Late veteran journalist, Mazi Chris Oji
By Tony Adibe
Mrs. Chinonyerem Deborah Oji, widow of the retired veteran journalist and former Southeast Bureau Chief of THE NATION NEWSPAPERS, Mazi Chris Oji, has recounted pitiably how she was busy giving her husband’s hands and finger nails a manicure without knowing that he had passed away into the great beyond.
MANICURE ON A DEAD JOURNALIST:
“I didn’t actually know that the person I was treating his hands and fingernails had left me and our children,” Deborah recalled as she covered her face with her left palm and fought back tears. She managed to sit on one of the single upholstery seats in their sitting room. Inside the sitting-room, sympathisers streamed in to express their condolences for the death of the thorough-bred journalist fondly called La’Christo or Oji Okeosisi(Mighty Iroko).
“Take heart,” “Bear it with courage,” “May God Almighty console you and your family”, the sympathisers told the widow. Also, inside one of the bedrooms, you could, from the sitting room, hear the sobbing of the children as their mother tried to calm them.
Mrs. Oji said upon realising that her husband’s fingernails were growing rather too long, she decided to get a nail clipper and gave them a treat.
“When I finished on the nails, I realized that the fingertips were unusually very cold. I raised the hand up, but it just dropped on the bed. I raised the other hand, and the result was the same. I called him several times and there was no answer from him. I tried to open his eyes, and the eyes were not opening. I called the nurse who is living nearby. She came with her instrument and checked. She shook her head. She pressed his chest the way you do to revive someone who fainted. There was no reaction from Chris,” said the mother of three children -Amarachi, Chidiebube and Oluchi – two daughters and a son.
That was when it dawned on her and the children that the bread winner of the household has joined his ancestors. Her wailing and outcry attracted neighbours who gathered and rushed Chris to the hospital. Eventually, he was pronounced dead before arrival at the hospital. “The neighbours in this area are nice. They were very helpful. They gathered immediately this thing happened to rush him to hospital,” she said calmly.
That was in the morning of Thursday, 13th March, 2025.
PROLONGED BATTLE WITH ILLNESS & A STOLEN CAR:
Late Mazi Chris Oji
Years back, perhaps, during the era of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Chris had been battling his health challenge, which began with regular or frequent hiccups. The hiccups were so disturbing that one could doubt if he would survive till the next day. But God Almighty, in His infinite mercy and compassion, kept him alive from then till Thursday, March 13, 2025, when the curtain fell!
“I think the hiccups triggered many other health challenges in him,” the wife told me when I visited them at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu.
During the turbulent period of his sickness, Chris visited several hospitals and other places where he could get a cure both within and outside Enugu. He once told me that he was receiving treatment from a herbal home somewhere in Nsukka. Later, he changed to another place at Okigwe. All in the bid to get a cure.
I still recall that on one occasion when he was hospitalized at Dr. Ebede’s clinic at Edinburgh Road, Enugu, the panel beater who worked on Chris’ new grade one Belgium Nissan 2.01 salon car with factory-fitted air conditioner, against Chris’ warning, parked the car in front of the hospital at night, though on the Edinburgh Roadside. And guess what? The car was stolen before morning, according to the panel beater. It was never seen again or recovered. Chris suspected foul play. He insisted on having his car back, but the panel beater and his ‘umunna‘ (Kingsmen) came to beg Chris; and they could only provide for Chris an old Volkswagen Golf, which he reluctantly accepted. Life must go on!
On a particular day, I made out time to visit Chris at his No. 3, Umuchinwoko Street, Off One-Day Hotel Road, Garki, Enugu. At that time, his health hadn’t deteriorated irredeemably.
“The fact that you remembered to visit me today, would give me a sense of relief,” Chris said as he asked me to “please, sit down.” He looked quite emaciated and unstable. And we got talking. The hiccups resurfaced. “I thought that the hiccups stopped completely long ago,” I said, more like a question. “It stopped but it just started again, this time with more frequency. I have been to several places in search of cure. I have spent quite a lot. But as Nigerians will say, something will kill a man. I leave everything to God,” Chris said.
