PIONEERS: Nathaniel Ekpe Ibekwereonye Ohiaeri
Pioneers Section is dedicated to the first generation of Umu Ohiaeri who stepped into new worlds of education, work and migration.They were the first to carry the Ohiaeri name to the outside world, laying the foundation upon which later generations now stand.
Nze Nathaniel Ekpe Ibekwereonye Ohiaeri
Nathaniel Ekpe Ibekwereonye was born in 1912 to Ohiaeri Ewuzie and Elizabeth Edoro Ohiaeri.
He became the first Abba indigene to obtain a secondary school education when he was admitted to Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Onitisha, in 1928.
He finished his secondary education in 1933 and was admitted to Yaba Higher College in 1935, becoming the first Abba indigene to enrol in a tertiary institution.
Nathaniel travelled to the United States of America for further education and in 1949, was awarded a B.Sc in Social Sciences by the American University, Washington D.C. In 1953, he was awarded an MA degree by the same university.
He was a renowned teacher and his brothers affectionately called him Onye Nkuzi (Teacher). He taught in various secondary schools, including DMGS, Onitsha, and CMS Grammar School, Okrika.
His love for education made him serve as a member of the committee that established Abba Community Secondary School in the early 1960s..
He wrote multiple books, including Nationalism in West Africa (1953), University Education in Nigeria (1957), Nationalism and African Education:The Road to Success (1957), Our Greater Lux Fiat: Educate the People (1957) and The Light of the New Africa:The Romance of the C.M.S Niger Mission (1965).
Despite attaining high levels of education, Nathaniel did not forsake his cultural roots. He founded the Society for the Promotion of African Culture (SPAC) and joined the Nze na Ozo society in Abba, rising to become its highest-ranking member.
As a university undergraduate in the 1930s, he organized a group of workmen to construct a road from the Ohiaeri family compound in Uzo Ikpa to Ama Ofoma, close to the village church. That road continues to serve the community today.
Nathaniel Ekpe Ibekwereonye died in 1979. He was a trailblazer, teacher and an advocate of African culture.