Tribute: Pa GS Ugwuanyi: The Exit of an Icon

 By Chris Uchenna Agbedo

There are lives that pass through history like whispers, and there are those that leave indelible imprints on the hearts of men and the fate of communities. Ekwueme Gabriel Sylvester Uchenna Ugwuanyi - known affectionately as GS - belonged to the latter category. His life was a testament to the truth that greatness does not always announce itself with fanfare, but is often revealed in quiet sacrifices, steadfast principles, and daily acts of purpose. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate... to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." GS made a difference. He lived honorably and compassionately, and in doing so, he gifted us a legacy that no material wealth can rival.

As an educator, he knew the power of knowledge to liberate and transform. Long before education became a universal dream, he had already walked barefoot and bright-eyed across long distances - not just in search of learning for himself, but eventually to open doors for others. In this, we are reminded of Victor Hugo’s timeless truth: “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” GS opened many doors. He was a builder of minds, a cultivator of character, and a relentless champion of literacy and lifelong learning. But education for him was never separate from identity. In his journey from Idrisu to Gabriel, to Sylvester, and finally Uchenna, he did not merely change names; he inscribed stages of spiritual and philosophical awakening. It was a journey that blended faith, intellect, and cultural rootedness, a journey not of reinvention, but of self-discovery, proving José Martí’s dictum that “The first duty of a man is to think for himself.”

In embracing that duty, GS shaped his destiny with agency and reflection. For as Jean-Paul Sartre once asserted, “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.” GS made of himself a bridge - across ideologies, generations, religions, and vocations. His life bore the footprints of many callings: teacher, administrator, civil servant, mentor, family patriarch, and community voice of reason. Each role he played with humility and consistency, never seeking applause, but always drawing respect. This was leadership of a rare kind - quiet, service-driven, and transformative. Not the type that demands followers, but one that creates other leaders, as John C. Maxwell describes: “A true leader is not the one who seeks followers, but the one who creates more leaders.” Many who passed through his tutelage - formally or informally - left with a greater sense of direction, duty, and dignity.

Above all, GS was driven by a deep-seated answer to the timeless question posed by Martin Luther King Jr.: “What are you doing for others?” His life was one long, thoughtful, and compassionate response to that question. In the classroom, in the community, in the Church, and in the political space - he served. Tirelessly. Faithfully. And so, as we begin this tribute to his life and times, we do not mourn as those who have no hope. We celebrate a man who lived well, led quietly, and left meaningfully. We gather not merely to bury him, but to raise the banner of his example - that we may walk in his footsteps, and one day inspire others as he has inspired us.

GS’ persona has been a life measured in miles and meanings. Some lives speak with thunder; others, like that of GS Ugwuanyi, whisper; yet, their echoes linger far longer than the noise of empty gongs. We begin with his quite reminiscences, which offers more than a chronology of play and pastime. It is a quiet window into a life marked not by flamboyance, but by faith, fortitude, and fidelity to purpose. GS Ugwuanyi’s life, as seen through this leisure reminiscences, teaches us that greatness is not an event. It is a discipline of perception, that is, the ability to see value in the mundane, meaning in the morning birdcall, and majesty in motion. This is a man, who never climbed a political stage, but watched palm wine tappers scale trees and saw in them a miracle. Here is a man, who never launched a business empire, but helped boys find their legs in the race of life; an enigma, who did not fill libraries with books, but filled heads with values, and hearts with memory. 

Then slithers across, the mortal landscape of all humans, Papa Ugwuanyi’s final leap and last breadth. His first gift of life that arrived on 4th May 1939, ended in May 2025. On the 20th, amid hospital beeps and silent prayers, his body left the world he shaped; the students he fostered, the community he led, the faith he anchored - all wept the absence of their beacon. No man born undisturbed leaves richer gardens than Papa GS, whose roots reached both sky and soul. At this solemn moment, as Olido readies to inter him at his Awọkwuụrụ country home of Olido under mother earth on 5 July 2025, we do more than reflect. 

Papa Ugwuanyi leaves behind more than accomplishments. In 1965, GS had etched his name into history; he joined the second graduating class of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the first indigenous university in Nigeria. Quite significantly, he became Ọlido’s first university graduate and only the third in the greater Ezikeọba Kingdom, a trailblazer whose academic success opened trees of possibility for the generations to follow. GS leaves a philosophy held gently: that wisdom grows like shoots from humble seed; that discipline blooms from faith; that a teacher’s legacy is written in human hearts; that sorrow births empathy; that silence can speak louder than sermon. Let us speak no final farewells; for he taught us that every ending is seed for a new start. 

So, in this further tribute, we say: Farewell, noble son of Olido. You were the map when we wandered. You were the pause in our quarrel. You were the question no answer could silence. You jogged through life, not to escape it, but to meet it fully. Papa Ugwuanyi walked the earth barefoot and left behind footprints on the concrete of time. GS listened to nature and heard the voice of God. Papa Ugwuanyi ran his race. GS passed the baton. GS rests in the Lord’s bosom.

 Prof Agbedo is of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, a Fellow of Dutch Royal Institute, and Public Affairs Analyst