A last homage to a loved one is often difficult, too many things to cram in. I write, knowing there are so many things reeling in my head, that I could share…
Dear Daddy, I miss you, but I am glad you have gone to rest. I am really glad for the time in the ‘evening’ of your life, I spent with you, and got to know you better. I beam with pride, as do all your children, and loved ones, when we talk about you. I guess you literally where a ‘good and faithful soldier’. Last night, I shared a story of something I saved to remind me of you, and it was deemed rather quirky. I laughed, knowing I intentionally, and gladly made more effort in keeping treasures of you. Loosing mummy suddenly, brought on a reality we never really hold - Will tomorrow be granted ours, by the LORD.
Growing up, I often heard mummy say how much I looked and frowned like you; I hope some of your great qualities and superb traits will play out in me, soon, I could really do with them, now!
Rest on in Christ, till me meet to part no more, amen. Ibiso ❤❤

Daddy, as I usually called you, words can't fully express the great virtues you represented while life was still remaining in you.

Your true life stories are live lessons with outstanding potency to make one great while life lasts.
You were known and respected for your undaunted humility and peaceful disposition which was second to none; you had all through your lifetime exibited true simplicity, accessibility and respect for all and sundry, irrespective of class, gender or tribe.
You were one man who believed and encouraged the right to free expression without undue intrusion nor intimidation.

Another outstanding quality you had always portrayed was your uncompromising respect for the rule of law. I won't forget those sundry times while in a transit with you, how you humbled me by instructing your driver to obey every order from those traffic personnels, not minding your high status in the society.

Daddy D. E Okujagu, no doubt you have transited to the world beyond but your legacies still speaks for you. You will always be remembered.

Sleep on! And may your gentle soul rest in the bossom of your maker. Amen.

I was privy to meet “H.E” and “Retired Admiral” (“Daddy” to me) in 2004 (in Port-Harcourt)… Yes, that was the most daunting feat I ever embarked on at the time, and still by miles top ranking. No, it wasn’t a business meeting. I had gone to ask for his precious daughter’s hand in marriage…hmm, hmm… the proceedings of which, is still a blur to me till this day… despite having gone through Mum’s tutelage in Abuja, on how the meeting would unravel, as well as dragging my brother with me.

Later that year we met again, this time in the UK, for the wedding to his daughter… (Definitely was a “GO” decision in PH..).. Of course, at this point the dynamics had evolved, as we were now able to break bread together, during which I picked up his knack for telling spellbinding stories.

Distance was a barrier for him to be part of our daily life, but we would communicate often via telephony, and he would ask for his “Chairman” (His grandson); Hence, he was fondly referred to as “Grandpa Port-Harcourt” or “Grandpa Chairman". Indeed, those little moments would be cherished forever.

From the revelations he foretold, it was clear that he was a man of integrity, with utmost tenacity and diligence… all attributes of a true leader and General. One that stood by his country through thick & thin… It could not have been easy to maintain a right balance of family life, of which he gave his all…

I salute you Sir… May God rest you in His eternally peace

Kayode

Tribute to a gallant Officer and a gentleman
H.E. Rear Admiral Denson Ere Okujagu (rtd)
Our family paths crossed in 1968 when the Late Rear Admiral, then a young
energetic and handsome Naval Officer visited our Family home in Ogunlana Drive,
Surulere, Lagos in his Peugeot 404 saloon car. A visit which resulted in the marriage
of our Late Sister to him on Saturday 19th April 1969 in Lagos. At this period Tari
our most senior brother was studying at Imperial College, London.
We had the privilege and opportunity of interacting with our late Brother-in-Law
and his wife in their various residences in Apapa, Ebute Metta , Ikoyi, all in Lagos,
at Amadi Flats in Port Harcourt and in New Delhi when he was the Nigeria High
Commissioner to India.
Our Brother-in-Law mutually participated with us and we with him in each family’s
social engagements such as weddings, burials and birthday celebrations. His 80th
birthday celebration and his Children’s weddings were no exception as the Benebos
were in attendance.
Rear Admiral as we used to refer to him was always kind to us. Anytime any of us
visited him and his wife, our Late Sister he would personally make sure we were
served specially. We felt at home in his company because of his homely and warm
welcome more so his active mind and lively conversations. There was no dull
moment with him. Even after our Sister’s demise our visits to him still remained
warm and homely.
We, the Benebo Brothers and our families have lost a loving and caring Brother-in-
Law and a friend. It was really a privilege to have known Rear Admiral Denson Ere
Okujagu (rtd). Our amiable Brother-in-Law has done his duty to his Famiy, his State
and his Country.
We thank God for a life well spent and pray that the Almighty God will grant his
family and children the comfort and strength to endure the painful departure in Jesus
name. Amen.
We pray that his Soul rests in peace in the bossom of the Lord.
ADIEU
The Benebo Brothers ( Tari, Opubo, Adokiye & Setima )

