Finally, after several phone calls with Dr. Maduka, I was able to travel to Las Vegas with my beautiful wife to have the privilege of meeting the OKOSISI 1 OF ORUMBA. I apologized to him for not bringing a masquerade along with me from Minneapolis to see the OKOSISI 1 himself. He graciously accepted my apology and jokingly said that my wife is the beautiful masquerade I brought along with me, so I escape a huge fine this time around.
Dr. Maduka began to tell me his life story growing up, how his Dad the great “Dibia” of his home town of Umuchukwu, the great healer of his era, lived. And his love for his Dad. He told me that his Dad was the only son of his family and tragically died at the age of 49 years after complications of heart disease.
His Dad was so poor that he could only afford to build a mud house for the family. When little Godwin was born however, the family fortune began to change. Soon, the Dad had plenty of money, enough to build a better house with cement and corrugated aluminum roof on it. His father blessed him greatly because he believed that his birth changed the family fortune. He gave him a special name – Godwin.
He also told me about the painful death of his elder brother who sent him to the United States of America. His death was too graphic to share details here. And his mother? She too died – from injuries sustained in a fall on a slippery wet floor. She fell and hit her head on the concrete floor. She did not survived it.
My wife broke down crying, could barely hold herself. Dr. Maduka like everyone one of us has suffered painful losses in the family. Surviving the death of his beloved mum, he confessed, was something he did not know he could pull off. To this day, sharing the loss of his mother still leaves him heartbroken. His voice began to change as the narrative progressed. At this point I really wanted to stop the conversation but he continued. He said he could manage; that the worst was already over.
So, who really is Dr. Godwin Maduka today? How has his difficult past molded his present?
Running a highly successful medical practice with six clinics and a staff of over 200 in the Las Vegas area comes with its fair share of challenges. It’s not just the sleepless nights, constantly ringing phones and little time to spend with family. Those, Dr. Maduka says, naturally come with the job. “What can really get to you is political jealousy”, he adds.
Such was the case when opponents, worried about his rising profile, sponsored a media smear campaign claiming that he was running a militia back home in Nigeria with money he was making in the US. That was nine years ago. As a result of this false allegation, he recalled, he was placed under FBI surveillance and eventually found clean.
In the meantime, of course, he vehemently denied the allegations and presented his own case. Luckily, he said, most of his clients and associates knew better and continued to trust and patronize him.
Dr. Maduka admits, though, that it was a hard blow on him emotionally. At a point, his wife and family became so worried they tried persuading him to abandon his charitable works and go under the radar. But he stood his ground.
How he weathered the storm, I asked. His response: “I had to wait it out and stay strong. Besides, I remembered the words of Albert Einstein who once said that ‘Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocres.'”
“High Expectations Are the Key to Everything”
Dr. Maduka says he feels a moral obligation to run for office as Anambra State Governor and make a difference in the lives of more people than he currently can. He says it is something he owes to God who gave him the grace freely to rise from absolute nothing to something in a distant land. He says he will not rest until he tries. “The entire people of the Southeast, in particularly Anambra State, have been politically irrelevant in Nigeria for sometime now. Anambra State is the heartbeat of Igbo land. We are the voice of our people. We must get it right and make better decisions for the sake of our own future and our childrens’ future.
“It is a moral responsibility for all of us who are enlightened, particularly those in Diaspora, to reach out to our loved ones back home and lend a helping hand. It doesn’t end with sending our hard-earned money to support our families. We must also be able to roll up our sleeves and help to build values and institutions that guarantee sustainable development. It will be amazing what we can accomplish together if you do not care who gets the credit,” Dr Maduka said.
“If You Think You Can Win, You Can Win. Faith Is Necessary For Victory”
Dr. Godwin Maduka, Okosisi 1 of Orumba, is a deeply religious man. He doesn’t miss going to church on Sundays and other days of obligation. He has actually built two houses for God and considers his entire life as testimony of God’s goodness. He says he is not afraid of losing election or getting involved in a political process that many believe is dirty. This, he says, is because “It is not about me. It is about who sent me. The greatest failure is not to try at all.”
He strongly believes in the saying “He that would govern others must first be a master of himself.” That is why he waited all these years to be successful in family life and business before aspiring for public office. He says political parties and voters must demand such high standards of all aspirants. “The era when con men, jobless people and unproven men take office and loot the treasury should be over,” he proclaims.
♦ Guest writer, Dominic Ikeogu is a Minnesota-based writer and political analyst.
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