The Offorjis bury their mum in a carnival-like event.
2 min read
Thursday 27 May 2021made a remarkable imprints in the burial ceremonies in Umuaka. On that day, the corpse of the late Mrs Geraldine Onyewuchibeya Offorji was laid to rest in a typically defined carnival-like event. Because of the planning and implementation of the burial ceremonies, Umuaka Times for the first time, went to the mortuary to be a part of the group of people and organizations to receive the corpse. After waiting for about an hour at the mortuary very close to Nwaorieubi Roundabout, the motorcade was formed and off to Umuaka they left.
Despite the presence of about three exotic SUVs from the funeral service providers, there was also a Rolls Royce limousine which was hired to exclusively convey the corpse to all the places it would be taken to in Umuaka before the final resting place. From Nwaorieubi, the motorcade arrived Umuaka in about 30 minutes time due to some stopovers observed along the road. The first port of call the motorcade and some hired motorcyclists visited was the country home of Mr Sabastine Offorji, the first son of the deceased. The moment they arrived his compound, he welcomed the corpse and said, “Mma nnuo” and wished her a safe trip to eternity. He also asked God to receive her soul and that was the end and everybody was on the move again.
From there, the paternal home of the deceased in Umulolo Ugbele was the next destination where the elders of the community came out in mass to welcome ada ha nwanyi. In double quick time, some rituals were observed and the motorcade went to the Anyibe family house in Uba Umuaka. Engineer Chris Anyibe, the first son of the late Chief Emmanuel Anyibe married Mary, the first daughter of the deceased. He and his wife came out, prayed for the repose of the soul of Mrs Geraldine Offorji and waved her good bye and everybody was on the road again. This time, the residence of Barrister Leo Offorji, the UK based attorney and the third son of the late Mrs Geraldine Offorji was already prepared to welcome his mother. When the motorcade arrived, the UK barrister also prayed for the repose of the soul of his mother and assured her that they would meet again on the last day.
After the visit to Leo Offorji’s residence, it was time to take the corpse home to the main compound of the Offorjis in Isiozi Umuaka. Because there was a big delay encountered so far from Nwaorieubi and other places, there was no time again for lying-in state and the people moved straight to St Joseph’s Catholic Church for the requiem Mass.
