In June 2021, Umuak Times requested to interview Nneoma Cathy Odueze on certain issues. After the interview, the newspaper decided to come again for another interview but too bad, the time never came as the cold hands of death grabbed the woman of substance last week. Below is the reproduction of the interview in honour of her.

It is lovely to engage somebody like Mrs, Dame, Nneoma Nwereugo, Catherine Odueze. As someone who has a lot of “ex” leadership roles dangling on her neck, she has a lot of information and wisdom to pass to the public concerning education, Church, morals and Umuaka community.

When Umuaka Times held talks with Emeka Odueze, a US based Chief and attorney son of the amazing amazon, he promised to facilitate the interview and in less than 24 hours, Umuaka Times got words from him that his mother, was waiting.

Mrs Odueze is sad about several things concerning the society of today; from the cash and carry attitude of teachers, to the shameful state of Umuaka Community Hospital as well as the social behaviour of today’s boys who smoke weed and engage in other things. She told Umuaka Times that she is seriously pained seeing these abnormalities.

Excerpts:

You have ruled Umuaka women and Orlu in different capacities can you tell us a little about your experiences?

My name is  Dame Nneoma Catherine Odueze. The Dame there is a papal merit award from the Pope. The Nneoma title is from the late Bishop Gregory Ochiagha.

I ruled Umuaka women under Catholic Church and the entire married women organization which comprised both Christians and pagans. I did this for 8 years and after that I became the secretary of  Orlu Diocese for 8 years  became I became the president also for  8 years.

How was the situation then when you were the president of Umuaka women in those days?

It was great. i was able to have a cordial relationship with them. Both Umuaka and the women were intact then. We were holding prayer meetings with different churches both as married women of Umuaka and as the Catholic women. One day we asked ourselves if it was just prayer meetings always. From there we decided to embark on a project for the community. We decided to build Girls Secondary Technical School Umuaka.

Were you the president of the women then?

No. It was Mama Dora Amuzie that was the president and I was her secretary.

Before this dream came into reality, where were Umuaka girls going to school then?

There were only two female secondary schools then within our extended neighbourhood; Ogwa Girls and Ihioma Girls. Those families who had no means, could not send their daughters to secondary school then.

What happened thereafter?

We graded the women by categories and assigned special duties to them village by village. They women went into action immediately and work began. The Late Dora Amuzie and I travelled to Enugu where we got the approval and the school was approved. In Enugu too, they gave us the building plans and how many blocks etc to be erected.

I remember when the school first started, it was  both for boys and girls, what really happened because you said it was purely for girls?

Thank you very much for this question. When we realized that the school was approved for both genders, we could not take it because we already had Boys High School Umuaka. So we went back to Enugu to make an amendment. The amendment was approved and the boys were withdrawn and sent to High School Umuaka and the school assumed its original status.

What about the Umuaka Community Hospital which was also built during that era?

When we saw that the secondary school project was moving on fine,  we then decided to build a community hospital. With the late Apakama being the then chairman of Umuaka Town Development Union and with the late Dennis Nwokedi, we decided to have a hospital. We got a big parcel of land and the women swung into action again by first clearing the land.

As one of the pioneer Akalites who built the hospital, how do you feel seeing the state of the hospital today?

The thing is that when you see the hospital today as those who built it, it gives you deep pains because we know the level of suffering we went through to build it.

Why was the hospital not handed over to government to manage?

Some of us wanted it so, some even suggested joint venture partnership or hand it over to missionaries but the men refused saying that the community would manage it. Today, the community has run it aground.

But since Umuaka started managing the hospital how were the gains being shared among Umuaka villages?

We never say any gain. No community gained anything from the gains.  Those who cared to ask, were not given reasonable answers. They never spent the gains to go into other projects.

What about the mortuary?

The mortuary is an individual business owned by someone who leased one of the buildings.

Let’s go to the church again. You ruled the Catholic Women Organization for 8 years, did you build any business for the women?

