JERRY ANTHONY AGADA: TRIBUTE TO AN ELDER STATESMAN
When Prof.Jerry Anthony Agada made the famous statement in his foreword to the biography of Fr. Angus Fraser of blessed memory that “Writing the biography of a personhas always been an understatement of that person’s life,’’ little did he know that sooner or later it will be required that someone put together some briefs about his life and times.I share in Agada’s upfront candor, and advance further that a mere tribute of this capacity will be grossly inadequate to record the deedsof Agada while on this earth.What meaningful thing can one write on a man of Prof, Jerry Agada’s stature who had the rare opportunity of wearing several hats in his life time?
Agada’s major reason for venturing into creative writing was to create a moral vision that will help people mend their ways for the betterment of the society, and to keep to his words, he did marvelously well before the solitary reaper came calling in the early hours of 22nd December, 2020 barely three days to Christmas.
Prof. Jerry Agada’s fame as a writer was unimaginable. Although he contested and was elected the President of ANA at the Minna Convention in November, 2009 and was not successful in his attempt to return for a second term, most people believe, up to the point of his death, that he was still ANA president. At several occasions, he had to personally climb the podium and correct some Masters of Ceremony at public events that he was not the current ANA president.
Prof. Agada was a very humorous man in whose presence it was very difficult to put reigns on one’s laughter demons. There is a joke he used to share and share again anytime he wanted to introduce himself in the public. It is about a Hausa trader who had so many wares to sell and, unlike the “maikulikuli”,“maimasa”, “maiagogo” who had single items to sell, the later claimed that he is “mai everything” because of the several items he had on display. Jerry Agada was indeed a “mai everything”. He was at a various times a School Principal, a Permanent Secretary, a Governorship Aspirant, a Minister of the Federal Republic, a Chairman of Board of Colleges of Education, a Chairman Civil Service Commission and a member of several governing councils of institutions in the country.
Despite the high positions he had attained in his life, Agada remained a man of amazing simplicity, humility and civility.His virtues of hard work and integrity are requisites which our leaders must uphold in order to safeguard our democracy. In July this year, he carried out a challenging but rewarding task when he stepped out on the orders of the Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees of ANAto chair an Emergency General Meeting (EGM), at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic, and work towards putting in place a new National Executive Council led by Camillus Ukahin order to ensure the continuity that was broken during the botched Enugu Convention in 2019.
We all stood and watched in shock and disbelief as this elder statesman received insults on social media platforms from young people who were supposed to be his children. They even peddled rumors that he was arrested in Makurdi. In his characteristic humility, Agadabore all the knocks in good faith and continued with his cool intellectual approach toward returning ANA on the path of glory that the founding fathers will be proud of. There is no doubt that Agada has gone to give a report of the the last assignment he did diligently to Chinua Achebe, T..M Aluko, Flora Nwapa, Cyprian Ekwensi, John Munonye, Chukwuemeka Ike, Festus Iyayi, BuchiEmecheta, MammamVatsa, Ken Saro-wiwa and the others who had gone before him.
Born on the 11th day of November,1952 in Orokam, Agada was educated at St. Francis Secondary School, Otukpo, Kaduna Polytechnic, National Technical Teachers College Yaba, Lagos, University of Exeter and Staton University Florida, USA.
He will be remembered for his literary works such as “The Magic Year”, “The Secret Deal”, his collection of poetry that has been listed as one of the best one hundred selling books in the world by Amazon a few years ago. The other books in his literary chest include: “Rages and Tears”, “The Successors” and “The Honourable Chairman” (which was later adapted into a movie). His other movie entitled “Household” featured some great Nollywood stars like Sam Loco Efe and Ada Ameh.
Prof. Agada was in a class of his own in encouraging young authors to have their works published. In 2005, he created an opportunity for several young writers to be published by editing the most encyclopedically ambitious volume of poetry entitled Five Hundred Nigerian Poets (volume one). He was also one of the most responsive elders in terms of support to ANA.
Agada’s life and examples embody a true model of professionalism, public service, Godliness, moral uprightness, and humanness.
On behalf of the National Executive Council and ANA members nationwide, our prayer remains that God, in his infinite mercies, should forgive his sins, reward his good works and grant him eternal repose in Heaven. We also pray that the family he left behind be granted the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss (Amen).
