By Barr. Benjamin Okorie Ajah, PhD, M.Sc., B.L., LL.B., B.SC., AICMC, MNYA, MNSC, MNASA, AISDS, AMAPA
We live our lives, each day, hoping for the crops we planted to bring us peace. By our sojourn through life, we pray we succeed and witness the progress of our children and love ones. You toed this path, dear mother, till your flight to heaven took off. That is why the grieve of your death by garden of flowers can be heard in high heaven, and human population mourning your sudden heavenly movement.
By your death, dear mother, I can now fathom the depth of what Marcus Aurelius, the last emperor of the Pax Romana and philosopher king, meant when he enjoined us to “think of the life we have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. And we should go to our final resting place like a ripened olive that drops praying the earth that nourished it and grateful to the tree that gave it life.” Your existence, dear mother, actually glued to this advice. You made every second count by positively transforming the lives of people around you. That, perhaps, is the reason why they named you “Omeyaa”. The significance of that name is that you were ever ready to sacrifice your comfort in putting smiles on the faces of people you come across and ensuring their prosperities in life.
Omeyaa, though you painted the cloud blue and left us in the deepest sorrow of our time, we cannot question the decision of Almighty God. The golden footprints, you left, are inerasable in the sands of time. Needless to state that we are consoled by the undying words of the Great Buddha, when he said “even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely”. Toeing similar path, John Donne wrote, “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. Why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die”.
And in furtherance of that, David Mazzuchelli noted that “life is stressful, dear. That’s why they say, Rest in Peace”. Omeyaa, I’m proud that you conquered death even in death.
We are happy, dear omeyaa, we are happy
For death is even afraid of thee
And we can feel the savannah and garden of flowers smiling at thy heavenly acceptance.
Good bye, dear mother. Send our earthly greetings to Arch Angel Michael, Arch Angel Gabriel and all the Angels of Heaven. Tell them we would have loved to spend more time with you but we submit to the decision of The Almighty God. Tell them to always intercede for your children and people on earth.
Tell your husband, Julius Okorie Ajah, that he should have lived more to witness the progress of his children.
Tell our brother, Rev. Fr. Cletus P.A. Okorie that his death caused so many socio-psychological, economic, physical and spiritual tremors.
To your daughter, Getrude Okoro, tell her that she should have witnessed the success of her children before leaving.
Ask your son, Umahi, why didn’t he live to experience the birth of your last child and witness the prosperity of his siblings.
Thank you, dear mother, for the quality time you spent with us.
