Stephen was the teacher's teacher and the favourite of diligent students who did their homework. He was a disciplinarian from the old school, and he never spared the rod much like his uncle Prosper Egwuonye Nnubia who blazed the trail before him in Kalamimi and in other schools in Eastern Nigeria. Only students who were found wanting in their studies, or were discipline and truancy cases had reasons to fear him but he still never gave up on them as he saw the potential in every student.

He left an outstanding and indelible record of teaching at Ozubulu Boy's Secondary School founded and pioneered by late educationist, Cosmos Iwuchukwu and Awka Etiti Secondary School. Many of the students he taught in his long career are highly accomplished professionals today, and occupy positions of responsibilities in high spaces all over the world. These old students hold him in high esteem and credit him with their successes in life. Stephen was truly a great man but modestly and unceremoniously so; not seeking recognitions nor accolades for himself.

Stephen had an illustrious and distinguished teaching career that took him to various parts of Nigeria not just in the east but also to Zaria and Kafanchan in the north. He was thorough, meticulous and detail-oriented. The Archdeacon, Dr. B.C.E. Nwosu Memorial Secondary School, Ozubulu where he continued to teach and volunteer after retirement, and indeed Ozubulu - a community he loved and lived out his life in, will never be he same again.

Stephen decided not to marry and lived a solo life, remaining true to his principles. A rumour that has been credited to him as justification for his decision not to marry is that "women are cartons of trouble", but Stephen was not a woman hater - not by a long shot. Quite the contrary, he got along with them in professional and occupational circles. He just could not bring himself to share a bed with one.

Stephen lived a contented life. That, which he did not want for himself, he did not crave for. The adage of that particular dodgy character who was not quite a thief but any time he passed by your belonging it got missing or tampered with, never applied to Stephen. He never seduced women and could not be tempted into sin by their looks no matter how endowed. Women were entirely safe with Stephen. He was one of a kind. They don't make people quite like Stephen anymore.

Chronologically, Stephen lived a long life especially in a society with low life expectancy. Even at 79 years of age, Stephen was still in fairly remarkable health with no known chronic conditions or health complications. From his physique or outward appearance, he could easily pass for someone much younger in age. He maintained an active lifestyle and a wellness regimen that included a lot of walking and trekking. Fortunately, he escaped the symptoms associated with habitual use of tobacco which perhaps was his only vice.

Stephen did not leave an offspring except if you must include the thousands of students he ably taught just as he would, his biological children.

As a member of an extended family in mourning, I must remain dispassionate in order to begin to deconstruct the character and personality of Stephen. To paraphrase a popular phrase, Stephen belonged to all of us but belonged to none of us. He was a straight shooter and an enigmatic personality with a "take no prisoner" attitude to life.

He always maintained a stoic, expressionless, unflappable and rather stone-faced demeanor and he rarely cracked a smile. If you did not understand Stephen, you would think that he had a beef with you but that was a vintage personality trait he shared with some of his siblings, and one I might add, endeared him to many. If you understood Stephen, you would come to love him.

Stephen was a highly trained and accomplished professional. He was educated at the prestigious Merchant's of Light Grammar School (MOL's), and subsequently, at the University of Wisconsin system with major campuses in Madison and Milwaukee in the United States of America. Upon graduation, he chose to return to Nigeria to continue to serve his fatherland - a nation that would ironically betray him to his death, through a cumbersome "proof of life" pension verification process.

His passion for educating Nigerian children was unwavering. He was driven to mentor, train and prepare the youths of today for the challenges of tomorrow. Whenever Stephen was asked why he never stayed back in the US, nor bothered to go back instead of toughing it out in a thankless teaching job in Nigeria, his answer always was, that America was not his native country and that he had a job to do here.

Stephen was born in Ozubulu in 1936 - the third son of Dominic and Bessie Nnubia and grandson of Edward Anadu Nnubia (the Obi of Egbema Ozubulu). He was one of five siblings (a girl and four boys as follows: Esther, Richard, William, Himself Stephen and Dennis). Stephen was popularly known as "Sab" derived from the acronyms of his names "Stephen Albert Bertram". He was also known by the pet name "Eze Okolobia" by those who knew him well.

Stephen hailed from an iconic family that had it all - fame, fortune and influence. Growing up among many siblings and cousin's, they had each other's back and if you messed with any of them, you messed with all of them. Their's was a close-knit family with a great deal of cohesion and of course the usual family dynamics. There was no boundary nor line of demarcation in their relationship with one another. Each of them referred to the other as simply brother or sister.

His cousin and Nwadiana Mrs Margaret Ndiwe the matriarch and custodian of the Iwegbu-Nnubia extended family recounted how they all used to spend their vacations together in the early to mid 1950's in Minna. That was at the residence of their business magnate uncle and benefactor "Papa Minna" (Mr. David Nnubia). She spoke about the love and the bond they shared with one another as one family.

The fact that Stephen chose not to father a biological child of his own who would carry forth his name and legacies, is all the more reason why united in grief, the family chose to erect this permanent memorial to celebrate his life.