By Udo Kachikwu-Okonjo
JOURNEY WELL O KING! My father in law His Royal Highness Obi of Ogwashi Uku, Professor Chukuka Okonjo was my biggest ally and champion in the Okonjo family and had a way of making me feel special. I recall when I got married to my husband Onyema 23 years ago, he’d write to me and address me as Mrs. Udo ‘Kachikwu Okonjo’. With that simple gesture he was to affirm his steadfast conviction and belief that women were just as important and impactful as men, and that being married didn’t remove or reduce who I was before I joined the Okonjo family.
He constantly reinforced and celebrated my personal achievements and always treated me as a complete and independent leader who he took pride in just as much as in his biological children. With him, I felt acknowledged as an asset and ally to our family. He constantly shared with me, and our children how women were just as capable of leadership as men, and in some cases even more competent. In one of the last conversations he had with myself and my second daughter Anwulika Ngozi Okonjo at the palace in Ogwashi Uku, he left an indelible mark on Anwulika, an emerging African Feminist researcher and advocate, when he revealed the prominent role women played in Ogwashi Uku leadership and development- even confirming that the first Obi of Ogwashi Uku was a woman.
He encouraged our daughters to get involved with developing the young girls in the community and to see themselves as strong leaders capable of achieving anything irrespective of their gender. It’s not surprising that he was married to an equally prominent Gender Specialist and Professor, my 89 year old mother in law, Professor Kamene Okonjo, and also raised prominent female leaders including my sisters in law, acclaimed world bank economist and twice Nigerian finance minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, and Dr. Njide Udochi, a Johns Hopkins trained physician, along with true gentlemen, his sons, who respect and honour their wives and are strong leaders in their respective spheres of influence, one of whom has now emerged as the next Obi of Ogwashi Uku, His Royal Highness Ifechukwude Chukuka Okonjo, also an economist and financial consultant.
He was a truly loved and iconic grandfather to our children. We will all miss him but will celebrate his very distinguished life and the new journey he’s embarked on. I give God the glory for the times and memories we had with him until the ripe age of 91.
Mrs. Udo Kachikwu-Okonjo is the daughter-in-law to late Prof. Okonjo
