Many knew him as Papa. Few knew him, like I did, as uncle. Yet to everyone he is A I Nweke, the trademark sign-off for his artworks. At just under 70 years of age, unannounced, he had a major life threatening health challenge: a stroke! Typical of him, he immediately sought to know all there is to know about stroke and empowered himself to make an amazing initial recovery.

When I visited home in the summer of 2009, we sat down for a conversation. And there was nothing noticeable about his stroke attack. A great relief it was!
Some of his ways way back when I was a boy did not make sense to me. But they did years later when Europe became home to me. Our conversation somewhere around that summer of 2009 was an opportunity to try and understand where he was coming from now that his ways are making sense to me.

For want of space, I’d touch on just a few of those ways of his that I checked with him in our conversation. Why did he have bird sanctuaries at his residence in rural Obiaruku, Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State, at a time when people hunted birds for their dinner tables? Why was he such a proponent of naturally grown (organic) food at a time when fertilisers and other mass food production technics were popular, maybe even a hype? Where did his faith in young people derive from, to the point that whenever he spotted an artistic talent in a young person, he literally adopted the individual and groomed him or her in the art form of the youngster’s aptitude? It was a catalogue of why’s….
In the end, he fell into his characteristic audaciously hearty laughter. To cut long story short, his response to my queries was reminiscent of the manifestos of Green & Social Democratic Western ideologues. The only reasonable conclusion I could draw from those critical exchanges, the longest and most meaningful that I ever had with him in my entire 40+ years on earth at the time, was that the man was simply way ahead of his time. I left Igbuzo for Europe on that visit feeling that my fancy for social-ecological issues was probably a family microbe because his older brother, my father, wasn’t any less radical on those matters, even till today at 96.

I yarned to deepen the conversation… When I had the opportunity some years later, it was too late. Though he was aware of his environment, having recognised Tonia, my wife and I and hugged our Boys who were meeting their great uncle for the first time, he could not sustain a conversation for too long.

He mentioned that my wife was an alumnus of the Delta State University where he was a lecturer and that she had visited her a number of times with Valerie, his second daughter. He didn’t fail to remind her several times that she shares a name with his lovely first daughter… That characteristic sharp intellect was ever present. Life could be cruel and unfair. The fighter fought and would defy death a number of times…His light finally dimmed on 9 January 2023 at age 88. Not bad given that life expectancy in Nigeria is 53.

At the level of his profession as scholar and artist, by all standards, Sir Augustine Ifediba Nweke was an embodiment of persistence, patience, passions, adventure and discipline. These virtues reside in his success in painstakingly researching the founder of our hometown, Igbuzo and gifting his descendants, the only existing sculptural image of Prince Umejei. Same goes for the Goddess of Oboshi, where again he demonstrated uncommon scholarly acumen, engaging the Ohene of Igbuzo, to create for Igbuzo, their Goddess Oboshi.
How can such a man as Sir Augustine Ifediba Nweke, ever die? No, not when so much of his legacies remind us of who he is, letting him reside in our subconscious with a domineering presence. As we say adieu Papa, we are audaciously reminded that you led a life of purpose, at which end, you just can’t die.

Collins Nweke
Nephew

Thursday 16 February 2023

As Boris Johnson departs Downing Street, many want to remember him as the Prime Minister who delivered on Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine. But, while he had some success on these “big ticket” items, his enduring legacy is more complicated and tainted by scandal.

Many were surprised when, at the 12th and final Conservative leadership hustings on Wednesday evening, it was late-backer Michael Gove who introduced Rishi Sunak. 

That surprise was then compounded when the former cabinet minister chose to heap praise on outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, despite having been fired as levelling up secretary by him a few months earlier.

“Let us never forget and let us make sure the country never forgets. He was the man who delivered Brexit. He was the man who delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in the world. He was a man who stood resolute with Volodymyr Zelensky and the brave people of Ukraine when others wobbled and shirked the struggle. So, on behalf of all of us, Boris, thank you for your service,” he told the captivated crowd at Wembley Arena.

Tory Remorse?

Speaking outside the final hustings this week, some Conservative members suggested that, based on these successes, many will view Johnson’s departure with regret in future.

“We’ll have seller’s remorse in the future won’t we… there’s lots of members who still love him. You heard the clap when [Gove] mentioned his name. People still love him. Ukraine, the vaccine, Brexit – the big ticket items he got right,” one attendee told PoliticsHome. 

For others, the lasting impression of Johnson’s political career to date is of a great campaigner and, ultimately, election winner. As one Conservative member put it, the party has “never seen such a uniting figure” as the current Prime Minister, the man who managed to “bring down the Red Wall”.

Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, said that Johnson will likely be remembered more as “a super salesman rather than a skilled CEO”, an attribute most apparent in his involvement with the Vote Leave campaign and the majority win at the 2019 general election. But he believes the credit Johnson gets for both can be overstated.

