Great Lessons From Great Men

Great Lessons From Great Men

This is a guest post from J.D. Roth, who runs and writes for one of the biggest and best personal finance blogs on the net: Get Rich Slowly. Be sure to check out Get Rich Slowly for lots of solid advice on saving money and living a financially sound lifestyle.


Because I write a personal finance blog, I read a lot of books about money. I’ll be honest: they’re usually pretty boring. Sure, they can tell you how to invest in bonds or how to find the latest loophole in the tax code. But most of them lack a certain something: the human element.
Recently I’ve begun to read a different kind of money book in my spare time. I’ve discovered the joy of classic biographies and success manuals, especially those written by (or about) wealthy and/or thrifty men. When I read about Benjamin Franklin or Warren Buffett or J.C. Penney, I learn a lot — not just about money, but about how to be a better man.
Here are twelve of most important lessons that these books, written by and about great men of years gone by, have taught me:
Be Tenacious
“Anybody can be a halfway man, but the one who rises above this class is the one who keeps everlastingly pushing.” — J. Ogden Armour, Touchstones of Success (1920)
More than any other, one lesson stands out from the books I’ve read: Never give up. If you have a goal or a dream, pursue it. If there’s a cause that you truly believe in, then fight for it. That’s not to say that you should doggedly chase greed or gluttony, but that you should do your best to achieve those things that are important to you. Great men struggle through daunting obstacles to reach their destinations. In everything that you do, do your best. And remember: The road to wealth is paved with goals.
Exercise Self-Control
“‘Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.” — Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (1758)
Benjamin Franklin famously attempted to codify his quest for self-control. As Brett wrote last year, Franklin committed himself to thirteen virtues, and he developed a system for tracking how disciplined he was in his daily pursuit of these ideals. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional indulgence. But when the indulgence becomes a habit — or worse, a vice — this can affect your life. Even destroy it. If you have habits that prevent you from fulfilling your potential, find a way to boost your self-control. (You might, for example, use Joe’s Goals to track your progress, much like Benjamin Franklin did.)
Do the Right Thing
“To be truly rich, regardless of his fortune or lack of it, a man must live by his own values. If those values are not personally meaningful, then no amount of money gained can hide the emptiness of life without them.” — John Paul Getty, How to Be Rich (1961)
Have a code of honor, and live by it. Your code of honor might come from your faith, or from your education, or from your family. Whatever the source, live by these values. Life is filled with temptations. The more you accomplish, the more people will tempt you with offers for quick gains or passing pleasures. Many men succumb to these, but those who do rarely achieve what they might have if they’d stuck to their principles. The books I’ve read are filled with stories of men who have resisted the urge to compromise, and who believe that this has been a key to their success. Don’t cheat. Be honest. Work hard. And embrace the golden rule.
Embrace The Golden Rule
“Good will is one of the few really important assets of life. A determined man can win almost anything that he goes after, but unless, in his getting, he gains good will he has not profited much.” — Henry Ford, My Life and Work (1922)
James Cash Penney — the man behind the J.C. Penney chain of department stores — believed that success could be measured by how a man treated others. In his book, Fifty Years with the Golden Rule, Penney describes his life-long adherence to this maxim: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Other great men believed the same. They believed that their fortunes came not from pursuing money itself, but by producing something of value to others. But this principle also holds true outside of business. In your dealings with your friends, your family, and with strangers, treat others as you would like to be treated. Doing so builds social capital, strengthening the fiber of the community.
Pay Yourself First
“Many a man is poor today, although he has worked like a slave, simply because he could not save.” — Orison Swett Marden, The Young Man Entering Business (1903)
Another common thread in most of these books — and in personal-finance classics like The Richest Man in Babylon — is the importance of saving. “Pay yourself first,” the old adage goes, and it’s great advice. If you will set aside ten or twenty per cent of all that you earn, your fortune will grow far beyond that of your peers. Some of this money should be invested in a manner that makes you comfortable. (You should learn about the concepts of asset allocation and diversification, if you haven’t already.) But some of your money should also be set aside in a high-interest savings account to act as an emergency fund. When you save — when you pay yourself first — you are using the strength of your youth to insure your uncertain tomorrow.
