Dr Christian Sunday Udemezue Chinwuba dies.
By Meke Ifejika
It was the eve of valentine of 2013; I had settled for the night then came one of those dreaded late calls. It was Ben calling courtesy of the caller ID. I turned to my better half and rattled, “ I don’t like this call.”
“Sunday nwulu,” (Sunday is dead) came from half shivering and half nervous voice of Ben. I didn’t ask to know where Ben was; in unison we started heading to a townhouse that Sunday was renting south of Burtonsville Maryland. Ben arrived a couple of minutes ahead of me. We arrived didn’t, know what to expect. The blinding police cum coroner flashing lights got me dizzy and disoriented; I didn’t know what questions to ask.Still forming questions in my head before looking for answers; I scanned the area around the entrance to his townhouse trying to make eye contact with the police. The police gave me the fat-chance look because the whole area around his townhouse had become a crime scene temporarily. Meanwhile I was still sitting in my car a safe distance from several police cruisers.
Suddenly I noticed a young woman sobbing next to the coroner’s ambulance-Like wagon. She is Naomi the woman in his life. Still disoriented with blurred vision secondary to tears that my rapid blinking couldn’t clear I managed a word with her, “please tell me that it is not true; that the medics are working on Sunday.” She opened her mouth to speak and I could only hear a hiss.Ben, Naomi and I looked outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered by the police because we were rendered helpless by the suddenness we found ourselves in. Then there came a crackling noise coming from the entrance to his door. With military precision his front door swung open and the coroner crew emerged with a wheeled stretcher with swivels carrying Sunday’s lifeless body. They loaded him in their wagon and took off; before I could say, “abide with me fast falls the eventide.”The lead police officer walked up to me and handed me Sunday’s coroner’s report and told me when and where to pick up his body. The second officer, who stood behind the lead officer, slipped his card into my hand and wished me well. I collapse into the seat of my car; my body went into a slow motion as the police cruiser escorted the coroner’s wagon. I didn’t want them to leave but I couldn’t stop them either; it was a call for duty, no emotions. They left me with mixed emotions but I needed to be strong for everyone. I am the oldest in the Awka community within the locale.
Moving on….
As I was trying to gather myself for the task ahead which comprises informing all the family members, funeral arrangements in US and Nigeria and collapsing of his commitments my mind raced through the life that he led in his sixty years on earth. Dr Christian Sunday Udemezue Chinwuba was born into Anago family, Umubele Awka. Anago was Ezeana. His grandfather Chinwuba Anago was a warrant chief. His father Okpala Chinwuba (onye oma gbuo agu) was a road overseer. Okpala was an engineer.
Schooling was his only option; Chinwuba family recognized the value of education right after Government school and Awka college which was later on christened Saint Paul’s College were commissioned around 1910. Christian’s eldest sister Mrs Ada Adogu a lawyer (arguably the first Igbo female lawyer) who rose to judgeship and minister in Abuja went through Government school Awka and so did his eldest brother Dr Bright Chinwuba. Christian followed their footsteps into Government school Awka. He got his first school leaving certificate (standard six) with distinction in 1962.
He enrolled at Government College Owerri in 1963.He had a full scholarship. He was a model student and was “diagnosed” with photogenic brain by his mathematics and science tutors. His secondary school was interrupted in 1966 by Biafra war. He took active part in the Biafra struggle for self determination. He joined Biafra army. He was an intelligence officer as well as a research and development guy. He was a scientist as well as an infantry officer.
Christian returned to Government College Owerri in 1970 after the Biafra war came to a squeaking end. He became the darling of the school administrators hence he became the school senior prefect. He aced WAEC and the accompanying A level in 1972 and started making plans for medical training in United States of America (USA). He was given a full scholarship to study medicine in United Kingdom. He turned it down and instead opted to come to the USA for his medical education.
He arrived at John F Kennedy international airport New York via PANAM in the fall of 73 and quickly settled into his pre-med at a New England college in USA: Bates College Lewiston Main.
Like most Biafra veterans, he was young, restless and 3 years behind for the Biafra-Nigeria war which lasted for 3 years had snuffed 3 years out of his life. AS a result, he started exploring the quickest path to an MD degree. He found it and put his photogenic brain to work. He spent four semesters at Bates college, took his MCAT, got accepted at Howard University Medical school into a 3 year accelerated program and off to the races he went.
