In Memory of Rev. Fr. (Prof.) Pantaleon Iroegbu (1951-2006)

ORATION IN HONOUR OF THE LATE REV. FR. (PROF) PANTALEON OSONDUAGWUIKE “KPIM” IROEGBU

By

Stan-William Ede & David-Mary Odunsi

   On Behalf of the Entire Students’ Body

Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma

14^th March, 2006

TITLE: A PANTALEONIC EMBRACE OF BLISS

Oh, our beloved Father Pantaleon, what an experience so upsetting!

Momentous freaks of perplexity rented the air all about us,

Devastating quivers flowed down our spines uncontrollably,

And the ground beneath our feet got too enfeebled to hold us,

As the news of your most unexpected exit from the human realm

Boomeranged upon us devastatingly, creating a vacuum,

And causing the world around us to be enveloped in utter silence.

Dear Father Pantaleon, the resounding “Kpim of Excellence”,

Priest of God Most High and indefatigable Academic Professor,

Days have passed since you left but it seems like only a moment ago,

Because our hearts still struggle to grapple with the pervasive reality

That you passed away too soon, even now that we need you most,

Leaving us to roll in outbursts of streamful tears as we now miss you.

From what we knew of you, permit us to address you with a title

Which in your characteristic humility you would swiftly resent,

But which actually befits you in all glamorous strides:

“Fr. Kpim the Great”

For great was the life you lived, magnanimous the impact you made,

And so unforgettable and irreducible are the legacies you left behind.

54 years, 4 months and 9 days ago, like flowers from a brook,

You sprung forth from your mother’s womb into our open world,

You took in the first measure of atmospheric oxygen

Which you immediately turned into a meaningful string of choices:

A noble choice to live a life adequately coloured by outreaching touches,

To swim in an ocean of qualitative lifestyle and scintillating achievements,

And to be numbered among the stars that adorn the starry enfolds of humanity.

Yet within the same choice, you opted even as a star

To live simply so that others can simply live and nobly grow.

Dear Father Pantaleon, the resounding “Kpim of Excellence”,

How that choice has today become a manifest reality;

Never mind the fact that you may no longer personally show it,

The banner continuously waves itself across the sky for all to see

Six years ago, you staged a “Novel Arrival” to our Seminary,

Armed with the qualitative ideals of Spirituality and Ministry

And the vibrancy of a high-powered professor cum orator,

You lighted a new kind of light in our Seminary.

With great awe, we saw and acclaimed your worth,

Yes, a saintly scholar in a saintly community

And a scholarly saint in the land of great saints,

Even as we still do.

Amongst us, you rendered a kind of service that is stupendously unique,

Challenging us all to be armed with “La Force Spirituelle” (Spiritual Power)

And use it to prop ourselves into excellence, for we must

“Pray Aright and Publish” or “Play Away and Perish”.

You indeed covered diverse areas of academic disciplines

Offering new insights in philosophy and Theology,

And the “kpim” of it all is the dynamic Enwisdomization Theory.

Oh Father Enwisdomizer,

To your rare spiritual jingoism cum intellectual stamina

Is added humanitarian resourcefulness,

To give lasting evidence to the solidity of your theories,

To bear active witness to the balance of your personality,

As many charitable projects spell your name boldly as “FADA KPIM”

While Technical Institutions acclaim the Enwisdomizer for Founder.

“Life is beautiful, it seems to say”;

But now you are faced with the inevitable principle of life

That what is received in time must be surrendered in time;

That a faithful man must heed the heavenly call

While his beloved ones are left to mourn his departure.

Yet still, as today, we surrender to God’s will,

We find it exasperating and difficult to hold back our tears.

In our crestfallenness, we remain thrilled;

What else can be more heart-thrilling than for a man of 54 years

To dance marvelously on the stage of progress and achievements?

But for leaving the stage when the ovation was loudest,

We cannot but continue to long for more of your thrills.

What else can be more heart-rendering to have a man as you

Within a short life span of 54, live up to admirable standards

In building an enviable edifice of sanctity,

In touching the pinnacle of academic excellence,

In establishing yourself firmly as a lover of humanity,

And as an apostle of good leadership, right development and progress.

What indeed can be more glorious? We may ask again.

Indeed Father Pantaleon, you were great in life,

Now that you have taken on eternal flight to the great beyond,

You remain overwhelmingly great with your indelible imprints on the sands of history.

But Father Kpim, do you know that so many people

Are yet to find answers to the questions that they have been asking?

“Is it really true that the “propounder” of Enwisdomization has passed on?

That the originator of the Hermeholiontic Proof of God’s existence has gone from our midst?

That the indefatigable Uwaontologist and resounding moralist of the 21^st Century

              has closed up on the world?”

Even the handing on of the Obituary of Father Pantaleon Osondu Iroegbu

Is yet to answer convincingly, these questions which your departure elicits.

Oh Father Pantaleon

All of us gather together once again today

To pay profound respect to your “Pantaleonic” genius

Our imagination finds occupation in the times we have shared.

And as we ruminate on our nostalgic experience,

We embody an enlivened determination to follow the trail which you have blazed

In life, you were a model,

In your exit from this life, you threw us newer challenges:

That there is no excuse for those who could be scholars but are not;

That while alive, there is no limit to our potentialities;

And that time is the only deposit we have in the bank of God

           yet no one knows his balance.

Your exit itself challenges us to live up to the gigantic standards

Which you so firmly impressed

Yes Father, you are gone from our midst but your works live on;

Your spiritual, academic and humanitarian legacies,

The selfless service you rendered to the training of future priests,

And to the rest of humanity, as well as lots of other achievements

Will immortalize you in the hearts of men

And continue to preach your gospel of “Help, not hinder”.

For us, this is a moment of sober reflection and potent challenge,

A cause for personal commitment and renewal,

And an occasion for thanksgiving that your life and priestly ministry

Have not been a waste nor in vain, but embodiment of resourcefulness and fulfillment.

Now Father, having fought the good fight and run a splendid course,

It has pleased the Lord to fill your lips with the NUNC DIMITTIS

Bidding goodbye to mortal existence.

Although night has fallen upon your eyes, a new day has dawned for your soul,

Yes, a new and pleasant dawn with the Heavenly hosts in Eternal Bliss

Now Father, as you say ‘good night’ to the world, and chant ‘good morning’ in heaven,

May your experience of never-ending joy in the Bosom of the Father BE –  L---O---N---G.

Adieu Father Pantaleon; Adieu, the Kpim of Excellence,

Adieu Father Kpim the Great, ADIEU.

REQUIESCAT IN PACE