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By Percy Owaiye
It is often said that you do not know what you have until you lose it. With Michael it was different. Michael filled the room, his presence loomed large. He was suave, urbane, mercurial, cultured, measured, kind, deep. Michael was the epitome of order, serenity and peace. He was a sound mind in a sound body. You needed to experience Michael to know him. And even then, do not be too sure, for he was a man and a half.
The things that set Michael apart are many; the things that motivate him are not tour every day run-of-the-mill. He was a man of very distinct tastes and with a global outlook. He always saw the good in people, and was always willing to render a helping hand. He was my ultimate mentor and friend. I miss you great soul!
Our meeting was fortuitous. Paul Odili, then Assistant Politics Editor at the Vanguard newspapers asked me, as he was won’t to do, if I would be interested in attending some Anyiam-Osigwe event. It was the first time I was hearing the name, but my ready answer was, yes. It turned out that Oji Onoko, was their media repertoire, and it was him who welcomed me to the Anyiam-Osigwe home. In no time, I was face to face with Michael in a pre-event interview of the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation of which he was Coordinator General in one of his siblings’ apartments in their imposing and uncommon abode. That chance meeting was to set the tone for our relationship.
When you meet one of the Anyiam-Osigwe siblings, you probably have met the rest. They all come from the same school, same grounding and obviously, same tree. It wouldn’t take even a first time visitor to their home, any more time to notice this. Their choices and the way the generations of the Anyiam-Osigwes living together in communal harmony and interact amongst themselves is different and a delight to watch. All of this must be coming from somewhere, you tell yourself.
I didn’t meet the patriarch of the family, Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe (Michael told me their father taught them the value of the full name) during his earthly journey, but I felt like I knew him, knowing Michael. And honestly, you could say the same for any of the Anyiam-Osigwe siblings. For the patriarch was an avatar, deep thinker, a path finder and an achiever of great renown.
It was under the auspices of the Foundation set up in his memory that I met world leaders, Shimon Perez, Helmut kohl, De Lamar, Tipper Gore, Cherie Blair, name them, all ventilating world affairs and postulating solutions and viable alternatives to them. The Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation Lectures are cutting edge, agenda setting and simply, exhilarating. They are a breath of fresh air.
It was through their auspices that the patriarch pushed his ideas, and Michael was his mouth piece. Even now, considering the challenges our efforts at self governance face, you wonder if their job is done. But the avatar left us with the Mission for Democracy in Africa. His idea was to take this system of government to the nooks and crannies, to the ordinary people in their ordinary settings and evangelize them, the same way the Christian missionaries did in the past to see and then imbibe the good in the preferred system of government. The mission, on paper, may look simplistic. But in it, probably lies the answer to our present predicament. For now, we do not seem to know where we are headed. And even worse, we can’t find our way back. This is a terrible place to be. And for sure, we can’t hand this state of affairs to our future generations for whom we ought to live.
That would not be Michael’s mission now; it’s fully ours. He has gone to be with the saints triumphant. Heaven is his home. During his time here on this plane with us, I used to tease him that he was the richest of his siblings. Michael is blessed with five adorable daughters and his devote wife, who I call, Aunty Kittee. No doubt, when the sad event of that November afternoon happened ten years ago, she may have thought like JFK’s widow in the immediate aftermath of the husband’s dastardly assassination, that her life was over. But no, Michael lives on through the children. And we all who had the privilege of knowing him are consoled.
Even though we would change this mortal body for the imperishable, I know that on resurrection morning I would be able somehow to point to Michael’s mansion in his father’s house. It’s God’s promise to us. And I believe it with my whole heart.
