Comrade John Onyenemere: The Eagle Flies Away at 58

Ronke Kehinde/

The Leader of the Labour Party in Imo State and a one-time President of the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Chief (Comrade) John Ogoemeka Onyenemere, is dead.

Onyenemere, the proverbial cat with nine lives, was twice kidnapped in 2005 and 2011, years after his lucky escape from alleged massacre of children during the Biafran war.

But he died when he allegedly returned home vomiting blood after he went out with a friend to have a drink on Monday.

A member of his household told NewsmakersNG that Onyenemere was rushed to a hospital where he died of suspected poisoning.

Born on August 26, 1960, the late Onyenemere, a red cap chief with the title Abuba Ugo (Fat Eagle) of Ekweland and Omeka Ozuo Oha (Ombudsman) of Abayi also served as vice-president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Special Adviser on Labour Matters to ex-governor of Imo State, Mr Ikedi Ohakim.

Mrs Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, a journalist who covered the activities of the late Onyenemere for about 16 years, told NewsmakersNG all she knows about the activist who established a bakery producing the popular Labour Bread when he was leading the NUFBTE.

Olaoye-Osinkolu said, “He weathered many life-threatening storms, even from childhood. Why he should die now, at a time he should be reaping the fruits of his labour beats me.

“In 1967, little John survived the civil war after his father encouraged him to run errand for Nigerian soldiers at their war front camp close to his village, like other children, for left-over food and pittance. A saving grace for him, however, was one Army officer’s request that all the errand boys must be able to speak pidgin. So he asked little John, “Can you speak pidgin?”

“John said yes.

“Then the officer said, ‘Now, speak pidgin!’ To which John responded, ‘Pidgin, pidgin, pidgin, pidgin, pidgin…’ And the soldier shouted, ‘Is that how to speak pidgin? You illiterate, get away from here!’ The sad little John returned home, weeping.

“A week later, the soldiers got word from the Nigerian government, after the observation and advice by an influential Nigerian that the little errand boys were being used as spies by Biafran soldiers. The Nigerian soldiers allegedly gathered all of them, tied them together and burnt them.

“Chief Onyenemere, while telling me this story in one of our regular gists, said his dad, on getting the news of the murdered little boys exclaimed, ‘John, so your inability to speak pidgin is a blessing in disguise for us!’ And the father reportedly shed tears.

“Another experience that almost claimed his life happened in 2005 or thereabout along Akowonjo-Egbeda Road, in Lagos.

“Onyenemere, after the Sunday mass, drove his children from his Catholic Church parish along Shasha Road to Mr Biggs eatery along Akowonjo-Egbeda Road, to get them snacks. Immediately he parked his Mercedes Benz station wagon with registration number, NLC 3, three armed robbers accosted him at gunpoint. They pulled him out of the driver’s seat and sent the children out of the car. They pushed “Onyenemere roughly onto the middle back seat where he was sandwiched between two bandits. They told him if the car is demobilized he would be killed. He was asked to remove any anti-theft device he had in the car.

“Onyenemere said, ‘Yes sir’, though the ‘commander’ was far younger than him. With shaking hands, he did as requested.

“In a commando style, they led their evil convoy with Onyenemere’s car – NLC 3. He was then the National Treasurer of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the regime of the then President Adams Oshiomhole.

“They were picking other gang members from bus stops and snatching cars on their way en-route Ikeja. They picked two of their men at Cement bus stop. On getting to Toyin Street, they saw a man washing a car with the key in the ignition, they fired and killed him and took the car. By then, the convoy had about seven cars, with Onyenemere’s car in the lead.

“They were heading towards Ibadan. When they got to a place after the Redeemed Camp, the one sitting beside the driver searched the glove compartment and saw John’s lifeline. US dollars! He screamed and said, ‘This man, you be baba o. Meeen, dollars!’

“Onyenemere said, ‘You can have everything and the car. Please spare my life.’ The money was the proceeds of the cars his brother sent home for sale from Belgium. He already changed the money to dollars in readiness for onward transmission to his brother’s domiciliary account.

“The gang leader then started barking orders. He told the one driving to park. He then told Onyenemere, you have bought your life with this foreign currency. Now, get out of this car and go home. We don’t need your car. So you will find it later after we might have finished using it. But don’t make noise. If you do, you will die.”

“He couldn’t believe his ears, so John stayed rooted to his seat, shivering. And the man shouted, “I said, go home! That was when he said, ‘Yes sir. Thank you, sir.’ And he alighted from the car. He waited by the roadside shivering until the convoy disappeared before crossing the road and finding his way home.

“On getting home, at Santos Layout, he found his wife and children crying, rolling on the floor while neighbours were wondering how to deal with the situation. But again, John cheated death.

“Years later, he had another harrowing experience when kidnappers held him near Owerri on his way to his village in Imo State. They demanded an initial N50million ransom, and later settled for an undisclosed amount which his family rallied round and paid.

“In his labour struggles, Onyenemere had managed to keep his head above water even when the battle was fierce. At a particular keenly contested election of his union at Hamdala Hotel, Kaduna, Onyenemere won the national election to retain his presidency with only one vote.

“He once spoke about wanting the best for his family, as his retired teacher dad suffered a lot to raise his 11 children of which John was the first. “He recalled how he had no clothes to wear and how his dad’s salary was too meagre but he managed to educate them. At a point, John had to live with a relative to enable him to get a good education, but the man’s wife would always make him hawk goods and he was not enrolled in school. His dad came one day to see how he was faring and took him back to Mbaise to chart a way towards his going to school.”