Tributes to Capt. ’Hosa’, a Progressive Mind @ 63, By Tony Erha

“The acts of great men do remind all to live a life sublime!” This is a paraphrase of a timeless axiom that relates with cohabitation, free human enterprise and share-value persuasions, that beacons on all and sundry to strive to make the world much of a place worth living. Following this timeless moralizing maxim, therefore, one would readily recall that the expression does have useful bearings or is suitable to the situations and persona of Idahosa Wells Okunbo, an exemplary gentleman, who is more known in the social circles as Captain ‘Hosa Okunbo or Capt ‘Hosa, for no other reason than the foregoing virtuous narrative.

Capt. ‘Hosa, the consummate businessman, philanthropist extraordinaire and a man of many parts, is being “inundated” with goodwill messages, from the mighty and lowly admirers, not only from within Nigeria, his country of origin, but also from across the world, as he attained 63rd birthday on January 6, 2021. The overflow of tributes to the elegant and socialite Capt ‘Hosa is duly informed by the positivity with which he has impacted upon multitudes, particularly the youths, who see in him a rare gift from God, as with his sheer disposition to humanity and compassionate public causes.

Born to the late Rev. Robert Okunbo, a clergy, educationist and community leader in the famous Bini kingdom of Edo State, Nigeria, “Idahosa” was an aboriginal Bini name given him, meaning; “One who hears from and does things only by God’s decree”. He apparently acts out the meaning of his “Idahosa” name, in the same way had taken to the discipline impacted to him by his disciplined parents.

In Edo numerology, cosmology and mysticism, the native name given to a child at birth could go a long way to rubbing off on the child’s life and the progress he makes in real life situation. Numerology is belief in the divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value of the letters in words, names and ideas.

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And the Binis say “Eremwan ana rue emwen agbon, oduwa n’ okhua ake rue re”, meaning “Life’s timings may be subjected to earthly vagaries, but it actually began from the great beyond” For believers in Numerology, the birth of Idahosa Okunbo in “January 6”, in the heat of the globally acclaimed “Igue Festival of his revered Bini kingdom”, is a time for peace and reconciliation of all Binis and their existentialisms. This is also about the same time of the remarkable birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the savior of mankind from sins.

Interestingly, “Hosa is a man who is attuned to the God’s ordinance, as he does his will. Most especially, the sacred figure “Three” is what the Mathematicians. Numerologists and Astrologers would call a “frequency”, where “Hosa, born on the “6^th sense of the beginning of the year” is just now celebrating the numerological frequency of “three scores and three (63) years”. In the Bini numerological calculation, “Figure Three” is sacred and in the similitude of the Judaism and Biblical trinity.

In Bini, it goes that; “Enon gha maa vb’ agbon, ighi damwen ehor ahianmwen n’ ukioya”  (“He who is destined for life’s greatness, as walking the earthly path the Almighty God had laid for him, doesn’t mind the mocking birds of passage”). And so “Hosa also acts out his name by being stoical and philosophical!  It is not always difficult he overcoming the “downs” of life and the needless persecution of him by others, with him overcoming with great understanding and mental equilibrium.

In one of such occasions of needless hecklings of his person, an admirer of Capt. ‘Hosa once retorted as thus “Capt. Hosa is a Mustard tree that is often stoned at by passersby, for its sweetening fruits and not at those other trees that are barren”.

So much is usually said about Idahosa Okunbo’s generous and intelligible nature, despite the enormous wealth that he is said to possess. In one of his very rare media statements, ‘Hosa, who is said to be a multi-billionaire who owns chains of businesses in and outside Nigeria, wouldn’t agree to inquisitive media interviewers that being a multi-billionaire makes more sense to him than the impact he has made and continue to make in lifting lots of people, from the manacles of poverty. And being a frontline philanthropist who is a settle symbol and igniter of the hope of the poor and the needy, he is a toast to the poor and the rich.

Cheerful-giving and mentoring of the young is the second nature of “Hosa, a Justice of the Peace (JP) and Honorary Doctorate Degree holder from the University of Benin, Nigeria in the same manner he had been honoured by notable institutions from around the world. Such includes the Global Peace Award for Leadership in 2019 (in Geneva), the Black Titan Award by the famous Black American Caucus of the US House of Representatives and the global Forbes Best of African Award and numerous others.

Often acclaimed as resourceful, versatile and astute manager of men, Idahosa Okunbo was a former top flight commercial pilot, who following retirement from gainful flying stints, retired into the first ever business concern, which soon spread as an Octopus to a long chain of businesses within and outside Nigeria. Capt. ‘Hosa, a traditionalist and also a great supporter of the revered Bini kingdom and her famous Oba (monarchy) dynasty, is often called the King of Hearts for his generosity and public disposition. For his enormous wealth and industry, he is referred to having the ‘Midas touch’, in apparent reference to King Midas, a mythology of a Greek king, who had had a penchant for turning in money from ventures he engaged in.

 Tony Erha is a journalist and rights activist.