Avoid Debt
“Be assured that it gives much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article whatever which we may seem to want.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to his daughter Martha (14 June 1787)
Debt is slavery. When you owe money to another man, you are obligated to work for his benefit, not yours. Many young men struggle with debt — I did so myself. But those who are not able to overcome their spending habits are likely to find themselves always poor. When you pay interest to someone else, you cannot earn interest for yourself. When you’re in debt, your options are limited. You cannot choose, for example, to take a month off to travel across the country with a friend. You cannot quit a job you hate. If you did, how would your bills get paid? To be sure, a certain amount of debt is useful in business, but make it a policy in your personal life to never borrow for something that will decrease in value. (And if you’re already behind, make it a priority to get out of debt as soon as possible.)
Keep Well
“The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum of fortune; it is the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick.” — P.T. Barnum, The Art of Money Getting (1880)
Your health is your greatest asset. If you lack health, you cannot work, and cannot produce an income. Health allows you to engage in productive activities, at work and at play. It allows you to enjoy the company of your friends and family. And it allows you to live with vigor. Guard your health. Do not neglect your body. Eat well. Exercise regularly. If you drink or smoke, do so in moderation. You will not live forever, but with some care and foresight, you may get a little closer!
Do Not Covet
“By wishing to be what he calls ‘up-to-date’ as his friends or boon companions, many a young man mortgages his future.” — Orison Swett Marden, The Young Man Entering Business (1903)
It never pays to compare yourself to others. For one, you can find yourself longing to own the same things they do. Your best friend buys a new Ford Mustang, and suddenly you want one too. The guys from work go out for drinks on Friday evening, but you’re broke — the temptation to join in, to have what others have, can be unbearable. Focus only on yourself and how the things you own and do relate to your goals. Don’t be jealous of others. (This is one message in the famous essay, “Acres of Diamonds”: Instead of looking elsewhere for wealth, look at your own life.)
Live Modestly
“This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth…To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or arrogance.” — Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
This is the flip side to “Do Not Covet”. Just as you should not allow the behavior of your friends to influence your spending decisions, so too be conscious of your influence on them. If you have money, don’t flaunt it. And if you don’t have money, don’t pretend that you do. It’s fine (even good) to buy quality products, but don’t be flashy. Live simply and well.
Practice Patience
“No matter how great the talent or the effort, some things just take time: you can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” — Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report (1985)
Too many men want to “get rich quick.” They’re on the lookout for fast money. They also want to lose weight now, to be a great golfer now, to be in management now. This obsession with “now” is a problem. In his new book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is 10,000 hours. That is, those who achieve mastery have patiently practiced their craft for at least 10,000 hours — the equivalent of five years of full-time work. When people ask me why my personal finance blog is so successful, one of my responses is that I’ve worked at it 60+ hours a week for the past three years. Practice may not “make perfect,” but it certainly breeds success.
Give Generously
“Thrift does not end with itself, but extends its benefits to others. It founds hospitals, endows charities, establishes colleges, and extends educational influences.” — Samuel Smiles, Thrift (1875)
I was not raised in a culture of giving. It’s only something I’m beginning to learn in middle age. But as I read about the choices of men who have come before me, it’s clear that they have derived satisfaction (and done a lot of good) by giving generously — not just of money, but also of time and knowledge. Do not hoard the things you have. Share them so that others might profit, too.
Learning from the Average Joe
Over the past few months, I’ve enjoyed reading the real-life stories of how great men became great. But I’ve also found it enlightening to read about the experiences of the average day guy — the fellows like you and me.
One book I strongly recommend (especially considering the state of the economy) is Hard Times by Studs Terkel. Hard Times is an oral history of the Great Depression. Terkel interviewed scores of men and women about their experiences during the 1930s. Their stories are amazing, and they offer great insight about how we can live better lives today.
Go forth, my friends, and do great things.

