By Hugo Odiogor

“FOR everything under the sun, there is a time, a time     to born and a time to die, a time to sow and a time to reap.” This ecclesiastical thought came to fulfillment in the life and times of a consummate seaman, Admiral Augustus Akhabue Aikhomu, former Chief of General Staff and Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, who drew his last breathe on August 17 2011.

Born in October, 1929 , and christened Augustus, Aikhomu  chose August as the month of departure, at the age of 76, and perhaps gave former boss, General Ibrahim Babamosi Babangida a sad  three score and ten birthday gift.

For a man who lost his father t the age of eight in Irrua-Ishan and his mother six years later, young Augustus had his own fair share of hard life and his eventual ascent to the apogee of his naval career was a worthy feat. No less remarkable was his becoming the second most powerful man in the country, from 1986 to 1993.

Educated at Irrua Government school,  Okpebho, Edo State, Aikhomu went ahead to attend Yaba Technical Institute (now Yaba College of Technology) from 1954 to 1958 and enlisted into the Nigerian Navy on December 1, 1958. This was the starting odyssey of his military career and naval trainings that took him to the Royal Britannia Naval College in Darmouth, England, Royal Naval Engineering College also in England and Gunnery Specialist course in India.

War time experience

He rose through the ranks and had a war time experience in the civil war that engulfed Africa’s most populous nation from 1967 to 1970. He got married to his heartthrob, Rebecca, a trained nurse, in 1967 and fathered four children from the marriage.

The Irrua born seaman was appointed as the chief of staff (CGS) when General Ibrahim Babangida replaced Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe in a palace power play at the onset of the IBB administration in 1986.

Late Augustus Aikhomu

He is regarded as the brain behind the creation of Edo State on August 27, 1991 having failed to clone a state called “Unity State” putting Anioma people in Delta State with the Ishans in present Edo State. For a man who had a humble beginning and later attained the highest pinnacle of his military career, Admiral Aikhomu’s entry was a return to pursue egalitarian philosophy in his democratic career. He also became an advocate of social justice.

He joined the political train when the ban on politics was lifted by General Abdulsalami Abubakar and helped to form PDP in Edo State. He later realised that PDP was made up of people of unlike minds. He was never seen as an active member of PDP at the national level. After the 1999 general election, he left the PDP. He spearheaded the formation National Solidarity Association (NSA) and later formed the Fourth Dimension Nigeria which was a movement to mobilise the minorities to aspire to the office of the president. The non-partisan groups metamorphosed into the United Nigeria Democratic Party and later United Nigeria People Party. All Peoples Party APP was the major challenger to PDP and a merger was caused between APP and UNPP to form All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to contest the 2003 general election.

He became the chairman of the Board of Trustees of ANPP and tried to galvanise the party into a potent opposition with close affiliation with grassroots politics but his political realism clashed with that of political realist who wanted power at all cost which was a major catharsis in his political adventure.

Reflecting on some of his life politics, Admiral Aikhomu once said, “all of us joined hands together in the interest of the state, little did I know that the people I was dealing with have no such ideas. Their ideas were different from mine, their ideas were to usurp, to mismanage and to be power drunk. I have be in power at the highest level and I don’t want to be power drunk I fought the civil war to keep the country together I had a distinguished career in the military. As a public servant, I am in a position to judge what is right and what is wrong. We are now in a democratic era, what the PDP government is doing is wrong. I am not afraid of my past”.

In his reflection of life, he said ”yes a lot of things have happened to me as an individual things that are painful but since I know that I joined other right thinking Nigerians, to do the right thing, to make sure that the government of the day comes up with policies that will be in the best interest of this country, I am never afraid”

In his tribute to the departed seaman, President Jonathan stated was a patriot who dedicated his life to the service of Nigeria in the Navy, and contributed immensely to the political development of Nigeria.  “Admiral Aikhomu’s life was defined by the values of hard work and commitment; he was a conscientious and dutiful officer who was in all respects admirably equipped for his roles in the military and in the larger society”, the President added.

“Even in retirement, Admiral Aikhomu continued to offer his services to Nigeria. He said the death marks the sad loss of an experienced, committed and  dedicated Nigerian, at a time when the country still needs his wisdom and  knowledge and contributions as a statesman”, he stated. The President expressed his personal condolence and that of the Federal Government of Nigeria to the family, and prayed that God would grant them comfort and consolation to bear this irreparable loss. What else can we say to departed seaman but he was a man of resolve and principle, rest in peace.