"He came to us in the manner of a meteorite".
For the vast majority of the members of the NOL forum who did not know him before he made his colorful entrance into the forum, that was the aggregate shock reaction on learning the incredulous reality of his sudden passing to the great beyond in the first weeks of the New Year.
Late Mazi POLYCARP TOTUS UGWUEKE during his time at the NOL FORUM was very active in elevating the information available on the platform as entertaining, as they were informative. And that is just to put it most conservatively.
Indeed, he was a trailblazer, a self-motivator. For instance, at the time he joined the forum there were already a number of periodic publications or posts on the forum with religious bent including the "Doctrine & Faith". With his creative mind, he found a way to carve out a niche for his particular brand of religious education and retreat: He embarked on a daily calendar serialization of the Catholic Saints. He was nose-dived into it with unparalleled devotion. Yet, he still found a way of making his daily publication interesting to non Catholics - he introduced the saints, each of them, by their service records, as evidently a service to humanity. No one taught him that. He was self-taught.
Late Mazi Ugwueke uncannily found a riveting way of snappy discourse on the works of James Hadley Chase, citing relevant titles to back up his position or line of argument in many of the heated but entertaining debates he waged on various topics here on the forum.
But on Thursday, just last Thursday, February the 10th, when his remains were buried in his beloved home of Nenwe, it was evident that he lived a life that touched many people positively, gauging by the strength and volume of the people who came to pay their respect to their "man of the people"
In his lifetime, casting a glance at such a lifeless body about to be buried, he would have reached for his rich repertoire of James Hadley Chase titles and returned with the most appropriate for the situation: "The dead stays dumb".
But at his own funeral the mourners (many if whom travelled from afar to be there for him, as he would've for them) came to defy that prediction of James Hadley Chase: This dead could not stay dumb.
His legacy of love and community service live on, boldly.
The NOL Board of Administrators would like to express the appreciation of all those who extended their sympathy and condolences to the family, and friends of the late Mazi POLYCARP UGWUEKE. In particular, we deeply appreciated the sacrifices made by Dr. Aaron Okorie, an Administrator and Board member, and Prof Silas Nwenya Director Of Language and Culture Dept of the Nenweonlie University to be physically present at the funeral.
SIGNED :Fidel Nwabueze-Ogbo PhD.
For NOL