APC Aspirant decries high cost of party nomination forms

An aspirant for the Benue House of Assembly, Mr Joseph Boko, has called on the All Progressive Congress (APC) to reduce the cost of its nomination forms so as not to block quality aspirants from contesting.
Boko, who is vying to represent Kwande constituency, made the call in an interview on Friday in Makurdi.
According to him, the high cost placed on the nomination forms will exclude most aspirants and affect the party’s chances of winning the 2015 elections.
Boko, who picked his nomination form on Thursday at the party’s state secretariat, said he was going into the race to improve the quality of legislation and enhance the living conditions of the people.
He said the expression of interest form for the state house of assembly costs over N600,000 and regretted that many aspirants might not afford it.
He believed that reducing the cost of the forms would throw the contest open and provide the enabling environment for the best candidates to emerge.
“The high cost of nomination forms shows no ideological difference between the APC and the ruling PDP, which has also hiked the cost of forms beyond the reach of its ordinary members.”
According to him, the APC as a grassroots political party, needs to have the right candidates to enable it uproot the PDP in the 2015 general election.
He lauded INEC’s performance in recent elections it conducted, and charged it not to disappoint Nigerians during the 2015 polls.
“INEC is better prepared for the elections, anything short of successful management of elections will be deliberate because they have seen it all and can know where adjustments can be made.”
He said Nigerians expect INEC to effectively manage the election, warning that the citizens would not accept any failure in that respect.
The aspirant advised the commission to make proper arrangements for the smooth conduct of the polls in states with security challenges to avoid disenfranchising the people.
He said any political party that was well prepared would win the 2015 elections. (NAN)

Educationist advises Fayose to appoint technocrats as commissioners

An educationist, Dr Ajayi Bolagade, has advised the Ekiti new governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, to appoint technocrats as commissioners in order to achieve his desire to serve the people well.
Bolagade gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Ikole.
He urged Fayose to shun “party patronage’’, but to involve professionals who could help his government to succeed.
“The new governor is determined to transform every sector in the state and involvement of people who are capable to do the job based on experience will fast-track positive changes.
“The technocrats have all it takes to give rational advice and use their knowledge to implement government programme for the development of the state,’’ he said.
Bolagade said that the state had many problems and that involvement of performance-driven technocrats would enhance the governor’s performance.
He urged politicians to support the new administration to check poverty level of the people and solve the enormous challenges facing the state.
The educationist also urged the state civil servants and other stakeholders to be patient and give the new administration necessary support to bring the state back on the right track.