TRIBUTE TO MY PRECIOUS ELDER BROTHER AND FATHER ( MY HERO)
Then shall be brought to pass, the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in Victory . O Death where is thy Sting, O Grave where is thy Victory. The sting of sin is Death , and the strength of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ( 1st Corinthians 15: 54--57). Daddy as we all call you, because you really took the role of a father even when our biological father was still alive. You did not only gave me Fish, but you thought me how to Fish right from my tender Age. I was really that your Favorite brother and son that sometimes if you don't see me in a day, there's serious problem. For all that you pass through in life up to the Rank of Rear Admiral in Nigerian Navy and later Nigerian Ambassador to India, you never hard any symptom of HBP, because you were patient and contented with what u have. You love and trusted anyone that comes around you, though many used it against you, but you never stopped loving them..
Daddy thank you for all that you thought me on how to leave with people.
One thing I promise you is that I will never forget all  the virtues and the good things you thought me in Life.
You are my HERO always.
Surely you are always safe in the arms of Jesus Christ.
Rest in Peace Daddy until we meet to part no more on the Resurrection morning.

Your favorite small brother and son
Hon. Goodluck Okujagu

Good night Pa Okujagu….An Officer and a Gentleman….Rest In Peace

Dear Ibiso’s dad, first I want to thank you for giving us such a beautiful soul Ibiso as a friend, we know you are at peace and for that we are Thankful. Oso and Chichi have said it all, you made us so comfortable at the “ zoo” that the three of us felt we were home at a time we should have been anxious. It was truly an adventure. Thank you for keeping us secure and trusting us. May your Gentle Soul and Antie’s Amiable Soul continue to Rest In Peace,IJCMN,Amen.

May your soul Rest in Perfect Peace, sir.

TRIBUTE TO A DEAR UNCLE.

I met Rear Admiral Okujagu through my relationship with his first daughter. It is possible to meet a person before you have actually met them! At the time, he was the Nigerian High Commissioner to India and with all respect, was to become my first insight into "the Rivers man". My older self would later tell his beloved wife, Aunty Biddy, that I felt I would end up marrying a Rivers man too. ( And I did!) He was like the August visitor on some of my numerous trips to Second Avenue - no one had to tell me to be discreet, Uncle was around. And then I became a "Zoolite". 4 teenage girls under his care in Port Harcourt, who had to pass by his study with the won't miss anything windows to get to "our" room. At the time, there was hardly any respite from his visitors, even though it wasn't hard to tell that he was naturally quite a reserved person. He was somehow, always around, occupied 24/7 in that same study / home office. In retrospect, he did handle the distraction of our barrage of endearing greetings with much patience and in the privacy of our room, we (cheekily) dared to imitate him, a competition of sorts. Who can do Uncle best. His voice and his stance, beginning with "My friend will you... "
Truth be told, he has left loads of memories of his quips that continue to crack us up and elicit love and laughter. They really must be trademarked someday! Uncle lived his best life. He was ambitious yet stayed true to his values. To us, he is "The Admiral" for he served his country and left behind a remarkable legacy - his reputation. He was blessed with a warrior wife - a General in the Lord's army, his Sweetie! They ran a good race and we are thankful to God, Almighty. May they rest in eternal peace!

TRIBUTE TO A THOROUGH-BRED ADMIRAL

In our religion Islam, it is a canon that: To Almighty God we belong and to him we shall all return”. It is also true that every one of us must taste death. So I enjoin us all to celebrate the remarkable and most successful life of a great officer and Gentleman, Master Mariner, Mentor, Teacher and a man with a great heart, Rear Admiral Denson Ere Okujagu. May his soul rest in perfect peace in Paradise and may Almighty God grant solace to all of us he left behind.

I first met the Admiral in 1968 on my graduation from the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA). Proudly wearing the Midshipman’s patch on my shoulders, with my colleagues we reported on board NNS Nigeria later renamed NNS OBUMA. The Admiral was then Lieutenant Commander and the Executive Officer of the ship. He took charge of us and was very anxious to make us good Naval Officers. He made us work our “butts” out. We nicknamed him, “skinner” as he will always say: “I will skin you alive” to whip us into line anytime we erred. We spent a whole month on board the NNS NIGERIA under his eagle eyes. Always keen to impart the knowledge he gained as one of the 1st NN officers to be trained at the Britannia Royal Naval College (RRNC) Dartmouth, Uk of which he was very proud. We in turn, saw him as a role model in smart, impeccable white uniforms, Captain Cook’s kind of beards and mustache, a real seaman who moved the giant ship like a toy. I remember wishing to be like him when I grow up in the Navy.

