By Sam Ekpe
The President of the less privileged, The one man riot squad, Dike na Ogbo ogu, Odogwu nwoke, Mgborogwu Oji, Ogba Ogu nwanne, Onyiri Dike na Mba, Omepuru Onyeodiiri. These are few of the fond titles and names associated with the late His Royal Highness, Eze Dr. Maxwell Omeire Kanu, the Traditional Ruler of Ejezie Autonomous Community, Arondizuogu in Imo State and Life Chairman of Agura Hotel Abuja, whose final rites of passage have been announced by the family. Since the announcement tributes in his memory have been pouring in from personalities from all over the country. This man of great wisdom, intelligence, extensive business prowess and contacts, warmth and hospitality, a great lover of the Igbo nation and above all a most patriotic Nigerian affected thousands of lives in Nigeria in several ways.
Maxwell Okoli Kanu, a.k.a Okoli Ahumaku was born into the family of Kanu Onwubiko of the larger Okoronkwo Clan of Umuejezie Autonomous Community , Arondizuogu, Ideato LGA Imo State on 12th April, 1932. His mother Ahumaku hailed from Umuezeaga village in Akokwa, a neighbouring community to Arondizuogu.
Ahumaku was the 12th of the 16 wives of Mazi Kanu Okoronkwo , a.k.a Kanu Ogaranya, a very wealthy farmer in those days with large yam barns. Because Western Education was not in vogue in those days young Okoli lived with his father in the farm for well over school age. He later enrolled in Ikpoku primary school, Arondizuogu where at a stage he became classmates with Mazi Frederick Kanu, another Kanu from a different mother who was three years younger than him.
Even in his primary school days Okoli displayed spectacular courage and boldness, feats that would characterize his life pattern in future.
One day he came back from school and saved his elder brother Mazi G.N Kanu, aka Omerekokwuru from an encounter with the police. He had since then been remarked as a unique character, whose life would affect humanity positively, an assessment that turned prophetic.
On completion of his primary school, the young boy veered off the schooling line and went into private business. He had an only sister from his mother Justina Udeona, his other brother Nwabueze having died early. On the marriage of Justina to Mazi Anthony Nnadi Okonkwo he started life with 10 pounds (£10) proceeds of the dowry paid on his sister while living with her and her husband. He started with buying oranges at Ibura and travelling to Aba to sell them. The petty trader later traded in different merchandise from buying and selling bicycle parts, spokes and tyres, grinding tomatoes and pepper until fortune came his way. It was William Shakespeare who stated in Julius Ceaser “that there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune, omitted all the voyage of their lives is bound in shallows and miseries”
While trading on grease on a particular rainy day, young Maxwell, in his nature of compassion and concern for humanity neatly packed the wares Ibukun Oluwa his neighbor in the market who was trading in iron tonic tablets in his own store, to prevent the wares from the effects of rain . This action marked a turning point in Maxwell’s life as Ibukun Oluwa’s apprentices reported his kind gesture to their boss who instructed that the Good Samaritan should visit him in his Lagos base. On arrival in Lagos he stayed with Ibukun Oluwa for some time and joined in the marketing of Ibukun Oluwa’s iron tonic tablets and Aboki balm both in Lagos and Ibadan. He stayed in this business for some years in Ibadan and was blessed and later disengaged from his Principal to start on his own. Having now become his own master in the iron tonic and balm wholesale business, he returned to Aba and developed his own brand Omeire Iron tonic tablet, and Omeire Balm. The business boomed and he started importing his own brand of the goods in containers.
The petty trader in bicycle spokes and other minor articles of trade of yester years later became a major importer and an established business man in Aba. Before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 he had built houses- Nos 119 and 142 Cameroon Road and 120 Obohia Road Aba as well as become a proud owner of a Chevrolet car, the status symbol of the very wealthy men in those days.
The Nigerian Civil War also saw Chief Kanu playing a very supportive role as he was one of the business men engaged by the Biafran Government to mobilize food items and other forms of support for solders and refugees in the Aba Sector of the war.
Luck also smiled at Omeire immediately after the Civil war as one of his Containers arrived Apapa Wharf during the hostilities and his friend and benefactor Ibukun Oluwa sold the goods and kept the proceeds for him. Two weeks after the war ended in 1970, Ibukun Oluwa utilized the money realized from the sale of the goods to buy bales of stockfish, salt, tyre and bicycle tubes and dispatched them to the East through PortHarcourt Wharf. While several other businessmen and colleagues of Omeire were still managing to survive the hunger and penury of the Civil War and the economic down turn of the paltry €20 (Twenty Pounds)) paid to every bank depositor, no matter how much he had in the bank, Chief Kanu had become a very wealthy man. He then veered into other businesses, becoming a major stockfish importer in Aba. His stockfish importation business developed so rapidly that he later became President of the Stockfish Importers Association of Nigeria.
