Tribute to Dr Enyi Okereke
PUBLISHED Articles on Enyi Okereke MD. 1
Oseloka Obaze*
Sunday 14 December 2008
Dr. Enyi Okereke --A Real Gem of a Person
26th April 1954 - 25th November 2008
Recently, the cold and calculating hands of fate called death snatched from the Igbo and the Nigerian community and especially from the Okereke family of Voorhees, New Jersey, an estimable gem of a person, Dr. Enyi Okereke. This particular sudden death was most untimely, most unheralded, and therefore, most shocking and unbelievable.
An illness, an accident would have made such death, tolerable, but alas, that was not the case. Enyi, ironically, was the true specimen of human fitness and conscientious good and healthy living. A suave, trim and urbane person, he worked out assiduously, ran races including marathons, yet, when his numbers were up, he succumbed to heart attack, while on a philanthropic medical mission to Enugu, Nigeria, where he was attending a conference on arthroscopic surgery.
What makes Enyi's untimely passing most heartrending is that he touched many lives in his 54 years on earth. Those privileged to have met or associated with him personally or professionally, came away from such encounters, nourished and challenged by Enyi's strong sense of mission, values and beliefs in work ethics, family and friendship. True enough, as his family's tribute rightly stated, Enyi's life was "characterized by integrity, hard work, and selfless service to mankind...we take consolation that you died saving other peoples' lives".
Enyi Okereke, who died on 25 November 2008, was a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). He was the loving husband of Dr. Moriam Tokumbo Okereke, the father of Karim J. Okereke, Kelechi A. Okereke, Kalaya N. Okereke, the grandfather of Karim Joseph Okereke, Jr., and father-in-law of Patricia Okereke. He was also brother to Deacon Chima Okereke, HRM Eze Kele Okereke, Ambassador Nne F. Kurobo, Dr. Tati Okereke, Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and numerous nephews, nieces, cousins, and relatives.
Besides being a profound loss to his family and professional colleagues at UPenn, Enyi's death will probably scar his colleagues in the Association of Nigerian Physicians in America (ANPA) the most. He was an esteemed, proactive and energizing member of that Association, and until his death, its National Treasurer and Chairman of the ANPA-New Jersey Chapter.
In fact, at the time of his demise, Enyi was in Nigeria in furtherance of his personal commitment to the mission of ANPA to address the unmet medical needs in Nigeria and promote ANPA's vision of "a healthier Nigeria in a healthier world". Enyi was in all his personal and professional undertakings on behalf of ANPA, singularly the true embodiment of the Association's mission of promoting, inter alia, "personal and professional growth of its members through camaraderie and unselfish exchange of ideas." Enyi also exemplified ANPA's quest of promoting altruism, professionalism and scholarship among its members; and identifying and stimulating interest in all matters affecting the health of Nigerians and encouraging the development of practical solutions to Nigerian health care problems through strategic initiative and field activities inside Nigeria." Although not in anyway a relief or reprieve, the knowledge that Enyi died while doing what he loved most for Nigeria, is a salve to those of us who got to know him up close and personal.
It was in Enyi's capacity as an ANPA member in good standing, that we became closely acquainted, shortly after the formation ANPA-NJ Chapter. I had been the Master of Ceremony at ANPA-NJ inaugural event, when Enyi joined ANPA and became the Secretary of the ANPA-NJ Chapter, our parts inevitable intersected from thereon. Also, between 2000 and 2003, I aggressively recruited Enyi to join the Board of Songhai Charities, Inc. (SCI), a New Jersey community-based non-profit charity founded and run by Nigerians based in New York Tri-state area. As the then Chairman of the SCI Board, I believed that Enyi would bring great benefit to the Organization with his knowledge, management style and voice of reason. Enyi was enthusiastic and supportive of SCI, but much to my disappointment, begged off on the invitation to join the SCI Board, citing his numerous other professional commitments.
In 2005, Enyi ran for the presidency of ANPA, competing with another friend of mine, Dr. Julius Kpaduwa. Both men had the needed credentials and bona fides to serve in that capacity and I respectively told them so, while declaring my neutrality. Dr. Kpaduwa won, and unsurprisingly, Enyi shook his hands, congratulated him and pledged his full support, which he did. Later on, Enyi served as the NJ Chapter's Chair with my wife, Dr. Ofunne Omo Obaze, serving as the Chapter's Treasurer. Under his able leadership, ANPA-NJ hosted the 12th Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly of ANPA in 2006, with a resounding outcome.
