Greater Houston and Houston African community suffered an unexpected end-of-year loss when the death of Dr. David Ugwu (Ochi na wata) was recently announced. Academic and community leader Dr. Ugwu died on December 23, 2022, in Houston, leaving behind, his lovely wife, Dr. Patricia Ugwu, and four Children; Chiugo, Adaeze, Oguejiofor (Reggie), Brady Ugwu, (daughter in-law) and Chidiebere (of the blessed memory).

Until his stroke in 2010, he was the Coordinator, Systems Workforce Research Projects, at the Houston Community College (HCC) District – a position he held since 2004. At the HCC, Dr. Ugwu also served as the Assistant to the Chancellor for Institutional Effectiveness and Special Projects, Director of the Office of Institutional Research, and Assistant to the President for Institutional Research, Planning, Institutional Effectiveness, and Grant, Galveston College.

He holds a Ph.D in Higher Education, from the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, majoring in Higher Educational Administration; an M.B.A from the Governors State University, University Park, Illinois; an M.S.: Mechanical Engineering, from the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and a B.S.: in Chemical Engineering, from the Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan.

A Seasoned administrator with over 17 years of effective leadership in four community college districts in three states including Texas, Dr. Ugwu paraded a strong engineering background, a record of accomplishment in resource development, and an extensive background in economic workforce intelligence.

For instance, he was the Plant and Project Engineer, at Union Carbide Corporation, Linde Division, at East Chicago Indiana; Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes, Coal Research Center, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; Director of Institutional Research and Grants at the Arizona Western College; and the Director, Institutional Planning and Research, at the Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio.

In his years of service, Dr. Ugwu won several academic awards, facilitated several professional organizations, published several outstanding research papers, and championed selected publications and presentations.

Dr. Ugwu was born in Akegbe Ugwu to the family of Enyidiuru Ugwunwamba in Umuatugbuoma, Akegbe Ugwu, Enugu, Nigeria. He was strongly involved in his community organizations and devoted much time to community empowerment and humanitarian causes. Some of the groups are:

• Founding President, Nkanu Association, Houston Texas
• Past President, Houston Enugu State Association (HESO),
• Board Chairman Emeritus, Igbo People’s Congress (IPC)
• Member, Uzoakoli Methodist College Old Boys Association, USA
• Member, Black Affairs Council, Southern Illinois Association
• President, Umunna Association, Chicago, Illinois

Furthermore, he was a member of Nigerian Student Association, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Illinois, and the Otu Umunna Association, Gary Indiana where he received a Distinguished Service Award in recognition of Exceptional Leadership and Devoted Service to the organization and its community.

According to a release made available by the Ugwu Family, a funeral arrangement is as follows. A church service will be held in his honor on January 7, 2023, at the Hope Church 770 Pineloch Drive Houston, TX 77062 at noon prompt. Viewing starts at 10:00 am -12:00 pm. Burial service will be held at Forest Park East: 21620 Gulf Freeway, Webster, TX 77598 at 1:30 pm. Reception and Tribute to follow at Hope Church.

For condolence messages or information regarding the funeral, please contact: patricia.ugwu@gmail.com

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A Shred of Fear is Uche Nwokedi’s memoir of childhood capturing the experiences of a child living through the Biafran War. “It is written in a fluid and wonderfully evocative prose and reads as though one were literally listening to the narration from an eight-year old boy, accompanied by his much older self. This gives the story a certain sincerity that allows it to transcend time and remain relevant.”

• Book Title: A Shred of Fear
• Author: Uche Nwokedi
• Publisher: ‎ Narrative Landscape Press (October 15, 2022)
• Language: ‎ English
• Hardcover: ‎ 236 pages

The Book

Fifty years after the Biafran War ended in 1970, and as memories of the war fade and cultural, religious and tribal divisions rear their heads, Uche Nwokedi’s childhood memories of that time are presented in this memoir. Aged seven when the war began, he and his family would spend the next three years as refugees in their own country. A Shred of Fear brings dramatic events vividly to life. Moments of fear, sadness, tragedy, and family solidarity are told with pathos and humour. More than a war story, this compelling narrative shines a fearless light on a dark period.