On the social scene Omeire became one of the best known names as he also became Chairman of Aba City Fathers, an elite club of the very wealthy men in Aba. He built Ochiriozuo House located at no 62/64 Ehi Road by Asa Road Aba, a seven storey edifice, a major land mark in the commercial city. He was so entrenched in the business community in Aba, adding to the development of the town’s economy that his longtime friend His Royal Highness Eze I.A Ikonne Enyi 1 of Aba honoured him with a chieftaincy title Ochiriozuo of Ngwaland in the early 1970s, a title also conferred on him in his native Arondizuogu in 1987 by his Royal Majesty Eze J.A Dike Ezediohamma II of Arondizuogu.
FORAY INTO NATIONAL POLITICS AND ECONOMY
Ochiriozuo was a firm believer in and an advocate for the unity of Nigeria. Hence as a detribalized Nigerian, he never played local or regional politics but only associated with political parties that preached and enhanced national unity. In the Second Republic, he was a strong pillar of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in Imo State and provided the resources that ensured the emergence of Sir Onyeso Nwachukwu as the Chairman of the NPN in Imo State, succeeding the late Chief Nnanna Kalu. Infact he, along with the late Sir Joe Nwankwu pledged their personal properties as security to enable the NPN obtain bank loan to prosecute the 1983 gubernatorial elections in the Old Imo and Anambra States.
The military coup of December 31, 1983 was historic in the family of the late icon. That was the very day that his son Geofrey was to wed his wife in Church and the Reception was to hold in his residence at Arondizuogu. The National Chairman of the NPN Chief A.M.A Akinloye was to be the Chairman of the Wedding Reception. All was set for the D-day before the Military struck in the early hours of the morning of that day. Ochiriozuo went to the residence of his political leader the late Dr. K.O Mbadiwe (Agadagbachiriuzo) in Arondiuzuogu to brief him on the arrangements for the wedding. He was with K.O when some soldiers arrived Mbadiwe’s Palace of the People to arrest him as they did other top politicians of the Second Republic.
Ochiriozuo had a lucky escape from the
scene. If there had been any untoward development then, Chief Kanu may also have been affected.
AGURA HOTEL, ABUJA INVESTMENT
Having seen it all in business in Aba, Chief Kanu felt that it was time to arrive at the National scene to also play some role in the development of the new Federal Capital. In the early 1980s when businessmen were still reluctant to invest in the Abuja Federal Capital project, Chief Kanu sunk hundreds of millions of naira of his personal funds into the first hospitality industry in Abuja Agura Hotel. This project Agura Hotel which is the manifestation of Chief Kanu’s belief in One Nigeria is located in a prime area of Abuja Central Business District, directly opposite the Defence Headquarters and the Headquarters of the Nigerian Army, Police, Navy and Air Force.
The promoter of the hotel project and its founding Managing Director, the late Chief Joseph Ayomike visited the Aba residence of Ochiriozuo from his Warri base and Abuja site of the new hotel project many times and collected money from him for the hotel project. At a stage during the hotel construction, the hotel had to obtain loan of Twenty Million Naira (N20,000,000.00) from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Pensions Fund, another major shareholder of the hotel. The hotel had since fully repaid the loan with interest.
In consideration of the fact that his personal investment and that of his company Omeire Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industries Limited (OPMI) were the highest in the hotel and in view of Chief M.O Kanu’s overwhelming and outstanding role in the establishment of Agura Hotel Abuja the Board of Directors of the hotel at an extraordinary meeting appointed Chief M.O Kanu Life Chairman of the hotel. Chief Kanu was acting in this capacity until September, 2017 when events in the board and management of the hotel took a turn for the worse and the spirit of Agura left the hotel. In every class of society, gratitude is the rarest of all human virtues. Making the ungrateful grateful brings tears to eyes, tears of blood bleeding from the heart.
The shine and prestige of Agura hotel Abuja has since disappeared, and it will take the appeasement of the soul and spirit of the man who was given the honor of Prime Developer of Abuja in 1986 by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the hotel to return to its acknowledged glory.
It is a well-known axiom that “History will definitely vindicate the just”. Ochiriozuo’s indomitable spirit awaits this verdict of history.
