EXIT OF A COLOSSUS

Chief Alh. Mohammed Muazu Adogie: A legend has Gone home to rest.

Grandpa as I fondly call you, you broke my heart in the wee hours of January 14th 2020. Trapped in my usual morning rituals of prayers, workouts and surfing the net, came with the sad news of your death. When I heard it, I felt a part of me was gone, I could not cry, neither did I summon the courage to write epistles about your death. To be candid, I was in shock for days. But few days after your timely demise, I'm still trying to pretend not to miss you. Your warmth was enough for me to get through a turgid winter. Your light saw me through the darkest moments of my life, your philanthropic gestures were second to non. The exemplary lifestyle you lived is not only worthy of emulation but worthy of curation. 

Death, just as birth, is a natural phenomenon ordained by God, as humans, we lack the moral will to question why these things happen. We pray Almighty God grant you the best of paradise. When I look back at the moments we had, I smile, because they were the best and most educative moments of my life. Grandpa I missed how you usually hail me, even when I did nothing to deserve such accolades; your grand son "the only Archaeologist of West Africa" as you fondly call me, misses you and relishes those moments we shared together as father and son. 

I have decided not to mourn your passage not because you exited at the ripe age of 96, but because you lived a fulfilled life. As the patriarch of Adogie family, you United your kindred, kits and kins and ensured everyone in the family had a sense of belonging. As a father, you gave the best to your nine children and 26 grandchildren, 3 great grand children. And as a community chief, you gave your best to the service of Aviele clan and by extension the rest of humanity. Death cannot completely erase your values of honesty, hard work, dedication and forthrightness neither can it wipe away your enduring legacy grandpa. 

Continue to rest in the bosom of God Almighty, until we meet and reunite in jana. Ameen.

With love from 

Deco Suleman 

(Your Gist Partner)

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY 

Chief Alh. MM Adogie, was a rare breed personality born in 1925, in the dusty village ruins of Aviele-Ughiole, very close to the hilly valleys of kukuruku. His parents, Mr and Mrs. Adogie were successful farmers with large cocoa plantations. So they could afford the luxury of giving their son, at least a formal education, which, at that time was rare.

The young M.M Adogie started his basic education in 1938, at the then, colonial school Auchi, now Estsako primary school. By 1943, he completed his standard six and came out top of his class. His brilliance and academic accomplishments earned him his first job as teacher at Agbede and jabge towns between 1944 to 1950. Perhaps, this could be the reason his admirers popularly called him "teacher".

In his quest for western education, in 1951, he took the forms and sat for college entrance examination at Provincial Teachers College Benin, now the Ekenwan campus of university of Benin. Again, typical of him, he came out in flying colors and was the youngest to pass college entrance exam aged twenty six years and also the first person to go to college in the whole of Aviele Clan. 

In 1952, after passing his college entrance exam in Benin, he proceeded to the new provincial College Agbede as a pioneer student. Among his classmates at Agbede are pa Okowa, the father of the current Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa; late chief P.N.B Dania, proprietor and founder Mayfair Group of schools, late chief S.M Ikharo among others. Other notable individuals who passed through Agebede later on includes, late Alhaji O.U Enatto, Alhaji T.A Enatto,  late Alhaji Auto Audu, among others.

Late chief M.M Adogie met his heartthrob and beautiful wife in 1956, Hajia Hajara Muazu Adogie (HM) and they got Maried. They had their first child in 1959 and the union was subsequently blessed with eight other kids.

From 1960 to 1970, were turbulent years for  young Alhaji MM Adogie as he was striving to raise his family without a good job. He relocated to the Northern axis of Nigeria, zaria precisely with his family in search of greener pastures in the early seventies.

In the midst of being jobless accompanied with the stress of raising a large family, M.M. Adogie went further and gained admission to study Accountancy at the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in the late seventies. While in school, his favorite spot, was the Kenedy Library at Congo campus of the school, as it availed him opportunity to access lots of learning materials.

After graduating as an accountant, late chief M.M Adogie got a job as an Accounting clerk at Bendel Feeds and Flour Mills Ewu in 1989. He rose to the rank of chief Accountant at Bendel feeds and flour mills Ewu and was later transferred to kano in 1997 to coordinate their operations in northern Nigeria. 

M.M Adogie retired from active service in 1999. In 2005, he was conferred the "Dania" of Aviele-Ughiole because of his immense contribution to the growth of his community. 

Chief M.M Adogie is survived by his wife, Hajia Hajara Muazu Adogie; his children, Mrs Nuratu Saliu; Mrs Aisha Aliyu, Prof. Abdul Adogie, Mrs Nana Fatimah Deco, Mrs Bilkisu Aminu, Mr Habeeb Adogie, Mr Muhammad Adogie, Mr Mahmud Adogie and Mrs Hafsat Mohammed, grandchildren, great grand children, brothers, sisters and numerous relatives and admirers