Iyom Chizuo Omalu: 1934 – 2022

Onyekwelu Omalu

The death of one’s parents is usually painful and leaves one with a deep sense of loss and deprivation. For the late John Omalu Family in Urunnevo, Enugwu-Ukwu, the news of our dear mother’s death was devastating. Although she departed at the very ripe age of 87 years, we wished and prayed that she would attain 100 years and even more. However death is an inevitable end for every mortal and Mummy has answered the call. We remain eternally grateful to our Almighty God for the fulfilled life she lived, for the great impact she made on our lives, the testimony of exemplary Christian life full of love, hospitality and goodwill to all.

Iyom Chizuo Caroline Chinwude Omalu was born in Aba on April 12, 1934, as the first child of seven children, into the family of Nwammadu Okoye [Ezenwa, Ochendo, Onwanetiliora] and Catherine Ekwutosi Okoye [Nwanyigbuefi, Mama Aba, Ochiliozua] of Umunri kindred, Obeagu Village, Agukwu Nri, Anambra State, Nigeria.

She received her primary school education at Holy Rosary Primary School, Aba, where she excelled in her studies and graduated two years early with a distinction in her First-School-Leaving-Certificate. She was admitted into the Holy Rosary Secondary School, Aba, but as fate would have it her father, Nwammandu Okoye, died suddenly and unexpectedly from an illness which was wrongly diagnosed by his doctors.

Iyom gracefully gave up her education, and made an ultimate sacrifice, like she always did in her entire life, to work and assist her mother to take care of her younger siblings, send them to school and pay for their education. She forfeited her education so that her siblings would have same. Everyone who was blessed to encounter this good woman, Iyom, would vividly acknowledge that she was a woman of immense love and peace, who never tired of making every sacrifice she could to alleviate the plight, pain and suffering of another soul.

She enrolled in a two-year trade school to learn how to become a seamstress, and as soon as she completed her training, she began a tailoring business. She opened her first store in front of the family house at 29 Ehi Road in Aba. She burnt the midnight candle, worked hard, and gave it her all to make a difference in the lives of her mother, brothers, and sisters. She wholeheartedly assumed the role of her late father and helped to take care of her family. As expected, she became successful given her brilliance and highly sophisticated intellect and intuition. In less than five years, her business had grown to three stores with over 25 apprentices and 18 sewing machines of different brands and applications.

Despite her success, she remained humble and took care of her mother and her brothers and sisters who now took her like they would take a mother. She provided all she could and made every sacrifice that was necessary to see her younger siblings succeed. She denied herself even the most basic social life of her peers at such a young age. At a very young age she had begun to answer to the call of Christ, to be thy brother’s or sister’s keeper. This she did all through her life. Iyom Chizuo was her mother’s keeper, her brother’s keeper, she was her sister’s keeper, she was her husband’s keeper, her children’s keeper, and the keeper of every soul whose life path crossed hers. She extended her special gift of love and kindness to all.

Iyom Chizuo had many suitors who wanted to marry her, but her heart fell for a young mining engineer from Urunnevo, Enugwu-Ukwu, Oba John Donatus Amaechi Omalu. They got married in 1958 in Aba, at the same cathedral where Iyom Chizuo attended and practised her Roman Catholic faith. Oba Omalu was working at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Power and was posted to the Ministry’s state office in Jos, Plateau State. Oba Omalu’s work in a Federal Ministry enabled them to live in different towns and states in Nigeria when he was transferred and re-posted across the country. In addition to Jos, they lived in Minna, Ibadan, Lagos, Enugu, and Ilorin. With time Iyom learnt to speak Hausa and Yoruba fluently, a very good example of a Wazobian Nigerian.

Iyom Chizuo and her dear husband Oba John Omalu, who died in 2014, were blessed with seven children, Onyekwelu, Chinyelu, Uchenna, Ikemefuna, Chizoba, Ifeakandu and Kenechukwu who are doing very well in their various stations in life. It is our wish that in our next world we will still become the offspring of this wonderful couple.

Iyom was simply called Mummy, and yes, what a wonderfully good “Mummy” she was. She became the quiet strength, center, and pillar of her wonderfully blessed and successful family. All you need to do is to look at who her children are, and have become, and look at who her husband became. Luckily for us, her peaceful life permeated her family and we all lived as one united and peaceful unit. Iyom Chizuo was never the loud type; she was never the trouble making type. She lived a very peaceful and deliberate life, and she loved boldly and quietly. She was as solid and impenetrable as diamond, yet she was as soft and cute as a puppy. She was as invigorating as the rising sun, yet as calming as the morning dew.

She loved, she loved, and she loved. Her heart and soul were pure. She was never miserly with love, and she made every sacrifice and denied herself of even the most basic conveniences of life so that the people around her would feel loved, have a sense of purpose and be happy. Her life’s focus was neither on the mundane vanities of life nor the possession of monetary wealth. But once someone teased her and asked her why she and her husband built only one house, she calmly and happily replied, look, each of my children is worth many skyscrapers. This was Iyom Chizuo. The more she gave, the more she received. She was ever happy and at peace with her life journey. She was simply one of the happiest persons you could have ever met. Her beautifully unique smile and dance steps would brighten up every heart.

No wonder her peers and members of her extended family and those of her husband’s family joyfully called her Iyom Chizuo, Nne Ifunanya and College Umuagbala. She was a peace maker and a woman of peace who gathered everyone together to celebrate love, to celebrate what we all share together rather than what divides us. She brought and gave peace to all who encountered her. Iyom was honoured with several awards and in January 2022, just before she went home, the Saint Francis Catholic Church, Enugwu-Ukwu, presented Iyom Chizuo with the “The Great Grand Patroness Award” of the church. This is her legacy as she rests eternally in the bosom of Abraham in the heavenly glory. The angels of heaven sang out loud the day she came home.

Mummy we miss you. Mummy we love you. Mummy we cherish you. Mummy we are deeply thankful for the gift of you, and we thank God for blessing us with you. Mummy, rest in eternal peace. We shall all see you again. God will continue to bless you, even in the heavenly glory. Amen.