Arthur Nwankwo: The Exit of A Giant
It has become evident that life itself operates in a circle and runs its course on everyone according to individual destiny and fate. Even the Holy Books emphasize the moments appointed to be born and live and other times appointed to die (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). February the 1st of 2020 was the exit date for the acclaimed and accomplished public intellectual reputed for his radical convictions which he proudly proclaimed at critical times and demonstrated over numerous issues affecting human existence and nation-building. I was an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC) in 1995 when I met Dr. Arthur Nwankwo. In so many ways, we had perfected our strategies of organizing and mobilizing the University of Nigerian students against obnoxious policies of the University Management. By 1996, the situation came to a head at UNN when General Sani Abacha appointed Prof. U.D Gomwalk as the Sole Administrator of UNN about the same time he appointed Maj. Gen. Mamman Kontagora as the Sole Administrator of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
It was a season of sole administrators appointed to superintend and direct the affairs of tertiary institutions in Nigeria against the spirit and letters of the enabling laws establishing them. It also fits into a wider systemic agenda designed to weaken the ivory towers and ultimately cause dislocation in their capacity to be constituted into serious opposition to the power equation. Prof. Umaru D. Gomwalk was a professor of Chemistry and former Vicechancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) but, not so with Maj. Gen. Mamman Kontagora who was a fully commissioned military officer thoroughly trained and oriented in violence and brute force in sharp contrast with the culture of dialogue, research, persuasive reasoning, negotiated actions and logic which remain the hallmark of the academia and ivory tower. Yet, Abacha “deployed” him to ABU and Gomwalk to UNN both with similar mandate to maintain “peace” and “order” in the institutions of higher learning. It was not long before they both bared their fangs. At the UNN, it was an astronomic increase in both service charges and school fees.
The percentage of the increases and the introduction of fresh charges were clearly beyond the reach of the students but Prof. U.D Gomwalk and his team cared less because they had both a mandate and a mission to maintain “Peace and Order”. Virtually every other member of the university administration – from senior to principal officers barely muttered any word in opposition. There was a conspiracy of silence which communicated endorsement other than rejection of the policies.
Thus, Dr. Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo was deeply fascinated when he learnt that a student had stepped forward and mobilized other student leaders to the Federal High Court, Enugu where they contested the propriety of that action. Soon after the grant of the injunctive reliefs sought pending the determination of the substantive application, Dr. Nwankwo extended an invitation to us to visit his New Haven, Enugu residence. Our initial reluctance to honour the invitation gave way to a guided enthusiasm once the identity of the person that wanted us around was revealed through our swift investigation on him. As law students, we had read and discussed the case of Aurthur Nwankwo Vs. The State determined about a decade earlier in 1985 which was a properly documented account of the courage and sacrifices of a Nigerian who spoke truth to power and confronted the mighty Governor of Old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo.
Dr. Nwankwo, a publisher, teacher and prolific writer himself had published a book titled “How Jim Nwobodo Rules Anambra State” which was considered highly critical of the Governor and a direct indictment of “His Excellency” for sleaze, corruption and tyranny. Mr. Jim would have none of that and directed his arrest and prosecution for charges of sedition. He was convicted by His Lordship, Hon. Justice F.O Nwokedi of the Onitsha High Court and sentenced to twelve (12) months imprisonment. Undaunted, he approached the Court of Appeal where he contended that the said Sections 50 and 51 of the Criminal Code under which he was charged were patently in breach of S.36 of the 1979 Constitution now replicated in S. 39 of the extant constitution as altered.
Instantly, the case became a locus classicus for the clear admonitions of His Lordship Olatawura JCA to the effect that neither the State nor the Governor could resort to the coercive instrumentalities of the State to redress any form of libelous publication, instead, they could seek damages in a civil defamation action. Virtually every Nigeria will recall that this particular case came handy for law advocates and practitioners who reminded the President Buhari’s Administration and the Attorney General of the Federation that the only window available to them with respect to the alleged defamatory publication by Omoyele Sowore and Agba Janligo was to approach a competent court of law to seek redress in damages for defamation. His Lordship remarks were to the effect that the sedition law remained a despicable vestige of colonial domination of Nigeria and needed to be abolished permanently. The said visit was in the company of Comrades Ibuchukwu Ezike, Princewill Akpakpan. It became an eye opener to the world of a patriotic, broadminded Nigerian who was defined by the fecundity of his mobile mind and the dictates of his sound conscience. It was the beginning of a fairly regular contacts and interface. I discovered, so soon, that Dr. Nwankwo was generally regarded as a bridge builder because of the natural penchant he had for identifying “game changers” in any situation; high social skills to reach out and the intellectual content with which to engage no matter how complex the subject may be. Indeed, he was not just a bridge-builder, he was in many sense, the bridge towards a desired destination.
