11/06/2026
An emotional moment as IK Ogbonna paid a touching tribute to his best friend, Alexx Ekubo
"Even in our last conversation, you told me the same thing you had always said:
Always remember, Iโm here for you, even if no one else is.
You would also remind me constantly, Ogbo, get closer to God.โ Sometimes, I would try to explain to Alex how close I already felt to God. I would tell him that God and I had our own unique relationship. But by the next Eke market day, the advice would come again.
That was Alex always looking out for the people he loved.
We had our disagreements and our fights, but we shared far more beautiful moments than difficult ones. You would call me and say, Ogbo, go and get your visa. Anything can happen. But me, Mr. Last Minute, I would always wait until the opportunity came knocking before scrambling to sort things out. And still, I wouldnโt listen.
I am grateful that I had you in my life, not just as a friend, but as a brother. You knew I was that guy who would ride with you to the canteen without hesitation. And even in death, my brother, Iโm still riding for you. Your concerns were always mine, and they will forever remain mine.
To all my friends today and to the friends I will make in the future, I appreciate every one of you. But there will never be another Alex. The world was sometimes unfair to a genuinely good man. He was never the bad guy some people imagined him to be.
I only wish you were here to witness the incredible love people are showing you right now.
I stood by you through some of your most difficult moments, and I witnessed your strength firsthand. You were truly a soldier, a wise man, a light in every room you entered, and a man overflowing with life. You were one of those rare people whose death feels impossible to comprehend because you carried life everywhere you went. You motivated people, encouraged others, and constantly believed that tomorrow would be better than today.
Eku, I have tried to be strong. I have tried to distract myself. I have tried to move forward. But somehow, it always comes back to the same heartbreak.
I never knew it was possible to connect so deeply with someone who wasnโt related by blood, but Alexx Ekubo was more than a brother to me.
The hardest part is that life refused to stop after you left. The phone still rings. Meetings still happen. The sun still rises every morning as if nothing has changed. Yet everything has changed.
Every day, I come across something on Instagram that I want to share with you. Every day, I instinctively reach for my phone before remembering that the call will never connect again.
I keep hoping for one more conversation. One more Ogbo, you dey mad. One more lecture. One more argument. One more I got you, bro. No worry.
But there wonโt be.
And that is the part that breaks me.
Will I ever truly get over this loss? Honestly, I donโt know.
But perhaps this is also a reminder of one of lifeโs most painful truths: if we live long enough, we will all bury people we love. We will all experience the agony of losing those we genuinely believed would be with us until the very end.
The sad reality of life is that either our loved ones will bury us, or we will bury them.
Rest well, my brother. Your memory lives on in every lesson, every laugh, every sacrifice, and every life you touched. There will never be another Alex."
