Anambra Commissioner, Onitsha Traders Pay Tribute as chairman buries mother

By Julie Sylvia, Onitsha

The Anambra Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Obinna Ngonadi, and traders operating at Onitsha Main market and environs, were among those who attended the funeral of late Mrs. Louisa Nwanyiugo Ezeoha, mother of the Chairman of Onitsha Main market, Chief Innocent Ezeoha.

Late Mrs Ezeoha, aged 98 was buried at Umuojum village, Amanasaa Umuchu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The Commissioner who joined others to pay tribute to the deceased, urged Mr Ezeoha and his siblings, to take heart and prayed God to give you them the heart with which to bear the irreparable loss.

Also in their tribute, the Onitsha Main market scribe, Chief Obi Ifediora, who led the traders in company of one of the zonal Chairmen, Chief Leonard Okeke, urged the bereaved family not to see the death of their mother as end to their stay on Earth, as he assured them that she transited to a better place for rest.

He expressed satisfaction with the leadership of their Chairman, adding that he has been able to turn around the market within a short stay of the present executive of the market and assured the State Government of the determination of the Chairman and his executives to take the market to the next level.

Most of the traders at the Onitsha Main market, shut their shops from the wake keep on Friday, to Sunday, that was the thanks-giving mass at SS Peter and Paul Catholic church, Umuchu, in honour of their chairman, who they described as a man of the people who has come to sanitize the market.

In his tribute, a Chieftain of the market, Chief Chizoba Okonkwo, (a k a. Fantasy), disclosed that the late mother to their chairman, was a virtuous woman who loved peace and always stressed the need for generosity.

He said further that, “I am here because her son who is the chairman of Onitsha Main market, was a senior apprentice trader, when we were apprentices to Chief Michael Ezeigwe, a trader at Onitsha Main market.

“I pray God to guide and protect the Ezeoha family and I also want them to emulate their late mother who fought like a wounded lion to bring them up in the way of our Lord, Jesus Christ”, he prayed further.

Speaking, the last of the seven children of the late mother, Mrs. Chinwe Ezeamama, said that her mother was a virtuous woman, known for her generosity.

“My mother was a kind woman, so caring, loving, and reliable. My prayer is that God in His infinite mercy will grant her eternal rest”, she prayed.

Also in his tribute, the chairman of Onitsha Main market, Innocent, the Chief mourner, commended the traders for leaving all their tight schedules to be at the burial ceremony and prayed God to reward them abundantly.

He described his mother as a rare gem who came into this world to better the welfare of others, especially the down trodden, adding that they have lost a mother who it is hard to fill the vacuum she left.

“A mother’s love is always with her children, losing a mother is one of the deepest sorrow a heart can know. Nothing breaks the heart more than having a world or home without a mother.

“My mother was an excellent dancer and leader of Odenigwe dance group, Ikpaeke, where she obtained the name, ‘Opaku. Opaku was a wonderful woman with proven integrity. So my mother was an excellent wife, mother, daughter, and friend. She was an angel in human form,” he disclosed.