Tribute to a Bosom Friend and Great Brother, Sir Emmanuel Chinwenwo Aguma, SAN, JP
Your full names were Emmanuel Chinwenwo Aguma. The name which most of your friends and I call you, was ‘Chief Agums’. Some who didn’t know you well, mistook you for a ‘Chief’, which you were not.
Chief Agums: The Attorney-General Chief Agums, you called me about six or seven weeks ago, to say that you had this excruciating back pain, and that you were travelling to the United Kingdom for medical check-up. In our usual way, we cracked our jokes (which in our local parlance, we refer to as “injakiri”). I prayed for you, and wished you speedy recovery. You however, assured me that you would be back very soon, because you had a lot on your table to clear. That was the quintessential, articulate, committed, focused and hardworking Chief Agums in you, talking. You were not given to betrayal, that word was alien to your dictionary.
You took your job as Attorney-General very seriously, to the admiration of His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, your Colleagues, friends, and even the opposition in the State. A great ‘Iroko’ tree, has fallen. I can imagine how His Excellency will be so devastated, losing a trusted hand like you. This is sad. I came into close contact with His Excellency, through you. There was no time you were going to the Government House and I was in Port Harcourt, that you didn’t insist that I accompany you to see His Excellency. That was how close and intimate we were. We were proud of each other, and our accomplishments, especially when both of us became Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
That Fateful Day Our paths crossed on that fateful day in 1978, when we went to Federal Government College (then Rumuola) in Port Harcourt to enrol for our Higher School Certificate. We immediately bonded, and have ever been like that up until that Black Friday, August 10th, 2018, when I got that devastating call from our friend and Commissioner of Information Hon Emma Okah, informing me of your demise. I was at Ikoyi Club having lunch. I abandoned the lunch, rushed down to my car, crying like a baby. You know the kind of cry, that will hit your inner being, body, soul and heart. That was precisely the type. My driver and people around, were looking at me, but who cares. I had just lost my soul mate. It was like a dream, or I thought I was in a trance.
When I summoned the courage to put a call across to your wife, Inime, she confirmed the news to me, by saying “Uncle Biri, you have lost your bosom friend and brother”. Don’t ask me what happened next. She stood by you to the end. May God continue to bless and console this great woman of valour. Yes, you gave your life to Christ, I was told. I thank God for that singular act. Not too many people, have that opportunity and grace. Our Friendship Chief Agums and I, were brothers made from heaven. For about 40 years, I cannot remember when we ever quarrelled, or had a major disagreement. His family was mine and mine was his. I was his Best Man and he was also my Best Man, when we got married. It’s no wonder that on occasions His Excellency fondly refers to me as “Attorney-General’s Best Man”.
You gave birth to a girl and two boys (Onyinye, Chima and Eze). I also gave birth to a girl and two boys (Inaingo, Nimibio and Ebitimi). Your late Father and mine, both graduated from University College, Ibadan in 1957. We both got to the peak of our careers. What else can I say? Is this a coincidence, or true brotherhood?
Chief Agums, when you spoke to me on Sunday the 5th of August, 2018, you told me that I should be strong, that you will be coming home very soon. I believed you totally, because you exuded all the confidence and strong will. I did not know, that God had his own plans. “Oh death, where is thy victory? Oh death where is thy sting?”
We had great plans. I am in pain and so distraught. Who will now hail me “ah Biridams”, like you always did? Adieu, my great friend and bosom brother. I pray that God will give all of us you left behind, especially your immediate family (Inime, Onyinye, Chima and Eze), your aged mother (oh Mummy!) and the entire Aguma family, the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Amen.
Biriyai Dambo, SAN
“YOU TOOK YOUR JOB AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL VERY SERIOUSLY, TO THE ADMIRATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY, GOVERNOR NYESOM EZENWO WIKE, YOUR COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS, AND EVEN THE OPPOSITION IN THE STATE. A GREAT ‘IROKO’ TREE, HAS FALLEN”