THE WEEKEND of July 5-7, 2024 was a sad but solemn one for everyone in Ogene, a fairly large and popular community in Amejo Ward, Edumoga District in Okpokwu LGA of Benue State. Everybody – those at home, those who travelled home and those unable to travel home that weekend – paid their final respects to an iconic teacher, Mr Edwin Abah Ejeikwu, who died on Saturday, May 25, 2024 at the age of 74.
Okpani Edwin, as he was popularly known, was celebrated by everybody, particularly the younger generation of indigenes of Ogene, who take him as a symbol of enlightenment for committing his entire life to the education of the sons and daughters of the community.
Okpani Edwin had left the village for Kaduna, the then capital of Northern Region, after his primary education for greener pastures. He however did not tarry long and be swallowed by the allure of the city. He instead saw far ahead the essence of education and rather than taking up paid employment, which was then never scarce, Okpani instead resolved to return to his roots in Ogene to consolidate the then failing elementary school that had been burnt down by a mysterious fire.
There were varieties of tributes – both written and oral – but they are united in their exploration and exposition of the heroic dynamics of a stoic, resolutely committed persona of the exceptionalism that defined Okpani Edwin’s life. The consensus was therefore that he lived an accomplished life, a life of service to humanity, a life that impacted positively on his community in particular and the Nigerian society as a whole.
In my earlier tribute published in the funeral brochure, I compared Okpani’s decision to return home to God’s call on Abram to leave his homeland of Mesopotamia to an intangible Promise Land. In Okpani’s case, his call was to leave the city for his homeland. In doing so, Okpani opened for us and our children the door to embrace civilisation and all its accoutrements of modernity.
Reading through the glowing tributes from his ex-pupils and admirers, it could be gleaned that Okpani’s impact transcended pedagogy to philosophy, emotional intelligence, discipline, hygiene or environmental consciousness, amongst other virtues.
In his tribute, Amb. Nicholas Ella, a career diplomat who is now the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, spoke to both the professionalism, sacrifice and mentorship capabilities of Okpani Edwin.
“My earliest recollections of Edwin Ejeikwu, whom we fondly called ‘Okpani Edwin’, were when I returned from Equatorial Guinea in 1970 as a little boy. I came under his tutelage. But due to the language barrier, I couldn’t comprehend many of the things he taught us as his pupils.
“What was remarkable about his teaching methodology was his desire to stimulate excellence in us. For instance, I flunked my first elementary examinations owing to the language impediment. But instead of saying I failed the examination, Okpani Edwin would rather say, “You came first from the rear of the class.” It was after I gained proficiency in the Idoma dialect that I understood the import of his euphemism of not wanting to kill my determination to learn.
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“Okpani Edwin Ejeikwu abandoned his job in Kaduna State to take up the role of mentoring generations of pupils who are now contributing their quota to societal growth and development.
“He was firm yet tender in imparting in us the principles of hard work, honesty, and integrity. These principles put him on a collision course with his contemporaries, but he never for one moment compromise on those principles which he carried till the end,” Amb. Ella recalled.
For Mr Francis Abah Idoko, a retired federal civil servant, Okpani was not only a quintessential teacher but also a man with philanthropic heart. Mr Idoko’s tribute offered profound narrative by revealing an uncommon spirit of collectivism in a community thirsting for knowledge. In the desire for education, the community predominantly populated by unlettered men and women set up an Education Committee composed of then young and vibrant men – Umale Edeba, Onyocho Echia, Agbo Obagwu and Onaji Ocheke – all of blessed memory.
Idoko recalled that Okpani started the elementary school in Ogene with 11 pupils, and that by the time he joined as a result of Okpani’s intervention, the population of the school rose to 12.
“I would like to start my tribute to Okpani Edwin by stating that though people were going to school in Ogene and surrounding communities, and of course, there were also other teachers before him, but Okpani Edwin’s emergence as teacher changed, and indeed, had the greatest impact on the social and economic development of Ogene.
“As a direct beneficiary of Okpani Edwin’s immeasurable sacrifice, I can confidently assert that if not for his decision to return home from Kaduna to start teaching, the level of education attained today by children of Ogene would definitely not have been so,” Mr Idoko said among other things.
Like Mr Idoko, Rose Ikponya Abah spoke to the benevolence of Okpani Edwin, when she wrote in her tribute: “The impact of Okpani’s educational contributions to my being can be measured in the lives of my four children who are all university graduates – my educational aspirations have been fulfilled in them. In one instance, Okpani served as a referee for Ene, my daughter, when she was applying to study at the College of Education, Oju. He helped Ene fill out her admission forms without hesitation.
“Despite the personal adversities I suffered on account of the tragic demise of my husband and father in 1996, I persevered in supporting my children to acquire the much-needed education.
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“Okpani extended his generosity beyond my teenage years. When my father passed away two months after my husband’s, it was only Okpani that assisted me with funeral rites donations.”
Mr Sule Ameh, the first Head Boy of L.G.E.A. Primary School, Ogene in the first set that earned First School Leaving Certificate in 1979, also offered unique insight on Okpani. Mr Ameh, now a retired public servant, said: “It is just depressingly sad that Okpani Edwin, as he was popularly called, died so soon. I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Okpani Edwin and the entire Ogene community. This tribute, I can say, is on behalf of 1979 set of L.G.E.A. Primary School, Ogene Amejo, Edumoga. Persons like Abah Francis Idoko, the late Isaac Ajogwu and others graduated from the school in 1979.
