DEATH no doubt is an inestimable end which must come when it will come. If it comes to a beloved one, the grief of all those affected as a result of the death can best be imagined, especially when it becomes very obvious that never again can such a fellow be seen or heard.

It was the same grief  I fell into when my good friend of many years, Olorogun Ngozi Okolie sent me a text message in my phone of the demise of his beloved father, Ogbueshi Michael Eluemuno Okolie at the age of 86 years.

This tribute  is in honour of a man of many parts who throughout his sojourn on earth in the various places he worked and positions held and even after he retired meritoriously and engaged in private business and as a prominent community leader, was never found wanting.

I had the singular opportunity of meeting and getting acquainted with the late Pa Michael Okolie about ten years ago. In the cause of my interaction as a journalist with one of his sons, Ngozi Okolie, who then was making moves towards entering politics and becoming the chairman of Oshimili South Local Government Council in Asaba, Delta State. Since then, I established a deeper relationship with the family and I fondly called my friend’s father, Papa Okolie till date.

Ogbueshi Michael Eluemuno Okolie, popularly called Okolie Bank, was born on September 28,1928 in Asaba, his home town. His father was the famous Ogbueshi Ochilieme Okolie of Umuezefadia in Umuaji Quarters, Asaba. He was a police constable while his mother was the late Omu of Asaba who was brutally murdered in 1969.

Ogbueshi Okolie lost his father when he was a toddler and was raised up by his illustrious mother. He began his early education at St. Joseph’s Catholic School, Asaba and later joined his elder brother who was then an employee of the Nigerian Railway Corporation in Lagos and completed his education there. He  gained employment with the then Bank of British West Africa in 1950 at Enugu and was transferred back to Lagos in 1956. He proceeded to Kano on relief duty and later joined as inspector in Jos for training and thus became the first Nigerian to be trained as the bank inspector.

Papa Okolie, a true purist who can best be described as a  democrat of our time and one man that brought hope then to the financial sector, was promoted in 1962 to an Assistant Accountant, a highly valued position at that time when expatriates held sway and was posted to Kaduna.

In 1966, he was sent to London on a course and on his return to the country when the crisis erupted in the North, he sent his family back home to Asaba and moved to Kano. When the crisis escalated, he and his other colleagues left for Port Harcourt from where he moved to Asaba.In mid October 1966 Ogbueshi Okolie resumed duties at Aba and settled there with his family. Following the civil war and the exit of all expatriate staff from the East, he assumed management of the Aba branch.

After the war in 1970, he reported to Lagos and on completion of an orientation course, he was sent to work at Broad Street Branch and later posted to Benin branch as the Accountant.

Papa Okolie, an unassuming technocrat and a man who in all respects and by all standards has distinguished himself in several ways as a patriot, sacrificed all to assist in stabilising the financial sector, was barely six months in Benin when he was recalled to the inspectorate department head office of the bank in Lagos. From here he travelled widely to oversee  all the inspectorate departments in the bank, including Calabar, Sokoto, Kano, Maiduguri and Port Harcourt.

In the cause of the Nigerianisation exercise which led to a major re-structuring which brought the appointment of seven Nigerians to replace expatriates, Ogbueshi Okolie was among the seven Nigerians and was posted to Ilesha supervising five branches, and later in 1975 was appointed the first Nigerian manager for the Warri branch and in 1978, was posted again to Lagos as the first Nigerian Chief Inspector from where he rose to become the Regional Manager and posted to Benin as the first Nigerian to hold that position and was in charge of all the branches in the then Bendel State. As a seasoned banker, Papa Okolie attended various banking  and management courses in Nigeria and the U.K. He retired meritoriously after putting in  34 years service.

A remarkable aspect of Papa is that he ensured that all his children were well brought up with sound education while he also took time off to visit and play active role in community development. At retirement he set up a sachet water producing company at Asaba which gave job to many.

As Papa Ogbueshi Michael Eluemuno Okolie is being interred into mother earth to join  not only his ancestors and his beloved wife,Nkeonyeasua who passed on in 2002, there is no doubt that he will surely be missed by many. I urge all his children, grand children and in particular my friend Ngozi to take heart in the fact that Papa lived a good Christian life worthy of emulation.

Mr Emma Fejokwu, a media Consultant, wrote from Asaba, Delta State.