THIRTEEN YEARS ANNIVERSARY: CHUBA OKADIGBO'S ENCHANTING STORY....

[Sunday September 25, 2016 will be exactly 13 years Nigeria’s most intellectually gifted Senate president, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, popularly known as “Oyi of Oyi” passed on].
Chuba, as he was fondly referred to, died in the late evening of Thursday, September 25, 2003, while being rushed to the National Hospital, Abuja following medical complications arising from a tear gas used by the police on him and General Muhammadu Buhari along with other defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) politicians during a rally in Kano Stadium. He was eventually buried on Saturday, December 5, 2003.
During his lifetime, Dr. Okadigbo was a renowned charismatic politician, an ivory tower intellectual, a philosopher and popular grassroots politician whose fame, based essentially on solid personal achievements, cut across the length and breadth of Nigeria and beyond. And of course, the “Great Oyi” knew this much.
“When fans hail me, presidents feel awkward,” said Okadigbo in his last interview with this reporter early September 2003, shortly before his demise. That Sunday, afternoon, Chuba swaggered with some regal confidence to his usual sitting position in the sparsely-furnished living room: a single-seater upholstery chair covered with animal skin. His tall frame accentuated his aristocratic bearing. As he gracefully relapsed into his chair, he quickly adjusted himself; his right arm carefully thrown under the nape of his head in a head-supporting position.
This princely poise was typical of the late Dr. (Senator) Chinwuba Godson Wilberforce Okadigbo, former Senate president of Nigeria and ex-Vice Presidential candidate of ANPP in the 2003 presidential election.
At the time of speaking with Okadigbo that hot Sunday afternoon, the Oyi of Oyi and the Ekwueme of Ogbunike in Anambra State, however, was in Lagos to confer with his political supporters. He was around for serious business, but he equally had time for other things, part of which was the interview that explored the man and the myth called Chuba Okadigbo. For a greater part of his political and academic career, which spanned 43 years, Okadigbo’s politics, philosophy, character and mannerism are well-known, but the factors that made the entity, the man called Oyi, remained yet unknown to many.
With a long-drawn hysterical laughter and nostalgia evident on his face, Chuba was ready to reveal the many other unknown sides of him. Prodded, however, to disclose the secrets of his radical inclination and gift of intellect, wit and oratory, he said: “I’m a man of adventure, I don’t toe popular mundane line, especially when such path does not advance the cause of humanity. You see, at a time in our young days when it was fashionable to school in England, France, Canada or America or to read Law, Medicine or Engineering, I went to East Germany, a communist enclave, the radical society where there is the other point of view. That time, it was an offence to go to such places for anything. But while in communist Germany as a student, I saw the difference between our society, the capitalist society and the communist society. I studied both of them. The reigning philosophy then was Maxism (philosophy of Karl Marx).
“I later left Germany as a result of the position of their government during the Nigeria-Biafra war and headed for the Catholic University in America. This Catholic tertiary institution was a direct antithesis to the Karl Marx University in East Germany where I had studied. I was able to reconcile the two extremes; but then, I had already attuned my mind, my orientation, to the Marxist radical philosophy which I counter-balanced with the American mercantile philosophy.”
Prior to his exposure to Marxist ideas in East Germany, young Chuba had other influences. As a second year student of St. Patricks’ College, Asaba in Delta State, his late father, Chief Ozota (fight for it) Okadigbo, a District Officer (D.O.) in Ogwashi-Ukwu also in Delta, was in the habit of coercing the young man to educate his mind by reading the daily newspapers and listening to the radio news and summarising the news items for him. The old man’s favourite dailies then were the Daily Times and the West African Pilot newspapers. Also, Chuba was exposed to philosophy digest by his father.
“That set my mind into the higher realm of philosophy,” he chuckled, adding that “in the College, I was taught civic education which was part of our academic curricular. We were made to know our rights quite early. It also helped to develop my spirit of nationalism. We became nationalists between 1955 and 1959 when Nigeria was looking for her Independence. I thank God I had that civic education. So, you can see that I grew up with the idea of freedom; freedom of the mind and freedom of the society. That is why I don’t let anybody, no matter how highly-placed, to trample on my rights and go scot-free. I love human freedom. I fight when it is violated,” he had said.
Okadigbo’s concept of freedom and quest for power was further inculcated in him, and in his eight other siblings while growing up. His D.O. father – a tall, lanky native aristocrat in the colonial service who could be described as a man of authority and power – impressed it on the younger Okadigbos that power is beautiful, a gift of God. Power, he told them, is a cold-blooded calculation which should be preserved and exercised. The old man made his children to understand that power flows in their family, in their veins; a thing which had been in the Okadigbo family line.
