By Uche Anichukwu
“Death closes all”, writes Alfred Lord Tennyson. And in that tradition of all mortals, the earthly chapter of Her Excellency, the late Lady Jane Udenwo Nnamani, came to a close on May 4, 2023, albeit unexpectedly.
She was someone I was privileged to relate with very closely. Fate brought the family and I together when in January 2003 I joined the campaign team of His Excellency, Senator Ken Nnamani, ahead of that year’s general election in Enugu. Thus began a long journey that took us to Abuja that year, with the Senator eventually emerging the President of the Senate in 2005.
Although Lady Jane Nnamani lived in the USA, she visited Nigeria from time to time. But those visits were enough to form a strong impression about her pleasant, graceful, and unassuming personality. She was an epitome of Waawa woman – humility personified. Even as President of the Senate’s wife, she remained down to earth. She was a mother in every ramification of the word. Rather than hug the limelight at home as wife of Senator and ultimately, President of the Senate, she paid the price of motherhood, staying back in the USA to shoulder the responsibility of the moral, spiritual, physical, and all-round upbringing and wellbeing of their wonderful children – Nnabuihe, Ogonna, Chidera, and Amaka. Thank God the sacrifices paid off in the quality of offspring she bequeathed.
Yet the Senator’s Abuja home must run smoothly even in her absence. She, therefore, virtually entrusted everything to me, even though we were not related by blood. That additional responsibility meant that I must work beyond my brief as Special Assistant (Media) to the President of the Senate. That included taking full charge of the Senate President’s Mansion, supervising the domestic workers, ensuring the mansion ran effectively, and that the welfare of workers and visitors were promptly attended to. To cope, I shuttled between the National Assembly office and the Mansion several times each work day. As a result, some colleagues jokingly referred to me as the Chief of Staff, Mansion.
Lady Jane Nnamani ensured that the welfare of her husband and the Mansion staff and the retinue of security agents did not suffer in her absence. She practically ran the menu from the U.S. She would call and guide the kitchen on the most appropriate meals to serve her husband. She would ask to be sure that the stewards were at their best, and that the kitchen and every inch of the mansion was clean and sparkling.
By the way, we had a great team like Obiora Obeagu, Jude Egbonwonu, and Ogochukwu Onah, who were part of Senator Nnamani’s aides at the time. We all, as a matter of routine, worked late into the night because there is an office inside the building where we continued to do some official work with the senator. We could only retire when the Senator bade us goodnight, and it could even be as late as 2am or even later. Only then would I call Her Excellency to brief her about our day since Maryland, U.S, was about five hours behind. If course, I must be at the Mansion before 7am to be sure everything was in order before His Excellency came downstairs.
So, she related with us – Obiora, Jude, and myself – as a big sister would relate with her younger siblings. We were absolutely free with her and cracked jokes. I also vividly recall that there was never a time she came from the U.S without goodies. Likewise, it was her habit to send something to Obiora Obeagu, Jude Egbonwonu, the domestic staff, and myself each time His Excellency traveled to the U.S. She was generous, kind, and indeed a mentor.
I will remember her for her life-shaping stories and pieces of advise, which in themselves are glimpses of her life’s philosophies. For instance, she was a firm believer in the concept of “Aka nnu na aka mmanu” (benevolence and hospitality), which according to Igbo cosmology, bailed people out at critical times. For instance, she said her mother narrated how one of the many people that she (their mother) let go when they could not pay for their meals in her restaurant in Port Harcourt, saved a member from an absolute death at the outbreak of the Nigeria-Biafra war.
I will also never forget the excitement in her voice the day I informed her I wanted to get married. She was actually one of the two women, apart from my mother, whose opinions and blessings I sought before going ahead with marriage rites. That was the quality of relationship I enjoyed with her all through the period I worked with them.
Meanwhile, I recall that we last met during a commercial flight from Enugu to Abuja. She was her ever effervescent, friendly, cheerful, and unassuming self. She held my hand as she asked after my wife, children, and mother. How could one have ever imagined that death was so near?
Born in Port Harcourt on October 1, 1965, to the family of the late Yaro Onah and the late Mrs. Margret Onah of Umu-Okonwegwu family in Umunnugwu, Amechi Uwani, Awkunanaw, Enugu State, Lady Jane Udenwo Nnamani made bold and indelible imprints on the sands of time. She was an entrepreneur per excellence, who ran a chain of successful businesses. She also excelled in the public sector where she served as a member of the Governing Council of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Lady Jane Nnamani was also a philanthropist, who engaged in the empowerment of widows and youths. She supported the less privileged to acquire education and also built and donated a hostel and residential lodges to students of tertiary institutions in Enugu metropolis.
Her Excellency served God with passion, investing her resources in the promotion of the gospel. She contributed to the physical infrastructural development of the Church and was a respected and prominent member of the St. John’s Methodist Church Amechi-Uwani Women Fellowship. While in the USA, she was a devout member of Good Hope United Methodist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was equally a Lady of John Wesley Methodist Church.
Yet in all this, Lady Jane Nnamani did not relent in her self-development efforts either. In fact, she was in the final year of her doctorate programme in Business Management when the Grim Reaper came calling.
Your Excellency, Ada Weku, Ada Ugwuejegu, the pride of Awkunanaw Osagwede, how difficult it is to bid you goodnight at noon. It is however consoling that great men (and women), according to the Greek poet, Callimachus, never die. You triumphed over death by winning a place in the heart of humanity and posterity through your great deeds and legacies. As you pass from your labours, posterity will continue to reap from the fields you worked. You will forever be remembered by what you have done.
Yes, even though, like the mighty Caesar, thou dost lie so low today, with all thy conquests, glories, and triumphs seemingly shrunk to a little measure that shall be sown to the mother earth this day, your legacies shall continue to blossom, immortally, from generation to generation until we meet again on that bright resurrection morning. Goodnight, and rest in the bosom of the Lord.
Anichukwu was a Special Assistant (Media) in the Office of the President of the Senate
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