BIOGRAPHY OF A TRUE MOTHER, MRS RHODA AMAECHI JUPADIM NEE ONWUCHEKWA (ODOZIAKU JUPA) 1936 - 2022. Aged 86 years.
Burial date: 13th and 14th April 2023.
THE GENESIS
The late Mrs Rhoda Amaechi Jupadim, nee Onwuchekwa, was born on the 9th of May, 1936, in Uhuele Village of Enugu-Umuonyia, in the then Aguata Local Government Area, now currently in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Her parents, also of the blessed memory, were Mr Godfery and Mrs Eunice Onwuchekwa.
While growing up as a child, little Rhoda had a rude shock in life that somehow, was very difficult to heal. She had seven siblings, but lost her two immediate younger ones in one day to the cold hands of death. That was after the kids had eaten in a neighbour's house. That bad incident left her with only five siblings; three brothers and two sisters to grow up with thereafter. Among the five, she is survived by only two of her younger brothers.
EARLY EDUCATION
Born in an Anglican home, the young Rhoda was baptized and was active both in school and the church.She had her primary education at the Church Missionary Society (CMS), Akpo and Achina which is known today as Combined Primary School, Akpo and Achina. While in school, she exhibited great talent in sports; a sprinter per excellence she was. She represented her school in many inter school sports competitions.
Mama was also good in academics, a gift, which attracted many admirers to her. Having passed her Standard Six Examination in flying colours, she started to teach immediately after her graduation.
JOURNEY TO THE NORTH
In 1962, the young and charming Miss Rhoda Amaechi Onwuchekwa, found her heartthrob, a Kano based business icon from Ogbo Village, Akpo, the late MrJulius Patrick Dim a.k.a. Language is Money, and they got married immediately. With the marriage rites completed, the new bride followed her husband to Kano in the Northern Nigeria, where they resided. As an industrious woman she was, while in Kano, Mama immediately joined her husband in the management of his booming departmental store; the 'Jupadim Stores, Kano', a business conglomerate with many arms. She also worked with Singer Company in Kano where she becamea professional in sewing, knitting and creative designs. Their marriage was blessed with eight wonderful children; four boys and four girls. It would be nice to point out here that God specially designed the couple's mode of delivery, as Mama's first child was a girl, the second was a boy, the third, girl,the fourth boy in that order till they had their last child. It was only but a blessing from God.
The couple was on top of their game in the business world, breaking boundaries in the local scene and waxing very strong in foreign trade as importer of variety of goods, including books, until the Nigerian Civil War broke out in 1967. As the drum bit of the impending war was gathering momentum, Mama, in 1966, in agreement with her husband, relocated back to Akpo with her young family, while her husband stayed back in Kano for a while to pick up the pieces before joining his young family in the Southern Nigeria.
SURVIVAL DURING THE CIVIL WAR
With the children in Akpo to cater for, no store to manage, and the husband still in Kano, Mama tied her wrapper and went to her home town, Enugu-Umuonyia, a land fairly blessed with stones, and carried two tablets of stones to Akpo. As an industrious woman, who worked so hard to ensure that her family did not lack the basics of life, especially, food and clothing, Mama threw shame to the winds and with those stones, she went into business. She used the stones to grind dried tobacco leaves into tobacco snuff (Anwuru or Utaba in lgbo Language), which she sold. Though she never took snuff in her entire life, she was still able to know the right amount of all the different ingredients she used to make the best snuff in town. With the visible hand of God in the business, Mama's snuff business grew and gave her a name in Akpo and beyond. With the business, she helped many to survive the civil war, especially the Biafran refugees, who camped at both The Salvation Army School and the CMS School compounds close to her residence in Akpo. With the business, her family comparatively lived in affluence even in the midst of the raging war. Her children and many of her house helps never complained of hunger or lacked what to wear all through the war. Instead, her home was a rendezvous to many, especialy, young men who fed freely from Nne Amaechi's pot.
LIFE AFTER THE WAR
When her husband relocated from Kano, first to Onitsha and later, to Akpo during the war, he
reestablished Jupadim Stores in Akpo. When the war ended and life was beginning to improve gradually, Mama went back to her first love, her teaching career and gradually dropped the Utaba business. But with the spirit of hard work in her DNA, she was combining her teachingjob with rendering assistance to her husband in the departmental store. While in the store this time around, among other things, she learnt
the art of typesetting and in a short while, she became the Chief Typist in the conglomerates known as Jupadim Stores, Akpo. Her dexterity and speed on the typewriter were something else. This she involuntarily transferred to her children, especially, some of her daughters. She was performing her civil job cum working with her husband in the store without failing short in her role as a mother at the home front. Mama also loved farming, which she inherited from her parents. Hence, during the farming seasons, her Saturdays and holidays were devoted solely to farm work, unless where circumstances demanded otherwise.
FURTHER EDUCATION AND JOURNEY
As a woman that would always want to stand out in whatever she desired to do, Mama was not
comfortable being a teacher with only a Standard Six Certificate. So, she desired to improve herself in the profession she loved so much. She went back to school and obtained her Teachers' Grade I| Certificate in Education at St Loretta's Teachers' Training College Adazi-Nnukwu, in Anaocha Local Government Area of
Anambra State. After her graduation from St Loretta's, she taught in different primary schools for a while and again, proceeded to the Anambra State College of Education, Awka, where she bagged her Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE), majoring in lgbo Language/Guidance and Counseling. After. her graduation, she again taught in different primary schools, some of which include: Central School, Akpo, Udoka Primary School, Akpo, Egbuike Primary School, Akpo, St Charles Primary School, Achina, among
others, before she relocated to the United States of America in 1999. She officially retired voluntarily from the teaching profession in 1999. In America, she became a citizen of the States where she resided until the Good Lord called her home at exactly 5:42 pm (Nigerian Time) on that fateful Monday of 24th October,2022, while at the Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, USA.
