*How He Fetched Oji for Chineke and Ekwens
By Uduma Kalu
He did not suffer long.
Even in his final moment, lying prostrate, it was swift — faster than we could grasp.
He fell as a man who had given his all, and rested.
Prof. Damian Ugwuntakiri Opata died on Thursday, October 16, 2026. He reportedly passed from hydrocephalus — water on the brain. Fluid meant to cushion the brain builds up, pressure rises fast, and the body yields. There is no prolonged agony. Before that, it was said he had battled prostate disease — a debate that itself shows how sudden his exit was.
The news came like a bomb. First sign was a Facebook post — his portrait, caption: "RIP, Prof. Damian Ugwuntakiri Opata."
The internet went ablaze. Is it true? What happened?
Confirmation came in a statement signed by Prof. Florence O. Orabueze, Chairperson, ASUU-UNN, and Comrade Ikemefuna S. Nwoke, Secretary: "With heavy heart, ASUU-UNN commiserates with our past Chairperson and current Zonal Coordinator, Nsukka Zone, Comrade Prof. Chukwuma Christian Opata, over the death of his eldest brother, Late Prof. Damian Ugwuntakiri Opata, who died on the 16th October, 2026, and will be buried on the 17th October, 2026, according to his wish."
That wish reveals the man. He would not be deposited in a mortuary. In Igbo elder thought, mortuary dehumanizes and weakens a man for reincarnation. He was buried the next day in Lejja, his hometown in Nsukka Local Government.
It was doubly devastating. Days earlier, the UNN Faculty of Arts had lost another Iroko, Prof. Norbert Oyibo of Theatre and Film Studies.
Opata was one of the last Irokos of the second generation produced by the greats of UNN English Department — Chinua Achebe, Emmanuel Obiechina, Rimanus Egudu, Michael Echeruo. His contemporaries were Emeka Nwabueze, Chidi Okonkwo, Chimalum Nwankwo, the late Chukwuma Azuonye, late Nnamdi Inyama, late Ossie Onuora Enekwe.
He was a hurricane that traversed the humanities into the ancients.
In Igbo folklore, there is Odili the great wrestler, whose exploits his flutist Ojaodili sang. Odili defeated all human wrestlers, then journeyed under the earth to wrestle spirits. He defeated them all, until the spirits, in exasperation, brought his personal spirit — one lanky, airy fellow — to fight him. With a flick of his finger, Odili was brought down.
Opata also went under. But unlike Odili, he returned — with treasures for mankind.
THE THREE TREASURES HE FETCHED WITH OJI
1. EKWENSU — The God They Called Devil
His most famous book, _Ekwensu in the Igbo Imagination: A Heroic Deity or Christian Devil? (2005).
His argument: The God-Devil binary is absent in Igbo cosmology. Devil as arch-enemy of God does not exist. Early missionaries, finding no devil to threaten converts, took Ekwensu and clothed him in Satan's robes. He called this virulent translation. His opening chapter says it all: _Angels are White; Devils are Black; and the Geography of Evil_.
In authentic Igbo, Ekwensu is benevolent, if fierce: God of War and Strategy — Ogbu Agha — God of Trade, trickster and tester who refines a man's Chi and Ikenga.
He proved it on ground, contrary to Prof. Aguwa who claimed no shrines exist. Opata listed: Onu-Ekwensu at Umundu (Udenu) where final ritual for Ozioko title is done; Iheaka (Igbo-Eze South) where it was a prayer centre for protection; Ihu Ekwensu at Nkalagu, Nimbo, Uvuru, Abi, Ugbene, Anuka (all Uzo-Uwani) where corpses of worthy ancestors were laid in state before Ekwensu amidst praises for integrity and hard work; Amalla (Udenu) where the annual Akatakpa festival is held, and persons of questionable character are forbidden.
And beyond Nsukka:
Asaba (Anioma):_ The great Ine or Ika-Ekwensu festival honours Ekwensu for protecting Asaba against enemies. You don't institute a festival for Satan.
Ngwa (Abia):_ Figures of Ekwensu are displayed in Ngwa festivals. When the Ngwa crossed the herculean Imo River, they carried Ekwensu and Ala. A whole town was once Obi Ekwensu before missionaries forced a change to Obi Chukwu. Umuekwensu village still exists in Obi Ngwa. Forests named Ohia Ekwensu, hills named Ugwu Ekwensu in Ukpor, lands named Ani Ekwensu in Achi — all dot Igboland.
2. CHINEKE — Chi Na Eke
From _Essays on Igbo World View (1998)_, his second decolonization.
Missionaries translated Chineke as "God the Creator." Opata said that was lazy theology by early converts who understood least about Igbo metaphysics.
