Ohanaeze Mourns Death Of Another Igbo Icon, Kalu

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Wednesday, said it received with shock the death of foremost banker of Igbo extraction, Dr U. K. Kalu, who died at 88.

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, President General of Ohanaeze, in a release, described Kalu, former chairman of Union Bank Plc, as an ‘Igbo Titan and a highly endowed chieftain of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide’.

THE WHISTLER reports that the deceased was born on February 22, 1935 at Isiugwu, Ohafia, Abia State.

He attended the Duke Town Secondary School, Calabar; Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar; and the University of Durham, Newcastle.

He served in different capacities as a lecturer and acting dean, Department of Finance, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN); acting head, Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Business Administration ( UNN).

In the banking and finance industry, Kalu served as a director, African Continental Bank Limited; director, Development Finance & Investment Co. Limited, Imo State; chairman, Financo Insurance Brokers Company, Imo State; director, Magnum Trust Bank Limited; chairman, Board of Directors, Union Bank of Nigeria; amongst several others.

He was decorated with the robe of the Elder, Presbyterian Church of Nigeria.

Recall that Prof Ben Nwabueze, the first Secretary-General of Ohanaeze, died a few days ago with Ohanaeze Ndigbo lamenting recurring deaths of its prominent members within a year.