By Macpherson C. Okpara
His carriage is a visible trait that sends subliminal signal of his great personality to anyone meeting him for the first time. He exudes an irresistible aura of prominence, charisma, poise, and healthy living, making it impossible for you not to recognize his presence and defer to him in any gathering! Humble, generous, and resilient in the face of life’s odds, he is gifted with overflowing wisdom and stands out as a remarkable definition of a colossus, an educationist, a selfless community leader, an embodiment of our customary and traditional mores; a peace advocate and bridge-builder, a progressive element, moralist and farmer. Profiling a living legend like High Chief Moses Aja Chima certainly requires a complete book. How do you present a hero with several faces in a few pages? Impossible!
It is my pleasure to pay tribute to a man of immense influence on my growth and development, a man of all-round achievement, an indispensable personality in the long and torturous journey of our community over the many decades he has been at the centre of our land’s unfolding. Chief M.A. Chima must be incontestably situated as a link between the old and the new order in Oshiri; his encyclopedic human figure carries the gem of Oshiri’s spiritual, educational, social, cultural, and political transformations.
Entering the cocoon of the colossus
How well do I know Chief M.A. Chima? I carry part of Amankalu blood in my veins; my grandmother was from Ibe Agu Nwoke. One of my maternal aunts was married to Ibe Ogudu. As a growing little child in the 1970s, through my grandfather, the great Obaji Ugbala; my mother, and my late Uncle Akputa Wobaji (onye owa) whose mother hailed from Amankalu, I often found myself in Amankalu, always passing through Chief Chima’s home to Umuogudu. I soon became a friend of the family and got hooked to Mr. Emmanuel Chima who was living in Ticha Obashi’s house, and later Professor Chima Njoku. Chief M.A. Chima was soon to be a father to me through my primary school years, even beyond. I was always visiting Ticha this, Ticha that; then Tichas were highly respected; the title ‘Mr.’ was reserved for Tichas: Mr. Uneke Obaji, Mr. Nwaloo, Mr. Ogudu, Mr. Ekpiri, and so on. May their souls continue to find eternal rest! Ever wondered why I ended up being a ticha!
Working under Chief Chima
I was later to become a government ticha at Oshiri Central School(Onu urani) in the early 1990s after I returned from Lagos. Chief M.A. Chima was the Headmaster then. What a coincidence? Chief Chima was already aware of my selfless educational services at Oshiri Commercial Secondary School, Ezelechi(Professor Nwankwo’s school); St! Michael’s College, Oshiri(under Rev. Fr. Ozofor); Oshiri Community Secondary School, Erikoro Ticha as a pioneer volunteer teaching staff; and Maryland Commercial College, Nkwoagu Isu as Principal(the proprietor came to Oshiri to poach me and gave me free accommodation in Isu and doubled the salary the commercial school in Oshiri was paying me). So, Chief Chima brought me closer to assist in running Oshiri Central School: he placed me in strategic classes(primary 3, then Primary 4 and later Primary 6 EF) all within a short period. He was soon to move me to Primary 6A/B, the very class housing his office. This made it possible for him to hand over the school privately to me any time he knew he would not be available to receive external supervisors; I would check all the teachers’ lesson notes and class attendance on his table and make remarks therein in readiness for the visiting Area Inspectors of Education. I was also the Discipline Master he used to check some kaikai drinking teachers in the school, like one Mr. O…
A benevolent spirit
In 1992/1993, I wrote JAMB and passed and got admission to read Law, but I had no money or sponsors and the fees were beyond me. When in 1993/1994 session I again got admission to the Abia State University, Uturu, to read Literature in English, Chief M.A. Chima(knowing I had no sponsor) continued to ensure that I was on the pay roll of the school for more than a year; the salary then was N1400, a huge sum! That was a huge way of assisting me! He was scared when I told him to allow Emma and Chima Njoku to resign from teaching and join me to go and hustle; he maintained that I had a brain that enabled me to surmount the rigors posed by my hearing defect and prayed for me before I left for Uturu. I am happy to note that my stubbornness influenced the two Chimas to eventually leave for the university. I remain grateful for Chief Chima’s role as a benevolent spirit to me.
Of trust and recompense
Interestingly, young Kelechi Aja Chima was later to enroll at the Abia State University International Secondary School and I was living off campus then, at Ukwunwangu, a walking distance from the school. Chief M.A. Chima so much trusted me that he handed over young Kelechi to me as my son. I soon became the link between him and the son; Kelechi would always move into my house anything there was students’ wahala leading to the closure of ABSU and the International Secondary School and before he left for holidays. Until today, my bond, spiritual and otherwise with Chief M.A. Chima and his family remain strong; his recognition of my mystic personality is beyond public discourse. This explains why he instructed the children to ensure I am available at the celebration of his 80th Birthday to day as one of the personalities to present goodwill messages!
His community services and incontestable place in the history of Oshiri
Beyond his rated family and private engagements, Chief Chima’s name is synonymous with the development of Oshiri! The history of the community cannot be complete without according him a prominent position in it. I boldly appropriate Thomas Carlyle’s conviction that: “History is the biography of great men”! Assess him using any parameters you wish, Chief M.A Chima is a great man! Rising from a lowly background as many other Oshirians of yore, Chief Chima carved an emulatable stool of doggedness in the pursuit of his goals on which he sits comfortably, a heritage that produced the total man we celebrate today. He is a renowned educationist who not only remarkably contributed to the building of educational institutions, but also taught, trained and influenced many people; he is a community thought leader known for truthfulness and perseverance; he is an impeccable peace-builder who has shouldered Oshiri internal and external matters for decades without flinching. Chief Chima towers above many of his contemporaries as a harbinger of guarded oral traditions of the community; he could be situated within the template oral bards and raconteurs, a blend of the illiterate and literate traditions of our extant mores. He is a fertile book whose contents we need to read and deconstruct and reconstruct our roots and utopian vision for our cherished land!
Epilogue
Today, in celebrating his 80th Birthday, I send this goodwill message to a man that has lived for others for decades! I pay sincere tribute to a resilient fellow who has defied the odds of living to emerge victorious and glowing when his contemporaries have either fallen or shrunk! I cower before a mentor and benevolent human who wears welcoming smiles like a garment and dishes out pieces of advice to the young and his fellow adults alike! I stand in awe at the sight of a man who has persistently exacted stabilizing force in our community for the greater part of his adult life! Here is a man the present generation of leaders should utilize his overflowing experience and relationships to build a greater Oshiri!
Happy 80th Birthday, Chief Moses Aja Chima!
Happy Birthday Multiple High Chief!
Happy Birthday, Ochiriozuo 1 of Oshiri!
Double Chief Macpherson Chikaodiri Okpara is Aka N’edere Oha 1 of Oshiri, he is also the Ugo Bere N’elu Oji 1 of EBSCOE, IKWO.
