Nwora Nicholas Anyaegbunam was born November 2, 1944 at Aba, in the then colonial Eastern Nigeria. His parents - George Benjamin Chukwuma Anyaegbunam (GBC Anyaegbunam or Inspector Anyaegbunam) and Victoria Enuma Anyaegbunam nee Arimah hailed from Onitsha; the father from the Umu Asele quarters and the mother from Umu Dei quarters. They had five children (three boys and two girls). Nwora was the second child of this union and the first son.
His father, Inspector Anyaegbunam, was the only son of Reverend George Nicholas Anyaegbunam, the first Igbo man to be admitted into the Holy Orders, having been ordained a priest of the Anglican Church (CMS) on February 13, 1898, at Lokoja by the Rt. Reverend Herbert Tugwell, Bishop of the then Diocese of Western Equatorial Africa.
At age five in 1949, Nwora began his primary school education at the then Army Command Primary School Obalende, Lagos and subsequently transferred to the famous CMS Central School Onitsha where he completed this first stage of his formal education in 1959. Thereafter, between 1960 and 1964, he attended Methodist Boys High School (MBHS) Oron obtaining the West African School Certificate. Whilst at MBHS, he also excelled in athletics especially Javelin, Shot Put, and Long Jump.
Following his secondary school education, Nwora enrolled in 1965 for a one year diploma at the then School of Agriculture Umudike, Umuahia. The training at Umudike, led to his appointment as an extension staff by the former Eastern Region Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for teaching farmers modern farming techniques. With this love for agriculture firmly planted in him, Nwora secured admission at the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1966 to study Agricultural Economics.
The outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War the following year (1967) disrupted Nwora’s education. Months later, he joined the war effort as a Biafran Army Commissioned Officer. It was during the war period (1967-1970) that Nwora developed his taste for military strategy, martial music and war films.
With the cessation of hostilities in 1970, Nwora returned to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he met the love of his life, Maureen Ofodile. In 1973, he completed the Bachelor of Science Degree programme in Agricultural Economics. Thereafter, he participated in the National Youth Service Corp Scheme (NYSC) and was deployed to Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria.
Joining the Federal Civil Service in 1974, he was posted to the Federal Department of Agriculture in Lagos as an Agriculture Officer (Planning). He was a member of the team that produced the agriculture component of the Third National Development Plan.
In 1975, he was selected to attend a special training in fertilizer handling and blending in Finland by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The following year, Nwora headed a Fertilizer Unit in the Department that pioneered the centralized procurement and distribution of fertilizer nationwide. An initial procurement of 250,000 Metric Tonnes of fertilizer and its successful distribution by this unit marked a turning point in the agriculture sector of the country. Nwora’s expertise in the fertiliser handling and blending earned him a summons by the then military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo to help in the formulation of the Fertilizer Policy for the Operation Feed the Nation Programme.
It was during this period that he married his sweetheart, Maureen Ofodile. The union was solemnised on 12th of April, 1975 at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos. The marriage produced four children – Mrs. Amaka Obi (deceased), Nnajiofor, Mrs. Ifeoma Onochie and Chukwuma.
In 1978, Nwora proceeded to the United States of America to undergo post-graduate studies in Tropical Agriculture at the North Carolina State University Raleigh, obtaining a Master of Science Degree. In this period, he also engaged in law studies as regards hazardous agro-chemicals and marine law as related to agro-chemical shipping; as well as gained experience as an attaché to a 200,000 Metric Tonnes per annum blending firm in North Carolina.
Nwora returned to Nigeria in 1980 and resumed duty as the Head of Operations of Fertilizer Procurement and Distribution Division of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development. This position which he held up till 1989 can be described as the highpoint of his public service career. His responsibilities included planning and projecting the national fertiliser requirements, and managing national fertiliser procurement and shipping arrangements. Others were supervision of national distribution and warehousing of fertilisers, and management of capacity building programmes in the area of small scale fertiliser blending for agricultural development officers. As Head of Operations of Fertilizer Procurement and Distribution, he is credited to have led efforts to successfully introduce a computerized system and also establishing a radio communications network that linked all ports of operations.
He also served in various developmental boards which included: the National Committee on Port Decongestion, the Pre-Feasibility Study Committee for the Establishment of Nitrogen Plant at Onne Port and the Technical Committee for the Establishment of NAFCON II, among others.
In 1990, he voluntarily retired from the Federal Civil service as a Chief Agricultural Officer and became a consultant specialising in the economics of agro-chemicals handling, blending of fertilisers, and extension services. In this regard, he provided services to agro-chemical firms in Nigeria, Senegal, and Namibia. Such services included the introduction of trace elements in blends to meet agronomic needs, negotiating timing for lifting agro-chemical raw materials and shipping positions, as well as sourcing investors for fertilizer blending plants .
Disengaging from consultancy services in 1997, he established a fisheries business, which he managed until his death on May 7, 2013.
He joined the prestigious Agbalanze Society of Onitsha on the 29th of December, 1993, upon which he adopted the agnomen ‘Ojinnaka’.
He will also be remembered for his love for angling and photography.
Nwora Nicholas Anyaegbunam is survived by his wife: Nwamulunamma Maureen, three children: Nnajiofor, Ifeoma, Chukwuma, a daughter-in-law: Akwugo, a son-in-law: Kevin and two grandchildren: Ifeanyirochukwu and Nwamaka. Others are his siblings: Chief (Mrs.) Violet Egirani, Ugobeze Obiageli Ibeakanma, Professor Chike Anyaegbunam and numerous relatives.
May his gentle soul rest in peace!