“We were trained to believe that greatness had been with us a long, long time,” said Oyi, smiling. “No Okadigbo son or daughter is trained to be a coward; we were born to walk in places of authority through sheer prowess and we have maintained that.” In the family, Chuba’s mother, the late Chief (Mrs.) Catherine Anyanwu Okadigbo, a baker, women trainer and mobiliser, radiated power and grace. Tall and gracefully-built, she, according to Chuba, was known to be the prettiest woman in Ogbunike, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State. She was also a scion of the aristocracy, a titled chief called “Nne mmanwu” (mother of masquerade) who commanded respect and authority and was – because of her background, solid personal achievement and physical endowment – accepted into the traditional hallowed club of men called “Ndi-Eze” (association of kings and rulers).
Catherine, Okadigbo recalled, imparted discipline in her children. From her, young Chuba inherited the gift of oratory, wits, intellectual sophistry, love, personal charm and empathy for fellow men.
As a little boy, Chuba was a bit rascally and rough, but brilliant and well focused. He was a determined lad who loved challenges. Among his two immediate brothers, Edmund (elder) and George (younger), Chuba was relatively disadvantaged. While the other two were fair-skinned like their mother, the ex-Senate President was dark like his father. Several incidents that happened between the three brothers ignited the fire of subtle sibling rivalry. As a result of this, there was a personal determination and inclination by Chuba to conquer his brothers through achievements and excellence.
“Because of the light complexion of my brothers, people easily took note of them and ignored me,” he said. “And whenever we went out with our mother, people admired them; they caressed their heads and gave them money while forgetting me. Rather than envy them, I was determined to work hard and go over them and identify myself by other means. I was determined that my brothers will come to know me later by my superior achievements. That became part of the things that motivated me to do things beyond them.”
This psychology of colour, however, spurred Chuba to greater height in life rather than giving him distress. While at College, Chuba was very stubborn, and rightly so, especially when the school authority attempted to wobble off the track of civil behaviour. He was known for his radical activities. He specialised in organising strike actions against the school authority, exploiting his natural popularity and controlling influence on his fellow students. But he was smart about it, such that his father never got to know. While graduating from college, the school authority quickly reminded him of his past. Neatly etched in his school testimonial was a warning to his prospective employers that Chuba was a “specialist in organising strike actions”.
What the young man thought to be a minus in his academic record eventually became a plus for him.
“I came to the NCNC party office in Yaba (Lagos) in 1961 to look for a party secretary’s job. One chief Dafe, then a Zikist, was in charge of employment at the party secretariat. After interviewing me, he told me that I hadn’t shown him my testimonial. I was actually hiding it. I told him that he would not like the content; that I was a strike organiser. But he said they were actually looking for people like me. I was startled. He then employed me despite his discovery of my kind of person. I then wondered to myself how funny this life could be. You see, an employer already knew who you were before employing you.”
All through his 43 years career as a politician and academic, Chuba exhibited certain characteristics that scared some individuals and alienated them from him. He had been described as an arrogant man. He said he had often tried to find out from his traducers why they see him in such uncomplimentary light, but discovered that their explanations lack reason, logic and substance.
“They certainly can’t say that I am ostentatious,” he argued. “I think that when people can’t understand certain things about me, they call me arrogant. Secondly, I don’t genuflect under executive table neither do I indulge in crass sycophancy. I certainly don’t reward mediocrity. I don’t waste too much time on useless things. And I say my mind the way I feel. I say the truth and move my arguments logically. So, when such people are overpowered by my arguments, they say I am arrogant. As a journalist, a deputy editor of a national newspaper for that matter, you can see it yourself that I am an accessible person.
“You have known me for some years now. If you look at it, common people don’t say I am arrogant; it is the elite that say so. The ordinary people who have been voting for me in elections for 43 years that I have been in politics couldn’t have been voting for an arrogant man. It is only the elite, most of whom have intolerable and deplorable behaviour that requires serious castigation, that call me an arrogant person. When they (elite) want to mystify themselves, I cast them down and I will continue to do so at the risk of being called arrogant by them until the end of my days. The same people were the ones spreading such stories that I was arrogant when I was the Senate President. Most people who do not even know me believed it, simply because I refused to compromise on large-scale secret corruption going in the executive, not to talk of the burgeoning civil dictatorship for which those people have been exposed today by time and circumstance to the Nigerian people.”
From every indication, at the time of this interview, Chuba was a happy and fulfilled man. He was an achiever in the race of life; very happy about the family of 10 children and a beautiful wife, Magery (a lawyer), now a serving senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District.