The Author

Nwokedi is also the creator and producer of the successful and nominated M-Net Africa Magic legal TV drama series, “E.V.E: Audi Alteram Partem”. He contributes opinion on a number of socio-political issues to some of the national dailies in Nigeria. With a keen interest in sports and sports development, he is a third-degree Black Belt in Shotokan Karate and was President of the Karate Federation of Nigeria from 2001 -2005.

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In his day job, Uche Nwokedi is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and one of Nigeria’s leading commercial lawyers, who specializes in commercial litigation and international commercial arbitration. He has been described as a ‘calm and extremely persuasive advocate’ (Legal 500, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s leading Energy and Natural Resources Lawyers). He is the Editor-In Chief and Publisher of Nigerian Oil and Gas Cases, a compendium of oil and gas case laws in Nigeria.

A Shred of Fear is Nwokedi’s memoir of a period in his childhood that captures the experiences of a child living through a war – the Biafran War. It is written in a fluid and wonderfully evocative prose and reads as though one were literally listening to the narration from an eight-year old boy, accompanied by his much older self. This gives the story a certain sincerity that allows it to transcend time and remain relevant. It also strikes a fine balance between heartwarming and utterly tragic in a way that allows the reader to imagine the privations of life during the time of a war, and the struggle to reconcile when the war is over.

Uche Nwokedi is married with three children. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where he carries on his legal practice under the name and style of Uche Nwokedi & Co.

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INTERNATIONAL GUARDIAN is the boldest and brightest issue-oriented international newspaper published in Houston, Texas. Strategically, it strives to promote private enterprise, support responsible government and advocate social justice.

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Book Title: Women Unbound

Author: Udunma Ikoro

Publishers:  Communique Resource Hub.

Pages: 221

Reviewer: Emeaba Onuma Emeaba

Time there was when women were stampeded into remaining anonymous in plain sight. Somehow, the women chewed the inside of their lower lips, remained quiet, suppressed their emotions, and pretended not to exist. Everyone, including the chauvinistic cadre that concocted that faux-pas became the worse for it. Acceptance of that incongruity engendered unnecessary misunderstandings that resulted not only in the stifling of serious potentials, but also in the bringing about of nightmarish endings and unfulfilled promises for the significant other.  Up front, society lost the most capable, competent, and reliable co-worker; and everyone suffered, Udunma Ikoro seems to say in, “a woman is a natural influencer born with the capacity to lead and impact anyone and everything.”

The Intentional Woman by Ikoro—who brings to her subject a writer’s tenacity and a teacher’s propensity for moulding a classroom full of wide-eyed children into shape—is a generous, unsettling, and somewhat visionary work that resembles that of Dale Carnegie: a series of mini-lessons on the virtues encapsulated in the iconic “‘I can’ is the parent of ‘I did.’”

Ikoro, not only makes the book resound with instructional savoir-faire, but she also has assembled a large corpus of real-life anecdotes to back up her assertions. And, serving as a de-facto manifesto for women in general, (and men, if you want to know the truth), the word “book” does not sound right to describe it. The insight she has to offer in this excellent motivational book takes full advantage of the opportunities that Ikoro presents to the reader when she resorts to the use of the been-there-done-that class of people—some of them unnerving and disconcerting—who have had it rough but are able to forcefully, positively bounce back, in many respects.

Motivational authorities have talked themselves hoarse drumming it into us that we should overcome limiting factors against our upward mobility; to fight to bring our potentials to the fore. Sadly, that truism seems to be simply meant for the men, excluding the women in our society. The rest of us, inadvertently inveigled by generational gaffes, have buoyed the anomaly because it was so reassuringly convenient; and life goes on. Not anymore, says Udunma Ikoro, who has swung into guru territory, too. Becoming the latest in the ranks of motivational pundits like Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins and the good old Dale Carnegie, she has argued that the woman should not only think outside the box, but must also climb out of the box, in order to be able to do what she is created to do: be the best partner she is meant to be.

