Adieu, Jimanze Ego Alowes

I am saddened by the death, reportedly of liver cancer, of the SUN Newspaper columnist Jimanze Ego-Alowes. I so wanted to meet Jimanze but never had the opportunity. He was brilliant, and had philosophical depth, which is rare in opinion writing in Nigeria today.

The author of several books, Jimanze was a quintessential public intellectual and a great “popularizer” — an intellectual that could translate sophisticated ideas into popular consumption and understanding.

But he was not a reclusive, reflective intellectual. He was outward facing, with the personal conviction and confidence to be a polemicist who argued his ideas combatively in the marketplace of thought. I was always tickled by his trademark sign-off after his controversial positions in his columns: “Ahiazuwa” (let the noise begin).

I remember when he gave me a drubbing in one of his columns. I merely smiled after reading it. “I will call him”, I said to myself. Because I believed he would understand when I explained the reasons and motivation for my essaying into politics. Sadly, I never got around to it before he left us.

Adieu, great mind!

Prof. Kingsley Moghalu
Ifek’ego Nnewi