Your birthday anniversary and retirement allow me to appreciate your contributions to the growth and development of Onah Ejugwu’s family during his lifetime and especially after his demise.
As the first male child of the family, you have perfectly filled in the vacuum and made sacrifices to keep your father’s family in oneness and unity. The inestimable values and colours you have added to the image of the family are enormous and cannot be succulently and sufficiently put into words. Before the recent annual family summit, I remember how you would leave your family in Jos and stay around for Christmas in the family house in the village for days, giving the home base comfort and warmth. These actions formed the bedrock for the family cohesion we are experiencing now and have metamorphosized into the annual family summit. I think many family members can relate to this, and let me join those who agree with my assertion to say; we are proud to call you an elder brother.
There will not be enough candles in the market to light in celebrating your excellence in the academic world. Your steadfast dedication and hard work that has been glowing for the past 70 years have lighted the path, and the legacies will outlive you. If we defile rationality and attempt to light available candles, we may need to call the fire service to help blow out all those candles. We have testimonies of how you blazed the trail in your academic voyage and have been at the zenith among your contemporaries. We are proud of you, and countless times we have used your name to garner respect for ourselves. It feels soothing to us when we say, “I am a younger brother of Prof Johnson Onah”.
Sometimes and more now, finding the right words is difficult, especially when you have modelled love, sacrifice and brotherhood for decades. May this period of your birthday and retirement bring you all the joy, protection and blessings you desire from God.
You may not have a specially wrapped gift from some of us, but our love for you is costly and exquisite enough. Happy birthday/retirement to the best brother anyone could ask for. Leekwa and more eventful years ahead. Prof Jones, a worthy knight of John Wesley–70, looks good on you.
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