Agriculture: Key to Africa’s development

CHIJI Ojukwu, Director of the AfDB’s Agriculture and Agro Industry Department, reflects on the importance of agriculture as the African Development Bank’s commemoration of the Africa Year of Agriculture and Food Security, began recently in Abidjan.
Here is an excerpt by JIMOH BABATUNDE
ON the main food crops and cash crops that can help Africa address its food security and reduce poverty
The strategic priority crops designated by the AUC in Africa are maize, rice, cassava and wheat. These crops also constitute the basis of the Bank’s US $60 million support to agricultural research at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Africa Rice and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
However, as part of the Bank’s new Agriculture Policy and Strategy [2015-2019], support for the development of agricultural value chains in these crops will also involve increased value addition along the supply chain.
Future support for agricultural infrastructure will involve increased investments in irrigation, feeder roads and off-grid energy access in the rural areas. In addition, though not through support to research, the Bank also invests in livestock and fisheries infrastructure development, including aquaculture.
On how trade in agriculture between African countries can be improved
In an increasingly globalized environment, Africa’s participation in the global agricultural market remains limited, at only 2%. Regional trade has so far played only a marginal role. Africa’s highest trade volume in 2012 for food exports was from East Africa at a just 16%, compared with West Asia’s at 45.3%.
Africa’s current internal trade is low – making up only about 10% of its total trade. For the developing countries in Asia, intraregional trade as a share of total trade was roughly 17% in 2010; for the member countries of the European Union, the same figure was more than 60%.
Improving global agricultural trade will require changes to subsidy policies of rich countries, expanding market access and reversing supply constraints such as poor infrastructure, limited trade finance among others.
The main factors that impinge on increasing intra-African trade levels include limited regional integration, weak economic diversification, persistent conflicts, infrastructure and cross border issues, and low level of value addition.
Africa imports US $25 billion of food annually. Improved value addition and processing can improve internal supply and import substitution through domestic production and trade.
On how Africa can reduce huge deficit in financing agriculture in Africa
Africa’s farm yields are low and the agriculture sector in Africa is the least productive in the world, with an average productivity rate of 36%. Africa’s current food import is in excess of US $25 billion per year.
The continent currently imports more than 23,000 metric tons of cereals annually and its food trade deficit is projected to grow to more than 98,000 metric tons by 2050.
Only 34% of rural Africans are living within two kilometres of an all-season road, compared to East Asia and the Pacific countries where 90% of the rural populations have such access. According to the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), 39 million hectares of agricultural land in Africa is physically suitable for irrigation, yet the percentage of irrigated arable land is 7% (barely 3.7% in Sub-Saharan Africa).
An annual increase in irrigation investment by African countries of 3.6% would triple the irrigated harvested area to 22 million hectares by 2050.
The Bank has invested more than US $12 billion in the agriculture sector on the continent between 1967-2013. With about 65% of Africa’s population living in rural areas, Governments will need to invest more in rural infrastructure to ensure shared growth.
Budgets to agriculture
Financing agriculture in the future will have to come from new and innovative ways. However, it must start with Governments honoring the Maputo Pledge to allocate at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture.
Promoting anchor investments and out-grower schemes can bring the new technology and innovation required to close the food import gap. Radical land reforms can place millions of hectares under more equitable and secure tenancy arrangements and can attract substantial ‘collaterized’ investments into the sector. The Bank will work with the RMCs and our partners to substantially reduce the financing deficit.
On the form of the Bank’s new agriculture strategy starting in 2015
The Bank’s New Agriculture and Agribusiness Policy and Strategy [2015-2019] seeks to promote agriculture value chains and bring the sector to the top of the African transformation agenda by establishing a renewed framework for the Bank’s role.
It focuses on three mutually reinforcing areas: expanding agriculture infrastructure; promoting agribusiness and innovation; and building resilience and promoting the sustainable management of natural resources.

