By James Onyebuchi Nnaji
Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com
It has been one year since the Nigerian pan-Africanist journalist joined his ancestors, after decades of a successful and impactful journalism career.
May 19, 2023, was not like any other day, it was a day with history. The Igbo, always pragmatic in their proverbs, have a saying that when a person who is not close to you dies, his corpse will seem like it’s a stack of firewood. We feel the pernicious touch of death when it comes to our homes. It is then we realize that it is not a bunch of firewood that is dead but a part of humanity, a part of us that is no more.
The dead is not dead, they are always with us, they stray among us in our sadness, and not even their memories can console us because we are already diminished. No other life-shattering experience tests our resilience and capacity to persevere like the sudden death of a loved one. But the human spirit’s capacity to build resilience and rediscover joy shows the infinite possibilities of the soul. The memory of loss should not empty us but rather motivate us, for no one can escape sadness. We all experience the bitter-sweet chapters of life.
Obinwa Ben Nnaji was among the class of Nigerian journalists and media professionals who joined in the post-Nigeria-Biafra war era — of the 1970s and 1980s.
It did not take long, in Nigeria and parts of Africa, for Obinwa to be recognized for his poignant and astute journalism skills. Especially, during his years as Editor of the Enugu-based Satellite newspapers, he worked as a hard-nosed journalist and eagle-eyed editor who would become a mentor to numerous younger generation journalists.
He was a very gifted man, scholar, historian, media consultant, politician and pan-Africanist all rolled into one restless genius. His impact in Nigerian cum African journalism cuts across board and goes beyond the pages of newspapers. His influence on journalism was transformative.
Obinwa, the author of several outstanding books and biographies of African leaders, wrote three books on political figures and development in Burkina Faso, including, Blaise Compaore: The Architect of Burkina Faso Revolution (Spectrum Books Ltd 1989), President Blaise Compaore: African Peace Maker (Jodad Publishers 2010) and other works.
Also, Obinwa served as Executive Editor of USAfrica magazine and USAfricaonline.com
Ike Abonyi, a journalist of repute and one of Obinwa’s mentees wrote about his impact in growing other journalists in a glowing tribute thus: “Obinwa was an exceptional person who will be missed by many. Our parts crossed in the 80s when I went for industrial attachment in the defunct Enugu-based Satellite newspaper where he was editor. Ever since he continued to encourage and monitor my development. His column was always a must-read for his analytical mind but more for the twisting of grammar for a better understanding of issues. He was an international journalist who explored nations and wrote books on revolutions in West African nations. Obinwa was also very outstanding in the development and justice for all and this set him out as a crusader of peace and harmonious living”
When I served as the Editor of the University of Nigeria’s literary magazine, The Muse, founded by the world-renowned African writer Chinua Achebe, he noticed my knack for poetry and the accomplishments I had recorded in that regard, he quickly introduced me to Art editors of some national dailies that saw my poems appearing in many newspapers while I was still an undergraduate at Nsukka. This gave me a lot of leverage when I started publishing poetry in international literary journals and magazines.
The horrors of the Biafra war were another bunch of firewood in Igbo land until I encountered people who fought in the war and those who suffered casualties. The war always seemed like a distant folktale in the past to me until I got immersed in his war memoirs and narratives of his personal exploits as a very young, volunteer soldier on the side of Biafra. He was among the soldiers who fought on the last frontlines of the war and fired the last shots on the morning of the ceasefire.
Until his death, he carried a bullet wound on his leg from the battlefield. The scars of the 1967-1970 war were relived the day he rolled up his trousers to show me the wound of Biafra. This was when I got involved in a documentary he undertook a year before he passed on, to interview and publish accounts of survivors of that war.
One spectacular incident that left me heartbroken was a woman amputee we interviewed at Ikem, the local government headquarters of Isiuzo in Enugu State. She narrated that she was twenty-six years old during Biafra, married and had a small baby. Her husband had joined the Biafra army to fight at Awgu axis. One fateful day, she went from Ikem to Orie Awgu to get her husband’s allowance to buy foodstuff — especially the scarce salt. As they were gathered in the busy Orie Awgu, a Nigerian military helicopter flew close to the middle of the market and dropped a bomb on them.
She was rushed to a nearby medical facility, already overstretched and overwhelmed by the number of casualties, She was not attended to on time and this led to her left arm being amputated. I felt sad throughout that day, seeing the old woman carrying a wound from the war fifty years after.
Obinwa’s courage and exploits during that war remained a delightful pastime legend that he made many stories out of and even authored a book titled, The War my Father Fought.
Obinwa lived his life to benefit others — family, sisters, brothers, relatives, colleagues and friends.
Anyone who encountered his vivacious and affable personality will be left with an indelible mark in his spirit. The American poet, L.E Bowman wrote about the impact of such great and noble men thus:
“I want to be so wrecked by this world, that there are little pieces of me everywhere, in the trees I climbed as a child. In the blades of grass that bunch at my feet, in the hearts of my friends and the hands of my lovers, in every creature I have ever touched, in every river I have ever been in that now carries me out to the sea”…
Fond memories of his eventful life are like long shadow cast upon life that is new at the rise of every sun and follows us every day and live in the cemetery of our hearts in everlasting remembrance of the love and kindness he shared.
The German physicist and writer Georg Lichtenberg said contextually that “I am always grieved when a man of real talent dies, the world needs such men more than Heaven does.”
There is no stage when a man of impact departs that it will not be a huge loss to society. That is why we cannot truly forget or replace them in our lives.