“Okpani Edwin was one of the brilliant, eloquent and committed teachers during our time. In fact, there was no subject he could not teach, even with his low level of education. At that time, L.G.E.A. Primary School, Ogene was full of intellectuals and brilliant teachers. For example, the late Mr. Emmanuel Akor (a.k.a) Jingo, Mr. M. Olah, Mr. Innocent Usulor, Ms Helen Okoko, the late Mr. Elias Itodo, the late Ms Ann Ochiga and late Paulina Ochayi, Mr. Ochigbo and a host of others.
“Okpani Edwin had never been transferred from the school until he retired because of his unique attachment to Ogene pupils. Whether anyone agrees with me or not, his thoughts and his means of expression and imparting knowledge demand respect and commendation.”
Okpani did not teach Mrs Amina Ogbanje-Okpeke, but her experience of Okpani as a beneficiary of his counselling spoke eloquently to his dynamic positives. “Okpani is a quiet and peaceful man with his unwavering kindness, love that spreads across the whole community, not selective of your clan or family.
“My brothers, Willie and Aboy, as they were fondly called, are not left out.
“Samuel, my little brother then, at some point used to be Okpani’s barber, as he won’t allow anyone else to trim his hair except Samuel, there’s this bond they both shared. When Samuel was to leave the village that year, like a father, Okpani made sure he supported Samuel with a token for his fare.
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“Aside from being his pupils, they saw a father in him, as Okpani’s ears were never tired of listening and was always available for counselling and encouragement. For that, we’ll be forever grateful.
“These stories, and more, make me teary. During my brothers’ vulnerability stage, Okpani was there for them and even knew our mum, which melted my heart the most.” Mrs Ogbanje-Okpeke, among other things, revealed in her tribute.
For Mr John Uloko Ella, a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Education, “it is not about what things to write but how to arrange these things in such a way that it will suit a personality as Okpani Edwin.” He however added: “Be that as it may sound, and without any equivocation, Okpani Edwin, without any iota of doubt, remains a figure that established the Foundation of Education in Ogene-Amejo.
“The system he single-handily introduced to encourage school attendance has helped many people in Ogene to be educated today.
“I recall in one of such many times, information reached us that Okpani Edwin was approaching with some pupils and we immediately took to our heels. I quickly ran down through the valley and settled behind a banana tree. Unknown to me, Okpani Edwin was watching carefully from the top of the valley and as soon as I settled, he quietly walked to where I was and picked me up.
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“Let me say here at this juncture that Okpani Edwin lived a fulfilled life. He could not have done more than he did. If we had two of his type in Ogene, the standard of education today in the Community would be a thing of envy by neighbouring villages.”
The deep irony of Okpani’s passing is that the school to which he committed his entire life from nativity at a period of raw primitivity and underdevelopment of the early 1970s combined with inherent internal frustrations but yet endured and was sustained to blossom, has declined to an intolerable level in today’s dizzyingly transformative era attainable only through qualitative education.
In what was both a tribute to Okpani Edwin and broadly a wise counsel to Ogene elite came from celebrated veteran of the teaching profession, now a traditional ruler, Chief John Okpalichi.
Chief Okpalichi eulogised Ogene elites for the uncommon unity and concept in bonding to honour Okpani Edwin. Noting that there had been great teachers in Edumoga who served and sacrificed for their communities, Chief Okpalichi pointed out that they all died unsung by their communities. He wondered aloud that though he had in his career as secondary school teacher and principal of colleges helped his immediate community of Iwewe and beyond in the spread of knowledge, he was however not sure that “my community would remember me in the unique manner that Ogene elites have honoured Edwin”.
Paradoxically, Chief Okpalichi followed his counsel with a query, an indictment really, of the same elites that he praised. He said he heard reports of a lingering acrimonious conflict that has stoked disunity and arrested common purpose for progress and development of Ogene.
He said in his opinion, and in the opinion of any informed person outside the community, those behind the conflict must be the elite. He said the pointer to his conclusion derives from the fact that any community with factious elite naturally generate internal conflict, and that if it was not so, those elite would have quickly smothered disagreements before escalation.
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There were varieties of tributes – both written and oral – but they are united in their exploration and exposition of the heroic dynamics of a stoic, resolutely committed persona of the exceptionalism that defined Okpani Edwin’s life. The consensus was therefore that he lived an accomplished life, a life of service to humanity, a life that impacted positively on his community in particular and the Nigerian society as a whole.
The Irony
The deep irony of Okpani’s passing is that the school to which he committed his entire life from nativity at a period of raw primitivity and underdevelopment of the early 1970s combined with inherent internal frustrations but yet endured and was sustained to blossom, has declined to an intolerable level in today’s dizzyingly transformative era attainable only through qualitative education.
This tragic phase of underdevelopment became possible due to a combination of man-made challenges – bad governance which is national, and an endemic mutual suspicion and stereotype that continue to snuff common purpose in Ogene Community. While the former is a pan-Nigeria systemic malady, the latter stem from what I would want to describe as a bizarre prejudice syndrome in a community whose people traced their roots to a common ancestor.
Chief Okpalichi therefore hit the nail on the correct spot because as elites, we definitely lack the basic consensus to drive our community towards positive change. We have no excuse in allowing our community to deteriorate and go through the prevailing social pangs of unnecessary and unhelpful conflict from which nobody will benefit.
The irony is more intolerable in the context of the fact that there is basically no family in the community today that does not have a graduate of a tertiary institution.
But could the symbolism of Okpani Edwin which has inspired a long-lost act of communality also engender a conscious, purposeful social and cultural renaissance?
