
decided to show the way to other Igbos who had come into wealth. By the time he
was made the Vice-President to Alhaji Shehu Shagari, his philanthropy was well
known. He single-handedly built the vocational centre, in Oko, his home town
which has now been turned into The Federal Polytechnics, Oko. He was highly
educated and knew the language of money. In the cacophony of the old National
Party of Nigeria, NPN, during the Second Republic, his was a Voice of Reason.
Now the voice is stilled.
*Dr. Alex Ekwueme |
When
Ekwueme died Sunday, November 19 in London, it was at the end of a long
farewell. When I met him in his country home in Oko, Anambra State, in 1986, it
was for him, the beginning of a new life. In July 1986, my editors at
Newswatch, sent me to Oko with the good news that Ekwueme, who had been in
Ikoyi Prison since Shagari was toppled on December 31, 1986, would soon be
freed. I broke the good news to his mother, Mama Agnes and his younger wife,
Ifeoma. Everyone was ecstatic. I met the late Igwe Justus Ekwueme, the
traditional ruler of the town who welcomed me with open arms. Few weeks later,
Ekwueme rode to Oko in triumph. I was one of the hundreds of people who joined
him and his family at the thanksgiving service in the Anglican Church in the
town.
Ekwueme
and Shagari were central to the cover story I anchored for Newswatch in the
edition of February 3, 1986. The story, The Trial of Shagari was based on my
coverage of the Justice Samson Uwaifo panel which was instituted by the new
regime of General Ibrahim Babangida to review the cases of political prisoner.
The panel recommended that both Shagari and Ekwueme should be released as there
was no direct evidence of corruption against them. However, the press, especially
the radical Newswatch, was openly against the verdict. When I brought the
report, our editors, especially Dele Giwa, the Editor-in-Chief and Ray Ekpu,
his deputy said the verdict was expected but unacceptable.
Ekpu, in
his column for that edition, took the Uwaifo panel to the cleaners, saying its
decision was kangarooic. He accused the presiding judge of “abject naiveté.”
Justice Uwaifo, who was then serving on the bench of the then Bendel (now Edo
and Delta) was later to rise up to the Supreme Court.
The judge
believed it was an unfair blow below the belt and decided to ambush us. Knowing
that trouble would likely result, I wisely stayed away from the tribunal the
following Monday. Expectedly, Justice Nwaifo was deeply unhappy with Newswatch
coverage, especially the provocative comment of Ekpu. He issued a bench warrant
for all of us who participated in that story; Ekpu, Soji Omotunde, Joyce
Osakwe, Nosa Igiebor and Dele Olojede. The following day, we were in the dock
before Justice Uwaifo at the old National Assembly, Tafawa Balewa Square and
only the legal skill of Chief Gani Fawehinmi saved us from joining Ekwueme at
Ikoyi Prisons.
Since he
was freed from prison in 1986, Ekwueme had tried to fashion out a new order for
Nigeria so that future generations can be spared the ordeal that became the
comeuppance of his public service. He invested his faith in the General Sani
Abacha Constitutional Conference of 1994 and it was his suggestion that created
the now famous six geopolitical zones of the country. Hesitant at first to join
the opposition bandwagon, but by 1998, he teamed up with leaders across the
country to form the G34 that came out boldly to oppose the attempt by Abacha to
become “an elected leader,” sponsored jointly by the so-called five political parties.
It was this G34 that eventually became the core of the nascent Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP.
Ekwueme
contested for the presidential ticket of the PDP in 1999. He was backed by the
rump of the old NPN who felt that if the South would produce the President, no
one should take precedence before loyal Alex. He lost to the military muscle of
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who later won the presidential election of 1999.
Obasanjo tried to persuade Ekwueme to run for the Senate, but he refused.
Having served as number two during the Second Republic, he did not want to be
number three in the national pecking order. He later served as the chairman of
the Board of Trustees of the then ruling party.
Ekwueme
made great impacts on many aspects of Nigerian life. He was recruited into the
Nigerian project by his Civil War experience. He was one of the best educated
persons ever to participate in national politics. He had a doctorate degree in
architecture from the University of Strathclyde and top it with another degree
in law. By 1966, he was one of dashing young architects in Lagos, in high
demand among the emerging glitterati. He made money and built for himself a
comfortable home in the Government Reservation Area at Apapa. His neigbour was
Olasubomi Balogun, a young banker and lawyer who had also embarked on a career
of making money and building institutions.
By 1967,
like most Igbos, Ekwueme fled Lagos, leaving his beautiful home for the Biafran
enclave of Colonel Chuwkuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The Biafran nightmare ended in
1970 and Ekwueme returned to Lagos. He was not too shocked when he realised
that his Apapa home was occupied by another family. Balogun had put a tenant
into the house and saved the proceeds for Ekwueme. This experience was to
cement a life-long relationship between Ekwueme and Balogun, the doyen of the
Nigerian banking industry and founder of the First City group.
Nine
years after the war, Ekwueme emerged as the Vice-President and Balogun remained
a prominent banker. One day, both the vice-president and Balogun were attending
service at the historic Christ Church Cathedral, Lagos, when Balogun accosted
him. He needed Ekwueme’s intervention to secure the licence for his bank, the
then First City Merchant Bank, FCMB. Ekwueme obliged. The licence was issued
and the rest is history.
Ekwueme
conducted himself with dignity and moderation. He was already a very wealthy
man by the time he joined politics in 1978 and refused to join the feasting by
the perchance of the ill-fated NPN. One of the cases brought before Justice
Uwaifo was that of an indigenous contractor who got a job to construct a road
in Ekwueme’s home state of Anambra for the princely sum of N20.4 million. The
grateful contractor distributed largess to many top NPN members including
ministers. One day, he met Ekwueme in his country home in Oko and handed him a
suitcase filled with N200,000.00. In those days, the highest denomination of
the naira was Muri, the iconic twenty naira note with the portrait of General
Murtala Muhammed. Ekwueme refused. Instead, when the contractor insisted that
he wanted to help the NPN, the vice-president directed him to the party
headquarters. The money was duly paid to the party chairman who provided
receipt for the “donation.”
Now that
he is gone, I hope that our country would learn from him the lesson of service
and humility. A year after his return from prison, I went back to Oko to meet
him. Within 12 months of freedom, his impact was evident. He had built a new
hotel, complete with lawn tennis court and modern amenities. He and my friend,
Akin Oparison, who was also visiting, were enjoying a daily game of tennis. I
congratulated him for what he had done. “I am only trying to make a
difference,” he said. I wish all our leaders can make a difference as Dr Ekwueme
had done.
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