Late Prof. Austin Chukwu

Professor Austin Chukwu: Tribute to the Great Lion and Legend

‘’You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough’’- Mae West.

Professor Austin Chukwu, the son of the great Omaka Ejali of Ehugbo, Ezeogo M.O.Chukwu has gone to rest.

We first met one on one sometime in 2001 and ever since; I made it a custom to visit him at his Afikpo home every Christmas holiday. You can imagine how sad I was to know I won’t be sitting beside him this December, having spoken with him in early February and telling him we will meet as usual in December 2017.

A letter of recommendation, personally written and signed by Prof. Austin Chukwu, opened a wide range of opportunities for me in 2007 when I started a career in banking. I and my wife will forever be sincerely grateful to Professor and his ever loving and caring wife Dr. (Mrs.) Christiana Chukwu for their selflessness and love to us.

Professor Austin Chukwu was indeed the peoples general, an erudite scholar, a soldier and a proud Lion (University of Nigeria Alumnus). His influence on academics, students and the entire University community can never be in vain. He had achieved so much at the age of 66 years that we can never forget. Although, we would have loved to have him around for another 50 years, but God decides and not man.

He was well respected and disciplined. Professor Austin Chukwu was never ruled by material things or by the self-desire to take personal glory. He was very straight with his well-articulated principles, and detested mediocrity and injustice.

I still recall sometime in 2002 on a Friday evening, Prof asked me to join him on a ride to town from the Ishieke campus, Ebonyi State University. I sat with him in his Volvo car; it was an inspiring evening I will never forget. He asked his driver to take us to a ‘bush bar’ within the Abakaliki Township Stadium complex where he ordered ‘Ishiewu’ and drinks. A student (me), sitting with a distinguished professor and eating together! That was how down to earth Professor Austin Chukwu was.

Trust Professor, it was not just for the food and drinks, after that he lectured me extensively on the need to have vibrant students centred activities on campus that will provoke healthy debates on relevant issues within the university community. He expressed his disappointment with students engaging in nonsensical ferocious secret cult activities and challenged me and other students who felt disenchanted too to act.

It was this challenge that led me to co-founding- The Moderate Club with my colleague Matthew Oyim, now a Commodore in the Nigerian Navy. The main aim of the club was to stimulate real debate and challenge students towards bringing a positive change to the university community and for our personal development.  And in response to Prof Austin Chukwu’s advice our first symposium was on anti-cultism strategies towards curbing the menace of campus cultism.

Professor Austin Chukwu served as Patron of the Club and recommended his very good friend, Mr. Martins Ogayi, a lecturer in the English Language Department to serve as the club’s Staff Advisor. He actively participated in several of our campus symposiums. 

I remember in particular the conference we had titled ‘The place of EBSU in the global village’ which had Professor Michael Awoke, then Director, Work-Study Programme in EBSU as guest speaker. Professor Austin Chukwu as Patron of the club served as chairman of the occasion.

I still recall with fond memories how Professor Austin held the audience spell bound with his very warm and unique style of speaking. He was articulate, and passionate. There was this intermittent short laughter and smile accompanied almost immediately with a different facial expression that will make you giggle. He challenged us to wake up from our self-destroying lethargy, which hampered our inherent potentials to be intellectually great and successful in life. He reiterated that university education was meaningless without values. Almost at every sentence the echo of ‘Prof’ followed by applause from students and lecturers greeted his assertions.

His support and guardianship energised us into taking our destiny into our own hands, promoting healthy debate and engagement on campus. Today, when I look back to the influence Prof had on us and how useful it has been to all of us at EBSU, who were not even in his department, then and now I can only thank God for the life of Professor Austin Chukwu. 

The likes of Dr. Edward Eleje, as a student and member of the Moderate club presented several essays, he is now at the Federal University, Lafia,

Mr. Ikechukwu Williams Eke, who succeeded me as The President of the club, and now a Lecturer at American University of Nigeria, Yola.

And Cmdr. Matthew Oyim , who was co-founder of the club, and now a Senior officer in the Nigerian Navy. Just to mention a few are all products of the influence of Prof. Austin Chukwu support to us while on campus.

Professor Austin Chukwu was indeed and in truth an activist, a lover of art, history, culture, languages and the family, my wife was his student in the department of English Language and Literature at Ebonyi State University, she describes Professor Austin Chukwu as the most influential professor she ever met.

When I was honoured by the National Association of Afikpo Undergraduates (NAAU), Ebonyi State University chapter as the ‘Ezeogo’, during the cultural day event in 2004, Professor Austin Chukwu and his very lovely wife Dr. (Mrs.) Christiana Chukwu were as usual present to support us. I still recall when Prof pulled me aside and said I was not dancing appropriately to the rhythm of the traditional drums, and said I should move more of my right leg than my left leg.

He was a proud son of Ehugbo (Afikpo). He will always advise me and my wife to speak Igbo language to our kids at home and let the teachers speak English language to the kids at school. He strongly believed that the Ehugbo language was the proto Igbo language, and that every other Igbo related dialect had its origin from Ehugbo language.

Professor Austin Chukwu was a Professor of English Language and Humane Letters, whose personality bestowed him tremendous admiration from all that came in contact with him.

He was so knowledgeable that they were no subjects that came under scrutiny that Prof did not provoke insightful discussions on. He did love to take up challenges and responsibilities; he spoke for the voiceless and protected the defenceless.

He was indeed a pioneer in setting standard. That explains why he moved from ABSU to EBSU, where he pioneered as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and then moved to FUNAI where he also set the standards as pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.

To Professor Austin Chukwu’s brothers; Mike Chukwu and Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, his beloved wife Dr.(Mrs.) Christiana Chukwu and his lovely Children, please accept my heartfelt sympathy on our loss.

From today, let us all resolve to take on the advice below by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), the development critic and philosopher whose philosophy of non-violent resistance influenced the likes of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and our own Austin Chukwu.

‘’On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfil the promise of our friend's life also, in our own, to the world.’’ -Henry Thoreau.

Adieu Professor Austin Chukwu, my mentor, benefactor, and friend.

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