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