Dr Nwobodo is reflection of honesty, intelligence, wisdom, good character—Umenzekwe

Hon (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) in this Interview with SUCCESS DAMIAN in Lagos, celebrates Dr. Ikechukwu Christopher Nwobodo fondly called Dr Nwobodo as he clocks 80, describes him as a reflection of honesty, intelligence, wisdom, good character and good behavior. Excerpt:

Can you tell us your relationship with the Octogenarian Dr I.C. Nwobodo?

Thank you. Dr Ikechukwu Christopher Nwobodo, fondly called Dr Nwobodo, is related to me biologically, because the mother is from my family, Ezinne late Mrs. Margaret Nwobodo is from my kindred.

Dr. Christopher Nwobodo is a well-known senior citizen of Achina Community who has in various ways championed both human and material infrastructure development in the town. A devout Catholic for that matter, very unassuming; he is one of those that are adjudged to have occupied, a dazzling intellectual ability in the field of academics. Dr Nwobodo took up from his father, Nwobodo, who paid the supreme price for the emancipation of Achina community in the olden days; that did not deter him; he took up from where the father stopped to champion human evangelism and development of the town. He used his office as a well-known and elevated civil service position to give jobs to not only Achina people, the igbos, but also to Nigerians. Secretly and without making noise he has been helping a lot of people; there are people in his payroll on monthly basis for several years now without him announcing it. I am saying this now because I am a bit close to him. You can never go to him and go back empty handed, it is either he gives you the little he has or he gives you advice or he gives you solution to your problem.

And the wife, he must have a very supportive wife

And you see he was able to do all these things because he has an accommodating and understanding wife, Mrs Ngozi Nwobodo, we call her Ejemmiri, some call her Asa, and I personally call her, otigbu anyinya nke nwanyi, because of the great things she is doing, very accommodating; the woman that handled the account of Achina women for several years and she proved her expertise and frugality in finance.

So today Dr. Christopher Ikechukwu Nwobodo is celebrating his 80th birthday and I feel it is proper and good to tell the world who he is, he may not like what I am doing because he is not a flamboyant person or public person like that; he may get somehow surprised but I think at eighty one needs to talk about him, because he has served this country very well.

Now, Dr Nwobodo as you have just said, in what sector of the economy did he serve during his active days?

Dr Nwobodo worked in the Central Bank of Nigeria, he worked with NNPC, and at the same time he was doing a part time job at University of Lagos (Unilag) as an Associate Professor teaching Statistics and Economics. Then at the Central Bank of Nigeria, he worked in the Research and Planning Department; that was about 1978/79. Then from there he migrated to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) where he retired as Group General Manager (GGM), Crude Oil Department. At that time he was number three in the hierarchy of the company, so when I said that he has an intimidating profile, I am not making a mistake.

And at that time he did so much for the Country and he emerged chairman of OPEC crude oil producing nations for quite a long time and in doing that job he relocated to Vienna. While he was in NNPC he was posted to different departments, like Planning, Public Affairs, Department of Statistics, before going to Crude Oil Department where he served for nearly seven years. And it is worthy of note that none of his successors could beat his outstanding record.
One thing outstanding about Dr. Nwobodo is that he was being sought by every country. For instance when he retired from government work, it was the Federal Government of Nigeria that advised the Government of Congo that there is only one African man who can help them restructure their Oil Sector and that person is from Nigeria and that person is Dr. Ikechukwu Christopher Nwobodo. The Federal Republic of Congo leveraged on that, sent a Presidential Jet to bring him to Congo in 1996 and he served them for more than 15 years until they felt self-reliant. These records anybody can verify them. But even at that he was not making noise, you would never know. He is the Executive Director of SLPC, a major oil producer till this moment.

Can you let us know some of the roles he played in the development of Achina Town?

I must not forget to inform the public that the magnificent edifice of St Charles Catholic Church Achina, he played a significant role in financing the construction of that church. In the days he was so vibrant, he used his connections to attract people to come and donate, he was almost at that time the highest donor, it is on record.

At a stage we had what we may call local government struggle; you know at a time when government say there would be creation of local government, every town would want to get their own fair share, that happened in 1981, he championed it, he was one of the pillars that championed the struggle, and it favoured Achina. Coming back to 1995/96, he also played a very big role. I wouldn’t like to go into the full details of the 1981 and 1995/96 local government struggles, but I can tell you that Dr. Nwobodo remained indispensable in the history, in the story about human development, Achina development and religious development. He is almost everywhere, but then one thing about him is that he is very quiet.

Some people would say he doesn’t do this, he doesn’t do that, you know in this country whatever people do they blow their trumpet, but for him, he doesn’t. Not that he is so rich but I can tell you he is a very contented man, living in peace with his lovely wife; and today he is celebrating his 80th birthday, we decided to take him by surprise, to tell the world, this is Dr. Nwobodo, this is what he stands for, this is what he has done. So if I continue to talk about him, it will take us a whole day, because I will go to his umunna, I will go to his immediate village, then if I go to his family, different narratives, very positive narratives, if I go to his in-laws, the same narrative, and he is very humble. If you have any occasion, you invite him, you will see him there, if for any reason he would not come, he would send you message. And I pray that at 80, personally I feel he is still young, I pray God to give him more years, after all we read about Methuselah in the bible, we read about Gad, he was 400 years, Noah was 120 years when he built the Ark with manual labour, we learnt Abraham was 157 years, the wife was 127 years, so I pray that Dr. Nwobodo will enjoy such longer life, both him and the wife so that we would continue to celebrate him and I pray he will be like that in good health and mind. I wish him well. And to end this discussion, I say, Dr. I.C. Nwobodo, fondly call Dr. Nwobodo, Ezebube, the silent philanthropist, and academician, a philosopher, I wish him happy birthday, and I pray that he will enjoy many more years in the future, thank you.

Before I go, it is good thing that, we are told to emulate good things, with Dr Nwobodo’s lifestyle, a life worthy of emulation, what are you telling the youth of Achina and indeed Nigerian youths?

I have always said that Dr. Nwobodo is a reflection of honesty, a reflection of intelligence, a reflection of wisdom, good character, a reflection of good behavior, I advise our youths to see Dr. Nwobodo as a role model in moulding their character, moulding their lifestyle, taking into consideration what he suffered when he lost his father, what he passed through to become a great man, we should read his history, and that would help the youths, and even me talking to you, because I am still younger, even though older than the youths, to emulate his lifestyle, his track record and they will not get loss. It is a tight road, it is a narrow road, but if they are able to go through it, you will be like Dr. Nwobodo or even pass him. Even at his age he still attend meetings, he attends our town union meetings, village meeting, Umunna meeting and all that, and others. He comes in quietly and sits down. Even when you give him seat where he supposed to sit, he would decline, and said let me stay here, very generous, I wish him well.