Allen Onyema @61: Celebrating the Man on Assignment
By Chidiebere Nwobodo
The unit of life is time, but the ultimate measure of life itself is not rated by longevity nor material accumulations, but how impactful a life has been on humanity as a whole. Life is like a leaf of white paper, it behooves on each individual to decide what to write on it in line with God’s blueprint.
Six decades ago, the Grand Architect of the Universe, God, summoned a meeting of Angels. In that special meeting, Nigeria was of essence. God, the creator of the world who has never been inside time but has eternity in His palms, saw Nigeria and its attendant challenges, and beckoned on Angels: “who shall we send to this country to play a vital role in resolving militancy crisis in Niger Delta,? Angels unanimously hallowed: Allen Onyema!
God, as the Alpha and Omega, looked at the Nigeria’s aviation industry, His heart was sobered in pity. He saw a sector with so much potential but had not yielded much opportunities since independence in 1960. He opened the books, saw number of local airlines that began operations, struggled and closed shop. He asked the Angels again: “who shall we send to build the largest, reliable and fastest growing indigenous airline in sub-Saharan Africa?” the thunderous response came out unequivocally: Allen Onyema!
God gazed at the future and saw that thousands of Nigerians would be stranded abroad at sometimes, either as a result of xenophobic crisis in South Africa, Covid-19 pandemic, or war in Sudan. He would not watch a single soul perish. He asked the Angels, “who shall we send on this vovage of rescue mission to bring back Nigerians to safety, inspire confidence that wherever Nigerians are, their motherland got their back all time?” It was a consensus reply: Allen Onyema!
Not taking His attention away from Nigeria, God heard cries of unemployed youths, especially those who have interest in working in aviation industry. Again, He called upon league of Angels in the meeting and asked: “who shall we send to the nation’s aviation industry to create 5000 direct jobs and over 12,000 indirect jobs”? the answer came out profoundly resounding, Allen Onyema!
“Who has intellectual capital, technical flair and eagle-eyed vision to give Nigerians opportunity again to witness world-class international flight experience, powered by an indigenous airline? Who has the fortitude to break oligopolistic hold of foreign airlines on busy routes like Nigeria-United Kingdom, etc, and avail Nigerian travelling public competitive airfare pricing?” one name kept ring bell, Allen Onyema!
The prayers of enthusiastic fans of our National Teams—Super Eagles and Super Falcons, got to God while he was still deliberating on Nigeria. The plea was to send someone who would ensure that Nigeria’s national teams traveled prestigiously in a flagship aircraft without the usual late flights and ill-treatment of our sports men and women by foreign airlines. All the Angels spoke in clear terms: Allen Onyema! Send him!
Less privileged ones—orphans, widows, poor and needy, etc, got their cries to court of heaven where God was sitting in company of the Angels. The questions God put out to the Angels this time were: “who is that rich man that would never shut his doors at the poor ones? Who is that billionaire that would always come down from his olympian height to humbly relate with the downtrodden without class bias?” the answer— Allen Onyema!
In a homogeneous country like Nigeria with over 300 tribes and multiple religions, we need unifiers—God reasoned. He continued questioning the league of Angels in the court of Heaven where He is the final arbiter, “who would be that chief executive officer, conflict-resolutor and philanthropist with detribalized orientation that would employ and support Nigerians across board irrespective of their ethno-religious inclinations and chosen endeavors”, Allen Onyema was the answer.
At this juncture, the Angels began chorusing: Allen Onyema! Allen Onyema!! Allen Onyema!!! Send him! Send him!! Send him!!! In the euphoria of celebration, God ruled. And Allen Ifechukwu Onyema was chosen. His landing airstrip was designated in the bloodline of Sir Michael Onyema and anchored in the womb of Helen Onyema. After nine months of long flight, Allen Onyema was born on March 28, 1964.
61 years on this mission, Allen Onyema has lived up to the expectations. In fact, he has become not only a pacesetter or pathfinder and but a huge inspiration for younger generations. From his ingenious roles in bringing peace to Niger Delta, to redefining the nation’s aviation industry to his philanthropic milestones, to his family life, to being a strong pillar of support to the National Teams, etc, Allen Onyema has made gracious use of 61 years spent so far in his earth’s sojourn.
Happy Birthday, sir. Your indelible footprints of excellence in the last 61 years has affirmed what Williams James postulated: “The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.”