The Umbrella and Broom: A clarion call for rebirth and restructuring

• Written by Kolapo Abidemi

SINCE the transition of power from the military system of government to civil rule, the democratic situation in Nigeria has been very fluid in nature. The military rule, however draconian it seemed to be, was highly organised and devoid of indiscipline in contrast to violence, corruption, deceit, greed, exploitation as well as other filth which have permeated the Nigerian democracy since inception.
  Cross-examination of the 15 years of democratic reign in Nigeria reveals a bleeding and dysfunctional system of government founded on faulty political ideologies. The lifeblood of true democracy is the political parties. As defined by Herbert Simon, an American political Scientist and Economist, ‘‘a political party is a social group with a system of interdependent activities characterised by a high degree of rational direction of behaviour towards end that are objects of common acknowledgement.’’ An ideal political party must develop refining platforms and policies able to catalyze democratic development with practical renewal and practical approaches to implementation. A successful party must transcend geographic boundary and ideologies. From this perspective, it is clear that the Nigerian political parties’ approaches to leadership and true federalism is a bare-faced affront on an ideal democracy by being equivocal in its commitment and adherence to democratic rules and principles.
  The excessive, unethical exchange of words, campaign of calumny between the two major parties as well as other activities inimical to the avowed goals and ideals of the parties is sickening and capable of threatening public peace and stability.
   The Nigerian electorate appears to have suffered so much and have sustained scars of intolerance, bitterness, distrust, social injustice and corruption which unarguably highlight this ‘Pseudo-democracy’.
   An analysis of the logo of the political parties in Nigeria will make one question the genuine platform and rationale behind their emergence. It is an incontrovertible fact that symbols are indispensable in all spheres of life, including politics. Essentially, party logos are vital political tools especially in Nigeria, a largely multilingual country where a considerable size of the electorate is illiterate, semi-literate or unable to read the official language or even the language of a particular region. Political communication is very vital as voters often choose symbol rather than a name during an election.
  The Umbrella and the Broom are the commonest, indispensable materials found in almost every home. The umbrella is a device used to protect a person from the heat or the rain. That is, in times of bad weather as well as in extreme adverse condition, the umbrella can be used to be saved from the difficult times. It usually has a circular canopy mounted on a central rod. Comparatively, the broom is an indispensable cleaning implement for sweeping; consisting of bundle of straws or twigs attached to a long handle.
  Using the Indian political system with an indisputable record of an accomplished democratic system as a case-study, the AAP ( Aam Aadmi Party); another party with the Broom symbol has gained massive popularity and acceptance down to the grassroots based on the premise for which it was founded. In their own term, the broom symbolises “sweeping away corruption” while their slogan ‘ Wield the broom, get rid of cheats’ speaks much of their intention as a party keen on business of eliminating corruption rather than business of politics. AAP treats the common man as its high command by providing a platform for an all -inclusive democracy. AAP; a party defined by one policy ‘change politic’ change India’ has in just 49 days of their emergence addressed issues of water, energy, public hospitals, shelters for the homeless, government schools, education and women safety, among others by setting up help lines, establishing accountability and accessibility to the common man through telephones, emails, social media and every other means of communication to ensure people make their voice heard.
   As a matter of principle to doggedly targeting the corrupt, AAP resolution to making India corruption free resonates with commitment to public service by offering power to the helpless, justice to the wronged, hope to the tired, cheated, neglected, exploited, enraged and exasperated electorate population.
  In the recently conducted election in India, AAP won 28 seats, almost on par with the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) that won 32 seats. The emergence of the AAP as a political force where the BJP and other parties have dominated the political landscape for more than five decades is plausible owing to the very fact that the party managed to attract both the elite and marginalised sections of the society.
  AAP challenged both mainstream parties and offered itself as an alternative with a difference that made the difference. Its manner of candidate choice, style of campaign and electoral focus sought to re-define the way of doing politics, compelling even the mainstream parties to respond and take a look at their own strategies.
   In the same vein, the SDF (Sikkim Democratic Front) party adopts the ‘Umbrella’ as their party’s symbol. The party operates on the political ideology of democratic socialism which adheres to the principles of reformist and evolutionary struggles towards socialism. The party fights in the interest of the people by upholding the people’s rights and privileges in India. The party also attempts to redress the economic and social depravity of the people to defuse all internal tensions between the ethnic groups in the state and to maintain communal harmony between all sections of the society.
   The SDF umbrella is depicted in three colours: Blue, Yellow and Red. These three colours depict the political ideologies and party position of the Sikkim Democratic Front. The blue is used to depict the strong determination, progress and sense of national integrity. The Yellow is used to symbolize purity and sacrifice of the party towards maximum humanitarian approaches in the state. The Red is a colour of change, of struggle and of revolutionary zeal; hence it depicts liberty through social change and upliftments of the conditions of the people in the state.
  The three colours are symbolic of the party’s strength of struggle, its ideas of social change and its courage to carry forward its demand. One of the notable achievements of the SDF party in India is the maintenance of an insurgent-free state at a time when the problem of terrorism and insurgency were hitting hard on India population.
  The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria are just two sides of the same coin. The corporate identity of the Umbrella and the Broom party in Nigeria seem flawed, judging from their national emblem. Taking the APC party, for example, it is conceivable that what they stand for is to sweep away the opposition without any defining political ideology or if any, its ideology seems to be contaminated. Similarly, the PDP’s puerile and ludicrous logo will make one question their understanding of politics as a critical and vital tool for democratic development in the interest of the entire citizenry. The Red colour depicts the sacrifice of our leaders past who fought and died for the country, White colour means the country has seen blood during colonial era while the Green colour depicts Agriculture and Labour.
   This discussion will be biased and inconclusive without referring to other countries with record of functional democracy. In the U.S.A, the democratic logo of the Democrats represents hardwork, diligence, humility and dedication to the U.S.A, while in United Kingdom, the conservative party emblem represents strength, endurance, renewal and growth.
  The Nigerian electorate are subjected to hard labour, groaning under collapsed Umbrella and blood-sucking Broom. The anti-people policies through militarisation of electoral process; where the people’s power are constrained, multiple taxation at all levels and high degree of corruption have further heightened the betrayal of trust in this democratic dispensation.
   The APC and PDP should stop dissipating their energy by bandying words at each other in the face of glaring economic collapse but create a platform for constructive criticism by expressing opinions on issues that reflect on development in the collective interest of the electorate and the nation at large.
   An effective and patriotic opposition is a very vital component of functional democracy. APC as an opposition party must show genuine interest for leadership by being focused and vibrant as well as building a strong foundation for collaborative behaviour. Both parties should begin image laundering process by disengaging political thuggery and other party delinquency. Both parties should embrace peaceful, constructive and healthy dialogue in their drive for expressing practical ideology palpable by all and sundry. PDP and APC should establish think factory by raising creative, conscientious leaders willing to pay the supreme price in the struggle for change through revitalising and renewing party’s ideals and most importantly, bridging the gap by reconciling their incompatibilities.
   I am advocating a transition from dictatorial democracy to participatory democracy where all hands are on deck to put in place a revolutionary approach to solving the nation’s surmounting challenges in various degrees.
•Dr Abidemi is a practising dentist in Lagos.  bideklink@yahoo.com

