How late Asagba will be remembered, by Nduka-Eze

The Isama Ajie of Asaba, a renown legal luminary, Chief Chuck Nduka-Eze, has said the 13th Asagba of Asaba, late Obi, Prof Chike Edozien, will be remembered for having national figures of great repute in his cabinet. He said this and more in his interview.

Sir, how did you receive the news of the death of Asagba, Prof Chike Edozien, considering that the process of celebrating his centenary birthday had commenced?

The news came to me as a shock because despite his very advanced age he was blessed with an amazing robust health, which always made us forget how long he has been with us. As you recall, we commenced and heralded his centenary year just a few weeks ago with an elaborate ceremony involving all Asaba people as though it were indeed his actual birthday. I was honoured to be part of that Centenary Committee effort as a Co – Chairman.
HRH Asagba (Nna Agu) was so pleased with the enthusiastic turn out of his people to honour him on that occasion and the highlight of the day was the planting of 1000 trees supervised by the Iyase of Asaba, Chief Goodluck Onyeobi with Chief Patrick Uka, DG, Capital Territory. The planting was in honour of the victims of the 1967 Asaba Massacre, a tragedy whose memorial and commemoration had been of central concern to our Sovereign over the years.
You recall that at the last anniversary of that massacre, Asagba called on the Federal Government to do something to immortalise the victims of those Asabans needlessly killed even as they symbolically stood for One Nigeria.

As a highly respected Chief and an illustrious son of Asaba, what can you say about the 33-year reign of the late Asagba?
One of the most interesting aspects of his reign was that his cabinet had something of the Camelot about it. In his cabinet we had the renowned late Chief Sunny Odogwu as the Ideh Ahaba, Asagba’s brother the esteemed economist, late Prof Emma Edozien as the Ojiba Ahaba – we had the nuclear physicist who worked in the laboratory of Albert Einsten the late Prof Philip Onianwa the Akwue of Asaba, we have Chief Philip Asiodu as the Izoma of Asaba who is still with us. We have ex President General Ibrahim Babangida as the Dike Doziani Ahaba, we have Lt Gen Jerry Useni as the Omelora Ahaba. We also have the ex IG of Police Chief Ogbonaya Onovo as Etoe Dike Ahaba – these are national figures of great repute that have played prominent roles in the governance of our country here lending their advice and weight to Nna Agu in piloting Asaba from the ancient quiet town it was to her present status as the burgeoning capital of Delta State.
As history records, Asaba has been a space with much historical relevance to the history of this space called Nigeria – having once been the colonial headquarters of the Royal Niger Company in the last century hence by implication the first administrative heaquarters of this space called Nigeria etc Asaba has made giant strides under the able watch and direction of this Sovereign.
He virtually took up the task as Asagba, as Asaba became the capital of Delta State. So we owe him much for the communal and ethnic cohesion that you see in Asaba with various ethnic groups living peacefully and joining in the development of the capital city. All the tensions one sees in other places with a medley of various tribes is lacking in Asaba and its so easy to overlook what made that possible.

What, in your opinion, would he be remembered for and how would you want him to be immortalised by the community?
Asagba’s relevance and reach is as national as it is global. His impact in Nigeria’s medical profession is quite significant starting with being the first Nigerian to be the Dean of the Medical Faculty of the premiere University of Ibadan. A feat he repeated several years later at the prestigious US Ivy League, University of North Carolina, Chappel Hill.
He also spent time as a research fellow at MIT where he also taught as an accomplished University Don for several years. He acted as a personal physician to the then Nigerian Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi and was almost caught up as a potential victim in the coup that took General Ironsi’s life as our Asagba narrated at late Major General Joe Garba’s Book launch that I invited him to co-Chair with General Yakubu Gowon and Gen T.Y. Danjuma. The reverred late Major Gen Joe Garba is my father in law.
They say all politics is local and in that respect he was a keen supporter of the Ibo cause and did much to encourage the prevailing filial affection and unity between Delta Ibos and their brothers across the Niger in the South East. To re-emphasise its significance he persuaded Ohanaze Ndi Igbo to install Chief Joseph Achuzia, then the Ikemba of Ahaba as the Secretary of Ohanaeze and Chief Ralph Uwechue as the President General of Ohanaeze – both Delta Ibos.
But he was not wedded to negative ethnic tendencies, having been and remained happily married to a distinguished Egba woman who was a grand daughter of late Herbert Macaulay, the foremost Nigerian nationalist. Her Majesty Agu Nwanyi Modupe Edozien has been a loving wife and mother to all in Asaba reinforcing Asagba’s idea and belief that nigeria can only benefit from her rich diversity with true and credible leadership.
So the memory he inspires cuts across etnicity, nationality and indeed has a global feature much in evidence in the eulogies expressed a few days ago in the Special Session of the Nigerian Senate in the motion brought by Senator Ned Nwoko. Need i say more about this icononic sovereign

What is the succession process like? What credentials and qualities would you want the next Asagba to possess?
The process of succession has already started as observed on Wednesday when our sovereign’s passing was officially announced by the palace and the brief ceremony witnessed with the selection of his second son as the interim Regent, the Ochendo.
He will hold the reigns for the process of selecting the new Asagba of Asaba to be gone through. Asaba has a rotational system whereby the Asagba rotates between the five quarters of Asaba called Ebos. It is the turn of another Ebo to produce the next king.
Our late Asagba has set an impossibly high bar in our annals and it will be a challenge to match it. What is most essential in our new Asagba is somebody with natural authority and carriage to hold the town peaceably together as she weathers the storm of her status as a state capital. We have people and hopefully a credible leader will emerge.

As we speak, the Asaba central palace project has yet to be accomplished. What do you think is responsible for this?
The Asaba palace project is dear to our hearts and its also an initiative that should attract the state government’s contributory patronage considering Asaba is host to the seat of government. Its a place the governor should showcase to his visitors as its within his terrain.
I was a member of the first committee that articulated the palace project and acquired a site for it. Despite the delay that has been occasioned, we believe it will now be approached with a certain urgent vigour as a fitting memorial tribute to our late Nna Agu whose loss we are presently mourning.
May God bless Asaba as we go through this transition, bless Delta State as she watches proceedings with keen interest and bless the Federal Government of Nigerian leaders in this difficult period.