11/06/2026
OGBONNA’S HEARTFELT TRIBUTE TO HIS BEST FRIEND ALEX EKUBO
Good evening everyone, and thank you all for coming.
The first thing Alex would probably say if he were here right now is, “Ogbo, remove that stúpíd glasses!” So, let me start there.
(Laughs)
I never thought a day like this would come.
Normally, whenever we attended events, I would always push Alex to speak because I never liked addressing an audience. Ironically, it took Alex about three years of convincing me to start writing notes before speaking. So today, for the first time, I am standing here with my notes, trying to say goodbye to my brother.
Sorry…
Ogbo. White Gòat. Ilaila. Okosisi.
I was probably one of the most teased human beings on earth. Those were some of the names Alex called me. Honestly, I don’t even know if my name was saved in his phone or if it was just “White Goat.”
But it was all love.
Alex would call me and advise me as if I were his child. And I would argue with him every single time.
I would tell him, “Alex, we are adults. Leave me alone. Let me make my own mistakes.”
But he never listened.
The next phone call would come with the exact same advice.
That was one of the reasons we fought so much.
But no matter what happened, he would always end every conversation with the same words:
“Ogbo, I got you. No worry.”
And those words never changed.
Even during our last conversation, he told me the same thing:
“Always remember, I am here for you, even if nobody else is.”
Alex also never stopped telling me to get closer to God.
I would try to explain to him that God and I had our own unique relationship. I thought I had convincing arguments.
But by the next Eke market day, he would call again and repeat the same advice.
That was Alex.
Always looking out for the people he loved.
We had our disagreements, but we had even more beautiful moments.
He would call me and say, “Oga, go and get your visa. Anything can happen.”
And, as usual, I would wait until the last minute before taking action.
I rarely listened.
Today, I am grateful that I had you—not just as a friend, but as a brother.
You knew that I was the kind of person who would ride with you through thick and thin.
And even in deâth, my brother, I am still riding with you.
The things that mattered to you will always matter to me.
Your concerns became my concerns, and they always will.
To all my current friends and even those I will meet in the future, I appreciate every one of you.
But there will never be another Alex.
The world was unfair to a truly good man.
I only wish you were here to witness the overwhelming love people are showing you today.
I stood beside you through some very difficult moments, and I saw your strength firsthand.
You were a soldier.
A wise man.
A light in every room you entered.
A man full of life.
One of those rare people you simply cannot imagine dying because they carried life wherever they went.
Always motivating people.
Always encouraging people.
Always believing tomorrow would be better than today.
Alex Ekubo, I have tried to be strong.
I have tried distracting myself.
But somehow, it always comes back to the same heartbreak.
I never knew it was possible to connect with someone as deeply as a brother without sharing the same blôòd.
But Alex was more than a brother to me.
The hardest part is that life refused to stop after you dièd.
People still call.
Meetings still happen.
The sun still rises every morning as if nothing happened.
But everything changed.
Every day, I see something on Instagram that I want to send to you.
Every day, I reach for my phone before remembering that the call will never connect again.
I keep thinking there will be one more conversation.
One more “Ogbo, you dey màd.”
One more lecture.
One more argument.
One more “I got you, bro. No worry.”
But there won’t be.
And that is what breaks me.
Will I ever truly get over this loss?
Honestly, I don’t know.
But maybe this is one of life’s hardest lessons.
If we live long enough, we will all have to bury people we love.
We will all experience the páin of losing people we genuinely believed would be with us until the end.
The painful reality is that either our loved ones will bùry us, or we will búry them.
None of us is leaving this world alive.
None of us escapes that story.
We just never imagine it will happen this soon.
We never imagine it will happen to the people who seem so full of life.
I never doubted that if the entire world turned against me, Alex would still answer my call.
That is the truth.
Anuri can testify to a call I made to him sometime in March when I was upset.
Even from his sick bed, he was asking about my health.
He was still advising me.
He was still encouraging me.
He was still wishing me the very best.
And he was still reminding me that whenever I looked back, he would always be there.
That kind of loyalty is rare.
That kind of friendship comes once in a lifetime.
What I know for sure is that your friendship changed me forever.
I am not only mourning the man you were.
I am mourning the years we were supposed to have.
The conversations we never got to finish.
The dreams we were supposed to live.
The plans we made.
The brotherhood that still had many years ahead of it.
The opportunity to grow old together.
To watch our families remain connected.
To sit somewhere in the Bahamas years from now, laughing about all the madness we survived.
I always believed there would be more time.
But I was wrong.
What I do know is this:
I will remain a rock for the things you cared about.
The people you loved will never stand alone as long as I have breath.
Rest easy, my brother.
Watch over us.
And as you always said, “I got you.”
Keep getting me from up there.
And I will keep getting you from down here.
One thing I know for sure is that heaven is lively right now.
Heaven is bubbling.
The angels are probably asking, “So you people were keeping this guy all to yourselves?”
Because if you knew Alex, then you know that an Alex vibe was a vibe any day, any time.
If Alex walked into this hall right now, the energy would instantly change.
That was who he was.
Finally, please remind Bro Jay that I am still waiting for our dreams to be fulfilled, because some promises are simply too important to díe.
Until we meet again, my brother.
I love you.
God bless you.
Ama Recognition, I say one final time:
Good night, Ikuku.
Rest well, Alex Ekubo.
