Sir: The month of November graciously stands out as a month of remembrance. The first day is generously dedicated to all departed saints and martyrs as the All Saints’ Day, whilst the second day is the All Souls’ Day devoted as a day of prayer and remembrance to honour their departure.

The focus of this piece is the third day in November, the day that coincided with the birthday of my friend, brother and priest (in that order) Ernest Chukwuadinula Ohanugo (CEO), who became a quinquagenarian on Thursday, November 3, 2022. The celebrator is exemplary indeed and in deeds.
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A relationship that started in 1984 when the family moved into the neighbourhood as awon Nwanne simply because majority of kids attended schools in the premises of ULA (renamed after the Guadalajara based Jalisco stadium in Mexico – the quarter final  venue of the unexpected defeat of Brazil by France at the 1986 World Cup) while it was only the kid sister, Nwanne that obeyed that unwritten norm as the three brothers pitched their tents for knowledge with the adjacent St John’s Primary School, hence in the neighborhood, Nwanne was the most popular of the siblings.

As kids, we regularly meet to play football and mock competitions and he was an unbiased arbiter as an unbadged referee when called upon as the need arises. It is pertinent to note that this premium on integrity is something that clearly stood him out from the crowd till this day.

Suddenly from Ikeja Grammar School we never saw him again except once in a while which is now clear was during school breaks as he had proceeded in the summer of 1985 to FGC Ugwolawo then in Benue State later carved out as part of today’s Kogi State. Unknowingly, I followed his footsteps in October 1986 as I got admitted to the same school and the joy of seeing my street boy in a far-flung place was matchless!
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His permanent and recurring decimal is integrity. His brilliance is very evidence and little wonder he was a federal scholar; this marks his faithful savant – servant lifestyle that has been his lot these 50 years. In the first general election for an association or club in the school, I still remembered how he secured a moon-slide victory (apologies to the late Umaru Dikko) to emerge the President of the highly esteemed Press Club in our alma mater in 1990, a position he combined with his stewardship as the deputy house captain of Uredo House. In astute testament to his uprightness he was elected as the pioneer financial secretary of the Federal Government College Ugwolawo Old Students Association (FGCUOSA) Lagos Chapter where he served for two terms before becoming the treasurer for another two terms.

As Pastor Ernest Chukwuadinula Ohanugo celebrates his Golden Jubilee in his emilokan moment, as he joins the quinquagenarian queue, this is wishing him a more successful second half.

Opeyemi Ajala, FCA, former presenter, Eagle Sports Hour on Eagle Cable Television, Lagos.
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