HRH Igwe Thomas Okeke Egbo

Born on 30 May 1950, Igwe Thomas Okeke Egbo began his formal education at St. Kevin's Primary School, Amofia, Nara-Unateze. On completing his primary studies, he pursued a business apprenticeship under his maternal uncle, HRH Igwe Nathaniel Anyi Ogbu, in Onitsha — an experience that would later lay the foundation for a remarkable commercial career.

However, his love of learning did not end there. He subsequently sat for the Senior School Certificate Examination and passed with distinction. In recognition of his contributions to education, he was later honored by the Accounting Federation of Nigeria.

In the early 1970s, following HRH Igwe Nathaniel A. Ogbu's return from the west coast of Africa, Thomas — known to those close to him as Tom, and later as Caesar-Douglas — worked alongside his uncle in Onitsha, gaining deep experience in trade, commerce, clearing, and forwarding across Onitsha and Port Harcourt. When he struck out on his own, he founded Caedogal International Company West Africa Limited, headquartered in Onitsha.

In 1982 he established Ogbuka Livestock and Feed Mill Limited in Amofia, Nara-Unateze. With a production capacity of eight tonnes of chicken feed per hour, the mill was among the largest in the south-east of the country at the time; its poultry operation held a 200,000-bird capacity. The enterprise was managed by a leading agricultural firm headquartered in Miami, Florida, and was commissioned by the then Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme.

Igwe was a builder of networks as well as companies. In 1996, he formalised a longstanding overseas trading partnership with Susanna Chu of Evergreen Trading Company International Limited of Hong Kong, giving rise to Kingsun International Company Nigeria Limited — a company specialising in the importation of R2 batteries (Double-Cat and Tiger-Head brands) and Tiger-Head razor blades. The board comprised three Nigerians — HRH Igwe Nathaniel A. Ogbu as Chairman, HRH Igwe Thomas O. Egbo as Managing Director, and Michael Chukwumah as Executive Director — alongside two Chinese partners, Michael and Susanna Chu. Under Igwe's leadership, Kingsun grew to considerable standing.

In 2000, he entered the water sector, founding Treasure Sachet Water — one of the pioneer sachet-water production companies in Onitsha. He also built a portfolio of real-estate holdings across the country. His business relationships extended to China, Europe, and the United States. He was, by all accounts, a skilled and generous manager of both men and resources.

Igwe Thomas Egbo was no stranger to the arena of politics. In 1978 he contested for the Federal House of Representatives under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). By 1982 he had been elected Vice Chairman of the party in the old Anambra State. His political acumen, combined with the party's collective effort, contributed to NPN victories at both state and national levels — Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Dr. Alex Ekwueme were re-elected as President and Vice President, while Christian C. Onoh became Governor of Anambra State.

He also played a supportive role — through his uncle, HRH Eze Nathan Anyi Ogbu (Eze Odenigbo I of Nara-Unateze) — in the creation of Enugu State from the old Anambra State in 1991. The following year, in 1992, he played a significant role in the election of Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo as the first executive governor of Enugu State; and again in 1999, in the election of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani as the second executive governor of the state.

He would later step back from active politics, but continued to offer counsel to protégés and political figures alike — a trusted voice behind the scenes long after he left the stage.

On 6 March 1976, Igwe Thomas married his heartthrob, Lolo Chinyere Victoria Egbo, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Parish, Onitsha. Lolo Chinyere holds the titles of Ugoeze I of Amofia-Amagu Community and Oduenyi dī be eze I of Nara-Unateze. Their union was blessed with five children: Uchenna Thomas, Nneka Victoria, Nnamdi Victor, Chinenye Collins, and Ifeanyi Anthony.

Igwe was devoted to his family in the fullest sense of the word. He was fond of his younger sister, Elder Mrs. Christina N. Chukwu (Okwesilieze I of Nara-Unateze); his younger brother, Chief John Sunday Egbo (Ononenyi nke mbu na Nara-Unateze), a Performance Engineer with Apple Inc., USA; and his beloved in-law, Senior Elder Jakon Chukwu (Onowu Nara-Unateze). He kept close bonds with his nephews and nieces — Kanayo, Samson, Dozie, Obumneme, and Nnenne from the Chukwu family, and Chidube and Ezinne from the Ononenyi family. He was, by the account of all who knew him, a man truly loved.

Igwe Thomas's generosity to his community was concrete and consistent. He single-handedly built a teachers' quarters at Community Primary School, Amofia; awarded scholarships to indigent students across the old Nkanu Local Government Area throughout the 1980s; and served as the largest single contributor to the construction of the Amofia Town Hall at Obodoegbo in Obuno, and the Neighbourhood Watch Office. His footprints in community-development projects across Nkanuland are too numerous to list.

On 5 January 2015, the Kingmakers of Amofia-Amagu selected Igwe Thomas Okeke Egbo as their traditional ruler — a recognition of his philanthropy, his dedication to his people's welfare, and the role he played in the community's creation from the old Nara-Unateze. He was presented to the state government by the Amofia-Amagu Development Union (AADU) and received his Certificate of Recognition on 6 May 2015. As the first traditional ruler of Amofia-Amagu, he earned the title Ezeoha I.

Among Igwe Thomas's most enduring convictions was a simple one: that no gifted student should be denied an education because of poverty. In 1980, at the height of his early business success, he quietly acted on that belief. Without publicity or ceremony, he searched across Nkanu for promising students from disadvantaged families and personally funded their education.

One of those students was fifteen-year-old Ben of the Nwomeh family of Okoruba-Ozalla. His family had secured the support of their Umunna to help finance his university education, but the effort remained fragile and uncertain. Through his network, Thomas — as he then was — learned of their circumstances and summoned Ben's mother, Margaret. To her surprise, he awarded her son a scholarship of ₦1,000 — a remarkable sum at the time, equivalent to nearly ₦2 million today, and a transformative intervention at a critical moment. He did not know the family personally. He had simply gone in search of students who deserved an opportunity.

Ben never forgot the benefactor he knew only as "Tom Egbo." He would go on to become a surgeon and professor in the United States. In 1996, after learning that Tom was visiting his brother, Sunny, in Portland, Oregon, Ben travelled nearly 3,000 miles from Richmond, Virginia, to meet the man whose generosity had changed the trajectory of his life. It was their first meeting. Characteristically understated, Thomas received him warmly, and from that encounter grew a lasting relationship. He became a father figure to Ben and his siblings, and a trusted friend and mentor to Margaret.

That bond endured for decades. In a tragic twist of fate, upon learning of Margaret's passing, Igwe travelled to Ozalla to mourn with the Nwomeh family and attend her funeral. Later that night, Ben called to express his family's gratitude for his presence and kindness. Their conversation ended with Igwe praying for Ben's health and future success. It would be their final exchange, as Igwe himself suddenly passed on a week later.

In honour of that legacy, the Peter and Margaret Nwomeh Foundation (PNF) has established the Thomas Egbo Scholarship Award to support first-degree students from Nkanu attending state and federal universities — continuing, in his name, the quiet work he began more than four decades ago: creating hope and changing lives.

Igwe fell ill on 1 May 2024 but insisted on travelling to the village for meetings already scheduled for 2 May and 4 May — one for the Smart School Project, the other for broader community development. He attended the first meeting, appeared to recover, then relapsed late in the night of 3 May and was rushed to hospital in Enugu.

He breathed his last on the morning of 4 May 2024 — the very day of the second meeting he had travelled to attend. He died as he had lived: on duty, in service of his community. May his soul rest in eternal peace.