It feels so surreal that I am writing Aniefiok’s eulogy. Ani and I were born in the same year –just four months apart; grew up in the same town; attended the same secondary school and university and lived in Lagos at the same time. We were your typical childhood friends, and so I took it for granted that we would grow old together. My heart is heavy and I’m so shattered, pained and disconcerted. The agony, anguish and sorrow are too deep to describe. We had known each other right from childhood, but our friendship actually started in late October 1979 when we bumped into each other at the bookshop of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. ‘’So, you are here’’, we said to each other simultaneously. He had just arrived the campus that day to begin a course of study in Mechanical Engineering, and I had arrived two weeks or so earlier. There and then began a lifelong friendship that brought our two families together.

  Ani is one of the most generous; amiable; affable and good-natured persons I have ever known. He was indeed a visionary who lived a life of purpose and faith. A loving husband and doting father and grandfather, he gave and loved generously; lived with passion and compassion and was driven by an insatiable urge to leave a positive impact and legacy. He was a community leader in the true sense of the word that brought his extended family together and led his community in Akwa Ibom State in warmth, love and peace. Ani was a man of deep faith who contributed generously to build his church in Lagos, Uyo and many other cities in Nigeria – the same church in which his father and father-in-law were elders; the same church in which he met and married his wife of almost 40 years.

His scholarship scheme for unprivileged children and assistance to widows and to the needy reflect the true essence of his munificence. He was a leading figure in the establishment of a beautiful residential estate in Lekki, Lagos, some 18 years ago, and was working on building a fabrication yard and logistics facility for the oil industry in Akwa Ibom. It’s a project he has been working on in the last 17 years. Unfortunately, he passed just when the dream was to be realized. The more I reflect on his life, the more it dawns on me that Ani is indeed a true manifestation Mathew 5:13. ‘’You are the salt of the earth…’’. Wherever he was, his presence was felt in many positive ways.

Ani’s father, a successful businessman, died while Ani was only 25 and just starting out on his first job at Shell Nigeria. As was expected, Ani had to marry early – at just 26 – and from that early age, he took on responsibilities that many of his coevals could only imagine or read about in novels. He catered for his mother; siblings and of course, his young family. I visited him in Port Harcourt from my base in Lagos late 1988 and spent a few days with him and his wife, Helyn. Nsikak, the first child, was then a baby. I observed with admiration how Ani had transitioned effortlessly into the role of a family man with many responsibilities. He took me around PH and to his office at TransAmadi. I noted that he was still his jovial, humorous and witty self. He did not wear the usual grumpy look of a man weighed down by life’s burdens; and throughout the following decades, I can’t remember seeing Ani get angry, indulge in self pity, or wallow in incessant complaints and discontents. He lived a life of contentment, grateful for God’s abundant blessings, acknowledging the inevitability of the many twists and turns of life, but always full of hope and enthusiasm. I won’t forget his jokes, laughter and conviviality.

Ani relocated to Lagos from PH in early 1990s, and we got closer and closer; and even after relocating abroad since 2015, distance wasn't a barrier. Naturally, longstanding close friends have one or two things they learn from, or admire in each other. Even before I got married, I learned from Ani the importance of building a peaceful and happy home and admired his ability to learn new things, seek knowledge, unlearn and relearn. I learned a lot about Nigeria’s secretive oil industry from him. It was the subject matter of our discussions the day before he passed. He was very fond of my columns and read them quite avidly, commending quite faithfully. Ani loved Nigeria and despite its many imperfections, he never denigrated the country as is common in the Diaspora community. Instead, he was obsessed with what he could do to make it a better place.

Now, to Helyn, Nsikak, Udeme and Amanti; and all of the Udott Clan, I know that this is a very painful loss. I pray for God’s mercy and guidance for all of you.

ETIM,a journalist, is the publisher & editor-in-chief of Policy and Politics (www.policyandpolitics.com.ng)