Chi na Eke are two complementary principles: Chi — your personal inner god, your destiny parcel. Eke — the divider, sharer, kinetic energy. Igbo proverb: _Eke na Chi wo otu mana Eke siri na Chi bia_ — Eke and Chi are one, but Eke came from Chi. Chi creates (potential), Eke distributes (kinetic).
Thus Chineke is not Chukwu Abiama far away, but intimate: Chi ne Eke (Chi the creatrix), Chi ne Eke (Chi the sharer), Chi Nne Eke (Chi the creative mother). When Igbo say "Chineke mee," they mean "Let my Chi and Eke agree."
3. OJI — The Kolanut That Talks
This was his key to the other two. Opata codified Oji mysticism: 1 lobe — Oji ogbi, dumb kola, not eaten; 2 lobes — abomination, thrown away; 3 lobes — Oji Okike, creative deity and fecundity, also Oji Ikenga, achievement; 4 lobes — four market days, conventional peaceful kola; 5 lobes — luck to the sharer; 6 lobes — sixth thrown away; 7 lobes — ultimate perfection, sent to the oldest man for village sacrifice.
His last inquiry — what he told me days before death — was Afa with Oji. Not cowries, but kolanut divination. A professor nearby was teaching him. Afa with okwe and cowries needs a Dibia. Oji divination can be done in any home by reading how the lobes fall face up or down. It democratizes divination. That was Opata — taking knowledge back to the kitchen with Oji.
Other treasures include Lejja iron smelting proving industry from 2000 BC; the centrality of the Anyanwu cult; Ajija: An Igbo Agent of Death and Destruction (2009)Towards a Genealogy of African Time (2002); and Faith, Culture and Individual Freedom (2011)
I Knew Him
I first saw him in the 1990s as an undergraduate in UNN English. He had been seconded to General Studies to teach Use of English to science students. Later, at a conference in the new Faculty of Arts building, he was lead discussant — clearly Marxist, speaking excitedly on Marxian aesthetics. I wanted to argue, but time never came.
It came in 2006. I was editing the Guardian Literary Pages when I was invited to the English Department UNN Literary Festival. Prof. Unoma Azuah was guest of honour. Opata was Host. I spoke on Silencing the Voice of the Nigerian Writer. He gave a dossier on why my paper mattered in the democratic dispensation. Since then, we became friends. Whenever I was in Nsukka, I would cocoon with literary minds — Opata, Greg Mbajiorgu, Inyama, Nwabueze, Enekwe. Sadly, many have now died.
Opata gave me a memorable night in Nsukka, shortly before his epochal book on Ekwensu.
The Tributes
Chief Tony Unodiaku: "He supervised my MA thesis in 2010. More than a lecturer, he was a father, critic, custodian of Igbo and African literature."
A former student: "This world is just a stage! I spoke with him a few weeks ago. Kai!"
Another: "The only lecturer who would comfortably come to class in his three-quarter knickers... He sits down, no stress, and will not forget to add the Nigerian military coup saga, Ojukwu and the rest, to the lecture. Like grandpa telling grandchildren history."
A former student in London: "Ugwutikiri. A great Iroko and my favourite teacher of all time."
Prof. Obi Nwakanma wrote from the US: "Goodness! My friend Damian! Sad, sad! Brilliant, uncomplicated, yet in fact complex. He was first to draw my attention to centrality of Anyanwu cult and absence of Amadioha in Nsukka myth and thought system. When I was Fellow at Hansberry Institute, on invitation of late Ossie Enekwe, Damian took me to iron slags at Lejja, and we hit it off. He had strong opinions and very penetrating intellect masked by dull exterior, but if you looked, you saw mischievous glint. Bloody hell, Damian! What a time to go!"
What Killed Him?
Because he was strong three weeks earlier, the debate was fierce.
Dr. Onyebuchi wrote from Germany: "Not even prostate as we thought and it is understandable because it happened very fast."
Prof. Dokubo Goodhead Dokubo: "Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men... Many men dismiss symptoms because of financial constraints or belief in herbs."
Onyebuchi concluded: "A professor in Nigeria on retirement can hardly afford treatment without support. My cousin sold property to beat it. And it is not a black man's burden. I was surprised to see many German men at the urology clinic. It is men's albatross everywhere."
After the fall of the Soviet Union, African Marxists sought new avenues. Opata found love in indigenous knowledge.
That is the job for our media. Concentration on Lagos and Western cultural workers to the detriment of other regions is a disservice. Media needs seminars for arts reporters: go into institutions, exhume buried works.
Opata was there, doing much that Christianity, scholars and media misread.
He went underground and fetched Oji for Chineke and Ekwensu. May his gentle, kind, ever jovial soul rest in peace and rise in glory.
Ugwutikiri, Iroko, rest in power.
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