SIR: The month of October will certainly go down in the annals of history as when heaven gained at the expense of Edo State.
First, it was Nigeria’s foremost Professor of Political Science; someone who combined the finest principles of politics with its volatile practices in the management of Nigeria’s public affairs.
Prof. Omo Omoruyi as a scholar sympathized with late Mallam Aminu Kano’s NEPU and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s NCNC in the first republic.
As a politician in the second republic, he pitched his tent with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Nigerian People Party (NPP) and became its gubernatorial candidate for Bendel State in 1983. NPP was a welfarist party, which was in line with Prof. Omoruyi’s inclinations.
Thereafter, Prof. Omoruyi did not fully return to partisan politics as he was appointed Director of the Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS) under the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s Transition Programme, in the build-up to the 1993 presidential elections.
In the twilight of this national assignment, Prof. Omoruyi suffered a ghastly and near fatal attack which, on hindsight, can be said to be the remote cause of the ailment that crept into his ebullient and buoyant health, which eventually led to his death.
Even with his ill health, Prof. Omoruyi continued to bother about his Edo people and the Nigerians state. In his many publications, writings and interviews, he pre-occupied himself with the progress and stability of Nigeria, and the advancement of democracy. He was a consistent advocate and two-party system as a vehicle for national unity. Yet he remained an unrepentant Bini man, carrying aloft our revered tradition and culture together with his academic scholarship and political activism.
He will be missed by everyone especially his elitist club of Nigerian Political Science Association, his populist class of Nigerian politicians, his enviable group of prolific writers, his respected Bini people and his beloved family.
The dust raised by the death of Prof. Omoruyi had not settled when the news of the passage of Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe reached me. I have followed Mike’s career both in the military where he rose to become an Admiral and Chief of Naval Staff, as well as in public office where he served not only as military governor but also as number two citizen of our country. But perhaps we became much closer after he left office and joined politics. As a member and leader of the People Democratic Party, he was a trusted ally, dependable friend and worthy compatriot.
Although he was a key player in the volatile field of politics, his Spartan military training and discipline defined his thoughts and patterned his actions. Thus, it was not difficult for me to tell where Akhigbe’s loyalty mostly lied between his earlier military profession and his latter political vocation. However, his loyalty to his profession did not subtract from him, the love for his people of Etsako and Edo State, for whom he was very passionate.
That Admiral Akhigbe believed much in the rule of law, civility and democratic ethics was underscored not just by his conduct in office but also by his decision to study law after leaving office. His desire to further exercise this belief as a civilian and extend it to the larger society led to his aspiration to lead Nigeria as a civilian President, which office he vied for. It must be recalled that he was the second in command in Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar’s regime that gave birth to the current civilian government. Therefore, the success of our present democratic dispensation will be to the eternal glory of his memory.
At 68, Mike died two years shy of the biblical three scores and 10. But his activities within those speedy years are worth many generations. When combined with the enormous accomplishments of Prof. Omoruyi, the contributions of these two foremost Edo sons become legendary. That is why I agree with the English man, James Bailey, when he wrote in 1902 that:
“We live in deeds, not in years;
In thoughts, not in breaths;
In feelings, not in figures…
He most lives who thinks most,
Feels the noblest and acts the best”
Prof. Omoruyi, the great patriot and nationalist, and Admiral Akhigbe, GCON, mni, our gentle General and leader, will in death continue to think, feel and act for their people, state, country and humanity, through the legacies they left behind.
I send my heartfelt condolence to their immediate families, to the Bini and Etsako communities, to the Government and good people of Edo State and Nigeria, and to all persons who their selfless services touched in diverse ways.
•Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia.
Benin City
