LATE Mrs Oghogho Orumwense, has been described as a selfless mother and great daughter of  the Benin Kingdom, who triumphed over the traditional gender prejudices and poverty that were predominant in her environment.  A lecturer at the University of Benin, Dr Eddy Akpomera in a tribute in honour of late Mrs Orumwense said amongst the many visible positive evidence of her triumph in ensuring social class mobility for her family is her second son, Professor Faraday Osasere Orumwense, incumbent Vice – Chancellor, University of Benin, Benin City (UNIBEN), who is a mechanical engineer.

She was said to be “very caring even to her step children, very affectionate to her siblings, and accommodating to many indigent members of the community. As the leading light in the family and community leader, she was a great philanthropist, selfless, open and disciplined. Late Mrs Oghogho Orumwense added value to the lives of many and improved on the welfare of families, especially women and youths, that in their adulthood, many still saw as their foster mother.

According to the tribute, “she was not lettered, but she was amongst the vanguard of wise mothers in the Edo region who sold their prized wrappers and blouses to provide financial leverage for their children’s education in higher institutions at home and abroad. In the competitive traditional family settings laced with poverty, polygamy and gender stratification, wise mothers realized early enough that quality education for their children, beyond just primary and secondary levels, was the major doorway out of the family’s low social class as modernization crept into the culturally-rigid communities.