Remembering Sowabomate Emmanuelle Agiobu-Kemmer (1962-2000) 

A Beautiful Daffodil

The Sunshine of Spring,

Was the Blossom of my Garden

Until an Angel came 

At nightfall

To pluck

My beautiful Daffodil,

The Sunshine of Spring 

Away into the skies

To light the world of memories…”

“GOD knows what He is doing for all of us. He is the porter and we are His clay. He will mould us and make us so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His Good, Pleasing and Perfect Will”

This was the last message sent by Miss Sowabomate Agiobu-Kemmer, one of the victims on board the ill-fated Kenyan Airways, which crashed on January 31, 2000,  in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, killing about 169 out of 179 passengers and crew on board.

  This message, found in an e-mail she sent to some friends whom she regularly shared the gospel with, had its focus on God’s purpose for creating every individual: and as a finished product of His creation, each individual was the exact picture of what God wanted him or her to be, right from inception. She illustrated her message with a story of a couple who had been married for 25 years and whose love for antiques, especially pottery was profound. They had gone antique shopping one day in England, in a beautiful antique shop, which had a rare tea cup. The couple could not but express their admiration for the beauty of the cup.

  But as they were admiring it, the cup spoke to them about its transformation and the accompanying pains from ordinary clay to a beautiful tea cup, which was not its original form, despite its protest. The cup took the couple through its various stages of transformation, which were painful and excruciating. These included from clay to the spinning stage, rolling to molding and baking, to painting, glazing and baking again. These processes the cup admitted, were painful and tedious, but at the end, they brought out the beauty in it.

  Miss Agiobu-Kemmer, “Boma” (which means God’s Blessing), illustrated in her message that the tea cup was later told by its Maker after viewing itself and appreciating its own beauty in the mirror, that if it had not gone through the various excruciating stages of transformation, the beauty that came out of it would not have emerged.

  “I want you to remember that I know it hurts to be rolled and beaten, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I knew the fumes were bad, when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you would never have hardened, you would not have had any colour in your life. And if I hadn’t put you back in the second oven, you wouldn’t survive for very long, because the hardness wouldn’t have held. Now you are a perfect finished product. You were what I had in mind when I first began with you.”

  ‘Boma’ as she was fondly called before her sudden death was a very active member of the Deeper life Bible Church and Ministries, Rivers State District. Because of her standing in church, she was on the missionary team to East Africa and was home-bound, after as successful evangelical trip to the French-speaking Island of Madagascar and on board the ill fated flight KQ430 when it crashed in Abidjan shortly after take-off.

  Well known for her generosity, gentle nature and philanthropy, Boma’s death was a terrible and irreparable loss, both to her family and community which she gave selfless and tireless service, while showing so much love for all humanity.

  Born into a family, which was not only blue-blooded, but also distinguished in both public and international life, her late father, Reverend R.S.G Agiobu-Kemmer was a renowned educationist, a diplomat, minister and a traditional chief. Her mother, Mrs. Margaret Agiobu-Kemmer was a distinguished member of the nursing profession retiring as matron of the Lagos General Hospital, after many years of meritorious service. She was an active church and community leader.

  Miss Agiobu-Kemmer was the Senior Human Resources Adviser, Recruitment and Training, Shell Petroleum Development Company, until her death. She was described by Mr. Subair, head of Human Resources Department as “an invaluable asset, a highly intelligent, hardworking and amiable staff.” The pastor and founder of the Deeper Life Bible Church and Ministries, Pastor William F. Kumuyi described her as “a very devoted member and worker in the Church, whose death is even a greater blow to the Church of God.” He prayed for the family to take solace in the scriptures as he quoted the Psalmist who says “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Psalm 116:15)

 As the fourth of five children of the late Chief and Mrs R.S.G. Agiobu-Kemmer, Boma was educated in Nigeria, Britain and France.

 She received her secondary education both from Queens College, Yaba, Lagos, Surrey in England, before she proceeded to the University of Bordeaux, France, where she obtained both her First and Masters degree in French, other European languages and linguistics.

  She was also a certified professional in Personnel Management. She was a professional wine-brewer and ‘nose’ (those licensed to taste and certify wines) a pastime which she gave up after becoming born again.

Her other passion, she never gave up was cookery. 

  She was also a cordon-bleu cook, a first class cook, who spoilt everyone with her mouth watering and delectable fare. She loved art.

  She had her wedding plans, which she hoped to start as soon as she returned from her trip. Alas, it was not to be, she never made it.

  However, as if she knew, she had left for everyone, a message of consolation in her last e-mail, “The Story of the Beautiful Tea-Cup” Life may be brief, but memories never fade and God’s children go to heaven.

“We pass this way but once, only that which is done for Christ will remain.” Selah!