World Bank to scale up Nigeria’s E-Wallet system across Africa

THE World Bank has promised to scale up Nigeria’s agricultural policy on Electronic-Wallet, E-Wallet, system in Africa, including India, Brazil and China in order to encourage best agricultural practices.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this yesterday in an interview with newsmen at the Leadership Newspaper Annual Conference and Award Ceremony.
Adesina, who was awarded the Leadership Public Officer of the Year 2013, said the ministry was working hard in every state to ensure sufficiency of food for Nigerians as ‘democracy of the stomach’ was the right of everybody.
He also revealed that the government was going to roll out new institutions which he called marketing corporations that will replace the old market homes existing presently.
Adesina said: “We will continue to roll out greater programmes in regards to financing in agriculture together with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to our farmers. There is going to be one for cocoa, cotton, grains, and others.
“These are all the institutions that would allow our farmers to get access to stable market prices and also access to markets. As a ministry we will continue to improve the lots of our farmers, we are rolling out the mechanisation programme that Mr. President has approved.”
Dedicating his award to the staff of the his ministry, the Minister said every single part of the country in agriculture were showing the impact of President Jonathan’s transformation of the agricultural sector, and also promised to do his best for Nigeria as the country deserves the best.
“I have great staff and I dedicate the award to my hard working staff, all the seed companies, banks, agri-businesses, and in particular, all the state governors who made this happened and commissioners of agriculture in the country.
It is a collective success. I thank Mr. President for his resolute commitment to agricultural development,” he added.

