The discreet man from the corridors of power has bowed out.
He was one of the last Freemason dinosaurs in West Africa. With him, a whole part of the memory of West African Freemasonry is gone.
The TRGM (Very Respectable Grand Master) CLOMEGAH is now sailing towards the Eternal East.
Without any controversy, and without any desire for provocation, who was Ignace CLOMGAH? To you reader of this questioning, This is not a tribute.
It is only a question here of testimony, of a free expression which engages only me. What makes definitively moreover inadmissible any lawsuit in illegitimacy and/or in impartiality.
The man was discreet, slender in appearance, comparable to a dandy with a charisma that commands respect. It was dry, stern-looking secret. I had deduced the features of a life of work, rigor, authenticity and above all ferocity like a graceful feline.
I had met TRGM CLOEGAH on a plane between Lomé and Abidjan. He took me for my older brother Jean-Claude Edoh.
It was first a banal discussion with a gentleman, who until then was unknown to me. A social interaction of very agreed, necessary and indispensable propriety to which I always lend myself reluctantly. Indeed social events are a painful exercise that I dread fundamentally, especially when I do not know my interlocutor.
But from the outset, the intellectual, cultural level and above all the open-mindedness of my opponent had fascinated me. An uncompromising plea on the strengths and weaknesses of Africa in this century of great and profound changes. The man was calm, icy, methodical, structured, determined and very pugnacious.
The debate was intense and of an exceptional quality as I like them.
His physical elegance was matched only by his intellectual elegance. He was equally convincing and seductive. Yes, that is my definition of Charisma.
We had agreed on one point, namely that we must prevent (especially in Africa) populism and always mark at all times if necessary the fundamental difference between democracy and ochlocracy. The crowd is not always right. Better still, She is not the people.
Subsequently, I learned that this coldness, this reserve, and this severity of facade, were only an essential filter to the strict imperative for him to preserve his intimacy.
Ignatius CLOMEGAH was thrifty, even stingy with his contempt, given the large number of needy people.
He claimed and assumed the little sharing of his privacy. An intimacy that he jealously guarded for his family and loved ones, by organizing very limited concentric circles.
I will therefore not speak of the Freemason. I’m not worthy of it.
Nor will I mention the man from the symphony of numbers. It’s not my world.
I will touch even less on the density of this man who whispered in the ears of the powerful. I am not qualified to do so.
The man was protean, complex, dense and above all thirsty for knowledge.
He was curious, lined with a mischievous, mischievous and piercing gaze. A look that immediately signs a certain distance with strangers.
He had a fine mind and analysis.
He was an adventurous spirit. A spirit of all challenges.
Beyond his vast public world, the private man was a lover of science. Ignace CLOMEGAH had a deep admiration for medicine and caregivers. He was also an esthete, a lover of beauty, the arts, and letters.
Above all, he was a real music lover.
This finesse was found in the selectivity of his whiskey (he was inexhaustible on the origins and the qualitative differences of this beverage whether it was Scottish or Irish).
This finesse was also reflected in his patronage and his knowledge of painting (all his sensitivity is found in his magnificent collection…).
This finesse was reflected finally and above all by a chiseled, acerbic humor which was his weapon of massive destabilization.
This modest man began his days with a few lengths in his pool, followed by a yoga session.
Yes, Balance, between body and mind, is a force.
A life of balance and measure for a tireless fighter.
Ultimately Ignace CLOMGAH was only the synthesis of a happy STOICISM and EPICURISM. A synthesis that necessarily passes through the achievement of happiness with the satisfaction of only natural and necessary desires (Nature in all simplicity).
A synthesis which also passes through the acceptance of events (acceptance through the control of our reactions).
A synthesis that finally passes through an awareness of the place of “NATURE” that one must know and with which one must try to enter into harmony.
To be happy, you just have to want, then accept that things happen as they should happen, and respect the Natural Order of causes.
Ignace CLOMEGAH was a happy man for the little I knew of him.
He was my great teacher, in my philosophical, spiritual, intellectual and human journey.
He was my big brother in the accompaniment and welcome he reserved for me.
And He was my friend of debate, of memory, of culture, of discretion, and of silence.
Who was Ignace CLOMGAH? To this question, I can only answer this:
He was quite simply a deep, delicate and sensitive Man.
Tribute from Dr Daniel-Kovi AYANOU to Ignace CLOGAH