A MOTHER TO MANY
Mrs Rhoda Amaechi Jupadim was a mother to many. She had the grace of having house helps for the greater part of her adult life. But one striking thing was the fact that hardly could anyone differentiate between her biological children and the house helps that lived with her. In our years of growing up, Mama made sure that we all ate from the same plate, on the same table, at the same time. Meanwhile, everyone in the house had access to her pot at anytime. If she decided to sew clothes for her family, she would go to the market and buy a bale of cloth. From that bale, she would make clothes for every child in the home whether biological or adopted. Of course, she was a good seamstress, a skill she handed down to some of herchildren. Still worthy of note is the fact that weaving sweaters of different sizes, shapes and designs, was her pastime hobby. She loved children. No wonder all those who at one time or the other lived with her, continued to clusteraround her in love anytime she was in the country. Mrs Rhoda Amaechi Jupadim was 'Mama Oha'. Her door was
always wide open for hospitality to anyone that desired it. Her humanitarian assistance to others was second to none.
A WOMAN OF PEACE
A virtue worthy of mentioning, was her peaceable nature. Mama was peace personified. She would rather give you all no matter what it might cost her, just to avoid any unnecessary argument from brewing between you and her. For her, it was; 'let peace reign always' or else, she would walk away to avoid troubles. Ifyou ask
her why she would act that way, her response would always be: "'Ka m weere ndum mere ihe." (Let me do something meaningful with my life).
ASEASONED SECRETARY/RECORDER
As a seasoned secretary, Mama served in different organizations she belonged to, majorly as secretary. For instance, she was the secretary of Umuada Uhuele Village in her biological home town, Enugu-Umuonyia for many years. She was the secretary to Alutara di Umudimaku Kindred in Akpo, also for decades, Financial Secretary to Isusu be Jupa, a mini cooperative society for low income earners, which she championed its
formation and partners met in her house every Oye Market day. In her home church, St Peter's Anglican Church, Akpo, she also served as secretary in different committees in the house of God.
NO DULL MOMENT wITH JOKES
Anyone who had a relationship with Mama will not forget some of her jokes and deep statements in a hurry.
Most times, in her bid to cause everyone around her to laugh, she would make a statement like: "Before Abraham, iwu ozara,"' mimicking one of her classmates in her early days in school. According to her, in one of their Christian Religious Knowledge classes, the teacher asked the class to complete the statement: "Before Abraham - and instead of supplying the answer as: "l was," (quoting Jesus Christ), one of the pupls answered: "lwu ozara" and the whole class bust into laughter. This joke, however, became an issue in the family because, on one occasion, Mama's third daughter, Chinelo, went for, her Primary Six external examination and in one of the fill-in questions in Christian Religious Knowledge, the question was:"Before Abraham .... and Nelo, without any ado, happily wrote: "lwu ozara." She came home joyfully after the examination to announce to the house that she saw what she considered as the cheapest question in the examination, When Mama asked her what the question was and she boldly stated the fact and the answer she supplied, all of us around, including Mama, shouted, pointing out the error and immediately, everyone bowed and started regretting the error with the joke that was taken too far. Mama was not happy at all, as she took the blame for the error. She never cast such a joke again without helping everyone around to understand what she meant.
Again, as a woman of few words, Mama would always ask: "Ashiri ona agu gi?" This is when one wanted to probe what does not really concern one. Ifyou engaged in a discussion with her and you arrogantly wanted to prove that you were wiser than all, Mama would simply say: "lgara akwukwo na nke Aaron," among many other sayings of hers.
WALK WITH GOD
Mama was a committed Christian to the core. She would hardly miss going to church on Sunday morning and very early too, even if she was sick the previous night. Everybody in St Peter's Anglican Church, Akpo, knew her seat in the church because she would always be in church early enough to meet the seat vacant.
She was a church worker of great repute at the home church, where she served in many capacities and in different committees. She was secretary to the Parish Church Council (PCC) and the financial secretary Harvest Committee of the church for many years. She was also the secretary for the Home and Abroad Women's Meeting in the church for several years. She was a member of most of the Adhoc Committees
that were set up in the church for different purposes at one time or the other. Mama was a patroness to St Peter's Anglican Youth Fellowship, Akpo, as well as that of the arms of both the Boys and Girls Brigades in
the church. She remained a very active member of the Women's Guild till her death.
Even while living in the United States of America, her active participation in the work of God never
diminished. The testimonies of the members of the church she worshipped with in America, attested to the fact that she remained a committed Christian till her last day on earth in the foreign land. Indeed, Mama loved God; she loved God's Word.
BOWING OUT IN GLORY
For the fact that there is a path every mortal must walk since Christ is yet to come, Mama took ill on Friday, the 14th of October, 2022. While on her sick bed, she pleaded with us, her children via online meeting to always stick together in peace and unity, adding: "The load ahead of you should not be left for one person alone. You should carry your loads together." Humm, what a deep counsel you may say. After making those
key statements, she called on her last daughter, Uchenna, to close the meeting with a prayer, which she did. Thereafter, we, her children, took turns to encourage her, praying that she would recover fast from the sick bed. But Lo! It was God that had the final say, as He called our beloved Mother, Mrs Rhoda Amaechi Jupadim, nee Onwuchekwa home almost one week after our meeting, precisely, on Monday, the 24th of
October, 2022.
For us, it is: TO GOD BE THE GLORY for a life well spent.
Mama Ãs survived by Her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, brothers, in-laws and many other relatives too numerous
to mention.
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