Goddy Jedy Agba — He figuratively wears luck around his neck like an old, well-worn talisman. This cosmic token has helped to define his eon. For all 66 years of his compelling earthly journey and still counting, his life has been steeped in an abundance of God’s favour.
This uncommon providential indulgence apparently conflicts with the Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist, Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger’s position, that “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Without churlishly diminishing Seneca’s notable, celebrated insight, the “miracle man”- Goddy Jedy Agba – has clearly rendered his quaint philosophical offering inadequate within the context of the inscrutable questions of life, living and death.
Goddy Jedy Agba did so over a decade ago when he beat death by the whiskers. It was a 50-50 situation. At that point, all preparations were kept in abeyance, and opportunities were upended. What preponderated the atmospherics and nuances of the hospital where the major surgery was to be done and was, indeed, successfully done, was the grace – the unmerited favour of God.
The hand of God pulled him through. The doctors have always acknowledged the influence of divinity in the affairs of men, especially in the medical realm such that their mantra of “God heals; We Care,” continues to ring true.
This is an adumbrated story that one of his former aides told me in 2019 at the intersection of his (Goddy Jedy Agba’s) nomination for the position of minister in the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari. He was not given a good chance to live, but God kept him and gave him a second chance.
To be sure, were it not for the grace of God, Jedy Agba’s preparations as a technocrat with many years of work experience at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as it then was, would not have met the opportunity that presented itself to him to serve the nation as minister. He was minister of state for power for about four years. He would in that office grab more opportunities that came his way, especially camaraderie and kindred association.
Jedy Agba’s totemic luck had seen him through the public service where he was employed as Secretary II in 1984 and posted as senior assistant secretary at the Federal Capital Development Authority in October 1985 before becoming Deputy Liaison Officer in 1987. In 1989, he was lucky to be selected as personal assistant to the Minister of Special Duties under the presidency.
He was moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as personal assistant to the Minister of State from 1990 to 1993. From there, he became personal assistant to the secretary of the state (government) until 1995 when he joined the NNPC from where he retired in 2014 as General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division. Arriving at his destination in the NNPC was a product of preparation meeting with opportunity.
Through disciplined exertions, commitment and fidelity to his assignments, he had ensured a productive association between the longing that propelled patriotism in him and the belonging that would consequently define his existential essence – adding value to life and impacting others positively.
Indeed, the longing and belonging have found anchorage in the magnitude of his persona: his temperate, self-effacing, generous, man-caring, and God-fearing nature that is writ large. He does so much good without making a noise about his eleemosynary acts.
He is perhaps instructed by the wise counsel of the elders as reflected in the popular quote of Chinua Achebe in his novel: “Things Fall Apart” that: “those whose kernels were cracked by the benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.”
My first encounter with Goddy Jedy Agba validated his self-effacing nature. He had attended the funeral of his friend, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba’s mother-in-law, Senior Mother in Israel of ESOCS Church, Alice Janet Obaseki in Edo State, in July this year, in company with three of his associates/assistants.
In Prince Clem Ikanade Agba’s living room in Benin, he sat quietly in a single sofa and was responding to issues as discussions were going on. I watched him quietly from where I sat. His disposition did not give him away as a moneybag or a man with tremendous influence. He looked so ordinary.
And wait for it, he validated his humility with his sense of humour, which he deployed on this occasion in driving home his points so that other people’s sensibility was mollycoddled. Those who know him closely (including at least, one of his former aides, who is my friend) speak about his legendary generosity and Catholic conviviality.
On the second day, which was a Saturday, as I got to Prince Clem Ikanade Agba’s residence, I met Prince Goddy Jedy Agba all by himself in an open space close to the door to the living room. I took the opportunity to greet and engage him in some discussions. We talked about the grace of God, the gift of life, and the obligation of eternal gratitude.
We explored the subject of healthy living and keeping fit through structured exercises. I referred to the scriptural verse that says that bodily exercise profits little and how I have been getting the little over the years such that people always tell me that I look younger than my age. I told him I would be 58 on my next birthday on August 6. He gladly replied that he would be 66 on August 20. I promised that I would do a celebratory piece on him during his anniversary. Herein is the justification for this tribute.
Jedy Agba has the predilection to strike the right kind of friendship that adds value to his visions and missions in life. His friendship with Clem Agba is a typical example. After their tenure as ministers – he, as minister of state for power and Clem Agba as minister of state for budget and national planning – both have become much closer to each other exploring possible frontiers in which they could collaborate in furtherance of their services to community and the Almighty God.
Lest I forget, during my discussion with him, I reminded him of his people’s effort to convince him to contest for the governorship of his home state of Cross River in 2019. He had quickly said that whatever any man would become in life is in the hands of God. He did not allow himself to be railroaded into the governorship contest in the state.
He said people must bid their time and wait on God in prayers for what He would make of them. He did not throw his hat in the ring for the governorship seat; and, he would later be tapped for ministerial appointment.
Prince Goddy Jedy Agba is a gift of Cross River State to Nigeria. He is also a gift to Edo State through his marriage to a priceless daughter of Uromi in Edo State, Beatrice, who is the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Justice. This makes him my in-law.
Beyond these, he is a gift to humanity, given the several little ways through which God has been using him to bless the less privileged and to provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs to Nigerians, especially through his farms and other investments.
Goddy Jedy Agba is indeed a lucky man whose luck is infectious. His aura of luck rubbed off positively on me in 2019 when I did a piece at the instance of one of his aides, Paul Ifere, in aid of his Senate screening for ministerial appointment. In the course of that enterprise, I stumbled on another nominee by the name of Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, who was from my state-Edo.
I had run some google checks on both nominees, and I discovered they had a number of things in common. The result had led me to pen a piece entitled: “Harnessing the Potential of two Agbas in Buhari’s Cabinet”. That piece would later earn me the job of Special Assistant (Media and Strategic Communication) to Prince Clem Agba as Minister of State for Budget and National Planning with funding support by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The summation of the persona of Goddy Jedy Agba finds anchorage in the philosophical offering of Marcus Aurelius, who once said: “Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live, and it is in your power.” Jeddy Agba has definitely affected lives.
He has been good for putting smiles on the faces of those who look up to him for succour. He does that without denying himself a good measure of pampering in the epicurean context of the philosophy of good living and/or hedonism: eating, drinking (without getting drunk) and hugging merriment because we would not be here (on earth surface) forever.
This is further validated or reinforced by the Quaker Missionary, Etienne de Grellet, who was quoted to have said: “I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
As the Prince of Obudu celebrates his Especial Day today, Tuesday, August 20, I recommend to him the contemplative offering of Epictetus in his Discourses, 1.29.4, to wit: “God laid down this law, saying: if you want some good, get it from yourself”. The festivity, whether loud or muted, offers an opportunity for the celebrator to embark on some obligatory introspection-to review the past and allow it to instruct the present for a much more robust future.
This is one good he can do and that he can get only from himself. This is wishing the “birthday boy” best wishes and many happy returns in continued good health.
■ Mr Sufuyan Ojeifo, publisher and editor-in-chief of THE CONCLAVE (online newspaper), is a member of the Nigeria Guild of Editors. (ojwonderngr@yahoo.com – 08034727013)