“No one would be foolish enough to say that the Tories didn’t benefit from Boris Johnson’s charisma, and his ability to appeal to parts of the electorate that other Conservatives found difficult to reach,” he said. 

“But if you look at his popularity more generally, he actually, during the 2019 contest wasn’t as popular overall as Theresa May had been in 2017. That’s an important thing to bear in mind, that the point about Boris Johnson was that he appealed to the right people at the right time. And, the fact that he turned a lot of people off in the end.”

The X Factor

According to Tony Travers, professor in the department of government at the London School of Economics, it was Johnson’s celebrity factor that made him such a unique politician, and catapulted him from Mayor of London into Downing Street.

“Somebody once observed he’s the only British politician recognisable from behind, in addition to being universally referred to by his first name. Very, very, few politicians are lucky enough to have that happened to them,” he said.

“Wherever he went people were trying to get selfies with him. He has that degree of style, a star quality, which meant people I felt emotionally about him.

“One of the reasons that partygate and the fall from grace proved so damaging is that the very emotional ties, the positive emotional reaction to him that many people have felt was suddenly replaced by a negative emotional reaction.”

Though many Conservative members still revere the Prime Minister, Bale believes that his record on delivering Brexit is likely to be “divisive and even poisonous”. He also questions the extent to which Brexit was actually “done” under his premiership.

“Johnson was very good at selling the idea that Brexit was an event. But of course, in reality, Brexit is a process. So, it was never going to be done and dusted in a way that he suggested. No politician can actually deliver it and then move on.”

Wither Levelling Up?

Another area of unfinished business for Johnson is his vision for levelling up, a flagship policy at the 2019 general election. Tim Durrant, associate director at the Institute for Government, said that the phrase had become “embedded” in the political zeitgeist. But, he argues that, much like Brexit, the mission is far from complete.

“It’s not new that this is a problem, that there are regional disparities across the country… But making such a focus is down for him. Whether or not something has actually happened as a result of that focus is still unclear.”

“I don’t think the concept has necessarily been fully proven, but the fact that this entered the political conversation, I think that’s his legacy.”

When it comes to his response to the coronavirus pandemic, the jury is largely still out. While the vaccine rollout was largely lauded a success, over 200,000 deaths in the UK have been linked to Covid, and there are enduring criticisms of the government’s decision making when it came to lockdowns and restrictions. 

The ongoing public inquiry into the response to the crisis is due to begin preliminary hearings this autumn to unpack these criticisms, and Johnson’s responsibility for any successes or failings.

On his final “big ticket” achievement, the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the appraisal is much more positive. President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised Johnson’s “personal leadership and charisma” and thanked him for “helping more” than any other nation.

“He’s very much leaving as a cheerleader for Ukraine. That also, perhaps, allows him to cheer the benefits or opportunities or the strength of the UK outside the EU. Because we are, in a way he portrays at least, leading and doing things better than, or more than, other European countries,” Durrant said.

While Johnson would likely prefer to be remembered as the Prime Minister of Brexit, Covid and Ukraine, in reality many see his legacy as a lot less positive. 

Unfinished Business

Throughout his time in Downing Street, he has battled a myriad of scandals from Dominic Cummings’ trip to Barnard Castle, his defence of Owen Paterson, his handling of “partygate” and his response to allegations against Chris Pincher.

“There was this sense of one scandal being cleared and then another would break about some kind of misbehaviour or mistake by a minister or member of the government. And it never really stopped,” Durrant said.

This is a legacy, Bale suggests, that will likely haunt the next Prime Minister, and many more to come. He said the public perception of standards in public life has been “very badly compromised” under Johnson, and it was up to his successor to “pull us out of that nosedive”.

“He’s behaved in a way that, I think, on occasion has made people fear for the safeguards that we thought our Constitution had… He’s behaved in ways that no previous Prime Minister would have countenanced,” he said.

“The public cynicism about politics has grown so much that they won’t expect any better from whoever takes over. Or, that whoever takes over will actually restore some of the faith that we all need to have in a functioning liberal democracy. I’m not sure which way it will go to be honest.”

At Johnson’s final PMQs, Johnson referenced all the big successes of his premiership, from Brexit and the 2019 election, to Ukraine and the pandemic response. He also steered clear of overtly referencing the many scandals that had prompted his premature departure.

But, in his final remarks, he also hinted at the unfinished nature of his big ideas and the vision that he had for the country. Some read his final words as a suggestion that this vision, and perhaps his political career, were far from complete. 

He told MPs: “I’ve helped to get this country through a pandemic and help save another country from barbarism and, frankly, that’s enough to be going on with. Mission largely accomplished, for now.”

Eleanor Langford is a columnist with PoliticsHome.com where she first published this article on Saturday 3 September 2022.