By Chukwudi Enekwechi

It was on November 20, 2017, that Nigerians woke up to the sad news of the demise of Nigeria’s former Vice President, pioneer Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and father of our democracy, Dr. Alex  Ekwueme.

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He gave up the ghost after a short illness. Nigerians fondly remember him for the important roles he played at various times in restoring democracy to our country. He would have been 87 this week, on October 21, 2019.

Ekwueme along with other compatriots spearheaded the struggle to restore democracy to Nigeria by organising the political class under the umbrella of G34, and this would later metamorphose into the Peoples Democratic Party which held power for sixteen unbroken years before the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari.

As the father of Nigeria’s modern democracy, he built bridges across regions, tribes, and religions to ensure the return of the military to the barracks. Nigerians also remember his stabilizing role when he was the Vice President of Nigeria. During the period, he ensured that he did not rock the boat by supporting his principal, former President Alhaji Shehu Shagari, to the extent that the overthrow of the government was attributed in some quarters to the “overbearing influence of the Vice President”. It was however later revealed that Ekwueme was merely loyal to his principal with only one motive – to make Nigeria great again.

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His foray into the murky waters of Nigerian politics would land him in detention at the Kirikiri prison, but he was finally vindicated by the Justice Uwaifo tribunal set up to try the Second Republic political office holders. The tribunal  discovered that he actually left office poorer.

Lest we forget, Ekwueme was a successful Architect and Businessman before he joined politics in 1978. Indeed he was already a multimillionaire and helped in funding his then party, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He also acquired several other academic laurels besides his doctoral degree in Architecture, in Law, Sociology, History, Philosophy, Urban and Regional Planning and can be acclaimed as the leading light and advocate of mass housing in Nigeria.

In our quest for national development, he advocated for equity, justice, and fairness for all Nigerians, and this was encapsulated in his call for the restructuring of Nigeria. Due to his integrity, sense of accommodation and love for his fellow men and women, he earned the respect of most political leaders, and Nigerians cheered him as “Ide” wherever he went.

He made two attempts to become the President of Nigeria, in 1999 and 2003, but despite the mammoth support of most Nigerians, the powers that be blocked his aspiration at the PDP conventions. If he had been given a chance to emerge, Nigeria would have been positively different today.

Ekwueme can be described as a leader of leaders and a distinguished patriot who wanted the best for his country, but he was ahead of his time, as his ideas were often superior to those who dared to oppose him. As a man of legendary memory, he usually advanced his arguments with superior logic, facts, figures and empirical evidence.

Today, as we remember him for the altruistic services he rendered to the country it is important that emerging leaders emulate his sterling qualities and shining examples. We can only develop as a people when leaders and citizens put their country first rather than using any given opportunity to line their pockets with public funds and enrich themselves.

In the area of education and philanthropy, he was outstanding as he set up the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra state with his resources before inviting the state and federal governments to take over. Today the institution is serving Nigerians from different walks of life. He also set up the Ekwueme Memorial Trust and later the Alex Ekwueme Foundation, both of which awarded scholarships to hundreds, (some say thousands), of Nigerians to study in higher institutions of learning at home and abroad.

Personages like Ekwueme are indeed difficult to forget and the government of the day ought to honour him by naming a national monument in Abuja like the International Conference Centre in his honour as a way of imbibing his legacies in the upcoming generations.

As a politician like the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Ahmadu Bello, Ekwueme came into politics with patriotic zeal and altruistic disposition to help mankind with his wealth of knowledge and wisdom. Unfortunately, he met with some political leaders whose intention in politics was, to say the least questionable. He was a promoter of peace and unity, and an advocate of the utilization of conflict resolution methodologies in nation-building, and his attributes along these lines were legendary.

Today, we all remember him with nostalgia and regret that we missed a golden opportunity to benefit from his leadership. Regrettably, we cannot have Ekwueme with us again but his legacies are there for us to emulate.

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*Enekwechi, a journalist, writes from Abuja

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