Nkem Ekeopara - a Profile

Nkem Ekeopara is of Igbo extraction and was born on November 25, 1960 in Ihiagwa-Owerri, South Eastern Nigeria, barely a month and twenty five days after his country gained political independence from Britain. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Honors Degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Nigeria and presently works as a Consultant Irrigation

Engineer with the Department of Execution and Maintenance of Landscape Projects of the State of Kuwait Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAF). He had been irrigation Engineer for Garden District-3 Project where his love for the environment was an overriding factor to his commitment in elevating the practice of his profession to an art and positively impacting his area of responsibility.

Mr. Ekeopara has held several important engineering and management positions in the private and public sectors in Nigeria before coming to Kuwait in December, 1995. He was Chairman, Board of Secretaries of R&D International, a Nigerian based non-governmental organization (NGO) for promotion of Research and Development as a necessary ingredient for national growth and international co-operation. During his tenure, he helped tremendously in forging a fruitful link between academics engaged in applied research works and the industrial sector. Also, he pioneered the publication of R&D International a quarterly journal of research and development and opened opportunities for cross fertilization of ideas through information exchange between and among similar bodies at local and international levels.

Mr. Ekeopara who is a member of his professions arm of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, was also a former member of the Editorial Board of The Nsukka Engineer and has published several articles and commentaries on topical global issues of national relevance to his native land, Nigeria. He is an avid reader, with an engaging interest in writing, art, research and adventure and likes mentoring kids. He enjoys playing and watching soccer, and upholds with a missionary zeal the Motto of his alma mater To Restore the dignity of Man as a guiding philosophy in his daily pursuits.


The Eclipse

There was sunlight,
when children happily hurried to school;
Mothers humbly went to sow,
as fathers dutifully tilled the soil.

There was a sudden middays delight,
of everone standing on shadows,
everywhere on earth,
in our part of the hemisphere

Then in this brightness,
Children screamed into the arms of teachers;
and mothers called out to the fathers,
as darkness descended in a lighting speed.

Mothers worried for their children,
Fathers in wonder, offered cuddle and consolation.
And as swiftly as it came,
the darkness opened into a brighter day.


A Voice in the Wilderness

Let the endearing feathers of doves,
now hovering over our skies,
stick through the wings of hawks,
and indenture the drifting clouds.

Let there be precipitation;
in our lives and our nations,
to calm our palpitating hearts,
and cool our heated lands.

Let there be peace
Let there be love
Let there be live
and Let there be a future for our children.

A dedication to Nigeria and all the troubled people and nations of the world.


I Stood by the Towers

I stood by the towers,
and listened to chimes,
oozing from snowy apparels,
fluttering in the heaving tides,
of the Arabian gulf.

I stood still,
and captured the buzzing,
of amassing bees,
sucking on blossoming dates,
by the surroundings of Arabia.

I meandered through to the tops,
and fancied the flotillas;
filled with dainty divers,
picking precious pearls,
in the middle of the Gulf.

I stood by the towers,
and peered through a bloom;
of a sprouting balm,
guzzling the dunes,
in the magic of the Arabian Gulf.

I stood by the towers
and gazed far into the rims,
to sight the golden rays of a setting sun,
embracing the Persian sea,
at the stretches of the peninsula.