Tribute From Professor Uchechukwu Felix Chiezey
TRIBUTE TO A GREAT FRIEND PROFESSOR EMERITUS JUDE OBIUKWU DURU
BY
PROFESSOR UCHECHECHUKWU FELIX CHIEZEY
My association and subsequently very close relationship with Professor Jude Obiukwu Duru started in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1978. I was employed as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Agronomy in the Faculty of Agriculture. Dr. Duru then as a Reader in Department of Agricultural Engineering in the Institute for Agricultural Research of the University. There was really no clear distinction between the Faculty and the Institute in terms of work schedule and administration.
What really brought us together was Professor Duru’s exotic car, a Datsun 260 Zigma Z, an unusaul spots car. I admired the car greatly and asked the Professor to sell the car to me any time he got tired of it. He also had a big Volvo car. I had met a nice a kindred spirit, both of us loved pretty cars.
He then calculated the price of the car from the price in United states of America where it was bought, the shipment and clearing costs. I knew I could not afford it and told him so. He eventually sold the car to a Legislator from Kaduna State.
That brief encounter triggered a closer relationship. He invited me to a drink in the University Staff Club and subsequently, it became a regular feature. Another close friend Chuks Ezeh also in the College of Agriculture Samaru was my mate in the Faculty of Agriculture University of Nigeria Nsukka. It became a trio. We could go out together at our spare times. The trio became a foursome when Dr. Ethelbert Nwagbo joined the Department of Agricultural Economics of Ahmadu Bello University. Four of us were lgbos in the same Agricultural complex. You could not distinguish who was the leader of this four but we knew who was head of the group. It was Professor Duru. He often called the shots where and when to meet.
Time came when the group started breaking up. The establishment of Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) saw the moment of Professor Duru to the new University. It was as if king Arthur was abandoning the knights of the Round Table. However Duru assured us he was still with us as his family was still domiciled in Zaria. He kept his promise until his family joined him in Owerri.
Ethel Nwagbo was the next to relocate to University of Nigeria leaving me and Chuks Eze in Zaria. Both Duru and Nwagbo continued to visit us in Zaria at every opportunity. Similarly, any time I was in the East, I would call on both Professor Duru in Owerri and Professor Nwagbo in Nsukka, Professor Duru wanted me to relocate to FUTO. He was then the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic). This could not be because of misunderstanding on the rank of I was asking for. Duru told me to never mind which was his language when events took unusual turn.
In 2004, I was awarded a 12-month Sabbatical leave in FUTO. On arrival, the Vice Chancellor located me to the Official residence of the Chancellor, then unoccupied. However, Duru refused my acceptance of the offer. He had a big house with many rooms, and I could occupy one of them. His families were in the USA except his nephews and nieces living with him accepted his offer and for 12 months I stayed happily with him. We ware inseparable. I joined his friends- Professor Boniface Obah, late Professor Julius Obiefuna (Late) Professor Ken Okpalle and a host of others.
One of the hallmarks of Professor Duru was his extreme generosity. I recall he told me how he took his two Senior brothers Linus and Dominic to the US after the civil war and paid their school fees. These brothers left their children under his care. His wife once told me that their house was a “Half way Home.” Anybody in transit through Owerri always found accommodation with them even without prior in notice. Friends of his nephews, nieces and cousins also benefited from the free accommodation and food Proffered by Professor Duru.
Professor Duru was a great academician and workaholic. Even after a good time out with friends, late at night you could see him pouring through official documents or students’ writeups. He hated official dom, you could confront him with either official work or academic work anywhere to your satisfaction. I recall his remonstration with on of his Ph.D. Students, who was not living up to his expectation. The student had to pull himself up and eventually got his degree. Duru was a socialite. His friendship spanned across all classes of human beings. He was a friend of the poor, the rich, the educated and non-educated. He loved his old mother dearly and we frequently went to Akata to see “Nne” as he called his mother. Our last communication was when he informed me, he was on his way to US and would call me on his return. Hever did until I called Professor Bonny Obah after a long time. It was Bonny that broke the sad news of Obiukwu’s demise, a very sad news indeed. You live a good and fruitful life, the way you wanted. Professor Jude Obiukwu Duru, we your friends will miss your company and wit. However, God loves you and you will find solaces in His Kingdom. Goodbye, we shall one day meet to part no more your friend,
Uchechukwu (Uchai) Felix Chiezey