Victor’s life was brief; actually fleeting and in less than 30 years he was gone. Yet, in that short spell, he shone like a shooting star, a meteor streaking across the dark night, providing illumination, providing glorious and heavenly beauty, warming hearts buffeted by vicissitudes of life, lifting up faces which life’s hardships had cast down to look up at the magnificent sky …to oh and ah at that fleeting streak of light, a visitor from another world.

Blaze of glory? As the world’s attention was tuned to Cannes Young Lions Creative Festival in France on Thursday 22 June, 2023, Victor Onyeka Iweanya, already dead by 12 days by then and with six days to his burial in his Onitsha home town on Wednesday June 28, was given a standing ovation. And the tall and well-built Adonis, with his smiling face and well-toned muscles, had fallen by then though he did not endanger himself in any way.

He was just playing football at the University of Lagos football pitch. Here, I couldn’t help but remember the times Onochie Anibeze, Sonola Olumhense, Nduka Irabor, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu were the leading football stars on that pitch when journalists used to gather there and do their soccer stuff on Sundays. Whoever thought of death and dying then?

Victor, a goalkeeper, simply collapsed and that was it!  So, there was an ovation for him in France, but oh, dear God, he wasn’t there to receive it. He had prepared to attend that glittering event. People say that “man proposes but God disposes”. A Jewish friend I met in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, put it unforgettably thus: “Man plans, God laughs”. Victor’s creative partner, Rebecca Arogbo, mounted the stage in Cannes that Thursday, and cried softly as thousands gave Victor a minute of resounding ovation instead of a minute of silence.

Victor earned that ovation. Born 19 March 1994 to Mr. Victor Amechi Iweanya of Onitsha, Anambra State and Mrs. Anastasia Nwabuisi Iweanya, Victor showed early that he was a child of promise but with a face brightened by a warm smile as he led his younger siblings, Veronica Chika Iweanya and Stephan Chukwuwike Iweanya along life’s highway. At Cornerstone Primary School, Ikotun, Egbe, Lagos, he passed his common entrance examinations in Primary Three and gained admission to the prestigious Christ the King’s College, Abuja.

Victor was the youngest in all his classes and passed his WAEC and JAMB examinations outstandingly at age 15 and studied Mechanical Engineering at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, as the youngest in his class. He was 2014 Elite Class of Mechanical Engineering Students’ Class Rep and served as Vice President of the Chapel Attendance Unit. His famous smile stood him out at the university and he manned the football goal posts – just like his father did.

He did his internship at TOTAL Oil Company at 18 and soon his can-do-spirit began to materialize when he partook in organising, marketing and hosting the first and most successful Fashionova competition in Nigeria, that headlined Nigerian stars like Phyno. He returned to Covenant University to complete his final year, earning a Second-Class Upper, Honours, in 2014 at age 20 and was best overall parade commander at his NYSC passing-out parade.

The energetic Victor joined Intense Nigeria briefly as a Web Developer, then underwent an impressive entrepreneurship path for the next five years, founding and growing multiple businesses and start-ups; including Solivio Digital Solutions, Betloy, Tipena,

Seduire, Avry, from age 21 to 26. His exemplary can-do attitude saw these businesses flourish beyond the borders of Nigeria inspiring hard working staff, meeting business partners now turned friends, and donating portions of proceeds to charities.

In 2018, Victor or Onyeka as his father called him, returned to school, to pursue Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Lagos, specialising in Marketing. He was Vice-President of his MBA Class and goalkeeper, too.

With the MBA in his pocket, at 26, he joined iProspect as a Performance Marketing Manager, working with clients like Multichoice DSTV, Interswitch, Peak Milk, and Nigerian Breweries. In a year, he rose to lead the Digital Team at Intense Nigeria, crafting marketing campaigns across 10 African countries. His attention to detail and

creatively instinctive mind captured the hearts of PHD, a global communications and marketing agency, which he joined as the Digital Strategy Lead.

In just eight months at PHD, he won staff of the month award for May 2023 and represented his Managing Director at a strategic session for Red Bull in Kenya and won Gold during Young Lions Media Competition, leading PHD Nigeria to earn her first ever outing at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. He was set to represent Nigeria and indeed West Africa at Cannes between 19th – 23rd June 2023.

We are back to where the story began. The rest is postscript. He and friends birthed Astral FC, a community football club. The multi-talented Victor had a flair for boxing and loved Anthony Joshua.

Sir Vic, as he was fondly called by loved ones, was an irreplaceable kind soul. At 29, his life inspires us all to live in the love in which he freely gave.

He is survived by his dad who is forever proud of him, his mum who loves him immensely, his sister and brother who will always look up to him. May a flight of Angels sing Victor Onyekachi Iweanya to his rest.