KINGSLEY UBANI
In the year 2001, during the reign of Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju as Governor of Anambra state, my father, Comrade Alexander Benjamin Chukwuma Ubani was an active labour leader. He wrote popular bulletins against government, some of which got him in trouble and behind bars on several occasions.
1999-2003 were dark days in Anambra politics, people feared for their lives but for my father and his colleagues in the labour movement, the welfare of Anambra workers was worth dying for. I wasn’t particularly born a writer but the privilege I had growing under the tutelage of a man who wrote many of the popular bulletin ZERO HOUR – the last bulletin released at midnight before the commencement of a strike action, formed me.
It was my father, who first taught me that one can release contents that can shake government and people in power from the most humble locations. From our not so luxurious dinning table, the Comrade as I call him, wrote bulletins that shaked institutions of government, and he would often remark that ‘one thing must kill a man’ when reminded by my mother of the risk of going against government during such dreaded times.
Today, many already consider me controversial because of some of my articles against government and some powerful people in the state, however, I do not think I’ve reached the peak of my controversy, considering the fact that I’m yet to be put behind bars like the Comrade was.
Comrade Ubani was so immersed in unionism that he considered a friend in government as a friend lost. His over three decades of unionism saw him traverse from the leadership of the NLC, NUPPROW, to his current position as Substantive Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Anambra State Chapter.
The Comrade’s journey, has taught me that there is joy, gladness and eternal reward in fighting for the rights of those who cannot fight for themselves. While I wish Nze Dee Ya Akwukwo Enugwu-Ukwu na Umunri a blissful birthday celebration, I thank him for WALKING so that I, his son, can RUN!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Daddy!
Kingsley Ubani hails from Enugwu-Ukwu. In 2023, he was conferred the traditional title of Nze Ifechukwudelu Enugwu-Ukwu na Umunri.