The Ikeji 2021 edition of the forerunner is solely dedicated to Barr Ndy Nwankwo who was buried in the last week of July. This has been my style of honoring and crediting pioneers that closely associated with this medium which I was privileged to found and served as publisher/editor-in-chief about 25 years ago. The sacrifices of persons such as Barr Ndy Nwankwo earned us the enviable brand we have today. The demise of this elegant son of the kingdom who played significant roles via incisive articles at inception is, one loss, too many, and his contributions shall never be in vain. As a mark of respect therefore, this column is dedicated in memory of his enviable efforts for the cause of knowledge and mass communication.
Just imagine a battle cry without a general in sight! On whose shoulders will the weight lay in the absence of the great warrior? While ruminating over the sudden demise of the foremost community activist, Barrister Ndionyenma Nwankwo (Ndy, for short) the above thoughts crossed my mind severally and it dawned on me that the community, in fact, the nation, has suffered a major loss. The members of the legal profession has, no doubt, lost one of their most visible, charismatic and committed practitioners. And the political class has lost a major activist known for vigorous and unrelenting pursuit of any cause he believed strongly in. Arochukwu kingdom, yet to recover from the litany of sudden departure of some of its best brains, has to; once again, gird itself to quickly come to terms with the major and heartbreaking news of the exit of one of the frontline purveyors of its culture and civilization. Ndy Nwankwo clearly meant so many things to so many people and he was one person people will meet without failing to leave with an unambiguous impression about his strong personality. Ever witty, whether during a casual conversation or a formal argument, nature endowed him with some rare qualities that enabled him to easily make robust and remarkable impact in any circle or group he was affiliated. Accordingly, and quite expectedly, his sudden exit has thrown the immediate family, relations, professional colleagues, friends and the entire community into a moment of sadness. We are sad but not unmindful of the fact that time and season are for God to determine, and only Him (God) knows what constitutes the ‘fullness of time’.
As many would expect, I had a very robust relationship with Barr Ndy Nwankwo and a long-standing interaction with him since 1998 when the first edition of Aro News newspaper which I founded a year earlier was published. Ndy deserves a special credit for the role he played during the formative years of the medium. Aside from his usual encouragement which was a strong sustaining factor for me, he was a regular contributor and actually wrote some of the incisive articles that made us popular amongst the reading public. Although he was never a columnist, Ndy through his contributions was more regular than some columnists. Aro News celebrated 20th anniversary over three years ago, and is now a brand and an institution comprising of Aro News Newspaper, Aro Newsonline and Aro News Book Series with three titles: Perspectives on Aro History and Civilization: The Splendor of a Great Past, Vols. 1, 2 & 3. Barr Ndy’s articles were published in the first volume of the book series in 2001 which is available in Amazon, Barns & Nobles and other online book stores. Accordingly, he shall forever be immortalized and his works shall remain a credit and a memorial as they exist in bibliographical databases globally. His articles in that volume include: The Autonomous Community Blues and Age Grade System in Arochukwu: Role and Relevance in Changing Times. To give us a little glimpse of his deep intellectual prowess and his commitment to the unity of Arochukwu kingdom, let me avail us excerpts from his views when the thorny question of autonomous community threatened to tear the kingdom apart. Vintage Ndy, hear him:
“That some people want another Autonomous Community for themselves out of the present Arochukwu Kingdom is no longer a secret. What is debatable however, is why such people are seeking for another autonomous community out of the existing one. Some have suggested that it is wanted by some self seekers who want a Kingdom of their own where they can reign supreme. While some other individuals say it would bring more development into Arochukwu. But between these two groups lies the truth for none of the positions is entirely correct. The truth is that the proponents of this autonomous community project are seeking for an opportunity to spite the Eze Aro. It is their intention to whittle down his influence and reduce his domain. This is certainly not an altruistic fight, it is that of ego. If you look at the personalities behind this project, the genesis and especially of the recent crisis, you will understand the true frame of the mind of those advocating for it”.- Ndionyenma Nwankwo.
Given his huge contributions that sustained the intellectual tone of Aro News, obviously one of its many distinguishing characteristics, as well as the very cordial relationship we maintained, many people expressed surprise when he founded Omu Aro newspaper about two years to when Aro News was to mark a decade of existence. Indeed, they became more surprised when Aro News carried a major news story gladly welcoming Omu Aro and Aro Ambassador, a publication by late Mazi Law Ukwu that debuted same period thus: “Community newspapering enjoyed special vibrancy at Arochukwu last Xmas season following the debut of the Ambassador Magazine and Omu Aro Newspaper. The appearance of both publications has, no doubt, reasonably improved the quantity of literary materials available to readers in Aro hence; their arrival was greeted with joy … The OmuAro Newspaper came with a mission of unifying the Aro nation for a better tomorrow. The management board is led by Ndionyenma Nwankwo with Onyema Harbor, erstwhile editor of the defunct Oke igbo News as Editor-In-Chief. There are also numerous Professors and other men of letters including production and marketing staff in the esteemed management board of the medium…. Indeed, Aros have seen and equally lost count of publications that appeared at newsstands but immediately fizzled out. Those that existed longer were seriously infested by epileptic outing that readers almost forgot them or just lost interest. The ugly situation was also not helped by the unwillingness of many Aro business class to support the publishers with advertisement patronage. Aro therefore, wish that the two latest additions would strive to improve the media landscape of Arochukwu and, possibly make a difference”.
However, what those people did not know was that we had a ‘brotherly discussion’ when the tone of his articles sounded too political for our editorial policy and seeing that my team were still active public servants, he clearly understood but took a decision to work towards creating a medium that would give him unfettered access to publish anything he believes to be printable. Accordingly, Omu Aro was conceived and delivered and we welcomed its arrival joyfully because, as we reasoned, the more we have the merrier for the audience. Perhaps, it worked out very well for us because we shared common attributes of being intellectually inclined, plus community-orientation with a common belief in the legacy of greater posterity of Arochukwu kingdom. Obviously, his demise, as we can see from our joint efforts at serving Arochukwu kingdom via community newspapering, amongst other roles, is a personal loss to me. I can also imagine how poorer his sudden exit has left his immediate family, relations, colleagues, friends, umuaro in general and his allies across the country. I can testify that Ndy was a good man with a good heart, but probably not well understood by many. He was an intellectual giant, calm and calculated. He was forthright and forward looking, bold and courageous. Indeed, he was soft spoken and believed in God’s given ability to live a quintessential simple life. As we mourn his painful loss, we shall take solace in the fact that he creditably acquitted himself and left indelible footprints on the sands of time. May God grant his gentle soul a space in paradise. Adieu Ndy guy, my man.
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