More as a tribute to Enyi's style of involving family members in the activities of ANPA, than as a matter of convenience, Enyi insisted on rotating the holding of ANPA-NJ Executive sessions at the homes of the chapter executives; and he insisted that the non-ANPA spouses of the host member be present at the meeting. Inevitably, my wife and I hosted several such sessions, during which, I gained a better insight into the persona and sharp mind of this great Nigerian. I came away from each encounter, with a firmer conviction of Enyi's unalloyed belief in the ANPA mission, for indeed, he embraced all that ANPA stood and worked for.
Last July, in Charlotte, North Carolina, I watched as Enyi sought the post of the National Treasurer of ANPA, running once again, against some eminently qualified colleagues. He did so with his usual charm, grace, gravitas and sense of mission. On invitation, along with two other non-ANPA members present, we observed and certified the ANPA electoral process. I recall, Enyi's passionate campaign pitch, even though his credentials and record of accomplishment naturally spoke for themselves. He recalled his long-standing service and role in rallying singled-handedly, major financial contributions to ANPA. Finally, he asked his colleagues to trust him with the safe keep of ANPA finances, noting that he and his dear wife Moriam, were "empty nesters" and that as such, he would "be readily available to take their 3 a.m. phone calls if need be" (no pun at Hillary Clinton). That selling point resonated broadly, for it was indeed characteristic of Enyi Okereke, the doer, the activist and the hands-on person.
Enyi's professional colleagues at UPenn would speak more readily and authoritatively to his work as a physician. So too, would his colleagues in ANPA. The Acting Chairman of ANPA-NJ Chapter, Dr. Patrick Bambgoye recalled how during the Chapter's mission to Onitsha, Nigeria in 2005, "Enyi treated an Okada (motorcyclist) accident victim who needed his skills and snatched this lady from the jaws of death" and "how ironic that the same could not have been done for him when he took ill in Enugu." Furthermore, Bamgboye noted that Enyi "loved and believed in Nigeria. He was a visionary who saw light where there was none. The transfer of knowledge was very important to him. His cherished goal for the country was to improve the emergency care of trauma and accident victims. He spoke of this often and was working towards it. If any consolation, he died doing what he loved." Aside from the 2005 medical mission, Enyi also led another mission from 13-18th August, 2007 to the Bonny General Hospital, Rivers State, Nigeria, and was to have led two more missions in December 2008, to Yenegoa, Bayelsa State and Maidugiri, Borno State, but for his death.
At the time of his demise, Enyi Okereke was in Nigeria working on, amongst other things, the forthcoming July 2009 ANPA Convention in Abuja. The Abuja Convention was uppermost in his mind, since he saw it as the medium for discussing and articulating unmet healthcare needs the parlous state of healthcare delivery in Nigeria and as a forum for dialogue with the Nigerian policy makers on how to improve the delivery of healthcare in the country. Enyi died amidst Nigeria's healthcare system rut and rot that he was trying to help redress. The irony that Enyi died, though naturally, but also partly because of the healthcare inadequacies in Nigeria, cannot be lost to any well-meaning Nigerian. Such ironies pushed Enyi to go to work in Nigeria.
In his tribute to Enyi, ANPA President, Dr. Julius Kpaduwa noted quite paradoxically, "In fact it was on one of these selfless services to our nation, in Enugu awaiting the seminar on arthroscopic surgery that death cruelly snatched him (Enyi) away from us. The inadequate healthcare in Nigeria did not serve him well. He was first carried down to the lobby of the hotel that he was staying at when the heart attack struck. A taxi was flagged down to carry him to the nearest hospital. There are no emergency response systems in Enugu, no ambulances, no paramedics to administer the crucial first aid to a heart attack victim. There was no emergency room to act as second response; no clot busters' in the hospital, and no cardiac catheterization lab for crucial diagnoses. Our friend was aware of these inadequacies. He had to call for help. He picked up his phone and called his dear wife, who was thousands of miles away. He must have seen the worst case scenario coming." How sad and ironic, indeed!
Last August, Enyi rallied ANPA-NJ members, their families and friends to a picnic. He underlined the need for such socialization, as a means of galvanizing younger Nigerian doctors to sign up with ANPA and those Nigerian-Americans headed to medical schools to begin to identify with ANPA early. He was already thinking succession planning! That was vintage Enyi. The picnic was a huge success and fun. In the course of that picnic, I recall chatting with Enyi and his saying that, "There were crying medical and healthcare needs in Nigeria that needed to be addressed, than there was need to treat patients and train new interns and residents in the US". Clearly, it was this strong belief that led him to disengage temporarily from his work at UPenn to spend more time working in Nigeria with a non-profit NGO he had set up.
