“For instance, if you are a civil servant on level 10 and you are driving a Mercedes Jeep (SUV) and you are living in a palace in Maitama (Abuja) and your lifestyle is such that cannot be justified or defended  by your legitimate earnings, then you are deemed guilty until you prove otherwise” ~ Dr Alex Ekwueme   Above is an excerpt from an interview Dr Ekwueme granted in 2013. We shall return to this later. On Sunday, November 19, 2017, news started filtering in that one of the last surviving fathers of the nation, Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, GCON, had passed on, barely one month after his 85th birthday. It was not until the next day that his younger brother, the erudite Professor of Music and the traditional ruler of Oko kingdom, His Royal Highness, Igwe (Prof.) Laz Ekwueme, formally announced that Dr. Alex Ekwueme had joined his ancestors. Dr. Ekwueme represented different things to different people, but to me, he was not only a father but a role model and a mentor, from whom I received sound advice from time to time. ‘Sake’, as we used to call each other, was always there to share superior ideas with me in virtually every matter that I needed counsel. He was easily one of the most educated Nigerians, having earned a first degree in Architecture as a Fulbright scholar from the University of Washington and a PhD from the University of Strathclyde. To broaden his horizon, which was later to account for why he was at home with virtually every subject, Sake went back to school, this time the University of London where he obtained degrees in Philosophy, Sociology, History and Law. Thereafter, he was called to the Nigerian bar as a qualified lawyer. As President of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, his tenure brought a lot of reforms and placed the institute at a very high pedestal. His private firm, Ekwueme and Associates, Estate and Town Planning, which was the first indigenous architectural firm in Nigeria, was so successful that he opened several offices in different parts of the country. A lot of landmark and signature buildings in major cities in Nigeria were designed by this distinguished statesman. As a stickler for best practices, he shut down this sprawling business prior to assuming office as the Vice President of Nigeria in 1979 to avoid conflict of interest. This is a rare act that is hardly seen in the Nigeria of today. Leaders today would have used such an office to amass wealth by channelling jobs to it. That was not the Alex Ekwueme that I knew. Dr. Ekwueme was the brain behind the idea of power sharing in Nigeria based on the six geo political zones of the country. As things were drifting in the country in the mid-90s under the autocratic leadership of the late dictator, General Sani Abacha, Dr. Ekwueme assembled 33 other eminent Nigerians under the G34 to confront the late maximum ruler. This was at great personal sacrifice and risk. This group was the brain behind the People’s Democratic Party of today, even if it had not kept to the ideals of the founding fathers.  In politics, Dr. Ekwueme was urbane and civilized, consistent with his pedigree and his exposure. He didn’t believe in violence. He was principled and upright. It was natural that he was going to be one of the first people I would consult as I was considering running for an elective office in 2015. So, in the middle of 2014, I called him and wanted to visit him at home to have the discussion. Being the very humble man he was, he insisted that since he came to Lagos from time to time, he would let me know when he was going to be in Lagos so we could see, of course, he added, except if it was ultra-urgent. We eventually met up a few weeks later and I broached the topic to him. The ever dutiful and warm aunty Helen was on hand to attend to me asking what she needed to offer me. Even though Dr. Ekwueme liked the idea of my joining to contribute towards liberating my state from poor leadership as according to him, he wanted more exposed people from the private sector to show interest in governance, he struggled with the idea of my leaving my job at that time. He worried over if it was not too early to leave the good job that he knew I was doing in the banking industry at that time, given the uncertainty in the political terrain, some of which, he had been a victim of, himself. Most importantly, according to him, he had a dream of whom he wanted me to be like in the future and politics was not in the equation. He was very proud of his friend, Otunba Subomi Balogun, the grandmaster of banking, who set up the First City Banking Group. Sake thought I was going to follow his footsteps and set up a formidable banking group in the future. After so much persuasion, I was able to convince him and he gave his approval without which, I was not going to attempt joining the race. He supported me all the way and regretted that my mandate was stolen at the 2015 polls which I overwhelmingly won. He kept encouraging me to hold on to my vision as according to him, ‘if it did not happen today, it will happen tomorrow’. Prior to the general election in 1979 where he paired with Alhaji Shehu Shagari to win the Presidential polls, he had come home after earning his PhD degree to contest for the Governorship of the old Anambra State. He lost at the primaries to Late Christian (CC) Onoh, who was later to be governor in 1983, succeeding Jim Nwobodo. Little did he know that God had a better plan for him. He was soon to be nominated as the running mate to Shehu Shagari and