Anyaoku marks 91st birthday, launches reading centre

Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, commemorated his 91st birthday on Thursday with the launch of the Emeka and Bunmi Anyaoku Centre.

The centre, situated in Obosi, Anambra State, was established to promote a reading culture and facilitate research in various educational disciplines.

It also includes a museum where visitors can learn about memorabilia from across the Commonwealth nations, located on all major continents, and Nigerian cultural artifacts collected over time.

Speaking about the motivation behind the centre, Anyaoku described the launch as the realization of a long-held dream shared with his wife to support the education of both young and adult citizens. He disclosed that the funds for constructing the centre were sourced from gifts to the Emeka and Bunmi Anyaoku Foundation during his 90th birthday celebration.

Anyaoku acknowledged the assistance of the British Charity, Books for Africa, which contributed approximately 95 percent of the books housed in the library.

He expressed hope that the foundation would continue to provide funding for the sustainability and activities of the centre.

Expressing joy about the center’s location in Obosi, his hometown, Anyaoku also highlighted his satisfaction that, at 91 years old, his mental faculties remained intact. He thanked his wife, Ugoma, and credited the foundation’s success to a combination of divine grace and personal effort.

Anyaoku stated, “I am happy that this Centre is located in my hometown of Obosi, which, in my 90 years, I have seen develop from a village community to the urban area that it has now become.

I thank God for His grace, which has enabled me to retain my mental faculties at the age of 91. I, of course, also thank my wife Ugoma, for it is said that Heaven helps those who help themselves. By God’s grace, I am still free from the absentmindedness generally associated with old age.”

Providing insight into the funding of the Emeka and Bunmi Anyaoku Foundation and the centre project, Anyaoku shared that he invested all his savings and gratuity from his 34 years of service to the Commonwealth into the Foundation.

Gifts received on his 80th birthday were allocated, with guidance from the Bishop on the Niger to the construction of a diagnostic centre at the Iyi Enu mission hospital. The gifts received on his 90th birthday were directed towards establishing the current project.

He thanked Books for Africa for their substantial contribution to the library’s book collection.

Anyaoku hopes the foundation will continue supporting the centre’s sustenance and activities well into the future.

He noted that the centre is still a work in progress, and visitors will observe spaces in the museum designated for additional exhibits during their tour.

The event featured warm praises from various notable figures, including the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, as well as family, friends, and well-wishers.

Earlier, the centre’s director, Miss Oluchi Nguzoro, expressed hope that the centre would become a hub of collaboration with universities and public and private institutions for organized discourses, seminars, and workshops on issues related to the mission of the Emeka and Bunmi Anyaoku Foundation.