01/02/2023
AFRICAN ON THE PLATFORM;;
CITATION OF SEN. PROF. SANDY OJANG ONOR
Senator Professor Sandy Ojang Onor is a distinguished public intellectual, capacity builder, cosmopolitan scholar, indefatigable humanist, academic colossus, courageous and visionary politician, lover of his community and a highly quoted professor of History.
He was born at the Holy Family Joint Hospital in Ikom, Cross River State on February 14, 1966. He began his primary school education soon after the end of the civil war at St. Martin’s Primary School, Ikom (1971 - 1973) and later transferred to St. Francis Primary School, Obubra (1973 - 1975) where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate. In 1976, he proceeded to the famous St. Brenda’s College, Iyamoyong, Obubra, where he obtained the West African School Certificate in 1981.
In 1983, he was admitted to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in the University of Calabar, where he demonstrated outstanding brilliance and excellence by graduating top of his class with BA Hons. Degree in History in 1987, a feat which earned him an offer of automatic employment by the University as Graduate Assistant.
The then University’s policy of retaining its best products as an insurance for a future of continuity in the tradition of excellent scholarship left him with no chance of considering other employment options that were available to him, including those that had better economic prospects. Till date, there are stories of how the heroes of the Calabar School of History, including Professors Okon Edet Uya, Erim Odey Erim, Geofrey N. Uzoigwe, Monday B. Abasiattai, Monday E. Noah to name but a few celebrated his addition to the academic staff list of the Department.
With encouragement and support from these renowned scholars, he enrolled almost immediately for an M.A. programme in the same Department. Just barely a year into the programme, he was advanced to the Ph.D programme on account of his outstanding performance and aptitude for independent research. He successfully completed the Ph.D. programme in 1993 at the age of 27.
Senator Professor Sandy Onor has demonstrated intellectual sagacity and brilliance at all levels of his education and public service with various awards and commendations as testimonies of his sterling qualities.
Senator Professor Sandy Onor has demonstrated both passion and erudition in humanistic scholarship. He has mentored and nurtured several generations of Nigerian students, some of whom are now established scholars and professionals in their own right.
The profundity of his intellect, the incisiveness of his analysis and the masterly delivery of his lectures are well-known and admired by myriads of people in several places. From the position of Graduate Assistant, he grew steadily through the ranks and became Senior Lecturer in 1997, a position with which he left the university in 1999 to serve as the Executive Chairman of Etung Local Government Council; a move that caused deep regret, at the time, within the circle of senior academics in History Department to whom Senator Professor Sandy Onor had become a source of pride and hope for vigorous intellectual sustenance.
Interestingly, in show of patriotism rare in our days, he returned to the University of Calabar classroom in 2016 as Associate Professor in History and in that capacity provided mentoring and inspiration to junior academics and graduate students in the University of Calabar. With a strong dislike for academic pretension, he ploughed himself back fully as the intellectual workaholic he has always been and worked tirelessly in expanding the frontiers of knowledge. This paid off when the Senate of the University of Calabar elevated him to the rank of Professor in October, 2019.
Endowed with prodigious intellect and analytical skills, Senator Professor Onor has long emerged as an internationally respected and highly referenced scholar, especially in the areas of Historiography and Historical Methods, African Social, Economic and Political History, Democracy and Democratization in Africa, and Local Government Administration. He has solely authored four books, co-authored one book and co-edited four volumes. He has several book chapters in addition to journal publications spread across reputable local and foreign journals. A widely travelled scholar, Senator Professor Sandy Onor has attended and delivered papers/lectures in several conferences and workshops. As a consummate public intellectual, he has lost count of the number of lectures he has presented at several fora. Always at the cutting edge of scholarship, Professor Onor is seen in many quarters as the final authority in Ejagham History.
His seminal works, The Ejagham Nation in the Cross River Region of Nigeria (1994 and 2016) and the Leopard’s Touch: Historical Essays on the Ejagham of the Cross River Region of Nigeria (2018) continue to be cited in high-impact factor publications by local and foreign scholars. Among his works in progress is The Tragedy of Followership in Nigeria. As a scholar, therefore, the Senator and Professor’s mind is fecund and full of verve.
Senator Professor Sandy Onor is vehement in his opposition to the idea of the impervious scholar, who, like the hermit, is isolated from the public and works in a world of his own. He has, by his writings and public activities, contributed immensely to nation building and development in Nigeria. He has cultivated, groomed and touched many lives and communities positively across the country.
He was the Executive Chairman of Etung Local Government Council from 1999 to 2002, he also became the Deputy National President of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria and, later, the Acting National President of the Association. He had served in 2003 as Cross River State Coordinator of Obasanjo/Atiku Presidential Campaign. In fact, he was for many years the Director-General of PDP Campaign Organisations in Cross River State, a period within which he was affectionately nick-named “D.G Fantastic,” because of his uncommon civility and legendary breakthroughs for the party. In 2005, he represented Cross River State in the Political Reform Conference, where he made significant contributions. Between 2010 and 2013, Senator Professor Onor superintended over the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment as Commissioner. He had previously served as Chairman, Cross River State Local Government Service Commission.
In all these positions, Professor Sandy Onor’s noble deeds have remained impactful and transcended his tenures in those offices. Because of his rare leadership qualities and love for humanity, the good people of Central Cross River Senatorial District gave him their mandate to represent them as Senator in the 9th Assembly of the Nigerian Senate, where he has distinguished himself in many ways. People from various walks of life who have had the privilege of listening to him make contributions on the floor of the Nigerian Senate are in agreement that he is, indeed, a square peg in a square hole; so much at home in the hallowed chamber. It was his enchanting oratory and analytic depth that prompted the declaration, by the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, that Senator Onor be crowned the Orator of the Nigerian Senate despite the fact that he belongs with the opposition party.
It is indeed gratifying that Senator Professor Onor continues to exude the intellectual precocity that has defined and branded his phenomenal life. The litany of awards of honour and distinction deservedly showered on him are in acknowledgement and appreciation of his commitment to the building of individuals, communities, churches, student bodies, institutions and organizations.
Senator Professor Sandy Onor is happily married to the amiable, lovely, quintessential and indefatigable Ntunkae Barrister (Mrs.) Gertrude Manyo Onor, a lover of humanity, who has been a rock of stability, motivation and support to him. The marriage is blessed with a son, Sandy Onor, Jnr. Gertrude is an extraordinary wife, mother, friend, intercessor and house keeper par excellence.
Professor Onor is always conscious of the pivotal role of his family in his towering achievements and appreciates the equanimity with which they have over the years tolerated his deep romance with scholarship and politics, which infringes on his attention to them.
There might not have been any signs in the Cosmos, or even in the forests of Nsofang to herald the birth of an avatar, when Senator Professor Sandy Onor was born into the world. But when a man is cut out for greatness, nature automatically aligns with his struggle from infantile translucence to full blown brightness. This has been the lot of Senator Professor Sandy Onor, who is without doubt a living emblem of the best of human values - commitment to serve others, sacrifice, honesty, sincerity and moral courage. He has consistently reminded Nigerians that they could pursue wealth honourably and live modestly rather than pursue wealth in a way that would endanger the wellbeing of others.
This is the man we are projecting for the Governorship seat of Cross River State. He is the Original Caterpillar, and he has come for the good of the people. Let’s vote for him.
