Tomorrow, October 21, 2023, the curtain will finally fall for one of Nigeria’s finest as he is laid to rest in his hometown, Amaokwe Item, in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. He was an icon, an achiever, a great inspiration to many, a teacher, a legal luminary, a colossus, a great mind, a deep thinker, an insurance guru, a technocrat and a thoroughbred professional who distinguished himself in all spheres of human endeavour.
Yes, Professor Joseph Ogbonnaya Irukwu, the man fondly called Dee Ogbo, needs no introduction. His name and achievements precede him. In life, he was quintessential. In death, he is evergreen and unforgettable. When the obituary of this Nigerian patriot was announced in July, I could not help but remember with nostalgia memorable encounters with him. They were encounters where principles and lessons in conduct and large-heartedness were learnt, encounters most cherished, encounters which are indelible.
Some years ago, when The Sun nominated Prof. Irukwu to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in the newspaper’s The Sun Awards series, in recognition of his accomplishments over the years, I was given the assignment by my company to lead a delegation that would visit him and present the award nomination letter. It was a trying and difficult time when there was a somewhat sour relationship between him and the newspaper. The dilemma was whether Prof. Irukwu would agree to receive the award or refuse to be associated with The Sun. Knowing the situation on ground then, my bosses gave me the monkey to carry and required good result, however I would achieve it. I saw myself as a lamb for sacrifice on the altar of my elder brother and father.
After much reflection and planning on how I would approach the assignment, I called Prof. Irukwu on phone. He took my call and we started speaking Item dialect straight away. Give it to him, even though Prof. Irukwu spoke impeccable English, he was fluent in Item dialect (what we call “akpala Item”) and Igbo language. I told him I wanted to meet with him at the earliest possible time. Without hesitation, he gave me an appointment in his office on Victoria Island, Lagos.
On the D-day, I arrived his office ahead of the appointed time with my colleagues. Prof. Irukwu was around, concluding a meeting scheduled before ours. When it was our turn, he received us warmly. We spoke Item dialect, discussing my job, the family and Nigeria. When it was time for business, I switched to English, to make it formal and for the benefit of my colleagues who were not Igbo. I told Prof. Irukwu why we visited. As I talked about the award and the reasons we chose him for it, I observed his countenance. I suspected that he would be asking in his mind: “Nwannem nta (my younger brother) Onuoha, is it you that they sent to break the ice?” He listened attentively and said nothing until I finished my presentation.
In responding to my submission, Prof. Irukwu stated that although the newspaper was not fair to him in some reportage, he would think about our nomination for the award, consult with his family and associates and revert to us. I suspected that he may be wondering how a newspaper, which gave him scathing criticism at a time, would acknowledge his pedigree and offer him an award. As we were leaving, he gave me a gift of one of the books he authored. He told me to find time and read it and to always keep in touch. A few days thereafter, The Sun received a letter from him accepting the award without prejudice.
I also remember my chance meeting with Prof. Irukwu at the Lagos Airport. He was travelling to Enugu that day, a time he was serving as Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General Worldwide, and I was travelling to Abuja. As our flights were delayed, we had time to talk about his presidentship of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze, the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration and politics generally. I took him up on the allegation that he was mild in confronting the government of Obasanjo, when many expected bitter criticism and belligerence.
Prof. Irukwu laughed uncontrollably before taking time to educate me. He said that those who felt that force and hard talk should be a winning tactics for Ohanaeze Ndigbo against the government missed the point. According to him, results are achieved without war, insisting that the Igbo were getting their due from the Obasanjo government. He reckoned that, going by the prominent positions the Igbo occupied in the Obasanjo government at that time, nobody could say that they were losing out. He looked me pointedly in the eye and asked if the Igbo could be said to have lost out in a government where Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili, Dora Akunyili and others were holding key positions. In conclusion, he said that pragmatism and constructive engagement were result-oriented tactics than too much noise that produces no result.
Prof. Irukwu was practical in his approach to things, deep in his thinking and insightful in his calculation. He towered in many spheres of human endeavour and set great records. In the insurance industry, he was a colossus whose footprints remain indelible. He would be remembered for the founding of the Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, a government company established to bridge the gap in the global reinsurance business as it concerned Nigerian insurance firms. Until then, Nigerian insurance companies could only do reinsurance deals using foreign insurance firms. The founding of Nigeria Reinsurance broke the jinx, with Prof. Irukwu as the pioneer chief executive officer. Before the Nigeria Reinsurance breakthrough, Irukwu had worked with West African Provincial Insurance Company and Unity Life and Fire Insurance. The puzzle is that he came into the insurance industry as a legal adviser and migrated to the mainstream, establishing himself as a renowned risk manager and an icon in corporate governance.
Irukwu was well schooled, obtaining a Law degree from a British university, holding an MBA as well as PhD and was versatile in knowledge. He was an intellectual octopus, imparting knowledge as an academic, with the record of being the first Nigerian professor of Insurance and Insurance Law. He stood tall in the intellectual world, not only teaching, training and mentoring professionals, but also writing books that have contributed much to scholarship.
As a versatile author, his offerings were profound and diverse. He wrote books in the areas of insurance, law, politics, governance and development. His works are a must-read, including: Reinsurance in the Third World; Insurance Law in Africa: Cases, Statutes and Principles; Insurance Law and Practice Insurance Management in Africa; Nigeria at a Crossroad, the State, the Individual and Insurance; Accident and Motor Insurance in Africa; Nigeria: The Case for a Better Society; You and Insurance, Basic Facts about Insurance; Risk Management in Developing Countries; The Challenge to Nigeria: The Last Chance, Nation Building and Ethnic Organisation, as well as International Encyclopaedia of Law: Monograph on Insurance Laws in Nigeria. He was a great writer whose thoughts are not only convincing but also have intense power.
The fact that Irukwu was not politically exposed was a plus to him. He resisted the lure of partisan politics during the First Republic and thereafter, but became a statesman who used his knowledge, connections and goodwill for national development. Despite leading an ethno-cultural organisation like Ohanaeze Ndigbo at a time when ethnocentrism was getting entrenched in the country, he was a detribalised Nigerian who worked with like minds for the socio-economic and political development of a beleaguered country. His involvement in efforts for a better Nigeria, getting involved in discussions and programmes that gave unity and peaceful coexistence root, stood him out.
Nigerians would ever remember Prof. Irukwu’s contributions at the National Political Reforms Conference in 2005. He led the South East and Igbo delegates to the conference but eventually became the chairman of the Harmonising Leaders and Elders Committee of the conference, a thing that showed how acceptable he was among Nigerians from across ethnic divides and how people trusted his judgment.
As Prof. Irukwu is buried, the world knows that he acquitted himself well as a human being. He was a family man, a good community leader, a nationalist and a patriot, whose life was a study in humility, whose conduct was worthy of emulation and whose accomplishments resonate in Nigeria and beyond. He played his role well enough. He kept the faith. And he is going home in a blaze of glory.
Prof. Irukwu merits veneration. He deserves to be immortalised. The government of Abia State and indeed the Federal Government should name a state or/and national monument or institution after him. He was an iroko, who, though dead, stands tall. He will live forever in our hearts.
Adieu, Dee Ogbo!