After about two hours, I squeezed into his palm an envelope containing my little token. He smiled wryly and said: “If our colleagues can visit like you. The mere fact that you visited, not necessarily the money, but the heart to remember me in your prayers, and seeing you physically; that is alright.”
Yes. There’s no doubt that such little gestures help heal a bleeding heart. Oh yes! Such little gestures could help restore hope that, in fact, the sun will rise and shine tomorrow. Truly, such little gestures really make someone’s tomorrow begin today or make the dry bone to rise again, if God wills it. That was the lesson I learnt from the visit.
As I attempted to leave, he insisted on seeing me off to the street. I objected because he was not looking quite strong physically. “If I walk to the street and come back, it’s a form of exercise for me,” he said. I agreed. And we descended the stairs. I was coming behind. Chris saw me off to about one and a half poles to where the Umuchinwoko Street joined the One-Day Hotel Road. I begged him to go back. He agreed. We said goodbye.
A SHOCKING CALL INDEED:
One day, I received a call from Mrs. Oji. She informed me that Chris had been rushed to the Parklane Specialist Hospital, GRA Enugu. According to her, his health deteriorated further with his legs badly swollen. I informed our colleagues. And not quite up to three weeks or thereabout, she called again to say that they had been referred to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu. I couldn’t visit Chris at the Parklane Specialist Hospital because I was indisposed.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, I visited Chris at the UNTH. He was lying down in his sick bed. He had a plastic hose or pipe fixed to (I think the lower part of his abdomen) through which he passed urine. There was also an adult diaper on him. He had lost tremendous weight. And the eyes had gone into their sockets. I refused to be overtaken by my emotions. I suppressed the tears. Is this Chris Oji, with whom I traveled to Arochukwu for the Ike-ji Aro Festival in 2018? Is this Chris Oji who accommodated me in his office at Edinburgh Road for nine months before I secured an office space at No. 15, Edinburgh Road, Enugu, where I worked as the Correspondent of the Daily Trust Newspapers and later became its Southeast Bureau Chief? Imagine what sickness has done to man?
“La’Christo!, La’Christo! Oji Okeosisi,” I called several times. He couldn’t answer. Mrs. Oji got up from her seat, walked to the other end of the male ward, and brought another plastic chair.
“Do you know who is greeting you? Can you guess who has just entered to see you now?” Mrs. Oji asked the husband, who managed to open his eyes briefly and muttered: “O bu Tony Adibe. I recognized his voice.” Chris then released a wry smile, displaying briefly the small gap in his teeth. Unlike when I visited his residence, where we chatted and he saw me off, Chris was a shadow of himself now at the UNTH.
I asked Mrs. Oji how he was responding to treatment and what exactly the doctors diagnosed. “The legs were swollen before we were referred to UNTH from Parklane Specialist Hospital. But since coming here, with the little treatment he received so far, there’s an improvement. The swollen legs have subsided,” said his wife, who added: “They said one kidney has failed. And there is also a heart problem. The daily dialysis is very expensive. The drugs are costly. This is a very heavy burden for the family. Will I be able to bear this?”
I tried to find out about the doctors, and in fact, Mrs. Oji’s brother who is a medical doctor with UNTH. She said that the doctors were on strike. I was told that the particular doctor handling the case of Chris usually came when he felt like coming. The brother-in-law of Chris, I was told, also joined the brain drain train even long before Chris was taken to the UNTH. Therefore, the fate of Chris was, in all honesty, in God’s hands.
Before I left after dropping a little for Chris, Mrs. Oji disclosed to me her intention to seek doctor’s advice for discharging Chris since not much help was coming from the hospital due to the strike, and the fact that there was no cash to take care of the daily dialysis and other things.
Upon getting out of the hospital, I quickly called some of our colleagues and informed them of the critical state of Mazi Chris Oji’s health. I know for sure that I informed the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State Council, and that of the Correspondents’ Chapel in Enugu.
While the Comrade Lawrence Njoku-led leadership of the Correspondents’ Chapel made several financial interventions, it’s still doubtful whether there was any intervention from the Comrade Sam Udekwe-led leadership of the NUJ in Enugu Council. Who cares? I want to be corrected in this matter!
