Remarks by Obi Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, Obi of Onitsha (Agbogidi), at the First Anniversary Memorial Activities for Late Senator Emeka Patrick Echeruo

Owerri, Saturday, 12 July 2003.
Protocols, Protocols

We are here today to pay tribute to, and honour a great man, Senator (Ambassador) Emeka Patrick Echeruo. Emeka was much admired during his lifetime and eulogized on his translation to join the Saints above. On this first anniversary of that event our purpose is to put a framework in place to enable his memory remain with us eternally.

I believe most of us here today remember Emeka, or Patrick or Echeruo P. (as he was designated in school) as a politician and statesman. But there are some, and I count myself in that number, who knew him, respected him, appreciated him and extolled him purely and simply as a fine human being.

Echeruo P. was my senior at Government Secondary School, here in Owerri. In those days, there was a strong culture of looking up to our seniors and he was a personal role model for me, and many more, who were his juniors. He equally earned open respect from his seniors, a not too frequent situation in those days.

Before all that, was his father, His Royal Highness, Eze J.M. Echeruo, who was my foundation master in Class One. Eze Echeruo left an indelible imprint on all of us at GSSO of the benefits of labour, of self-respect, and of a positive and transparent attitude to life. He was ever well groomed and impeccably dressed, reflecting externally the inner cleanliness of his heart and mind. His bearing was ever dignified, yet he was very approachable and compassionate.

Eze Echeruo taught us the distinct difference between getting an education and passing our examinations, which was totally incidental to the former. Fortunately, most of us learnt enough to get a good education, whilst incidentally also passing our examinations under him and his colleagues at the old school. We thank God for his qualities, which manifested in his children in enormous proportions.

Those were the qualities that Emeka portrayed in all he did or tried to do in his lifetime. In particular, those were the qualities he took into the political sphere – vision, humanism, hard work, fair-mindedness, sense of compromise, interpersonal skills, humour and, above all, sheer dedication to the common cause.
I am not a politician but politics affects the life of all of us. Politics is the business of the governance of the polity. It involves a commitment to the advancement of the common cause through governance. But it is not only politicians that have a duty to advance the common cause – all of us in the society share that responsibility in whatever we do.
On an occasion like this, it apt to ask how we are doing in the advancement of the common cause for the greater good of the society – what Emeka dedicated his life to. Unfortunately, I altered the thrust of my comments overnight following the saga that erupted two days ago in my home state, Anambra. As Traditional Ruler, I should never be misunderstood and, I hope, misquoted.
Nevertheless, I should share one lingering concern. It is that we as a nation seem to be replacing the era of domination by the gun (military) to that of domination by money or sheer material wealth. The situation appears to pervade the entire nation, though to varying degrees. And I keep wondering where service to the nation and optimizing the common good fit in that enterprise. Here are few examples:

• Consider the vast sums that were expended on the recent elections. In the hierarchy of needs in our society, could we have been better off applying much of that money for other purposes?
• Has the ongoing saga in Anambra State anything to do with the deliverance of good governance to the already traumatized people of the state?
• Consider that we let our local institutions decay and die while we resort to imports at great expense, for instance, in education, medical care, power generation, manufacturing (petroleum, sugar, e.t.c). Such monies exported overseas, if effectively applied locally, are probably more than sufficient to put our own institutions on firm footing to serve the greater good.

•  Other than Lagos, the businessmen and traders in Onitsha probably generate more money on a daily basis than any other city in the country. Yet, the town is foreboding, filthy, undisciplined, overbuilt, and insecure because everyone cares only for their pocket and no one, not even the local government councils, bothers about the general well being of the town.
• Even our churches and traditional institutions are not immune to the display of wealth as an accessory to influence and power.

We can go on ad infinitum but my concern boils down to the following: the apparent enthronement of material wealth as an end rather than as a means for up-lifting our lives; the monetisation of our norms and values; and the emergence of financial emperors and barons, who seek to capture all institutions of the society as private properties. The impression thus is that we are reverting to the dark ages that the rest of the world deserted centuries ago.Which brings me back to why we are here today – to honour one of us who saw the light and dared to do something about his vision. Each of us must have his or her feeling for associating with Emeka. For me, I would like to associate him with the urgent need to reassess our values, norms and priorities; to review our educational, social and political systems; to reshape our public policy frameworks; and to give due attention to civic training and awareness starting from the those who aspire to lead down to the rest of the society.

In this context, we cannot sufficiently thank the Echeruo family for conceiving this idea of an International Centre for Public Policy and Diplomacy. There is indeed no better way to remember Emeka than that. The aims and objectives are comprehensive and well articulated. I therefore need not dilate further. Our duty is to give unalloyed support in our thoughts, words and deeds for the actualization of the concept. I trust that the wonderful spirit and qualities of the Echeruo family, with our support and prayers, will make this Centre a truly perpetual memorial to our dear departed husband, father, son, brother, colleague, bosom friend and soul mate, and a very fine human being.

Thank you all.