Remembering Ugonna And The Port Harcourt Four

Written by Chigachi Eke

 

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

(Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”)

The Facts
I have only one mission: To tell you the real Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor. If his murderers had accused him of academic incompetency, my response would be to tender his unassailable school record. But they claimed he was a cultist who stole laptop and Blackberry, leaving me with no option than to argue in material terms. Kindly note:
  One, in January 2012, nine months to his murder in Omokiri at Aluu, his father Messiah Obuzor bought two white Blackberry Bold 5 phones for two hundred thousand naira from Everyday Supermarket, Port Harcourt. One was given to Ugonna’s senior sister and the other to Ugonna himself. Ugonna’s laptop was not bought in Nigeria. Felix Aomreore, his father’s colleague at Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), returned from America with a top-of-the-line laptop, which Ugonna’s father bought for him. Those that killed him should think of a better excuse. Laptop meant nothing to Ugonna; in his family everyone had one. Charles Akalezi taught him to use computer while he was in primary. His killers stole his Blackberry.
  Two, on 7th August, two months to his murder, Credible Travels booked Ugonna for a week long Christmas holiday in Dubai. He was to lodge at Golden Square Hotel. His flight was EMIRATE Flight No: EK 0782, Boeing 777-300 ER; depart LOS 22nd Dec., 21:30 and arrive DXB 23rd Dec., 7.40 a.m. Return: Depart DXB 29th Dec., 7:35 and arrive LOS 12: 55 a.m. This should be his second holiday in Dubai. Ugonna was not the highway man his killers would like you to believe. He was never known to borrow money because he never lacked.
  Three, on 1st October, five days before he was murdered, Ugonna received his monthly allowance of fifty thousand naira from his father in a bundle of five hundred notes. Months after his burial his father recovered the sum of forty-four thousand naira from the same bundle in his box.  In five days his expenses were just six thousand naira. Frugality is not consistent with a cultist.
  Four, on 5th October, the day he was murdered, his father paid one hundred and forty thousand naira into the bank account of estate agent Ordu Ebenezer Chima. Ugonna had complained 3rd October that the house where he lived off-campus was burgled thrice. Ever security conscious, he avoided anything capable of upsetting his father who greatly suffered when Ugonna’s mother Jane died 2005. So when his boarding was robbed he immediately reported same to his father who paid Chima to get Ugonna a safer lodge.
Ugonna’s Last Two Days
The 3rd October 2012 was like any other busy day for Obuzor, security head at NDDC. He signed off and was chauffeured to his residence.  He walked through the front door only to stand face to face with a huge cake, “Happy birthday to our Daddy!”
  Ugonna and his three sisters pulled this punch.  Their father was truly grateful and said that the cake was beautiful. Who were the bakers? The Skippers at Tombia Street in GRA, he was told. Like olive branches around the table of the Lord, so his four children and their caring stepmother gathered around him as he cut his birthday cake. Not to be outdone he popped a bottle of Andre which he drank alone. Everyone else settled for non-alcoholic beverages as he raised them on strict abstinence. With music in the background he now enquired about his son’s studies.
  Ugonna raised a serious security matter with his father. The house where he had his off-campus accommodation was recently burgled. It was the third time thieves were to raid the place. Then get another accommodation fast, his father urged. At his father’s insistence he promised to engage an estate agent the next day. Continuing, his father told him not to sleep in the unsafe house till a safer place was got. Ugonna agreed again. Obuzor then rose for the night.
  A product of HARVARD Kennedy School, Massachusetts, Obuzor knew the value of education for young Africans. He lost Jane when Ugonna was eleven and his youngest daughter three. He took the decision to raise his kids alone. It was not until 2010 that he remarried. From the outset he made it known that all first degrees would be done under his watchful eyes in Nigeria.  Yes to postgraduate overseas, but not until then. Ugonna brought him joy. At eighteen he was a second year Geology student at the University of Port Harcourt. 
  Ugonna himself slept soundly through what was to be his last night with his family. At dawn Thursday 4th October he was up and ready to leave. His father offered transport money but he declined. It was just four days he got his monthly allowance. His father insisted and he obliged. He was again reminded to call during the day after seeing an estate agent.
