By Comfort Obi
Initially, the news of the sudden death of Senator Ben Uwajimogu, Wednesday morning, was unbelievable. So, many people dismissed it as fake.
The many versions of the exact place he was said to have died did not make the story any easy to believe.
Some people said Abuja. Others said Dubai. And there was also the Indian version. Nobody could agree on anything, including how he died.
Confusion reigned.
He slumped in his bathroom while taking his birth. He fell down from his bed and died. He was on his way to work to when he died. He died in his car. And many other stories.
In deed, one version insisted he was resuscitated in a hospital, and so alive.
Some consolation.
Later, only four things were right. The Senator died. He died suddenly. He died in Abuja. He died of heart-related ill-health.
Reactions were like claps of thunder. Why not?
The man was on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday and participated in the activities of the day. In deed, he had, also, seen off (some say, driven) a friend of his to the Abuja airport on Tuesday. And had a meeting, same day, with one of his Counsels during the Senatorial Election petitions.
As the news broke, Imo State entered into shock. Uwajimogu was lively, fun to be with, and carried his huge frame with dignity.
Wednesday morning, the Counsel who disclosed that one of them had met him in Abuja, entered into shock, almost. Another Counsel reacted, almost, sheepishly: “For what?” “Death suddenly came calling,” a colleague replied him. Yet, he repeated the question: “For what?”
A number of his colleagues in the Senate, led by the Senate President, Dr Ahmed Lawan, also, reacted in shock. “Not possible”, said the newly sworn-in Senator Smart Adeyemi. ” I was with him on Tuesday, and we were discussing Nigeria”, he said.
The All Progressives Peoples Party, APC, Imo State branch, whose member, he was exclaimed: “We have lost a powerful voice, a loyal party man”.
But the reaction, from where the headline of this report emanated, was from Dr. Chris Asoluka, a former member of the House of Representatives and, a former Imo Commissioner for Finance. In a sombre mood at his Ihiagwa, Owerri-West home , mourning his immediate elder sister, and preparing for a Service of Songs in her honour, Asoluka first sighed, then smiled, a mirthless smile, and said to no one in particular: “Uwajimogu, God must be having fun, picking us one by one. He is telling us we are nothing. That life is nothing”. Nobody responded, just silence, as if wondering: Will I be next?
Uwajimogu’s foray into politics was a combination of success, fun and anxiety.
A former powerful Speaker of the Imo House of Assembly, he was formerly of the PDP and at a time, during the Governor Rochas Okorocha administration, when he jumped ship with him to APC, doubled, unofficially, as the Commissioner for Works.
He went to the Senate, later, and was an ally of Okorocha. Okorocaha irredeemably fell out with him, as he also did with some others – Senators Hope Uzodinma, Osita Izunaso, Ifeanyi Ararume. Between them, and the APC National Leader, Adams Oshiomhole, they helped deliver Imo from Okorocha’s clutches, by making sure he did not impose his son-in-law, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, as APC’s Governorship candidate in the 2019 Governoship election.
Uwajimogu’s second tenure to the Senate was not smooth. He was amongst the last to be sworn-in after a couple of months, because of a confusion in INEC over who actually won the Imo North Senatorial seat.
His Constituents are, at once, shocked and confused. Aside losing a good representative at the Senate, they will now be faced with a rerun election, which by Nigerian standard, is bound to be cantankerous.
Uwajimogu’s death couldn’t have come at a worse time. An irony of sorts. He was not a lawyer, but was well-known in legal circles in Imo. His death came on the day the Imo Judiciary was holding a session in honour of their late colleagues, husband and wife – Barr. Okey and Barr (Mrs) Anuli Okey-Ehieze. Mrs Ehieze had died earlier. While her husband was preparing for her burial, he slumped and died, three days later.
As soon as Uwajimogu heard that Ehueze slumped, he offered to fly him out, immediately, for treatment. That was when it was found out that Barr. Ehieze’s international passport had expired. A renewal was quickly arranged. He got it within 48 hours. Unfortunately, he died the next day.
Uwajimogu was billed to play a prominent role at their funeral. Particularly, he was expected to help see their children- four of them, all in the university, reading medicine and law – through school, it is said.
Now, the Senator lies dead, 24 hours to the funeral of the Ehiezes.
*Obi is the Editor-in-Chief/CEO of The Source (Magazine), https://thesourceng.com. Email: [email protected], [email protected]