Until his death, Enyi Okereke was a professor of orthopaedics at the University of Pennsylvania and the Chief of Foot and Ankle Services at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. A 1977 graduate of Biochemical Pharmacology from the University of Buffalo, NY, he obtained his Pharm. D., from Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Atlanta, GA in 1983, and his MD from Howard University College of Medicine in 1987. Thereafter, he did his Residency at University of Pennsylvania, finishing in 1992. He undertook his Fellowship, concentrating on Foot and Ankle, at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, in New York and joined the UPenn Faculty in 1993. Enyi's areas of special interest were diabetes, sports injuries to foot and ankle and restoration of muscle function following immobilization. Enyi won many prestigious professional awards including the Jesse T. Nicholson Teaching Award from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania in 2002.
Amidst the vale of tears being shed for this wonderful man, tributes continue to pour in. Joseph Bernstein, Enyi's onetime student had this to say: "Enyi Okereke was supremely comfortable within himself; he radiated serenity. He was confident but not boastful; he was resolute without being rigid. Enyi gave no hint of anxiety or even impatience. He was quick to smile, his eyes glimmering, suggesting that he not only saw life's ironies but accepted them with grace. More than anything, Enyi was generous. His idea of "doing something for himself" was taking a year out of the prime of his career, to work on a medical mission. I hope that the Okereke family can take some small solace from the knowledge that Enyi was able to teach so many residents, more than 100 of us, valuable life lessons."
As another student professional colleague, observed, "Enyi Okereke was not only a great friend but an amazing teacher--of orthopaedic surgery and of life. He was able to practice orthopaedic surgery with such fervor and undying devotion that one might be easily confused into thinking him as a workaholic...We have lost a uniquely astounding man whose teachings/techniques/pearls of surgery and of life will live on in our own hands as we perform surgery and as we go about our daily lives."
The service of songs held for Enyi on 2 December in Ikeja, Lagos and his funeral on 5 December, in Okpala Eziama in Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, were both standing-room-only events. Such was the drawing power of Enyi Okereke, even in death. I am certain that the 28th December 2008 memorial service in his honor, at the Hope United Methodist Church, Voorhees, NJ, will equally draw a similar SRO crowd. Enyi Okereke is deserving of such gesture and public acknowledgement.
We join his wife Moriam (whom Enyi fondly called "Babes"), the children, the Okereke family and the ANPA family in profound mourning for this great and untimely loss. Enyi Okereke was a dear friend of my family and a dear compatriot. A well-traveled cosmopolitan, he was also an ever smiling, genial, self-assured, soft-spoken and articulate man of enviable and affable grace, who despite his professional accomplishments, maintained a healthy sense of humility. He was passionate and optimistic about Nigeria as only a true patriot could; and like a true patriot, he died in the service of Nigeria and for Nigeria. Always reform minded, Enyi was reputed for high standard of transparency, integrity, and a keen appreciation of the essence of collegiality. For these values and much more, he will be sorely missed.
Dr. Enyi Okereke was a real gem of a person. Abridged though his palpable legacy of warmth, camaraderie and mission may be, Enyi lives on in our hearts as challenge to accomplish much while we still can. His live and passing should be for us all, a lesson in living and yet, another reminder that every day counts and that our country Nigeria, sadly, has many unmet needs, especially in the healthcare sector. May Enyi's passing further imbue his ANPA peers with the vision and mission to come urgently to Nigeria's rescue, so that another such good fellow and life may not be wasted. We pray for the peaceful repose of Enyi's gentle soul.
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Mr. Oseloka Obaze, an aspiring writer, is a founding member of the Kwenu.com Book Review Forum, which is dedicated to the promotion of books with Igbo and Afrocentric themes. He is also a supporting Member of the African Writers Endowment (AWE). From 1999 to 2005, he served on the editorial board of INYEAKA, the journal of Songhai Charities, Inc., a New Jersey community-based charity founded and run by Nigerians based in New York Tri-state area in the United States, first as its founding Publisher and later as the Editor-At-Large. He is also on the editorial board of The Amaka Gazette, the journal of the Christ the King College, Onitsha Alumni Association in America. His collection of poems, "Regarscent Past: A Collection of Poems" was second among the top three finalists in the poetry category in the African Writers Endowment Publishing Grant Program for 2004. His novel, "Happy Eulogy" will be published soon. He reviews books and arts strictly as a hobby.
