Tributes flowed freely in Awka, Anambra
State yesterday as Senator Ben Obi’s wife, Chief (Mrs) Collete Ojirhomu
Obi, was laid to rest.
The burial service, conducted by the
Anglican Primate of Nigeria, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, was a gathering of
who is who in the Nigerian political landscape.
Rev. Okoh told the gathering at the
service, which took place at the former Tracas Stadium in Awka from 10
am to 12 pm, that they should weep for Nigeria and not the deceased
woman.
Okoh, who based his sermon on Mathew 47: 45-46, urged Obi to draw inspiration from the Christian life his late wife cherished.
He said: “We should live like people
with faith; people who have inheritance behind time and space. We should
not live like people who have lost hope in God.
“Our values have been eroded because of
our quest for material wealth. Weep not for Lady Collete. We should weep
for ourselves. Let us weep for our country and seek complete
reconciliation between us and God.
Narrating his experience with his
in-laws to the congregation, Obi said his wife’s wish was to be buried
in Awka instead of Warri native home.
He said: “My late mother came from that
part of the country. When she passed on in those days, we said it shall
be well. We grew up with the Olu of Warri, and we thought it would not
be difficult to bring the corpse of my mother to Awka. But my mother was
buried in her native place, Warri
So, I thought my wife’s burial would be
the same. But behold, my laws made things easy for me because they
wanted to please their daughter and make her rest in peace. Moreover, it
was a decision my late wife made to rest in her husband’s place”
Others who spoke at the occasion
included former president Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, who sent his tribute
through a representative, Koffi Adams, andAnambra State Governor, Mr.
Peter Obi, who poured encomiums on the departed woman and her husband,
noting that the late high chief stood by his administration in both good
and bad times.
The coordinator of Transform Nigeria
Movement (TNM), Obi Ochije, praised the qualities of the late Mrs. Ben
Obi, describing her as a hardworker and a woman with listening ears.
He prayed God to grant her soul eternal rest and to provide the Obi family the fortitude to bear the loss.
For the president of Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, it is not how long
people live on earth that matters, but how well they lived their lives.
The CAN president cited the lives of
Aaron and Jesus Christ who lived over 100 years and 33 years
respectively, adding that Collete had gone but God would continue to
keep the family she left behind.
Other guests at the burial ceremony
included former Vice President Atiku Abubarka; Senator Jim Nwobodo;
Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu; Chief Philip Asiodu; Chief Tom Ikimi; former
Senate President, Ken Nnamani; Alhaji Idi Farouk; Sen. Azu Agboti; Sen.
Uche Chukwumerije and Mrs. Josephine Anenih
Others include Chief Audu Ogbeh; Prince
Arthur Ezeh; Gen. Obiakor; former Ebonyi State governor, Sam Egwu; Dr
George Obiozor; Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN); former Senate president,
Adolphus Wabara; Senator Hope Uzodinma; Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; Prof.
Maurice Iwu; Chief Victor Umeh; Alhaji Isiaku Ibrahim; Eze Cletus
Ilomuanya and Col Austine Akobundu.
Also at the event were Prof Chinwe
Obaje; Chief Clem Nwankwu; Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (rtd); Chief Chidi
Anyaegbu; Chief Tony Okam; Zik Obi; Igwe Chris Onyekwuluje; Ambassador
Jerry Ugokwe; Most Rev Paul Udogu and Most Rev Emmanuel Chukwuma, among
others.
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