|
Eng. Okey P. Imegwu lives on
By Dan Amor
How time flies! It is
unbelievable that this week (November 6, to be specific) makes it exactly one
year that Engineer Okechukwu Ezennia Patrick Imegwu, passed on to greater glory.
As I write these words, I still cannot believe that he is no more on the mortal
planet. Not because he was too young to die at the age of 63 in a country with
a life expectancy of less than 45 years. But because we are talking about a
life, with enormous potentialities which, to our mortal eyes, was cornered by
fate to labour and yet depart at the time the food is on the table. We are
talking about a life that reached out for decency in every human relation but
was strongly repelled by the incivility lurking in social encounters.
A man of amazing
generosity and friendliness, Imegwu was just someone different who wished
things to be settled, normal and better. Whoever crossed his path at any time,
from his earliest years at Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, his days at
the University of Lagos and at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to his working
years as an engineer, can attest to it that he was not a recluse.
Born on August 7, 1940,
to Mr and Mrs Nwanozie Imegwu of Okia Ikesi Family in Umudaike - Umueze,
Atani Village in Atani, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State,
Okechukwu Ezennia Patrick Imegu was a child of circumstance having lost his
dear mother very early in life in 1958 when he was just 18years and in class 3
at Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha. But with humility, Hardwork and
determination, he forged ahead with his father and surmounted life’s
telling obstacles when he got West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1959.
After his High School
Certificate (HSC) Okey proceeded to the University of Lagos in 1964 as one of
the pioneer students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He was forced
to the East by the Nigerian Civil War where he enrolled at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka to complete his project. Still the war compelled him to drop
out; but with determination coupled with an abiding zeal, he went back after
the crisis and hostilities, and thereby got his Bachelor of Science degree in
Engineering in 1973. As a Pioneer member of the National Youth Service Corps
scheme introduced by the government of General Yakubu Gowon in 1973, he served
with the old Western Nigeria Water Corporation, Ibadan from August 1973 to
July, 1974. He later joined the Post & telecommunication Development in
1974 as a Workshop Engineer and left in July 1979 as a Senior Engineer.
After leaving the P
& T in 1979, he joined Guinness Nigeria Plc. He left Guinness in November,
1992 to take up an appointment with SONA Breweries, Otta, Ogun State as an
Assistant Chief Engineer. During the Guinness years that spanned 14 Years (1979
- 1992), Imegwu spent a good number of years as a Project Engineer
responsible for project management and installation of several plants and
equipment working alongside expatriate projects teams. A widely travelled professional,
Engineer Imegwu in 1975, attended a six-week course in Dursely, Midlands,
United Kingdom at R.A. Lister & Sons Plant on planning, designing,
installation and maintenance of Diesel Power Plant. In 1976, he, again,
attended a one month Project/Management course at I.T.T. Plant in Milan Italy.
And yet in 1983 (August to September) he was involved in an intensive course in
maintenance Engineering Management and Brewing Engineering in the United
Kingdom and Ireland.
A man of many parts,
full of zeal patriotism and dynamism, O.P. Imegwu served in the Oko axis in the
then Republic of Benin as a Biafran Soldier.
As a father, Engineer
Imegwu was a great disciplinarian, expecting to be obeyed without question. But
he loved his children with the heart of a dove. A very hardworking head of a
family, who cultivated knowledge with great assiduity, he would always create
time, in spite of his job as a professional, to help the children in their
school assignments. Small wonder then that he formed an ideal family in which
everybody has seen the four-walls of the university.
What actually endeared
him to many people was his Spartan spirit towards the service of God and
humanity. Even in his latter years. He was still very active in community
development projects in which he served tirelessly as Deputy Chairperson of
Atani Town Union, Lagos Branch till his last days. At Victory Estate, Iba,
Lagos where he built his own house and where he lived for just a year and ten
months, he was loved by all including men and women both young and old. He
would always greet everybody intensively with his usual broad smile, which had
become his trade-mark. At the Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) Iba I where
he worshipped, his love for people became very infectious that within a short
while he was everybody’s friend. He was not only a member of the
Christian Men Fellowship; he was also a leading member of the Building
Committee of the Church. Even though he was a scientist of an immense
proportion, Engineer Imegwu was a great writer who was in love with the written
word. In fact, until his last days, he was contributing occasionally to certain
national newspapers.
His family life was
great as he was always appreciating and encouraging his wife, Ada, whom he
referred to as his “Soul-mate, life partner, friend, sister, mother and
confident.” His greatest achievement in life is that he accepted Christ
as his personal Lord and Saviour. As we remember him this week, the good Lord
repose his soul and grant him eternal rest till we meet to part no more.
|
