By Ogbuefi Comr. Harris Chuma-Odili
He was colourful, flamboyant and sometimes controversial in his life of activism. But, his unpopular adventures people don’t get to hear in the news is what I would attempt to deal with while using today’s great event to celebrate the legacies of ‘Oyi of Oyi’. Senator Dr. Wilberforce Chuba Okadigbo who was born in 1941, lived a fulfilled life, and died on September 25, 2003, at the age of 61, in Abuja. He was the vice presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) with retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as leader of the joint ticket.
The sad story revolving around the sudden death of the political sage may have been deleted from the executive memos of Nigeria’s high profile political assassinations, but we his kinsmen, the people of Ogbunike, Oyi and indeed Omabala will always finger Chief Olusgun Obasanjo’s PDP led government who deployed the Nigerian police under the watch of Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, to shutdown ANPP’s political rally in Kano where hitherto, the great philosopher, scholar, strategist, wordsmith, publisher, activist, orator, traditionalist and former President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Chuba Okadigbo was tear-gassed, and he never recovered from the poisonous substance. It was a known fact and virally reported that Dr Okadigbo, had a health record of respiratory issues.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness, one Hajiya Naja’tu Mohammed, reportedly said: “Immediately Okadigbo inhaled the offensive liquid, he was not himself again and party men started administering first aid on him to revive him…. It was something else, I and Okadigbo were soaked, even Buhari was soaked by the offensive liquid. The Police will not say they don’t know Buhari. That was the beginning of Okadigbo’s travails, because he started behaving like an asthmatic patient.”
Also, the Kaduna State chairman of ANPP Alhaji Kabir Umar had said his party: “vehemently object to the way and manner Okadigbo was tear gassed during the Kano rally…the death of Okadigbo was unfortunate, this is because we believe that his sudden death is not unconnected with the use of tear gas fired by the police. If they knew that a man like Okadigbo was asthmatic and the security men still went ahead to fire tear gas in that environment, what did they expect?”
Indeed, Dr Chuba Okadigbo’s sudden death was met with mournful outrages, as Africa wept uncontrollably. The sleepy town of Ogbunike was thrown into confusion, in a great fury, anarchy loomed, even the gods were ruffled, the great iroko tree has fallen, day has turned to night, and darkness enveloped the town, masquerades hastily withdrew from public gaze. And the rampaged ants filed out of the ancestral anthill in protest, the greatest son of Iguedo has been mowed down by federal forces. The royal traditionalist, Ogbuefi, Ichie Ogbunike n’ Omabala has been forced to embark on journey of no return. It was a Thursday Ndi Ogbunike would never wish a repeat. Day, children, women, men, and youths of Ogbunike went down on their knees, screaming to heavens: What is our sin? What have we done to the Nigeria Police Force and Olusegun Obasanjo’s government?
From the banks of great kissa through the streams of the ancient Ogbunike cave, war songs were heard, the ghostly sound of “uffe’ suddenly broke the silence as tears watered the land.
Within family circles, one man who could be seen emotionally battered, strained, injured, and deeply pained on Dr Chuba Okadigbo’s demise, was my late father Ogbuefi Chuma Odili, both men were age mates, and members of Igwebuike Age Grade, Ogbunike. My father was Dr Okadigbo’s close confidant, both men were childhood friends, and later became political allies in the 70s. When Okadigbo returned from his sojourn abroad where he studied and worked, when he tactically withdrew from his professorial work and plunged into the murky waters of Nigerian politics, my late father Chuma ‘Onyeocha’ (as fondly called by Dr Chuba Okadigbo) was an executive member of Dr Chuba Okadigbo’s political movement, they both worked for NPN, PDP, and ANPP where the evil agents of democracy were sent to deny Buhari/Okadigbo’s quest to lead Nigeria into prosperity.
My father’s eventful days with the late political icon remain ever green in my heart. Both men had something in common, and shared same political ideologies, and lifestyle. Both men loved Intelligent, credible, resourceful, and beautiful women. While Dr Chuba Okadigbo enjoyed his cigarette, my father would be caught gulping down some cognacs. They were described by my courageous mother as “ndi uwaoma”. But, really, they were handsome dudes, and frankly ladies’ men.
On a certain occasion, Dr Okadigbo arrived the scene, while breaking through the crowd, he saw me and muttered, “bia, junior where is your father? Tell him to take over the microphone and address me properly before I get seated”. That’s Dr Okadigbo’s mannerism, he was a core traditionalist, and should be addressed properly based on his chieftaincy titles. In fact, he made my father his ‘otinkpu’ at any public function they encountered each other in Anambra. He would always want it the way my father stylishly presented it.
In Ogbunike, those who were close to the late Senate President would attest to the fact that Ogbuefi Chuma Odili was his most trusted political ally in grassroots mobilisation. Dr Okadigbo ensured that he visited my paternal grandmother, each time he came home. The Oyi of Oyi would drive himself into my father’s compound in his Isuzu SUV, he would alight from the car, lit his cigarette, take a deep drag, puff, and hail my grandmother “agbudugbu, ikoloenyi”.
Dr Chuba Okadigbo does not have restrictions for smoking. He can lit his cigarette anywhere he felt comfortable. Severally, I had met him smoking in our family lounge, and my grandmother would be screaming at him.
His hilarious ways of handling serious issues would make one love him more. Tell him to stop smoking and he would ask, “Onya melu na imaro akwukwo?(Is that the reason why you are illiterate?). His intellectual sagacity is unequaled, a master political strategist. He was a man loved by many who had contact with him. He was the pride of my home town, Ogbunike.
Dr Chuba Okadigbo remains my political idol after Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi. When you take a cursory look at both great men, you will find what they had in common, both in character and mannerisms. Both men were great orators, activists, social crusaders, and Igbo culture advocates. Both believed that man is incomplete without a deep connection to the traditions, norms and culture of his people, and forebearers.
*Being Text of Speech Delivered by Ogbuefi Comr. Harris Chuma-Odili, at the CaveFest Symposium, in memory of Late Senator Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, held in Ogbunike Town Hall on December 30, 2019.
