By Ebere Nwokoro Esq
Requiescat in pace, my dear friend. Your footprints are indelible.
I awoke early this morning in Chicago to a message from our mutual friend and secondary school classmate, Ben Alaegbu, announcing the passage of our dear friend, Professor Gregory Ikechukwu Ibe, OFR. My immediate reaction was one of disbelief. Unable to reconcile the message with reality, I reached out privately to Professor Elijah Efetobor for confirmation. Alas, the dreaded news was true! What a rude awakening. What an irreparable loss!
Greg and I travelled a considerable distance together in the formative years of our lives. Although he was older than me in age, we were classmates from Class One through Class Five. Even then, he was a character impossible to overlook: conspicuously hairy, yet ever immaculately shaven, earning him the sobriquet “Aguba di nko.” He was creative, jovial, dramatic, industrious, and relentlessly enterprising. As one of the leading lights of our Ikperikpe Ogu dance group, he displayed an exuberance and flair that were unmistakably his.
Our friendship was cemented by a rather interesting circumstance. Greg lived with our House Master at Anya Iwe House, the inimitable wordsmith, Mr Ododo of blessed memory, while I served as House Prefect. Consequently, Greg became something of an unofficial member of our House Cabinet, participating in deliberations between my assistant and me on matters affecting the welfare and administration of the House. Even in those youthful days, one could discern the makings of an uncommon mind: an inventive spirit, a fertile imagination, and an uncanny ability to transform seemingly fanciful ideas into tangible realities.
Greg was, quite simply, a mastermind with a Midas touch. He could conceive an idea, give it life, nurture it with uncommon tenacity, and, before long, produce something tangible and enduring. What others might dismiss as a passing fancy, he would pursue with the conviction of a man who had already seen its ultimate destination. In retrospect, the story of Gregory University Uturu (GUU) was entirely consistent with the Greg we knew: a man whose imagination refused to be imprisoned by the limitations of the present.
Indeed, what began as an idea for a health centre ultimately blossomed into a university of international ambition. That transformation encapsulates the essence of the man: vision without timidity, ambition without apology, and execution with uncommon determination. His life was a practical demonstration of the extraordinary power of imagination when harnessed to industry, courage, and purpose.
I recall suggesting to him that a College of Law be incorporated into the university’s vision. His response was characteristically swift and decisive: I should consider it done, provided I was prepared to render my services pro bono. We exchanged pleasantries, sealed our understanding in friendship, and each honoured our side of the bargain. That little episode remains a treasured reminder of the ease with which Greg converted conversations into commitments and commitments into concrete possibilities.
His devotion to our Old Boys Association was equally remarkable. He sponsored our maiden outing at Uturu Cave, an occasion that remains indelibly etched in my memory. He hosted us to lunch and dinner at his residence and accommodated us for two nights. He subsequently extended the same generosity to us on another occasion. Our meetings at his Uturu Plaza in Okigwe were further testament to his unwavering commitment to the fraternity. For four years, he served diligently as Treasurer of the Association, bringing to the office the same sense of responsibility and practical engagement that characterised his other endeavours.
Nor was his commitment to our Alma Mater merely rhetorical. He made strenuous efforts to revive the fortunes of the school and even volunteered to have part of its premises utilised as a demonstration school to serve as a feeder institution for Gregory University Uturu. That proposal was more than an act of generosity; it was an expression of his conviction that the past must not be abandoned in the pursuit of the future. It spoke eloquently of a man who understood that genuine progress must be accompanied by a sense of responsibility to one’s roots.
Greg had a particularly endearing way of addressing me as his “Honourable Attorney-General.” I reciprocated by calling him “His Excellency.” Today, as I reflect on that familiar banter, I cannot help but smile through the sadness. The sobriquet was jocular, but the excellence it celebrated was anything but fictitious. In enterprise, in audacity of vision, in generosity of spirit, and in the determination to leave the world better than he met it, Greg was indeed excellent in every respect.
His earthly sojourn was a compelling reminder that while life is transient, the fruits of a purposeful existence can endure for generations. The man may have departed, but the institutions he established, the minds he enlightened, the opportunities he created, and the lives he touched constitute a legacy that will outlive the frailty of mortal existence. Non omnis moriar — I shall not wholly die — is perhaps the most fitting epitaph for a man whose works will continue to speak long after his voice has fallen silent.
Today, I mourn not merely a celebrated professor, university proprietor, philanthropist, and accomplished entrepreneur. I mourn a childhood companion, a secondary school classmate, a cherished friend, a comrade in the cause of our Alma Mater, and a man with whom I shared memories that the passage of time can neither diminish nor erase.
Dear Greg, our banter has ended, but our memories endure. Your familiar presence will be sorely missed, your friendship deeply cherished, and your achievements celebrated for generations yet unborn. You have run your race and, by every measure of the life you lived, left an enduring imprint on the sands of time.
Requiescat in pace, amice carissime. Rest in peace, my dearest friend. May the Almighty God grant your soul eternal repose, and may He comfort your children, grandchildren, the entire Ibe family, the Gregory University community, and all who mourn this monumental loss.
Adieu, Greg. Your Hon. Attorney-General will remember you always. His Excellency has bowed out, but his legacy lives on.
Prince Ebere Nwokoro is an Immigration Lawyer and an old Boy of Ihube Boys High School, Okigwe, Imo State.
