Whenever we speak of modern African studies, we remember him. Whenever we speak of a model university professor, we remember him. Whenever we speak of an honest patriot, we remember him. He is Abdel Malek Oda, the professor whose students loved. He has devoted his life to them, the university and his homeland, without looking for anything in return. He is the brother of a distinguished judge that was executed for a cause that he believed in and died for, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with that cause. He is Oda who stands by all good cause, objective opinion and hard work. When he came back from the United States, where he worked as a visiting professor, he was eager to reform his country. When I was head of the student union in 1965, a professor assigned me to ask on his behalf the hand of a colleague of mine, but she has politely declined. The following day in class, Dr. Oda introduced me as the campus matchmaker. Such was he, sometimes witty, but always serious. One day he gave me a letter to deliver to my colleague Hoda Gamal Abdel Nasser. In it he wrote: “To Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of the United Arab Republic; From Dr. Abdel Malek Oda, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science” … Then he wrote that sometimes he was denied an exit visa to attend international conferences abroad. Nasser then ordered to lift his name from the list of people banned from travel and to never put his name back without his personal prior knowledge. This was an acknowledgement of appreciation from the great leader to the distinguished university professor. His late wife Zeinab Azab was treating my children as her own. Oda has often suppressed his grief and pain, carving with his hands a great role as one of the last respectful men of Egypt. When he worked for the Ministry of Information, he was regarded as a remarkable and efficient man. And it was he and Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali who have endorsed my application to study at the University of London in 1971. He never shunned give his time and knowledge to his students. That is why they considered him as a father to them. I will never forget the advice he gave me when he visited me in London. It is my mentor. Dr. Ali Eddin Hilal invited me to the ceremony honoring him on his eightieth birthday at the Supreme Council for Culture. Here is the speech I gave in his presence: “I salute you, pillar of economics, political science and mass communication. I salute you, father of Jihad and Hisham. Your third son is everyone of your students throughout the last five decades. You are a blessed example of professorship and a symbol of the father. God prolong your life and give you like you have given the nation and the successive generations.”
