As Uma Eleazu, an oasis of moral rectitude, turns 95, by Ikechukwu Amaechi,
Over the years, I have had strong personal relationships with five great Igbo personages, who were and still are global personalities in their own right – Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Professor Ben Nwabueze, Dr Pascal Dozie, Professor Anya O. Anya and Dr Uma Eleazu. Though three of these great men are now of blessed memory, these are relationships, predicated on mutual respect and trust, which I will forever cherish.
Whenever Nigeria confuses me as it often does, these men help me to make sense out of, otherwise, utterly senseless situations. When in doubt, I consulted and still consult them for clarity. On their feet, I learnt quite a lot and still learning.
Each of them have or had their peculiar attributes. But what I find most fascinating is Elder Eleazu’s humility and graciousness. He has that uncanny ability of taking a laugh at himself and hardly gets agitated even when discussing the most pernicious injustices Nigeria metes out to those who hold the wrong end of the country’s patrimonial stick.
That, perhaps, is the reason why God has blessed him with long life. On Monday, June 16, 2025, he will mark his 95th birthday. In a country where life expectancy is in the lower 50s, becoming a nonagenarian – mentally alert and physically fit – cannot but be a blessing from above.
My first encounter with Dr Eleazu was in the early 2000s. I was then editor of the now defunct Weekend Examiner and the publisher of the newspaper, the late Pini Jason, secured an interview appointment with him. I was impressed with his take on sundry national issues. But after the interview, we lost touch until much later. And when we did, it was as if nothing changed. And ever since, we have remained in touch. He would call me to confirm a story, or discuss an essay he intends to write or just finished writing. He is a life-long scholar: open-minded, keen ability to analyse and synthesize information, and persistent pursuit of challenging studies.
On Friday, June 14, his children will throw a birthday bash in his honour, an occasion where former President Olusegun Obasanjo will be the chief guest of honour, Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, the guest of honour, and Professor Pat Utomi will deliver a keynote speech.
I join Dr Eleazu’s family and well-wishers all over the world in celebrating this privileged milestone of an eventful life that even age seems incapable of slowing down. To say that Dr Eleazu, a father-figure who I am privileged to call a friend, is a phenomenon is to say the obvious.
But the real essence of his life is not in its longevity, incredible as that is, but the fact that his is a life of legacy, defined by the uncommon zeal to live deliberately. He has used every single day of his 95 years to pursue full heartedly what he desired to experience, feel, learn, and do.
And in doing this, he has always placed public good over and above self-serving interests. Imbued with the sterling qualities of diligence, foresight and pragmatism, Dr Eleazu is a study in patriotism. His belief in both the greatness of Nigeria and the noble cause of Igbo renaissance, has secured him a comfortable place in the venerable pantheon of national leadership. Even at 95, his exceptional dignity and humility stand him out as an extraordinary leader.
The son of a Methodist catechist, who desired, as a young man, to be a pastor, an ambition which circumstances disposed, the young Eleazu’s brilliance took him to the pinnacle of the academic world – graduating with a first degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Kings College, University Of Durham in 1962. Two years later he earned a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from the same University. In 1965, he bagged another Master’s degree, this time in Public Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, and subsequently a PhD in Public Administration in 1968.
Coming back to Nigeria immediately after the civil war, a period he regrets not being around to defend Biafra as most of his age mates did, he, nevertheless, served Nigeria fervently in various capacities in both the public and private sectors: He set up the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, served in the 1978 Constitution Drafting Committee, CDC, set up by General Olusegun Obasanjo to midwife the 1979 Constitution and was also a member of the Constituent Assembly. He was invited by General Abdulsalami Abubakar to be part of the Constitution Debate Coordinating Committee that midwifed the 1999 Constitution.
He served as chairman of Pipelines Products Marketing Company, PPMC, with the mandate to commercialise its operations and once headed the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, as well as facilitated the creation of the manufacturers associations in Kenya and Uganda. Before going into public service, Dr Eleazu was a university teacher both at home and abroad. Upon retirement, he found time to expand his pursuits into several other fields, consulting for both the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO.
But he had a bigger dream for Nigeria. So, when General Ibrahim Babangida started his ill-fated transition programme, Dr Eleazu threw his political hat in the ring. “I did so many other things during the military regimes and I had got enough experience to run the country. I was in the team that wrote the original Social Democratic Party, SDP, manifesto from which I developed my own personal manifesto. I had looked at other leaders of the world, so I thought I should go into politics. And I didn’t want any other thing except to be president so that I will be able to do exactly what I think this country required,” he reminisced in an interview I had with him four years ago.
When he failed in his presidential bid due to the ugly role played by money politics, he deployed his prodigious intellect into writing and public commentaries in a bid to refocus Nigerians, who as travellers had long encountered a fork in the road to national rebirth and pondering where to go next. His goal was to redirect their footsteps to the less travelled road of fidelity to truth, justice, equity and fair play.
In his magnum opus, “Nigeria, As I See It: Reflections on the Challenge of Leadership,” which he wrote at 90, Pa Eleazu lamented Nigeria’s precarious state: “It looks as if we are in a vehicle that is going downhill, and the driver and the conductors are fighting so that they cannot even apply the brakes and they don’t even know that they are not just drifting down hill, but there is a precipice, which they are going to fall into. The state of the nation is very precarious.” At 95, he is writing, yet, another book, underscoring his passion.
But he is not only worried about Nigeria. He is also concerned about Alaigbo, and the seeming lack of perception by both the political and socio-cultural elite. And as the doer he is, he is not sitting on the fence lamenting the predicament. Instead, he joined hands with like-minded patriots to found the non-partisan, socio-political and economic development-oriented organisation, committed to equity, peace, unity, justice and progress of Nigeria – Anya Ndi Igbo. His chairmanship of the Board of Trustees at 95 speaks to his selflessness.
In all this, what stands him out is his incorruptibility, an uncommon feat in a country like Nigeria where corruption is won proudly as a badge of honour by many. Elder Uma Eleazu has walked out on many organisations like the PPMC rather than compromise on his principle, making him an oasis of moral rectitude, a shining example of character and decency, in an otherwise ocean of moral turpitude.
It is no exaggeration, therefore, to say that the elder statesman from Asaga Ohafia, in Abia State, is among the last of a vanishing breed of patriotic, honest, compassionate Nigerians that still lay stock on the pristine human values of respect, justice, integrity, and responsibility. A national icon, community and religious leader, whose ability to mentor the younger generation is unmatchable, at 95, Pa Eleazu is a national treasure, an encyclopaedia of sorts and conscience of the nation.
On a day like this, I felicitate with my mentor, Dr Uma Oke Eleazu – economist, policy scientist, administrator, primary school teacher, labour officer, lecturer, author, editor and Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON. While thanking God, who in His infinite goodness has preserved him thus far, I pray for his continued sustenance in good health. Happy birthday sir!
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Over the years, I have had strong personal relationships with five great Igbo personages, who were and still are global personalities in their own right – Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Professor Ben Nwabueze, Dr Pascal Dozie, Professor Anya O. Anya and Dr Uma Eleazu. Though three of these great men are now of blessed memory, these […]
The post As Uma Eleazu, an oasis of moral rectitude, turns 95, by Ikechukwu Amaechi appeared first on Vanguard News.
, , Emmanuel Okogba, {authorlink},, , Vanguard News, June 12, 2025, 2:44 am
