Wednesday, 4/23/97 Vibrant memorial honors professor Renowned
scholar remembered for personal touch
By Jennifer Mukai Daily Bruin Contributor The memorial service
held Tuesday afternoon at the Fowler Museum was far from the
typical sorrowful occasion. The auditorium was filled not with
traditional mourning black, but with a rainbow of flashing silks
and cottons, many of which hailed from Nigeria and from other
countries all over Africa. Well over 100 people attended Tuesday’s
service to commemorate the internationally renowned African Studies
scholar, Professor Boniface Obichere, who died March 14 of prostate
cancer at Cedars Sinai Hospital. He was 64. A funeral service was
held on March 21, after which Obichere was transported back to
Nigeria to be buried in his native hometown of Awaka Owerri. The
focus of Tuesday afternoon’s memorial service was not death, but
life. "The work of God cannot be destroyed. Obichere is alive,"
pronounced UCLA musician Francis Awe at the conclusion of a
traditional Nigerian dirge and song. Awe’s words echoed the title
of the song, "Ise Oluwa Ko Le Baje O," meaning "the work of God can
never be destroyed." "The song is supposed to raise spirits and let
everyone know there’s hope after death," explained performer
Omowale Orisayomi, Awe’s wife. "We don’t die with him." This
message was clear even to those who didn’t understand the lyrics
themselves, as the singers onstage cast off black outer garments to
reveal colorful costumes beneath. The performance followed a
traditional "Kola Nut Ritual and Pouring of Libation," which was
led by Ndubisi Nwafor-Ejelinma, a UCLA professor of theater and
friend of Obichere’s from Nigeria. The ritual concluded with
offerings of kola nuts to some of Obichere’s closest friends and
colleagues. As people began filing up to receive those offerings,
it became clear that Obichere had indeed left a lasting impact on
many. Doctoral student Darlene Daniel remembered Obichere as a
professor who demanded the best from his students, and in return
gave his best as both a teacher and mentor. "His mind was like a
copy machine," she said, recalling that Obichere could
"spontaneously lecture" on topics ranging from the history of West
Africa to the history of the Far East. That expansive memory also
allowed him to remember what students missed lectures even in
classes of 300 students, added Daniel with a laugh. She went on to
describe how Obichere made a point of being accessible to his
students both in and out of the classroom, giving advice on
everything from academic troubles to personal family problems. "You
could talk to him about anything," agreed doctoral student Bridget
Teboh, calling Obichere a surrogate father of sorts. In a brief
eulogy at the memorial service, she recounted how Obichere would
even bring hot water, tea bags, hot cocoa and cookies to class for
his graduate seminar students. "He may not have been our biological
father," she said, "but he felt like one. … And he has many
children and grandchildren, and his legacy lives on in each and
every one of us." Obichere’s wife, Armer, and son, Chikere, were
both in attendance at the memorial service. Chikere said he was
touched by the service. "This was a place that he loved – he
dedicated his life to it," he said of UCLA. "He lived for history –
not just African history, but all history. That was his calling.
I’m glad he was able to make such a profound impact on so many
people’s lives." JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin Doctoral students Nwando
Achebe (l.) and Darlene Daniel mourn the death of Dr. Boniface
Obichere, a professor and one-time director of the African Studies
Center, at a Tuesday memorial.