A Tribute To Susana Emuaridhowho Edherue (1939-2015)

DEATH is not an end in itself after all, only a means to an end – eternal rest – after a life of toil patiently borne by the grace of Him who alone is deserving of all obedience.

Against this background, the eventual passage of Madam Susana Emuaridhowho Edherue on January 29, 2015, though painful and received with faces swollen with tears, was a great relief for Mama, who has ceased from her labours and freed for eternity from toil and grief.

We, too — her children and grandchildren — will now continue to relish her fond memory – memory of a life full of challenges, uncommon feats and accomplishments.

Born in February 1939 at Ivori in Isoko South local council of Delta State, to the family of the late Mr. Ogbogbo Ogbra and the late Ashegbor Ogbra (nee Omoko) from Urusewe, Oleh Town, Mama Susana grew up with a marked attachment to her mother and the farming occupation while her siblings sought Western education.

She would later marry the late Pa. Uwamano Edherue of Ivori-Irri in March 1958. Consequently, she relocated to Lagos to join her husband. This change in location also changed her orientation, opening her eyes to the beauty of the Western education she had earlier missed. Pitiably, the romance only lasted too soon, as she must settle down to her new duties of tending the home, procreating and nursing her children.

Having lost the opportunity to attain it herself, she resolved to give her children the best possible education. Consequently, Mama would endure hunger for days in order to buy books for a child or to ensure that the child does not miss studies.

She soon started petty trading, and as the family relocated to Warri in 1968, the experience garnered in Lagos became handy when she got a store at Igbudu Market to continue her trading. Her husband’s retirement from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in December 1977 prompted further relocation.

A loving and obedient wife, Mama stuck with her husband in every endeavour, and having reactivated her farming skills as returnees from the city, they both hit the farm. Their commitment and doggedness were rewarded with good yields, with which they fanned their innate generosity.

From her siblings to her children, the extended family to friends and co-worshippers, Mama’s house comfortable and welcoming because she always had something for everyone, no matter how little. A core disciplinarian, however, her rod was ever handy whenever a child erred; in the least you get tongue-lashed.

Mama led an active religious life in the Anglican Communion, where she was a baptised and confirmed communicant. Her guiding philosophy was “doing good as if it was the last opportunity,” as one’s place in eternity is a function of his/her role in time.

Having initially lost two of her eight children, Albert and Vincent, who died young, she actually ceased to live when her second child, close confident and pillar, Barrister Benedict Edherue, died in 2011.

And as she grappled with that sad reality, hell bared its fangs as her niece, Mrs. Queen Okwena (nee Magbegor), died on her way to Benedict’s burial. She succumbed to high blood pressure, which led to her eventual death.