  But Ugonna didn’t call. His father repeatedly tried his number but the line failed. Late that Thursday he got Ugonna’s senior sister on the phone. Ugonna should call back and say if the estate agent could help, he told her.  She promised to reach him with her own line. Hours later Ugonna called to say that an estate agent called Ordu Ebenezer Chima had found him a safer accommodation for a hundred and forty-thousand naira. He’d pay half since he intended sharing the new place with his roommate Lloyd Toku. No, his father objected, Lloyd was Ugonna’s friend and shouldn’t pay. His father offered to pay the full rent for the boys and asked for agent Chima’s bank account. By 8.47 p.m. Ugonna sent it by text message.
  Immediately he reached office Friday 5th October, Obuzor gave his driver the full amount to pay into agent Chima’s account. He then called his son to inform him that the money was paid but Ugonna’s line once more was not going. Students switched off their phones during lectures and he was unbothered. But when the line would still not connect he sent a text 9.59 a.m. confirming payment. Ugonna did not, and would never, reply because by this time his murderers had waylaid and robbed him, Lloyd, Chiadika Biringa and Tekena Elkanah at Omokiri.
  Obuzor was in a meeting with Mike Uto, a director from the Delta State office of NDDC, when his phone rang 12.40 a.m. A caller identifying himself as Michael Nelson asked if he was Ugonna’s father. He answered in the affirmative. Nelson then advised him to rush to the Emergency Ward of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH, because that was where Ugonna was taken to. It was a bolt out of nowhere. What happened? Nelson would not give details except for him to hurry up. Director Uto insisted on coming along.
  In transit he called cautious Nelson for the umpteenth time before his informer volunteered that some of Ugonna’s friends were even killed. Nelson was off the line again and Obuzor had the presence of mind to call Ugonna’s senior sister. Rush over to the Emergency Ward of UPTH, he directed her, someone just called that Ugonna was there. He told her he was on his way. At his second call she said she was in the ward but yet to locate her brother. He replied he was now at Alekahia next to UPTH, she should continue searching. Then his jeep bumped to a stop in front of the ward. The male nurse he approached walked away without offering help. He called his daughter the third time and this time she was crying. Ugonna was dead. What…where was she? Mortuary?
  Stretched out on a drab table were the battered remains of his six footer son. On the floor were Chiadika, Lloyd and Tekena all dead. The air reeked of blood and burnt flesh. With his arrival evil from the crypt and grotesque lies took flight. The possibility that these boys were innocent now made sense. Questions none asked before killing them were now asked. His wild eyes wandered back to the table. It was Ugonna for sure. He could pick out his son anywhere. Did his very hands not nurse him into a man? It was Ugonna lying there dead.
  With a bottle of anointing water he immediately anointed his dead son. Then he knelt, “God it wasn’t for this that I chose to serve you. I did not bargain to have my only son killed serving you, I did not. Anyone who has a hand in Ugonna’s death should be killed in a manner worse than what was done to him.” He stood up and examined Ugonna’s extensive wounds. His son wore Afro hair but his killers smashed his head with such force that a piece of cloth was used to hold his head fragments together. Ugonna had suffered the most inhuman death imaginable. He broke down completely.
Epitaph
THERE was element of revenge in the manner Ugonna and his friends were killed. When anti-intellectuals in Boko Haram killed students, was that not the revenge of hateful ignorance against knowledge? What was the victims’ offence? “Infidels,”  “cultists;” how true? You can tell a lot about an accuser from his allegation. The perpetrators fooled none claiming that laptop and Blackberry valued more than four lives. But their claims only succeeded in condemning them as unhappy misfits trapped in poverty. Stripped of their humanity, by contrast, the victims still exuded wealth and good living.
  That moment when envious poverty by sheer number had prosperity at a disadvantage was symbolic; perhaps symptomatic of a future that must be avoided. Prosperity must pay for years of accumulated insults heaped on poverty: “Ninety-nine days for the thief and one day for the owner!”  The excessive cruelty, prolonged beating and burning of the dead were acts of vengeance. Ugonna and his friends died innocent victims of hate crime.
Eke writes from Port Harcourt