These are leadership qualities and a measure of his confidence and conviction on any campaign he elected to embark on. Within the time under review, it was a remarkable feature of his New Haven residence to see scores of very resourceful persons, intellectuals, activists, diplomats, university dons, leaders of thought and political associates stream endlessly into his expansive compound and usually converged in his long and wide sitting room where national issues were subjected to rigorous interrogations and analysis for practical solutions. It was a “political Mecca” of a sort attracting all manner of persons with diverse interests and tendencies.
Very many such comrades constituted the intellectual hub of the social crusader. In particular, I remember the young, vibrant and ebullient Dr. Udenta O. Udenta. He was intellectually rigorous then as he has remained profound on social revolutionary ideas till date. But Ikeogu was in charge, the bishop of the cathedral! Agwuncha Arthur Nwankwo was very organized and strategic in his operations. The same premises accommodated the numerous formations he created and nurtured as a renowned author, publisher, pro-democracy activist, chancellor of the Eastern Mandate Union and even as the Deputy National chairman of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).
You would be surprised to hear that one of the most sensitive leadership decisions of NADECO took place at Dr. Nwankwo’s sitting room at Enugu with the full compliments and attendance of NADECO chieftains. At a time when it was very dangerous to identify with the epochal struggle of the Nigerian people to restore democracy in Nigeria. Agwuncha Arthur Nwankwo “Ikeogu” became the rallying point East of the Niger for the struggle. As the Vice-Chairman of NADAECO, he coordinated the struggles just as he bore the brunt of Abacha’s vicious and murderous years including arrests, detentions, intimidations, harassments and decimation of his business interests. Despite the odds of those tempest years, Ikeogu showcased his leadership and networking skills in an admirable fashion that is yet paralleled in that part of the country. He literally maintained a personal relationship with his comrades and associates and became a part of their progress and development.
My colleague (Princewill Akpakpan) and I graduated from the Faculty of Law UNN, but our Degree Results were withheld by the University Authority for which reason we returned to the Federal High Court Enugu between 19992000. In the entire period that the matter lasted in the Court, Agwuncha maintained a regular contact with me each time the matter was coming up to be sure I was leaving Lagos to Enugu to attend the proceedings. It was my guess, then, that as a celebrated litigant himself, he could relate with our circumstances and appreciated the need for solidarity at such crucial time particularly for persons of our age without the certainty of any future. He did not stop there; he sensitized people around him to be part of the process in solidarity.
We reviewed the situation and strategized further Needless to add that he was very happy and satisfied with our team of legal representation led by Femi Falana (now SAN), Jiti Ogunye, Obele Chuka, Uche Dureke etc. It was always possible that I made it to Enugu because our case was prosecuted exclusively by CDHR (the leadership of which I had just relinquished in October last year) under the dynamic leadership of Femi Falana (SAN). Falana himself had travelled this route as a student and stood firmly in the vanguard for so many other students before and after me. He and his entire team did not just understand what the issues and nuances were, they were right in a familiar terrain to deliver.
In retrospect, I can see the principles behind his dedication and commitments to those actions which he evaluated as an potetial reinforcement of his own struggles too. When we obtained judgment and the ruling was in our favour by Hon. Justice Ajakaiye in 2000, Ikeogu celebrated the victory in his New Haven residence. In that particular year, he gave me three of his numerous books which he personally endorsed to wit; Season of Hurricane, The African Possibility In Global Power Struggle and The Igbo Nation And The Nigerian State all from the stable of his reputable Fourth Dimension Publishers Co Limited published in 1993, 1995 and 1999 respectively.
It was only in 2014 that my wife and I returned to Enugu as sponsors of a friend’s wedding. It was an auspicious opportunity to reach out to the Guru himself. Aware that I was in town, he constantly monitored the wedding programme and made sure that his driver drove us straight to the same New Haven residence. It was an unforgettable reunion for me, another retreat with the very patriotic, courageous Nigerian who loved and sacrificed immensely for Nigeria and her people. Chancellor Nwankwo was incurably optimistic about Nigeria yet, he clearly expressed his deep concerns about the state of our nation but focused on the possibilities of a greater Nigeria. It has now turned out to be our last meeting.
Adieu Agwuncha, Arthur Nwankwo! “Ikeogu”.