By Joesf Omorotionmwan
Let us return to the countryside. Some Nigerian historians could work a bit harder. This is not intended to be a challenge but a statement of truth. They roam the streets of our cities endlessly in search of history; whereas with each passing day, our rural population is replete with history only waiting to be recorded. We look forward to such a time when students of history in our tertiary institutions would be required to do project works on their villages instead of the British Commonwealth or some abstract faraway places.

There are some obviously incontrovertible truths about today’s subject – the late Madam Alice Mosheri Omorotionmwan, my step mother. She was born into the family of Owenfan Umweni of Idumwuomo Quarters, Oghada in the present Isi North Ward of Uhunmwode Local Government Area of Edo State. Her mother, the late Owie Owenfan, hailed from the Ehigiator family of Igbontor-Igbanke in the present Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State. This much we can vouch for, even under oath.

Was she born on May 14, 1925 as shown by the evidence before us? Perhaps not. At best this could be a passport age. After all, there was no birth registry at Oghada at the time she was born. And there was no question about her age until some 20 years ago, when her children in the USA wanted her to come over for “Omuguo” (to help take care of her grand children).

The error factor here is excusable, given the fact that she was born when she was born. When I hear a particular religious sect dissipating energy, energy that should have been spent on evangelism, arguing that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25, I pity such.

Mama Omorotionmwan’s early life was not a bed of roses, so to say. But she prosecuted life with sheer determination, hard-work and with the abiding faith in God. She had no formal education. She relished talking about her efforts to resist going to school at an early age. According to her, when asked to go to school, she would run into hiding, thinking that she was avoiding being sold into slavery. This was one deep regret that she carried throughout her life.

Interestingly enough, she compensated adequately for her deficiency in the way she brought up her offspring. That explains how she eventually became an ardent lover of education; she invested tremendously in the training of her children and grand-children. It is most gladdening that she lived long enough to reap the benefits of her labour. She had money to help those children of the underprivileged in the community. She hated to see any child sent out of school for non-payment of fees.

Mama got married at an early age to Pa Lato Omorotionmwan of Oghada. This was a marriage ordained in Heaven by God Almighty. It was not only a blessing but it also formed the foundation of the very successful life story of our family.

Mama was engaged in farming and trading on various kinds of goods. She traded in the local markets on different items of the season. Indeed, her hard work earned her the appellation, “The lady that does not sleep” because she virtually worked throughout the day and night.

Habits are difficult to break. We can testify to the faming part of her life, which followed her across the Atlantic when she started growing okro at the back of the house in Texas USA, which produce she proudly distributed to members of her local Baptist Church. She was, indeed, the Mother Theresa of our time.

Mama remained a blessing to her generation, particularly the women of Idumwuomo quarters, Oghada. When the nurse in the Oghada Community Clinic was not available to deliver babies, mama took charge and her kindness soon spread to neighboring villages where she was invited whenever the midwife was not around.

Mama was a very sociable person. She danced hard like the Biblical David; sometimes, it did not matter to her whether her dancing was off beat as long as she had fun. Mama could dance to any music of any beat or language. She did not like to see any opportunity to dance wasted. She was, indeed, a jolly good fellow!

The greatest thing that happened to her was in the United States in the month of February 1998, when she gave her life to Christ.

Wherever she went, she was everything good to everybody: a counselor, an arbitrator and a conciliator to her relatives, friends and the community-at-large. She loved and worked for peace. She hated quarrels, always maintaining that they were sure sources of early death. Mama’s door was always open for food for anyone who was hungry and ready to eat. She was the greatest cook in the family. Food was her welcome word to visitors before sitting down in her home. Food must be around 24 hours of the day. It was therefore not by accident that the stroke which finally took her life struck when she was in the kitchen, doing what she loved to do best.

In all things, she left a legacy of humility, kindness and service to humanity and of dedicated service to God. She left a legacy of good name, which is better than riches and her life was acclaimed a model by all who knew her. This is the greatest heritage we the children are so proud of. She will be forever remembered for maintaining that he who cannot forgive certainly breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.

She very peacefully departed from this sinful world of ours in Grand Prairie, Texas, USA, at about 3 a.m. on Monday June 2, 2014.

She is survived by her loving and dedicated husband, Pa Omorotionmwan, nine children, 39 grand-children, 52 great grand-children, sons- and daughters- in-law.

May her gentle soul rest in the bosom of the Lord, Amen!