The Umuorji Ohanze Community stood still on Thursday as a prominent daughter and matriarch, late Mrs Elizabeth Mary Nwakanma, was laid to rest in her home town in Obingwa LGA, at the age of 89.
The burial service was performed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with Pastor Professor Bassey Udoh, President of the Eastern Nigeria Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, officiating.
In a sermon culled from the book of Mark I6, Pastor Udoh admonished Christians to live a humble and righteous life to make heaven on the last day as death is inevitable.
Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu delivered a eulogy in which he described the deceased as a devout Christian who lived a simple life, showed love, gave her everything to God and urged all to follow her outstanding traits.
Her death, he claimed, signified the end of a crucial structure that had bound the Nwakanma and Ikpeazu families together.
The governor implored the bereaved family to let unity, love, humility and faith in God continue to reign in their family.
In a written biography, one of the deceased’s grandkids, Chinedu Nwakanma, characterised their late mother as a virtuous and caring woman with a lovely character, one who reached out to people in her own manner.
The late Mrs Elizabeth Mary Nwakanma is survived by five children, numerous grandchildren, and other relatives, including the Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Chief Rowland Nwakanma.
ABIA ONLINE gathered that the Governor’s Wife, Nkechi Ikpeazu, PhD (Nee Nwakanma), and her siblings, including the former Deputy Governor of Abia State, Rt Hon Eric Acho Nwakanma, National and State Assembly members, members of the State Executive Council, the Governor’s New Chief of Staff, Chief Okey Ahiwe, gubernatorial aspirants, Engr Nwafor Enyinnaya and Ncheta Okoro Omerekpe, State Head of Service, Sir Onyii Wamah, and other dignitaries attended the burial.