Prince Emeka Obasi was, evidently, a man who came to the earth on a mission. He was one person who did everything within his grasp and ability to stay on his set course, and in the process, went on to achieve a lot of what God had called upon him to accomplish, even as his sojourn on mortal earth ended prematurely.

Born at Umuaroko, Ndume, Ibeku on February 10, 1964 to Isaiah Kanu Obasi and Caroline Erigbuo Obasi, Prince Emeka Obasi hailed from Umuaroko, Ndume, Ibeku, Abia State, Nigeria. He was the fifth child in a family of eleven children, comprising seven boys and four girl.

A precocious and prodigious child, Prince Obasi literally waltzed through primary and secondary schools at St Ann’s Primary School Ahiaeke, Ndume, Ibeku and lbeku High School, Umuahia Ibeku, Abia State.

By the time he came into the University of Calabar, Calabar from where he was to bag an honours degree in English and Literary Studies in 1987, he was already a quite self-assured young man intent on riding through the clouds of life.

Little wonder then that post-graduation, Prince Obasi promptly signed up for what was to be the beginning of an engaging journalism career, one that saw him functioning in the early years as the most enterprising reporter with Quality magazine, a subsidiary of Newswatch magazine, both published by Newswatch Communications Limited, from 1987. He had been retained in Quality magazine as a Staff Reporter, having done his youth service (NYSC)in the same publication. Within a space of two years, he had won the ‘Best Editorial Staff’ award, even though he was not originally nominated by his supervisor and editor of the magazine, May Ellen Ezekiel, popularly known by her acronym, MEE. Ezekiel was later to become MEE Mofe Damijo.

In his book, ‘Saved for His Praise’, Emeka recalled a particularly memorable event during his time at Quality magazine, “where I cut my teeth in journalism as a Youth Corper, and I flourished luxuriantly”. The event occurred in December 1989 and as he wrote:

“I had just completed my Youth service programme and was only recently employed as a full-time editorial staff.When MEE walked into the Newswatch library where I was reading, she saw me, smiled and asked: “Emeka, have you seen your prize?” “Yes editor,” I answered.

Then she said, “I did not nominate you o!” I said, “I know, thank all the same.”

“I later learnt that MEE had nominated someone else, but the Newswatch Directors overruled her. And their logic was simple. At a special editorial meeting earlier in the year, the Executive Directors of Newswatch consisting of Mr. Ray Ekpu, Mr. Dan Agbese who was the Deputy Editor-In-Chief, Mr. Yakubu Mohammed, who was Managing Editor, held with the staff of Quality magazine,many members of the Quality magazine editorial staff had complained strongly that some members of the editorial staff were dominating the magazine at the expense of others. When they were asked for specific examples, they mentioned Prince Emeka Obasi as one.

“Strangely, Prince Emeka Obasi at the time was only a young corps member who had just been engaged, but here were Reporter/Researchers, Staff Writers, Senior Staff Writers and Assistant Editors complaining that I was dominating the magazine.

So, at the end of the year, when the Editorial Board called for nominations for editorial staff of the year, and this same reporter who was accused of dominating the magazine was not nominated, they wondered why. And so, they overruled her right at the venue of the party and announced Prince Emeka Obasi as the best editorial staff of the magazine.”

Prince Obasi was to later move with MEE, sometime in 1990, when she founded the Classique magazine