“Leadership is not about title or a designation. It is about impact, influence, and inspiration”- Robin S. Sharma.
By Evangelist Ikenna Anakor, (Ikukuoma Nnewi)
A giant tree once stood against the sky, magnificent, strong and reliable. It was an epitome of grace, beauty and power. It provided balance to little plants around it. Birds safely reared their young and made their nests on its vast branches. Passersby enjoyed the cooling shades it provided. The land on which it stood became fertilized whenever it sheds its leaves. Then one day, without any prior warning, it fell. The place it once stood became lonely and void. Birds of the air filled the woods with their songs of lamentation because their strong tower is no more. Little plants around it became suddenly vulnerable. Passersby became exposed to the vagaries of the unforgiving weather. That tree was Osita Emma Ojukwu.
Until his death, Osita Emmanuel Ojukwu was an Igbo business man from Nnewi, who sojourned in China in search of greener pastures for almost 25 years and there, lived a life of service, and almost transmuted into Nigeria’s life ambassador extraordinaire in that country. A very influential fellow, he was a bridge builder who played very important role in bridging communication gap that existed between Nigerians and the Chinese authorities prior to his ascension as the leader of the diaspora community. It is important to note that most of the favourable relationship Nigeria benefits today with China emanated from his intervention and personal diplomacy. A consummate leader, who in a bid to equip himself properly for the duty he did so well, elected to study Chinese language and Chinese law. This action made him super prepared to represent his people, having conquered the language barrier and with an excellent knowledge of the Chinese jurisprudence. He mounted the saddle of leadership of Nigerian Community in China when the image of Nigerians in China was terribly battered. It was so bad that Nigerians were subjected to various forms of dehumanization to the extent of refusing them space to engage in their legitimate businesses. When Ossy took over leadership in 2007 as the interim leader of Nigerian Community in China, he swung into action and it was not long before he turned things around and redeemed the horrible image of Nigerians. Considering his achievements, history will remember him as one of the greatest leaders of Nigeria and African Communities in China. To the time of his death, Mr. Ossy made tremendous effort to see that Nigerians in Guangzhou and beyond were respected. He worked with the authorities to create enabling environment for genuine Nigerian businessmen in China which enabled several of them to thrive. Under his great leadership, Nigerians transcended mere trading to owning industrial concerns in China. It was to his eternal credit that most business missions, chamber of commerce and Chinese investors came into Nigeria. He created a leeway for our industrialists to gain acceptability and play big in the Chinese economy and today it has paid off in the number of Nigerians who have their factories and are employers of labor in China. What a sage. At a time when people were afraid of having any dealings with the Chinese police stations, Ossy was the only person who could go in there to release or plead the cause of any Nigerian arrested for offences bothering mostly on invalid travel documents and he did release them.
For his effective leadership, in 2010, Nigerians in China elected him as the president of Nigerian Community in China at the expiration of his interim regime. Ossy worked tirelessly and made sure that Nigerians who got trapped in China for many years due to expiration of their travel documents found their way back to Nigeria again, reuniting with their various families and by the time his tenure elapsed as the president of Nigeria Community, all the Africans in China came together and made him president of the African Union in China to replicate his feat in the Nigerian Union. His image loomed so large in China but he never abused the enormous power he wielded. There was no high ranking Nigerian who never visited him in China; it was so much that his office was busier than the Nigerian embassy in China. He was so passionate about Nigeria and was always willing to help Nigerian officials or ordinary Nigerian citizens who sought for one help or the other.
Testimonies of his life abounds. According to one of his aides, Zima, “I can recall vividly during one of the visits of president Buhari to China. Six hours after president Buhari has left Beijing for Nigeria, his protocols were still in Beijing because their aircraft was not allowed to fly. When the embassy contacted him, we were in his office in Guangzhou. He made a phone call and magic happened in Beijing. Dignitaries were astonished on how he could influence Beijing from Guangzhou”.
To Hon. Musa, former secretary, Nigerian Community in China, “Emma, as he was popularly called among the Chinese echelons, was a complete honest man to the brim, his heart was made of gold in a very large sized presence. He gave and accommodated without fear of going bankrupt, he impacted lives in an undiluted sincerity and never expected anything in return, he stood tall in the midst of time and matters, he fought for males, females, kids, white people, black people (from any country) Arabs, Indians, Chinese, etc. Ojukwu was with presidents of several countries, governors, senators, Kings and Queens (including the king of Belgium) and several others. He was featured on Chinese TV on several occasions as a special authority, the only African person who ever lived in China with an endless permission to stay, his own visa was unlimited and does not expire, he was revered among the Chinese oligarchs, he was loved and fully accepted among the Chinese top powers, he was regarded by anyone in the pursuit of truth and justice, he fought for justice to the end. If anyone was ill, Emma will be there with that person to the last minutes be it whatsoever, Ojukwu developed several illnesses due to his endless fights for the helpless, he will go hungry, penniless and cheat sleep for days just to make sure a fellow human is fine and alive, he will give his all when a fellow human is in need, and he will do all these as if he wasn’t doing anything. When Ojukwu finally handed the Shenzhen mafia kingpin to the Supreme Court of Guangdong, the then Attorney General of Guangdong Province, (who sat in stunned disbelief after his many years of hard-work trying to get hold of the very criminal) declared Emma-Ojukwu as an insuperable prodigy with an unusual strength, wisdom and class. Indeed, words are not enough to describe this great man who came with an unwavering push in life. Emma-Ojukwu was on the fifth ladders of Maslow before his demise; that was a great, extremely wise, God-made ironman, a very powerful being who just departed”.
Ikenna Anakor
Ossy’s death might take the black race of China residence another century to achieve his prototype, if it’ll ever happen. He is an irreplaceable personality. May his memory forever be a blessing.
Ikenna Anakor is a friend to Ossy ojukwu and writes from Togo
