By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq@ douglasogbankwa@gmail.com
“It is not life that matters, but what you make put of it “-Aristotle.
Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih’s life and times was one that was exemplary in many ways. A loving family man and a loyal friend, Chief’s disposition to people that came his way was friendly, generous, engaging and benevolent!
He attended to everyone, the rich and the poor with equal attention. He would assist you in anything you needed assistance for, as if you were his child, brother or sister. Hardly said no to requests.
He was a stickler for time, if you missed him for a minute, that is it, an attitude that trained many around him to realize that time is the spiritual currency of life. He showed care for those that come his way, even more, when they are down, in sickness and in death!
He will forgive you, if you did anything wrong, if you retraced your step and he will deal with you on a tabula rasa (a clean slate). He was very neat, comic, organised, charismatic, benevolent, warm, but he didn’t suffer fools gladly!
He was firm but fair! He would support you in any thing you were to do, even when he would not benefit from it. He is remembered profoundly even in death. That is why I say, some times you find the dead among the living and the living among the dead.
He showed care and concern and always found a way to place you, where you can assist people. If all politicians had his benevolent disposition, Nigeria would have been a lot more better.
He was a detribalised Nigerian, who from a humble beginning in Uromi rose to the pinnacle of Nigerian politics. From being a party chairman in the then Bendel State, to being one of the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), from where he acquired the apt sobriquet ‘Mr Fix It’, a quintessential depiction of his persona, as an organised and charismatic character, who delivered on his promises.
He was Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing where he built the three sectors of the Benin bypass, which is a watershed in shielding the chaotic gridlock that had hitherto pervaded inter state travels to the South South and the South East from the opposite directions and vice versa, traversing through Benin.
He also built critical infrastructure all across Nigeria. He later became the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Board of Trustees(BoT), a position he held with profound distinction.
He was formerly of the Alhaji Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s led Peoples’ Democratic Movement (PDM), a national political establishment that had holds from Lagos to Lokoja and from Calabar to Kaora Namuda. He built lives and built the nation equally. He assisted people without expecting anything in return. That is the true hallmark of greatness.
He will be sorely missed! Continue to rest in peace, the Iyase of Esanland, till the resurrection morning!
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq@ douglasogbankwa@gmail.com, is the President of the Benin Writers’ Society.
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