During my tenure, remember Orlu came out from Owerri with 21 parishes and 25 priests. As at now you will get over 100 parishes and more than 200 priests. So under my tenure as the CWO chairman, we said the women must be self sustainable. So Umuaka under my tenure, was the first parish in the whole of Orlu Diocese to erect commercial buildings both upstairs and downstairs. We were also the first parish in Orlu to start telephone services before the advent of GSM phones.

I remember also the purpose of building the commercial houses was to assist the women pay less funds anytime there was a need to contribute money. Was this purpose ever achieved?

Yes it was achieved. We had  collector who was responsible for it then. I remember if Orlu Diocese levied say, N30,000 we would take about N10,000 from the gains made from the commercial buildings and add so that it would be a less financial burden for the women.

But women till date say it never happened?

It is the executive that would tell you not the ordinary members. During the time we were settling the accounts, all these issues came up. For example feeding the parish priests and taking food to the bishop, we never levied the women. We took the money from the gains made from the commercial buildings.

Were you people taking food to the bishop?

Yes we did.

 You equally had a supermarket right?

No it was the Parish Council and the Rev Father Oscar Nwanyanwu that organized it not CWO.

Do you remember that Father Oscar brought her sister to be managing the supermarket and women complained seriously.

You are correct. it really happened and the girl was later replaced by one of our daughters.

Who built Santa Maria Secondary School?

I did.  It was under my tenure as the CWO president that it was built. That time, anywhere I saw good things, I would make sure it was reproduced in Umuaka for our women. In the whole of Orlu Diocese, Ihioma came first and second was St Vincent  Amurie, the third was St Mary’s Umuaka to start a school.

How did it start then?

It was one late Catherine Nwaiwu, the daughter of Mrs Nwaiwu from Uba and one boy from Ibele who were there in one of the buildings doing babysitting for some nursing mothers. That time there was nothing like nursery school arrangement in Umuaka. the mothers were paying daily. They kept doing it until one day the late Bishop Ochiagha visited and saw it and called it Santa Maria. The arrangement then became institutionalized. we had nursery 1 up to nursery 3.

And what followed next?

We decided to make it a primary school. That was how the school started.

How did it become a secondary school then?

it was during the time of Monsignor Ukwwuoma. The school got to primary 6 and we said that we cannot train these kids and allow them to go to other schools and lose the grip of the morals we have instilled into them. We then started making moves to have Santa Maria Secondary School. That was how we moved and achieved.

So how do you feel today about the heavy progress recorded by the school so far?

I feel so happy honestly. I am so proud of it. It is just like in Orlu Diocese which makes me happy also. Almost everything done in the Diocese today. I started them. You can’t write the history of Orlu Diocese without including my name.

Can you list some of the things you started in Orlu?

First, I charged the women to go and start anything that would be yielding money for them. Some bought ambulance vehicles, some went into supermarket projects while others started telephone business. Even the Nwanne Ga Adi Bank, I started the foundation of the building therein Orlu and took it up to a large extent.

You took over from the late Mrs Dora Amuzie it is known today that she ruled the Umuaka women for 30 years, can you confirm  that?

Yes Mama Dorothy ruled Ndiome Umuaka for 30 years but by the time she started it, it was not CWO then. It was called Meeting Ndi Mrs. At the end of Church service then, an announcement would be made for the women to stay back for meeting “ndi mrs.” It was after the war that it was called CWO.

Why did she rule for 30 years?

It was because nobody then was qualified. Remember she was the first woman here to go to school. She did nursing and was exposed.

So how did you emerge?

It was during the war when after I had got married and they were looking for women leaders. I was where I was teaching inside a bush and i was informed that Umuaka Town Development Union wanted to change the government of Dora Amuzie because she has ruled for long. So they came and called me and when getting there, all Akalites were they waiting and they told me that they were waiting for me. and the rest became history.

Did you enter as what?

I entered as president.

For real? But I knew when Dora Amuzie was the president in the 80s.

