The Man, Prof Nduka Okafor

I feel compelled to eulogize, in series, some Igbo intellectuals and academics who made a landmark in their various fields of endevour. Some where among the Chinua Achebe's "lucky generation" while others weren't. But in all they left their footprints in the sands of time.

Professor Nduka Okafor, could best be described as the father of Microbiology in Nigeria. His earliest research breakthrough was in raphia palms (nkwu ocha) in the area of Industrial Microbiology.

Infact what Nduka Okafor was to Industrial Microbiology was what the late Prof Njoku Obi (another pioneer in Microbiology) was to Medical Microbiology. Coincidentally two of them were the first staff of the Dept of Microbiology in UNN in early sixties.

It will be recalled that the late Prof Njoku Obi was the one who developed the cholera vaccine in 1971, but the evil Nigerian government did not complete the necessary protocols with W.H.O and the recognition was not given to him.

Born in 1934, Nduka Okafor holds a bachelors degree from the University of London in 1960, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1964.

He has taught or researched in Industrial Microbiology in Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the US alone, he has been at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa; and Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina.

He has acted as external examiner for both graduates and undergraduates at the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the University of New South Wales, Australia, the University of Poona, India,. and many Nigerian Universities.

At the time I met him in Enugu in 2008 during my graduate studies to buy his latest book (pictured below) from him for an autograph, he was at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.

After his retirement from UNN, he teaches briefly in Nigeria anytime he returns, as many universities used his name as staff in order to gain accreditation from NUC.

Despite all, he was a humble fellow. Very humble to a fault. Infact some of my course mates who only see him in classes thought he was poor as he always wear one shirt and one trouser. In many times I have seen him, I have only seen him with 2 shirts. But I was surprised the day he gave me appointment in his house at Independence layout, Enugu, behind the government house.

I came, saw the structures and was shocked. Despite my identification, his gate man refused me entry. I called him and luckily he was just arriving with his driver from village.

Our discussions that day was a memorable one to me, and he could see how I so much revered intellectuals like him more than our dubious moneybag politicians.