From Left: Former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Peter Obi, one of the officiating priests, National President of ANLCA, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike, wife, Mrs Nwabunike, a chieftain of ANLCA, Ozor Chukwura and another associate shortly after the Funeral Mass on Friday.

It was a gathering of who is who in Nigeria’s supply chain and the political arena, especially from the South Eastern part of the country as National President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ANLCA, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike buried his mum. Late Mrs. Nneora Maria Adaobi Nwabunike, amid pomp and pageantry.

The matriarch of the Nwabunike family, (Nee Chukwuma), a philanthropist and kind-hearted woman, especially towards the poor and down-trodden and who has been adjudged to have lived a fulfilled life, passed on at the ripe age of 91 and was buried Friday, August 27, 2021 in her husband’s country home in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Meanwhile, the Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart Parish of the Catholic Church, Ukunu Eziora Ozubulu, who was also one the officiating Priests at the well-attended funeral Mass, Rev. Fr. Anselm Olua Onyebuchi, while speaking during the service, took a swipe at the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB over its weekly sit at home order.

Nwabunike while speaking at the funeral mass, extolled the virtues of his late mum, who he described as mother like no other. He also disclosed that shortly before her death, the mum requested of him to ensure that an educational foundation was set up in her name and memory to give scholarships to indigent children.

From left: Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike, wife and younger sister, Bene during the funeral mass.

To fulfil this mandate, Nwabunike, who was also pioneer chairman of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria CRFFN announced a donation of N10million towards the setting up of the educational foundation in honour of his late mum, even as his friends, colleagues and associates announced various amounts of money towards the setting up of the foundation.

A sympathiser, who commented on the colourful event, which featured display by chariots and horsemen, traditional dancers and the Pure Brass Orchestral Band from Akwa Ibom State, among several others, described it as a carnival and ‘the best way to go home’.

The Priest, who reacted to the setting up of the educational foundation in honour of the Nabunike Matriarch, decried the repeated sit at home order by the IPOB, which unwittingly cripples education, trade and commerce, which the South East is noted for.

According to him, the sit at home order does not in any way negatively affect the people the IPOB is trying to fight while it works against the present and future interest of the people the group is trying to fight for and liberate.

“The Igbo man places high premium on education even while doing his merchandising business and so when you order your people to sit at home, you shut their schools and keep their children at home while their contemporaries in other regions are in school. You shut your peoples’ shops and market and you deny your people their means of livelihoods, I think, we should try and get our priorities right”, the Priest argued.

In attendance at the event were former Governor of Anambra State and a one-time Vice Presidential Candidate under the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Chief Peter Obi, the Traditional Ruler of Anado Nnewi Kingdom, Igwe Dr K.O.N Orizu iii; the traditional Ruler of Umueri, Eze Samuel and renowned industrialist and politician, Chief Chuma Nzeribe, among several others.

The Matriarch’s final rites of passage began Thursday August 26, 2021 with a Service of Songs at her husband’s country home, Late Jonny Okafor Nwabunike, who she got married to on May 27, 1947 at the age of 17 years.

A climax of the event was a thanksgiving and an outing mass, which also held today at the same church.

The marriage was blessed with nine children. She is survived by her five surviving children, including Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike, a politician, international trade and commerce expert and a major player in Nigeria’s shipping and maritime industry.