Alex Ekwueme At 90 – Posthumous – The Making Of Nigeria’s Democracy Legend
Anniversaries are cycles which humans find worthy of recognising and commemorating. Birthdays constitute part of such significant cycles. Conceding to the position that “history is the graveyard of aristocrats”, it is apposite, particularly in the Nigerian geopolitical space, to eternally remember and celebrate His Excellency, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) – born on the 21st of October, 1932 in the then rustic village of Uga, in the present Anambra State, South East Nigeria. Ekwueme who hailed from Oko in Aguata Local Government Council, Anambra State transited this plain to immortality on the 19thof November, 2017 at 85.
Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s 90th Birthday celebration, posthumous, provides us the opportunity of ruminating over the phenomenal life trajectory of an unassuming son of an itinerant Church Missionary Society (CMS) teacher; a child who defied the prevailing dictates and restrictions of social class to establish himself as an icon among the noble in the global community. He became Nigeria’s first elected Vice President (1st October, 1979) – an office where scarcely three months into his second term, the Major General Muhammadu Buhari military junta overthrew the democratically elected civilian government in a military putsch (31stDecember, 1983).
Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s life and service to Nigeria aptly capture the picture of modern Nigeria and her peoples: the opportunities, the riches, the fluttering hopes, the frustrations, the resilient features. As his family wills to reprint two of his seminal books, “Whither Nigeria? Thoughts on Democracy, Politics and Constitution” and “From State House to Kirikiri” – both bordering on ethical political practices, persecution, sacrificial and visionary leadership – for free distribution to institutions of learning, as the icon’s birthday gifts in furtherance of his ageless contribution to grooming dedicated leaders and internalising urbane political culture, people of goodwill are bound to converge in support of eternalising his benefaction.
Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s academic intelligence saw him through primary schools at villages in the vicinity of Oko, from where he gained admission into the prestigious King’s College where his outstanding brilliance earned him scholarship. Another scholarship scheme, the Fulbright Scholarship, saw him through a University Degree in Architecture and City Planning from the University of Washington in the United States of America. He went ahead to obtain a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning; and a doctorate degree in Architecture from the University of Strathyclyde in the United Kingdom. He had a rich bag of degrees in Sociology, Philosophy, History and Law from London. He later attended Nigeria’s Law School and was duly called to bar in Nigeria – so much for the brilliant academic portfolio which the enigma garnered both preparatory to and in the course of his meritorious service to his locality, his state, the country and humanity.
Ekwueme’s influences and worth derived more from his entrepreneurial ingenuity, humanitarian disposition and unassailable commitment to service for a more prosperous and livable Nigeria than from his inherent superlative intelligence. It is for the former that he is fondly remembered. The clean bill that Justice Samson Uwaifo Tribunal handed him, following the selective deprivation and denials he suffered at the ouster of his joint presidential ticket with Alhaji Shehu Shagari, further lent credence to his incorruptibility in service. Ekwueme was not only declared free from any official financial abuses, but was adjudged to have come out of office less wealthy than when he assumed office – an unprecedented phenomenon in black Africa.
Ekwueme’s commitment to grooming a healthy polity informed his lead role in the 1995 Constitutional Conference where, as a frontline member, he made far-reaching contributions to the policy thrusts of the body. One of such contributions is the delineation of the country into six geopolitical zones of North West, North East, North Central, South East, South West and South South, for purposes of equitable response to the diverse needs of the peoples of Nigeria. That policy informed the adoption of rotational presidency as a biding moral code amongst politicians and political parties. Events building up to the 2023 Presidential Election however flout this understanding, but not without manifestly ruffling the feathers of the errant politicians and parties.
Dr. Alex Ekwueme demonstrated the brand of courage one could term suicidal when in the evil days of General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship, he not only resisted Abacha’s will to crush every kind of opposition to his perpetuating himself in office, but further defied him by not absconding on self-exile like many did. He went ahead to form and lead the legendry Group 34 political group which provided the only opposition that seemed to rattle the rampaging General. This group was the nucleus of what later became the People’s Democratic Party which in an uncanny twist turned the party’s presidential ticket in favour of Obasanjo who won the election that marked the beginning of the Third Republic (1999).
Ordinarily, Ekwueme would have turned his back on the People’s Democratic Party in frustration, but he did not; instead he always made himself available to troubleshoot and broker peace each time the party ran into trouble waters; and such times abounded. Surely those whose ambitions are harshly threatened by the current internal crises in the party would wish Ekwueme alive to play an overtly compliant party man to soothe their quaint political impulses. But such privilege doesn’t last forever!
Ekwueme distinguished himself as an entrepreneur beyond his remarkably impactful practice of architecture. His interests in the hospitality industry flourished, just as his ventures in real estate and other enterprises. He elevated his acts of philanthropy and mentorship into industries; and he made huge gains of them: the multitude of successful beneficiaries thereof bear testimony to this. He was simply thorough in all he did, and he was exceptionally lucky to have his passions met, the intrigues of his party men for which Nigeria suffers still, regardless.
If only Ekwueme’s exemplary life of selfless service to the people and country could inform the drive of most of our political leaders, and if only Nigerians are capable of spotting and unconditionally supporting dedicated leaders like Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the country’s journey to nationhood would have started. The 2023 Nigeria’s Presidential Election is yet an opportunity for Nigeria to free itself from the entanglement of poor politics with its attendant throes and woes. Nigeria has yet an opportunity of leveraging on it size and huge human and natural resources to point the way for the black race. For this cause Ekwueme lived and died. Let the commemoration of his Birthday therefore re-ignite the urge for Nigeria’s reinvention.
Beyond the Presidency’s renaming of the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike in Ebonyi State after Ekwueme, Anambra State Government’s naming of an open event arena (Ekwueme Square) in Awka, and maybe a few streets that bear the name of this personage who championed the cause of good governance from the second republic till his death in 2017, the government should ensure that his monuments abound as a way of entrenching the culture of excellence in the land.
Ivan Anarado writes from Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO)