THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
The President of the German chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Kenneth Chukwudi Alaekwe, has passed away. He died at the age of 55 on Saturday 17 February 2018 at a Berlin hospital after a brief illness.
Kenneth is survived by his wife Ulla and son Henry.
At the time of his death, Kenneth was Director for Conference Production at Marcus Evans (Germany) Ltd, an international business conferencing group. He joined the company in 1999 and rose through its ranks to become a director.
Kenneth was an accomplished professional and was blessed with a very successful career. In fact, he was one of a very few number of Africans in upper management at a German company.
Kenneth was also an energetic and dedicated member of the Nigerian community. He was elected President of NIDO Germany in May 2017 and he served the body with distinction in that capacity until his untimely demise. He had earlier also served the organization as Vice President from 2013-2017.
Kenneth was a quintessential gentleman whose distinguished personal carriage would make anybody who had anything to do with him feel proud of the association. Soft spoken and humble, Kenneth left behind the image of a friendly, fine, thoughtful and reliable person with all who came across him in his short, but eventful life.
Kenneth was also an Associate Publisher of The African Courier. He contacted me in 1999, a year after I founded the publication and indicated his interest to support the initiative of creating an active media outlet for the African community in Germany.
And he did it in an honorary capacity as he was a full-time employee of Marcus Evans, where he had just started a career in Business Conference as a sales executive.
Despite his heavy work schedule at his company, he found time to regularly write without any honorarium for The African Courier. And he regularly offered invaluable technical advice on how to put the publication on a sound business basis.
All of us at The African Courier remember Kenneth as a wonderful human being, the type of whom are very rare to find in a world, where personal benefit is the motivation for most of our actions. We remain eternally grateful for his selfless support.
A socially-conscious African, Kenneth was very concerned with the situation of our continent and was a tireless advocate for unity among us as the first condition for progress.
Kenneth Alaekwe was born on 23 May 1962 in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria, where he attended primary and secondary schools. He later studied at the Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI (USA), where he bagged a BA in History/Political Science. He later earned a Masters degree in International Relations/International Business at Webster University (USA).
We pray that the Almighty God will console his wife Ulla and son Henry and indeed all his loved ones and care for them.
May the gentle soul of Kenneth Chukwudi Alaekwe rest in perfect peace.
Femi Awoniyi, Publisher, The African Courier