Washington DC was awash with restless Nigerians. We were falling in love, shacking up, falling out of love, getting married and starting family. Christian was not far behind. He nailed his MD degree in 1978 got married the same year, got divorced and remarried the same year. What a busy year.
He had made up the 3 years that the Biafra war cost him in education that he said that he will never trade for anything. He spent the following 4 years on his internship and residency in radiology at Howard University Medical School.
He worked for Howard University hospital and a couple of other places in and around Washington DC (DMV).
He wanted to “conquer” radiology and where else can you do that other than Harvard University. So he applied and got accepted at Harvard University Medical school into the Neuro Radiology fellowship program. He started his fellowship at Department of Radiology Harvard School of Medicine Boston Massachusetts in july of 1983 and by july of 1985 he was a board certified Neuro Radiologist.
He went on the build on of most advanced imaging business in Washington DC metropolitan area. Every so often he would visit me and tell me about his businesses and the calamity that befell him so in 2008 he sent me some tidbits. Here are some of them in his words.
QUOTE:
“By 1997, 10 years ago, I had succeeded in building one of the top technologically advanced innovative medical diagnostic Radiology companies in the State of Maryland and District of Columbia [Washington, DC] here in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. This business called DIAGNOSTIC HEALTH IMAGING SYSTEMS [DHIS],INC. became the basis of creation of 3(three) other successful businesses:
1. A Health Insurance company named PRIMEHEALTH CORPORATION, mostly dedicated to serving the poor in the State of Maryland and Washington, DC.
2. A medical Radioisotope distribution business named NORTHERN VIRGINIA ISOTOPES,INC.[NVI].
3. A Hospital Corporation named PACIN HEALTHCARE CORPORATION and currently called DOCTORS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE CORPORATION, which bought and owned Hospitals mostly serving the poor.
All these business entities were operated and managed by other people employed or chosen by me. With professional and business success came prosperity and political influence accompanied by significant envy and jealousy from without and within.
In the second half of 1998, the health insurance company started having problems with the Insurance Commissioner of the state of Maryland. The government of the State of Maryland subsequently took over the company. I fought back, suing the State 22 times resulting in creation of a panel of 9 Appeal Court Judges to adjudicate the case. This panel of Judges subsequently ruled in my favor.
This meant that the State of Maryland must either return the company to its rightful owners or pay One Hundred Million Dollars which was the gross earnings of the company in the year 2001 when the ruling was rendered.The State of Maryland appealed to its own Supreme Court against its own citizen because the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Maryland had sold my company to another health insurance company in a corrupt transaction while we were waiting for the panel of Judges to rule on the case. The government therefore chose to appeal to the Supreme Court of the State of Maryland rather than pay me for the company.In 2002 the Supreme Court of the State of Maryland ruled in favor of the government of the State of Maryland stating that to allow the government to pay for the company as ordered by the Appeals Court Judges would set ‘a dangerous financial precedent for the State.’ The Federal Courts would not take the case because they considered the issues at stake as State matters. Thus my company was taken from me without compensation or recourse. Unbelievable but factual story. They got away with it too.
WHILE I was fighting the government of the State of the Maryland in the State Courts, the Hospital Corporation was essentially taken over by my main partner,a Lawyer. The medical RadioIsotope distribution company was sold by my two partners. One of the Medical Doctors took one of the clinics claiming that it was an ‘Abandoned Property.’ To make matters worse I could not fight them in the courts to take back what belong to me because I had exhausted 1.8 million dollars cash available to me at the beginning of the legal battle with the State of Maryland over my Health Insurance company.
I was heartbroken. I had lost all I had built in my young adult life. I have been betrayed by those that I SUPPORTED AND GAVE so much to, by those that I love and those that I thought loved me. I had been betrayed by those I thought were my friends, kicked in the gut by those who benefited from my businesses and those that I was kind to and gave opportunities they would not have had otherwise.
At the end of 2002 I became ill which progressed to total system collapse in December 2003.All my organs and systems completely failed: I became semi-comatose, my heart , eyes and voice failed; my pancreas also failed and this combined with the medication I was getting resulted in diabetes. Most devastating, it was found that there has been progressive demyeli-nation of all peripheral nerves.
Following heroic advanced medical treatments, prayers, my indomitable will and spirit coupled to the Grace and Mercy of THE UNIVERSAL GOD I woke up. The long road to recovery and return to useful life started and that is my journey.”
END QUOTE.
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