A lot has been written in tribute to His Excellency – His National Service, Great Naval Career, spanning command at Sea and Ashore and rising to the highest ranks in the Nigeria Navy. A lot has also been written about his stint as Nigeria’s High Commissioner in India and life after retirement. My tribute will dwell mainly on the human angle of this great Sea Lord, humanist and philanthropist.

He also had another nickname – “Landlord”. He lived in the Old Base Flats as the then accommodation at the NNS BEECROFT was called with one old Royal Navy Capt., (Capt Rowe), whom we all dreaded. We were to share the ground floor. He was our landlord. I remember, he taught me to play tennis as he never failed to turn us out for games every evening. We had the fortune of learning a lot from him as NNS NIGERIA was deployed for frontline operations as the Nigeria-Biafra civil war was raging. The ship was returned to harbour after 6 weeks in the war front ostensibly to disembark us as we were due to leave for our Midshipmen and sub lieutenants’ Training. I recall that the Admiral personally shepherded us to the passport office at Alagbon Close, Lagos to get our passports, then Barclays Bank to open accounts, and Port Health for inoculations. What else didn’t he do for us all on Friday and Saturday. When it was time for us to leave for the airport, the Driver detailed was nowhere to be found. The then Lt. Commander Okujagu jumped into the driver’s seat and drove us to the airport. I could remember him getting trolleys and helping us until he put us in the Ethiopian Airlines plane on 02 July 1968. How can one forget this enigmatic blessed soul? He led by example. God bless him.

Later in life in the Navy, we met and served on board various ships and establishments. He was greatly loved and admired. Tough at work but was soft and empathetic out of uniform. He loved his spirits, usually whisky on the rocks and sometimes gin and tonic.

On retirement, we became closer. I was at Okujagu Ama for the funeral of my boss, Admiral Fingesi’s mother. Only then did I know the relationship/kinship between the Admirals and also Admiral Biambo of blessed memory.

Admiral Okujagu was a historian; he knew everything about Nigeria and the Nigerian Navy. Till his death, he will spend hours on phone with me. I hope he has put some of his thoughts on paper for posterity. He had a lot of ideas on how our Navy and nation could have been better managed.

My desire to be like him as a young officer found fruition as I also proudly became a Sealord, Alumnus of the prestigious US Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, Tennis Champion, among other things he imparted to me as a young officer.

Like all humans, he was not perfect. Only Almighty God is perfect.

May God forgive his shortcomings and grant him a peaceful repose in paradise.

The Nigerian Navy and nation has lost a Great Patriot, Master, Manager, Teacher, Mentor, Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great Soul.

March on great sailor till we meet again!


Admiral Jubrila Ayinla (rtd), GCON

12 June, 2021

I’ll start this tribute by thanking God for your life that was so well lived. You were a force to reckon with and even just seeing you sitting made me want to stand alert You were very firm but kind. One of the most memorable periods in my life was when I spent my forced day student ship writing my SSCE exams from your home. We were 4 including Ibiso. We called ourselves the ‘zoolites’!

When our school management punished half of our set for writing GCE exams during the holidays (I’m still puzzled by this), little did they know they were about to add color to our lives. Well at least, us zoolites. We had so much fun we forgot to read (yes I said it); we got up to a lot of mischief while constantly looking behind us to see if you’d get us. I realized later you were very aware of our shenanigans but allowed us be cos you knew we were safe. When we were asked to leave school, it was a no-brainer for me where I would stay. You see, not too long before that incident, you had had a transaction with my late dad (God rest his beautiful soul) and he couldn’t stop talking about Ibiso’s dad the rear admiral! He admired you and liked Ibiso more just because she was your daughter. Uncle you not only agreed I could stay but took in 2 more of Ibiso’s friends with no stress. I remain forever grateful.

You lived long uncle and you lived richly. You had a lot of experiences that I’m sure you’re sharing with the angels and cracking them up. How’s aunty? I’m sure she chuckled when she saw you with that twinkle in her eyes that I loved to see. I know you’re happy and I have just one request uncle, please hug my dad for me and tell him I miss him very very much. ❤️ Oso

Aboy Skinner always skinned us alive onboard NNS Nigeria later Obuma. He was a great Captain to be with having late Adm AA Aikhomu as his XO. I served under him for my watch keeping ticket. Having discovered one of my talents he made me a DJ to Discos and parties on board. I had to draw a life-size picture of him, placed by the gangway, saluting to welcome visitors on board. I will deeply and personally miss him, ideal captain///