AS political hawks of Nigeria hover about and around in their bid to grab power to, perhaps, enable them as usual, to loot the nation’s wealth rather than serve the interest of the people, anyone who grew up during the struggle for independence, is bound to lament over what has been happening in the country for a long time now.

In particular such a person is bound to be deeply touched by the news of the death of Chief Chukwuma Anueyiagu, a unique nationalist, who contributed selflessly and immensely to the struggle for Nigeria’s independence.

I remember the late Anueyiagu as the editor of The Nigerian Spokesman, one of

the Zik Group of Newspapers then published at Onitsha with the motto: That

Man Shall Not Be A Wolf To Man. I still remember vividly his advertisement for

news that reads: If A Dog Bites A Man, It Is No News, But If A Man Bites A Dog, Then It Is News. If Anything Newsworthy Happens In Your Community, Take Up Your Pen And Write To The Nigerian Spokesman.

I also remember that he preached the 5 planks of ZIKISM on the pages of the

newspaper to wit – (1)SPIRITUAL BALANCE, by which is meant   respect for

the opinion of others; (2) SOCIAL REGENERATION,   which meant the jettisoning of all forms of prejudice, be they racial, national, tribal, societal, religious, political, economic or ethical; the realisation that an African is an African no matter where he was born; (3) ECONOMIC DETERMINISM, which taught the realisation that economic self-sufficiency on a sane basis is the ultimate

means to the salvation of the Renascent African; (4) MENTAL EMANCIPATION, which states that the African must develop mentally as he is not intellectually inferior to other races, for mental slavery is worse than physical slavery; (5) NATIONAL RISORGIMENTO  which assured that if the Renascent African cultivated spiritual balance, experienced social regeneration, realized economic determinism, and created a condition whereby he is mentally emancipated to appreciate his manifest destiny in the world, then he would expect national risorgimento.

This political education, first mounted by Nnamdi Azikiwe in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) as Editor of the African Morning Post newspaper in 1934, influenced and inspired such African nationalists as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana; Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo of Zimbabwe; Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia; Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi; Jomo Kenyatta and Tom Mboya of Kenya to fight for independence. In Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe could not have preached this gospel alone successfully. Just as the Christian Churches employed the services of Catechists to propagate the gospel message, so did Zik establish newspapers and employed good and devoted editors to propagate the campaign against British imperialism in Nigeria. Chief Chukwuma

Anueyiagu was one of the most erudite of such editors who carried out his own campaign with such zeal that beggared description. So efficient was he that served as editor of virtually all newspapers in the Zik Group. In this connection, he served as editor of THE COMET, EASTERN NIGERIA GUARDIAN etc.

But most important of all, he served for six clear years as Editor-in-Chief of the West African Pilot, the premier and most important newspaper of the group. The motto of West African Pilot was SHOW THE LIGHT AND THE PEOPLE WILL FIND THE WAY.

Chief Chukwuma Anueyiagu’s editorials

were so fiery that the British authorities in Nigeria saw them as seditious and sent him to prison for sedition several times. A man of principle, who always had the courage of his conviction, he could not be

intimidated by the British imperialist.

Anueyiagu saw his many imprisonments as a welcome price to pay for the struggle for Nigeria’s independence because, like James Rossell Lowell (1819 -91), he strongly believed that: “They are slaves who fear to speak. For the fallen and the weak; they are slaves who will not choose

hatred, scoffing and abuse, rather than in silence shrink, from the truth they needs must think; they are slaves who dare not be in the right with two or three.”

One had expected that after independence the government of Nigeria would have recognized and honoured Chief Chukwuma Anueyiagu and others who performed as political foot soldiers during the struggle for independence (Mokwugo Okoye, Raji Abdalah, Osita Agwuna to mention only a few). But those in power after independence preferred to honour such persons as were described by nationalists during colonial times as Uncle Toms, political lackeys and fifth columnists.

However, God honoured him with longevity as Anueyiagu died at the age of 100 years in a country where life expectancy is below 50 years, thus beating life expectancy in Nigeria by plurality.

A devout Christian, Anueyiagu could not be bothered about the mundane things of this world. Indeed, he was  “a full grown man unto the measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. Iv. 13). And his Christian principles must have influenced his nationalistic struggles for the liberation of Nigeria because Christianity is about the protection of the weakest, not the survival of the fittest.

Today, as Nigerians continue to develop the penchant for forgetting the people of yesterday, they spend so much time and expend so much energy singing the praise of the people of today, even when they areunworthy of such praises. In the process, they build monuments to perpetuate the memory of those who have left no memory.

But the men of today must realise that they themselves would become the men of yesterday only tomorrow and that tomorrow is very much in sight. They would be wise to stop polishing pebbles and darkening diamonds, start giving honour to whom it is due and to learn that, “When the high heart we magnify, and the sure vision celebrate and worship greatness passing by, ourselves are great.”

Mr.Emmanuel Orji, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Awka , Anambra State.