Just listen. After I was made the wartime president of the Umuaka women, Amuzie was called back after the war to come and head the union again. So around mid 80s, i gathered the women again and started Umuaka Town Development Union women’s wing.

You seem to be everywhere. despite all these, you have also ruled Odoziaku Club of Umuaka before. So why always you?

Do you know my name? In Odiziaku Club, my name is Akaraka (talent) and you know very well that you can’t wipe out akaraka. My leadership contributions are also at the state levels. Do you know that some organizations still seek my leadership roles and I keep telling them that I am old enough to be resting, that they should leave me alone. Here in Imo State, I am the Elder of National Council of Women Society.

So tell us your talents.

I am not aggressive, I am always helpful and supportive. I don’t oppose good ideas. I always seek for solutions on how to achieve success for the people. I am also not criminally minded.

When you and others formed the Odoziaku Social Club in the 80s, some other women’s clubs were criticizing you saying that you were all ndi oriaku and not ndi odoziaku yet. They said the name did not fit in.

They are wrong. You are supposed to build wealth not chop wealth. And we are not those who eat only when our husbands give us.

How come the club is still strong till date after over 30 years?

We are even stronger now. Do You know that a parcel of land we bought N30,000 in the 80s, someone is asking us to sell it to him at N30,000,000?

Let’s go back to Church. Umuaka Times learnt that you once visited the late Pope John Paul. Was the visit on a personal capacity or under the church?

The church sent me. I have visited Rome 3 times. Orlu sent me first. In the year 2000, the whole Catholic Church in Nigeria sent me.  The Church also sent me for leadership training in Canada which lasted for 6 months?

Really? How were you able to manage under such a cold region?

It was terrible (general laughter).

You were a teacher who taught students with dedication and responsibility as well as fear of God. How do you rate teachers of today’s children at various schools?

Today’s teachers are no teachers. They are all commercial teachers. During our days we were real teachers while today you have real cheaters.

Why did you describe them so?

Because they are all looking for money. Our days, we took the students like our biological children and we built their capacities exactly how we built the capacities of our biological children. We were not after money then.

How do you feel when you seen some of the children who were once your students and they are influential men and women today?

I feel so proud and happy. During Christmas some of them use to come looking for me. Recently, one of them sent money to me through one of my children in America. The person said I was so nice to him as a teacher.

Are you aware that today’s parents are also guilty. Umuaka Times heard that there was a mother who went to school to fight the teachers because they flogged her son.

Not once not twice. It has even happened here at St Saviour’s when a parent hired some youths to beat a teacher for flogging his child. But when we were teaching in those days, we would flog a child 12 strokes of the cane and he would never tell his parents because his parents would flog him too. Not only that, we would also give them manual punishment like cutting of grasses.

Do schools still give such manual punishments today?

They do but any student you give such punishment would go and hire labourers to do it for him (Umuaka Times laughs).

On another note, some child psychologists and motivational speakers have said that these children who behave this way are not offenders but victims. Do you agree with them?

They are both victims and offenders. Some girls for example, their parents will always charge them to dress well and behave responsibly but when they go outside, their peer groups will mislead them. While some parents intentionally miseducate their children thinking they are saving them.

Tell us how your age grade girls were responding and relating to their parents during their growing up years. For example, some children of today will buy a lot of things and present them to their churches as gifts. Was any of you involved in such act?

Involved in what? How dare you? Who are you? (onye ka iwu kwanu?) During those days, if you ever wore any dress which was not bought for you by your parents, consider yourself dead that day, if you can’t explain properly. You can’t even keep late night. Where would you tell your parents you went to?

Can you relate that to today?

Today, a child can leave her parents for two weeks without even informing his parents.

Ok, on what occasion were you allowed to go out and sleep?

During Oghu festivals then and your parents must know who your Oghu friend was. Nothing like midnight prayers or adoration. We only had egwu onwa. These churches have killed our children with adorations and midnight prayers.

Ok what is the solution?

