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CHARLES OKOH
On July 25, this year, a true Igbo son and a totally detribalised Nigerian, Chief Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Iwuanyanwu, embarked on that inevitable journey which all mortals must one day travel. He has quit this stage of betrayal, hatred, jealousy and evil. For Chief Iwuanyanwu, it was an eventful 82 years on earth and a life spent touching souls in several diverse spheres of human endeavours.
Like every human, Iwuanyanwu is not without his own shortcomings, but if there is one Nigerian who believed in the strength in the diversity of the country and used it to benefit and to uplift many people in this country, that person must be Chief Iwuanyanwu.
As a young man still struggling to shake off the effect of the early demise of my parents, having the opportunity of working in one of the several businesses established by Chief Iwuanyanwu, was the real education and opportunity to begin to shape for myself a future and career in the media. I shall forever remain grateful for the assembly that was Champion Newspapers Limited.
It was an assembly of great minds and a place where ethnic, tribal or religious bigotry had no place. It was a place where all who came for employment were given the job based on their competence and performance. It was a place where everyone lived like brothers and sisters and we had no qualms sharing foods and drinks.
For me as a young man in my early 20s, Champion was the real school of life, a place where opportunities were provided for those who were willing to learn, to develop themselves by mingling with some of the most celebrated and cerebral minds you can think of in the field of journalism.
Iwuanyanwu provided an environment for somebody like myself, who had no father in Abraham, to get employment based purely on merit. That environment of conviviality and camaraderie saw many of us running to the office for one event or the other even when we were not supposed to be on duty. That microcosmic setup and environment where all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe and religion, have equal opportunities to advance in their careers based on performance, has remained elusive and difficult to replicate in the larger Nigerian society in most instances.
We yearn for that nation where all will be given equal opportunities based on merit and not primordial sentiments, cronyism and other narrow considerations.
Sadly, like all prophets without honour in their homeland, some misguided Igbo youths with warped and wrong sense of values and ethos are quick to attempt to rubbish this statesman while holding in awe and higher esteem men who have plundered their states and enriched themselves with public funds as political office holders. They celebrate characters whose real source of wealth remained mysterious and notorious persons whose records of crimes are public knowledge.
Yet, Iwuanyanwu, an engineer, a political giant and prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former presidential aspirant never held any executive political office. He was never a governor, minister or even commissioner but yet many who benefited from him to become political appointees only paid him back with ingratitude and betrayal.
The opportunities Champion gave to professionals from across the nation and Ndigbo in particular were unquantifiable. Before the coming of the award-winning newspaper house, little opportunities were given to professionals from outside of Lagos and environs.
Champion provided the platform for Igbo professionals to be heard. It was a platform that provided opportunities for Ndigbo to be heard in the mainstream of politics, academia, law and other fields of human endeavours. It was therefore no surprise that all Igbo students and jobseekers aspired to work in Champion at that time.
As a mark of his belief in a united and egalitarian society for all where none would be discriminated against along ethnic, tribal and religious differences, the setup of the organisation and his other businesses reflected a workforce from every part of the country. When you realise that even till this day there are still some so-called national newspapers where non-indigenes are discriminated against and cannot aspire to certain office, then you would realise how much of an achievement that was.
Born on September 4, 1942, Chief Iwuanyanwu also made giant strides and attained significant milestones in his incursion into the field of sport where he promoted and singlehandedly funded one of the biggest football clubs till date, the Iwuanyanwu Nationale of Owerri. A team whose stature both in financial backing and relevance was only equaled by a few others like Abiola Babes of Abeokuta, owned by another great Nigerian with the spirit of promoting and developing the youths of the country to attain their potential in football.
A celebrated philanthropist, Iwuanyanwu, was a major financial pillar behind the Imo People’s Airport (now Imo Airport, Owerri) built through Igbo people’s public donations.
As we earlier mentioned, he had his shortcomings like every other mortal, but his overriding interest of giving voice to the voiceless, especially his fellow Ndigbo, by far dwarfs whatever may be his shortcomings.
A bold and dogged fighter who takes no prisoners, Iwuanyanwu since assuming his last role as 11th President-general of the foremost Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, after the demise of George Obiozor, showed to the world that he was not only a patriotic Nigerian but also a proud Igbo son and was unapologetic about that.
Last year, during the unfortunate attacks on Ndigbo interests and businesses in Lagos with those miscreants threatening to harm any Igbo or anyone who did not share the same political persuasion with them, Iwuanyanwu not only stood for Ndigbo he also warned those behind the unfortunate incident to desist from such behaviour.
Unfortunately, Iwuanyanwu’s condemnation of those miscreants was wrongly understood by even those who should have known better. Iwuanyanwu simply dismissed those behind the attacks as miscreants and not the entire Yoruba, whom he had in the same breath described glowingly and addressed as accommodating and peaceful. How could he have spoken so well in one breath of the Yoruba among whom he had wonderful friends and handed some of his businesses to manage and had as in-laws as well, in another breath now dismiss the entire Yoruba nation as miscreants?
That experience only further accentuated the dangerous, precarious and volatile paths we now tread as a nation just because of politics.
Every part of this country is now edgy and mutual suspicions are prevalent and our politicians have perfected the art of fanning the embers of our discords and differences into raging inferno for political gain and advantage during politicking. What they fail to understand is that a raging wildfire consumes all and everything in sight. It does not distinguish between ethnicity, religion or status. If in doubt, ask the people of Rwanda.
As the nation mourns this great nationalist, we must realise that the most befitting honour that can be given to his memory would be to build a just, equitable, nonincriminating society where all Nigerians can call home and aspire to whatever heights they wish. We must build that nation where all have a sense of belonging and feel secure knowing that they are protected under the law. We must entrench those ethos that will portray us as civilised and just society where hard work, competence, ability to deliver and not one where primordial, clannish and religious beliefs is sine qua non for attaining and achieving goals, appointments and opportunities.
May God rest the soul of the Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo and grant the family he left behind the fortitude to bear this loss. May God help us as a nation to attain that statehood which he fought for and strived to build until his death.
Rest well Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