The colourful politician and a high chief in Igboland, was a strong believer in culture and tradition. During the interview, he was highly elated that all the false allegations of corrupt practices and propaganda against him as Nigeria’s Senate president “just to remove me for being an Okadigbo” were things of the past before his death.
“The Senate has reversed itself because truth is eternal and will prevail at the appropriate time. That time is now. They thought they could effectively use those false allegations against me during the election (in 2003); so they framed me too early to achieve that purpose. But I have forgiven all those who had wronged me. I embraced those senators on the floor of the House the day Senator Idris Kuta report was quashed.
“My family is happy about the development too. I love them (family members). I do all my functions as a father and husband (laughs). I believe in the growth of the family, in family discipline. I keep in touch with relations. I help them when I can because I don’t have stupendous wealth. I live a moderate and simple life, no exotic cars and mansions. I don’t engage in frolics.”
Contrary to media reports shortly before the 2003 presidential election that Okadigbo and his erstwhile political boss, Buhari, had mutual quarrels and political differences, the Oyi debunked all that, saying their relationship at the time was good and rock-solid. While the interview was on-going, General Buhari telephoned Okadigbo several times to discuss numerous political issues with him. The two men laughed heartily during the interaction.
“That report was mischievous and sponsored by our main opponent political party (the PDP), using hack writers just to give a false impression about the ANPP to the public,” the former Senate President had stated. “The story was the handiwork of desperate political opponents who have failed to deliver the dividends of democracy. I pointed out the failings of these people when I was Senate President and they used public funds and government machinery to fight me.” Just when campaign was going on in some quarters that Okadigbo was not popular and might not deliver the votes of the Igbo to the ANPP in 2003 presidential poll, he contends that his detractors were stingy with the truth.
“I challenge them to follow me to places and to the streets. Whenever I arrive Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu or any other airport in this country for that matter, I am accosted by a mammoth crowd. From Aso Rock to party meetings, to the National Assembly, and to party conventions where party chairmen, presidents, governors, ministers and other dignitaries are seated, the crowd mob me. They hail me and presidents and dignitaries feel envious; they feel inferior and awkward. At the international airports in London and America, for instance, I am also being cheered by immigration officials who clear the way for me with respect. That is what those vile critics of me are not happy about. These are the things that make one sound immodest and they say I am arrogant when I react. I am one of the most popular men in this republic as I have always been
“Ndigbo love Okadigbo because they value me. They value integrity, merit and knowledge which I have sufficiently. God gave all these to me. It is not by juju. I have natural charisma right from childhood. It is a spiritual gift and you don’t purchase it. I don’t even know that I have them. God gave them to me and nobody can take them away except the Almighty God. I will go with those natural gifts down to my grave. My charisma is such that if I enter your house and you have dogs, the moment those dogs see me, they stop barking and I stroke them. I once encountered armed robbers on the highway and when I came out of my car, they dropped their guns and hailed me instantly and scrambled to shake my hands. It is all God’s gift. I can’t hide myself. I can’t tell people to stop liking and loving me. I have no apology for being popular. My people like strong men and I am strong. I am only sorry for those boot-lickers. I shall take them on at the appropriate time,” he said.
[Thirteen] years after the death of this philosopher king, the nation fondly remembers the renowned democrat, Senator Chuba Okadigbo. Were he to be alive, the “Ikenga Igwuedo” surely would have risen further in his political career or probably would have been considering retirement by now. Okadigbo also would have put in place structures to immortalise himself, his political beliefs and philosophy. He would equally have played significant roles in shooting down the ill-fated third term campaign of the Olusegun Obasanjo regime.
Chuba certainly would have been fair and definite in his position on the contentious issue of power rotation (a.k.a. zoning). Perhaps, he would have championed the Igbo presidency question, just as he would have been in the fore-front for the reformation of Nigeria’s electoral system...in 2015. He would equally have raised the bar on the issue of Constitution review process.
Okadigbo, as a founding member of the PDP, would have equally propounded an effective conflict resolution formula that would deal with the current crisis in the party once and for all. Nigeria’s National Assembly, particularly the Senate, will have found his legislative acumen very useful.

Culled from NewsHerald, October 6, 2013.
A Biography entitled, "Fight For It: The Live of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo" is underway.

Love this guy called chuba, we missed him .can some one pls compile "the sayings of Dr. Okadigbo" it will be a hit.

William Wilberforce Chuba Malachy Okadigbo, the greatest of the Senate Presidents Nigeria ever had..

Lalasticlala. This should make front page tomorow to honour him

Legends never die. Long live Okadigbo!