My son, I have been thinking about the solution but no clue. It is only God that will save us. How do you control the attitude of these children? A growing up child in school can now comfortably buy a motorcycle of over half a million naira. See, we now have parents who go out and borrow money and buy phones and laptops for their children to start yahoo yahoo. Today we hear of boys of less than 18 years building hotels and driving big cars.

Was it not like that before?

Never! In those days, if anyone ever bought a car, we would all know the type of business he or she was into.

Someone called Umuaka Times on phone recently and said that we should stop bothering them that education has died and it has been buried with iron casket. what do you say about that?

We do not know where Nigeria is headed to and that is very painful. When my husband was teaching you guys, he used to say, “English is your passport.”  A child in school who can’t even write his name and his parents have given their support, their parents should take the blame.

Ok, in your years of growing up, how were you people seeing those smoking Indian hemp then?

Indian what? Did we even see it at all? Those who were smoking cigarette then were seen as bad people that should be avoided by good children.

Was there also any day any girl ever tried to smoke cigarette?

Never in this world. Boys who were doing it then were hiding to smoke and after smoking, they would clean their mouths properly because if you ever perceive the smell from their mouths, it would be a problem for them. Even hot drinks too.

I was also told that in those days any child who bought geisha or egg to eat will be labeled a thief?

He is purely a thief. (Owu onye oshi). How and where did he get the money? Do you think it is these days these girls would go and collect money from their boyfriends? Any boy who bought such things in those days would be called “onye onu tori tori” or “onye akpiri ogologo.”.

Oh for real?

Yes. Have you ever asked yourself about these boys who go to churches to do thanksgiving, how they came about the money?

In those days also, were you people into boyfriend and girlfriend relationships?

We did but with deep fear of God. All our friends were also friends to our families.  During farming they would come and farm for your parents and vice versa. If it were for egwu onwa, (moonlight games) your elder brothers were there and when it was time to go, they would call you and you must follow them home. There was deep discipline.

Do you mean no girl followed any boy home after an egwu onwa expedition?

Who are you? (Onye ka iwu kwanu?) To whose house? The parents of the boy would never allow that to happen. Do you think it is now that there are houses everywhere?

What of now that the yahoo boys will carry their girlfriends on motorcycles and be cruising in town? During those days was it bicycle that your era was using?

Where did you even see the bicycle? Where would you even take the girl to? Where would she tell her parents that you took her to?  Such things were not pronounced then biko.

What of those girls who got pregnant without a husband?

Aru ka aru (an abomination higher than abomination). Those days the mother would be severally punished for not training her daughter well.

Finally, Umuaka Times heard that you are a lot of firsts. Can you tell us the firsts?

First I was the first woman in Umuaka that initiated a project in Umuaka. We were drilling the soil to get pipe borne water. I was the first person to build a commercial house in Orlu for the Catholic women. I was the first woman to begin August meeting in Orlu in the Catholic Church too. I first started it in Umuaka. I was the first woman to introduce uniforms for August meetings.

Why did you do that?

I did it because ndiome would come and be showing their expensive dresses and some would go home and change their dresses twice a day. One day I heard that a woman went to steal what she would wear for August meeting and she was caught. Based on that, I introduced uniforms and each village has its union. On the town unions too, it was the same.

Was there any other thing you did?

I was the woman who started Ezinne and Nneoma Awards in Umuaka and Orlu. We also had Pioneer Christian Mothers. There is also Nneoma Nwere Ugo.  (pointing at the Umuaka Times reporter) Your mother is an Nneoma Nwere Ugo. I am also the first Nneoma Nwere Ugo. I was also the first woman from Orlu who went to Rome to see Pope. I was also the first woman in Orlu the Pope gave an award and we had a papal handshake and more.

Catholic Church and many other churches have universities. Why is it that Church universities are very expensive?

The point depends on the owner. Like Father Edeh who has Madonna. It depends on the quality of the education and other benefits as well.

Is that why it should be expensive?

To be honest, they are not supposed to be expensive.

Thanks a lot for your time mama.

May God bless you my son.