When talking about aluta in Nigeria especially during the military misrule, the name, Chima Ubani cannot be forgotten in a hurry. As a student, as a comrade, and as Executive Director of Civil Liberty Organization, CLO, he did his best for the Nigerian masses before answering the call ten years ago.
Ubani died in a controversial ghastly road accident on September 25, 2005 on the Postikum/Yobe highway while coordinating the Labour and Civil Society, LASCO coalition rally/protests against the incessant increase in the prices of petroleum products by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Chima was supposed to fly to Abuja for the continuation of the rally, but they said the seat of the available aircraft was filled up and he had to give up the space for Adams Oshiomhole, the then National Chairman of Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and now the governor of Edo State.
Who knows whether Oshiomhole still remember that expensive gesture by Chima Ubani? Who knows whether Oshiomhole has visited the wife and children left behind by Chima even once not to talk of taking care of them now that he has become his excellency?
Uche Wisdom Durueke posted the picture below with the text under it to his Facebook profile page to remember Chima in his own little way:
A Comrade from Angola, Comrade Chima Ubani, Ayo Obe, Uche Wisdom Durueke and Hussaini Abdul at a conference some years ago.
In his own tribute to late Chima Ubani in October 2005, comrade Dele-Israel Ikeorha composed the following Poem:
Sonnet of the Morning Light
(a Tribute to Chima Ubani)
Every glorious turn of history is made
By wheels of sacrifice, hearts of greatness
The tears we shed, the joys we share express
Our being shining before the morning light.
The marks we make on sands of time resound
Our names as fragrance rise above the stress
And what deeds are remembered are no less
Virtues on which nations entrust their sight.
The flowers fly amidst the sunny sky
And sway above the mortal winds display
The answer to hope is just another why
The world’s new light enfolds with love today.
Peoples advance on a culture of change
Men, by living beyond the common range.
Dele-Israel Ikeorha
Kaduna October 19, 2005
May the soul of comrade Chima Ubani rest in peace, amen.
Memorial Tribute By Bodedolu’s Blog Admin
Poem credit: Dele-Israel Ikeorha; Photo credits: Uche Wisdom Durueke | FB, Vanguard