Pleasant, poised, empathetic, but this intricate book which resembles a medicinal concoction for what ails the woman of today, works on many other levels. She seems to observe her atmospheres’ world in a series of distinct, almost palpable imageries. It is suffused with a medley of literary language—from the past, from the bible, from glib anecdotes, through motivational patter, brief biographies, and on to first-person reflections.

In The Intentional Woman, Ikoro tells us, rather compellingly, that we may have measured accomplishments using different considerations and criteria, but that such success can only happen if certain of our women, some of whom are brilliance personified, bring to bear a willingness to discover those core latent talents simmering inside them. The book, which is dedicated to “every girl child, lady, woman who has desire to be more” maintains that we set aside our fears and take a leap of faith even if we have to defy certain “taboos” that tend to stultify our ability to go forth and conquer.

Ikoro argues that “In the journey of life, you must attain self-discovery; ascertain values in order to have a clearer view of your purpose in life.”  She offers a truck-load of riff on the things to do that she believes stand ready to nudge anyone who dares, along. She is at her most persuasive on the narrower motivational spiels like “In building your mind-set, stop the fear in you,”  and has dwelt, untiringly on definite themes, for example, “to be intentional is about being deliberate, working towards a purpose, being thoughtful in your choices or being proactive.”

Using real life (her life) scenarios, the book takes us through the necessary steps needed for women (and the rest of us) to unbridle our latent talents. She says we should unveil ourselves by discovering who we are; find our gifts to reveal our talents; forget whatever anyone says to the contrary of who we are; throw in some education that is at par with our self-development; and go out there to kick behinds as we claw ourselves up to a cloud nine position; which we deserve.

This book is packed. The writer Udunma Ikoro, currently the lead creative director, Communique Resource Hub, and Professional Communication Educational and Book Project Consultant, proposes we assume intentionality and not think of it as a “cliché,” but as “being purposeful in life, actions and words.” She tells appealing episodic stories, which serve to lucidly clarify multifaceted biblical allusions and anecdotes as they relate to the topic, and presents surprising perceptions into the nature of extraordinary performance: noting, for example, that profound successes are often driven by a spell of let-down and the encountering of hurdles along the way.

In eleven segments—instead of chapters—of elaborate prose, Ikoro takes an entirely different tactic to make her point. She insists that “…nobody owes me anything, nobody owes me my joy, my space, fulfilment, and anything.” Then backs that up, when she adds, “I owe myself my greatness.” In the process, she manages to write the book in such a way that it is difficult to be turned into a bouillon cube made of many ingredients. This is a tricky trapeze walk, but she is able to pull it off by weaving a motivational narrative that points to one thing: Women; go out there and get it—full stop.

Geared towards counselling, teaching, and straight up cautioning, this is a profoundly thought-provoking and significant book because Ikoro—the youngest motivational authority of our time—has performed a mystical showmanship on paper such that you could almost scratch-n-sniff the motivational frankness that is its strength. One leaves this book impressed with the way in which the author manages to haul examples and facts at the reader insisting they take the one step that would change their current ruts. The book is bound to entertain, even as it touches those hitherto untouchable topics that women are so pre-programmed to shy away from. Every girl child (nay, everybody) should read this book.

To obtain copies, email the author directly: udunmaikoro@gmail.com.

Emeaba, the author of “A Dictionary of Literature,” writes dime novels a la Onitsha Market Literature sub-genre.

• About
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Texas Guardian News

INTERNATIONAL GUARDIAN is the boldest and brightest issue-oriented international newspaper published in Houston, Texas. Strategically, it strives to promote private enterprise, support responsible government and advocate social justice.

Latest posts by Texas Guardian News (see all)

• Interracial Relationship: Bill Gates’ Daughter, Phoebe, Shots Back at Haters - March 8, 2023
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• Nigerian senator tells UK organ harvesting trial of scam fears - March 8, 2023