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In the heart of turmoil, amidst the tumult of war, Mama stood as a pillar of strength, her unyielding faith and boundless love guiding our family through the darkest of times. Her story is one of resilience, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to those she cherished.
Tragically, just a few months later, disaster struck when the civil war erupted, and Nigerian fighter jets bombed our house in the teacher’s quarters in Aba. My parents gathered the three of us, and our cousin Chiedozie, and fled back home to Ozara.Mama recounted her second miracle as the incident during the harmattan season of 1968 when our family sought refuge on the banks of the Iyi-Ozo river, near Obodo, southwest of Ozara.
For our family, any lingering apprehensions from our time in Obuoffia were softened by the profound joy of surviving the war together. Mama played a vital role in nurturing and strengthening our bond with our Obuoffia relatives, fostering connections that transcended distance and hardship. As a child, I eagerly anticipated the 4-kilometer journey to Obuoffia every long vacation, where we would visit our kin in the Chief Nnaji Ani Nnaji compound in Umuiba.
Angela and I arrived for Elementary One at St. Paul’s with our slates and chalk, dressed in uniforms meticulously sewn by Mama using the sewing machine that had miraculously survived the war. Most importantly, though, we also each brought a deep aluminium bowl. At school dismissal, our bowls were filled with food from the Red Cross. As we lived just across the road, we would often return for more helpings, sometimes even climbing into the food drums to scrape rice from the bottom.
In the late 1970s, the Ozalla Health Centre was established as a primary healthcare centre under the National Basic Health Services Scheme . In 1979, Mama would be among the inaugural class to receive training as a community health aide at the School of Health Technology, Oji River. With this six-month residential training programme, she would return to formal schooling again, after a 17-year disruption.
My thoughts drifted back to a time when I was about 8 years old, gathered with all five of us siblings on a mat under the bright moonlight. Mama was unusually cheerful that evening, and she initiated a conversation about our future careers, starting with the youngest, the twins. It all seemed to be in jest, but it stuck with me.
Angela, on the other hand, expressed her aspiration to become a teacher. At the time, I might have been too young to fully grasp the significance, but as the years went by, I grew quietly proud of my big sister for stepping into Papa’s shoes. Papa had made a lasting impact through his teaching career across Nkanu, and now Ada Peter Nwomeh was continuing that esteemed tradition.
While instilling in us the code of honour expected of the “children of Peter Nwomeh,” Mama also went to great lengths to ensure we enjoyed a normal childhood alongside other neighbourhood kids. She taught us the importance of family, tirelessly working to maintain connections with all our extended relatives, in every direction, and never once attempting to sever our ties with anyone.
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