By David-Chyddy Eleke
N/B: The piece below was written on the day Ubah’s death was announced, but I couldn’t post it after reading myself referring to him in the past. Now that this has become reality, we just have to grapple with it.
The death that snatched Distinguished Senator Ifeanyi Ubah unceremoniously went away with just him, but it surely diminished the shine of many, and went away with the destiny, aspiration and livelihood of a multitude. He was a man who many depended on in several ways including politics, education, career and more. I had a few stints with him and can be sure of this.
I first met Ifeanyi Ubah in 2011, when he invited a committee of the Anambra Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to Lagos.
I was part of the committee that had planned and executed the press week of that year, and we had awarded Ubah as man of the year. We also nominated a septuagenarian newspaper vendor who plied his trade in Awka then. The old man dedicatedly pounds the streets of Awka, even thought at snail speed to deliver newspapers to offices and also sells at various roundabouts. He was unmarried and had no children.
On the day of the event, Ubah who was also an awardee immediately donated a million naira to newspaper vendor, insisting those were the kind of people that deserved awards, and also called on other well to do individuals in the hall to donate to him. At the end of the event, the man made several millions in one day. That is what knowing Ubah can do for a man.
There were two things I came to know about Ubah; philanthropy and knack for excellence. When he gave, he never looked back, and once he seeks something, he goes for the very best.
We visited Ubah in Lagos after the event and spent four days doing nothing except shopping, strolling around Lagos at day and coming to his Apapa office in the evening to chat with him and later retire to our hotel to eat and drink.
He made sure we were very comfortable throughout our stay. He enjoyed the very best of everything, and didn’t shy away from letting others do same.
When he learnt we were staying at Le Caliza Hotel at Liverpool Junction in Apapa instead of Golden Tulip Hotel, where he had instructed, he was livid, but we assured him we were okay in the hotel.
On the day we left Lagos, he surveyed our union’s bus and decided we can’t go back in it. He felt the bus didn’t look healthy, so he called Arik Air to bring a bus to his office to pick us to the airport.
Ubah later became a household name when he joined politics and that made me meet him repeatedly when he called for press briefings and conferences.
He was very approachable, and was one man who liked listening to other people’s opinion about everything.
I once wrote a story about him and his sour deal with AMCON, and he was so livid. He called and scolded me. We argued about it for a while and he promised to grant me an interview to put the matter straight.
I met him at the airport once, and he reminded me that we haven’t had our interview. I told him I had called severally and given up, but he promised to call any weekend he was in Anambra.
One Saturday, he called and asked if I could come to Nnewi? When I arrived, he said our meeting can’t hold any longer because of an emergency. I made to leave, but he offered me food but I rejected. He asked his aide put me in a hotel close to his house so we can talk the next day, I also declined. He asked to give me money for fueltoo, but I told him since we are meeting tomorrow, we can leave everything until then.
The next day at exactly the same time he gave me, I showed up in his house. One bad habit he had was keeping to time, but maybe I impressed him by coming at the exact time, and when he saw me, he immediately took me inside his house.
A formal interview never held anyway, despite my long stay, but I used our conversation to do him a story, which he liked. While we chatted, his phones kept ringing. In one call he will speak politics, in another he will speak business, in another he will talk about the tracking of a barge on the high sea. He received several other calls from people who had one problem or the other. I thought briefly about his life and confessed to him that I wouldn’t like to be like him. I told him he had far too much headache than I will want to deal with. He told me his blood pressure was as normal as that of a child, and even challenged me to a BP contest.
In February this year, I saw three missed calls from him, and a message saying “David, please call me now”. I did, and he said he needed to meet journalists. I later formed a media team to work with for his governorship project
The day we held our first meeting, I was surprised when he told my colleagues that I once surprised him by rejecting his offers. He spoke about how he had been reading me, and how I was a diligent journalist. I felt so flattered.
From then on, I worked closely with him until his very death. He would send me materials by Whatsapp and say; “David please make this to go viral, send account details.”
Most times, I will work on the material, circulate it widely and he will say to me; “you have not sent details. I will embark on a long flight soon. Send now.” You can never know Ifeanyi Ubah without reaping the benefit of knowing him, and I can say I did, even though it was short-lived.
He was a workaholic, and a man of few words especially when he interacted on phone. His calls were mostly on WhatsApp. “Tell your team to come on Friday for a tour,” he would say over the phone. Despite his bulk, he will tour everywhere with so much energy until everyone in the team will begin to beg to stop.
The death of Ubah is one too many, and in a long while he will stand remembered by those whose lives he touched. He loved his town Nnewi so dearly, and loved her people even more. You cannot speak with him without him mentioning his plans for Nnewi or Anambra.
He also loved Anambra so much and had great plans for the state. When he spoke about his governorship aspiration, he would ask for pen and paper, and will draw out practical plans about how he intended to achieve anything he promised.
One day he took us on a tour to show his preparation for the governorship contest coming up next year. After a long tour, we ended up in what he called his security room.
From that room, everything about the entire Nnewi could be seen. One of our colleagues who stood by the corner of the road to pee was surprised when the senator called up happenings in a street in Nnewi where we had visited earlier, and a video showed him peeing by the road side.
Ubah said to us: “This is the secret of the security in Nnewi. We can do it in the entire Anambra, but if they don’t want us to fix this state, then we will leave them.”
I sincerely think that Nnewi, Anambra and Nigeria have lost a great man. His footprint will remain on the sands of time for a very long time.
This man didn’t look to me like someone who planned to die soon. Three day before his death, he sent me a message commending Tinubu for the passage of the South East Development Commission bill, and as usual, he asked me to make it go viral. It should the same day he traveled abroad, and never returned.
If you join him on a tour to his his major projects in Nnewi, you will think he planned to live forever. Is it his Nnewi Height building? Is it his plan for a CNN-like TV station, is it the West African Championship League which he planned, is it his plan to wire the entire Anambra via camera for security, is it the techniques he planned to deploy to win the governorship?
He had just too many plans, but death happened.
Last Saturday evening, I joined others for a night of tribute organized by media practitioners in his honour, and it dawned on me that he has truly gone. I was moved to tears when many testified to his contributions in their lives, but one needs to be consoled that God ultimately directs happenings in the world from his supreme throne.
Very ebullient, very fearless, never discriminating against any one; so long as you have the qualities and services he desired. He was not a perfect man, but his good sides thoroughly outweighed his flaws. May God comfort those he left behind and grant his soul a peaceful rest.