ASCENDANCY TO THE THRONE OF EJEZIE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY, ARONDIZUOGU
Arondizuogu Clan in Imo State is a community which traces its origin to Amankwu village in Arochukwu in Abia State. It has many other communities living in and around it. One of such communities is Ejezie whose ancestor also hailed from Amankwu village in Arochukwu. A number of communities within the Arondizuogu Clan including Iheme, Awa Izuogu, Uche Izuogu , Akaeme and Akunwanta have all become autonomous communities, having their own traditional rulers installed and issued Certificates of Recognition by the Imo State Government. EJezie Autonomous Community achieved same status in 2003 and Ochiriozuo was crowned and recognized by the Imo State Government as the Traditional Ruler of the community in the same year. The community benefitted immensely from the tremendous and pioneering development efforts of Ochiriozuo and his son Prince Daniel Kanu. They include the Beatrice Kanu Primary School and the Ultra-modern Civic Center both built and donated by Prince Daniel and the Ejezie Police post built by His Royal Highness, and also recently refurbished by Prince Daniel Kanu. He also dug a water borehole beside his palace which provides regular water supply to all inhabitants of the environs. One expects the members of this community to embrace peace and appreciate the substantial contributions of this icon of theirs to their development and that of the larger Arondizuogu community.
HONOURS & AWARDS
His Royal Highness Dr. Sir Maxwell Omeire Kanu achieved fame and honour in his life time. His grass to riches story will fill over 100 pages of a book. One cannot but assert that this great man has in his 86 and half years of life on earth impacted on the lives of millions of people, lifting many out of poverty, and also impacted on the social and economic life of Ndigbo in particular and Nigerians generally.
For his substantial donations and contributions to the unliftment of mankind Ochiriozuo has been honoured by the Federal and various State Governments and many non governmental organizations and institutions.
They include but are not limited to Old Imo State Government: Commendation for construction and donation of a Blood Bank at the General Hospital Aba, now Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba. University of PortHarcourt Award of Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration. Federal Capital Territory; Award of Honour as Prime Developer of Abuja. Federal Capital Territory: Honour of Naming a Street in the Federal Capital Territory after HRH Eze M.O. Kanu. Chairman Board of Trustees: Hotel Owners Forum Abuja (HOFA). Imo State Government: Imo State Peace Ambassador. Imo State Government: Member Imo State Elders Council. National Youth Council of Nigeria: Member National Advisory Council. Coalition of Northern Groups: Garkuwa Matasa Arewa. Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) National Chief Patron. Arewa Youth Parliament: Leadership Award for Excellence. Association of Ezeigbos n’ Uzo Ije: Life Patron Umuada Igbo Nigeria: National Patron. Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion: Knight of St. Christopher. Coalition of Civil Society Groups: Certificate of Honour Oha Na Eze Ndi Igbo World Wide: Member Ime Obi and Exemplary Patron Award. Oha Na Eze Ndi Igbo really honoured Ochiriozuo in his life time in consideration of his uncountable actions of benevolence to Ndigbo and their affairs. The rooms of his Agura hotel Abuja were always made available at heavily discounted rates to officers of the organization.
His most significant contribution to the body was during the Sittings of the Justice Oputa Panel when the Ohaneze Delegates to the Panel were lodged in the hotel throughout the Panel’s Sittings at little or no cost to the Igbo leadership body.
OCHIRIOZUO THE STRONG MAN OF THE GYM
Eze Kanu’s first love and most cherished hobby was keeping fit and being in good health 24hours of every day. Members and visitors to Agura hotel Abuja gymnasium always trained with him as he embarked on very strenuous physical exercises. He was virtually an instructor or coach at the Gym and it was always a delight watching an over 86 years old man engaging much younger men and women and infact lasting for more periods and doing many more exercises than much younger people. Ochiriozuo’s vital health statistics until he had his last breath were what medical doctors accessed as quite good. Indeed death is a thief in the night and no one no matter how healthy knows when or how it will come.
FAMILY LIFE:
He got married to his wife Lady Beatrice Nwamanna Kanu in 1957 and the marriage lasted for 59 years until his better half whom he proudly referred to as Mama Ayi died some years ago and was buried on November 30, 2018. He described her as his “wife, mother, sister, friend, companion and adviser all rolled into one”. Lady Kanu played significant roles in the profound successes of Ochiliozuo’s businesses as she kept the home front peaceful and comfortable for him as well as also assisting and collaborating in some of his business investments. Our man of the moment is survived by many children and grandchildren.
According to the funeral programme, a Night of Tributes will be held in his honour on Tuesday, 16th November 2021at St. James Anglican Church, Asokoro Abuja by 5pm. Other activities include; flagstop at M.O Kanu blood bank at General hospital Aba, Commendation Service at St. Michael’s Anglican Cathedral Aba and Reception at his GRA Aba residence, all on Wednesday, November 24, 2021.
A funeral service will be held for him at Cathedral Church of St. Peter Arondizuogu on Friday, November 26, 2021 followed by interment.
As we bid goodbye to this epitome of humanity, this humane and humble personality whose personal happiness derives from the happiness and wellbeing of others, let us thank Almighty God for his life and pray that He receives his generous and kind soul in perfect peace until we all meet to part no more.
It was Chuck Palahniuk who said, “We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
Eze M.O Kanu created many things that will stand in his everlasting memory.
• Sam Ekpe is a Media and Public Relations Consultant.