My best friends in Nsukka were Bede Okigbo, James and Grace Adichie, and Howard S. G. Swann. I loved my time in Nigeria, which was cut short to two years by the politics of Indians who dominated the science faculty at that time. I did research on the sulfuric acid hydrolysis of ethyl acetate in my office and later at the University of California, Berkeley. I was able to show that the reaction was kinetically dependent on two water molecules, which was contrary to the standard mechanism of one water dependence. The work was published as a communication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Volume 86 page 2521. The University of Nigeria was credited in the addresses as well as the University of California. Since I was the only chemist doing research at that time it may be the first publication from the Chemistry department at Nsukka. The deaths of Bede Okigbo and Howard Swann have hit me hard.

My best friends in Nsukka were Bede Okigbo, James and Grace Adichie, and Howard S. G. Swann. I loved my time in Nigeria, which was cut short to two years by the politics of Indians who dominated the science faculty at that time. I did research on the sulfuric acid hydrolysis of ethyl acetate in my office and later at the University of California, Berkeley. I was able to show that the reaction was kinetically dependent on two water molecules, which was contrary to the standard mechanism of one water dependence. The work was published as a communication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Volume 86 page 2521. The University of Nigeria was credited in the addresses as well as the University of California. Since I was the only chemist doing research at that time it may be the first publication from the Chemistry department at Nsukka. The deaths of Bede Okigbo and Howard Swann have hit me hard.