Recently, Abagba community located in the tourist village of Tarkwa Bay, an Island in Lagos, celebrated the old woman on her birthday. In this interview with Saturday Sun’s GILBERT EKEZIE, CHRISTIAN AGADIBE AND AUSTINE OFOMA, Madam Onisiwo went down memory lane and narrated the story of her life and the secret of her longevity. Excerpts:
Can you tell us about your childhood?
As a child, I lived with my mother before she died. My grandmother was the founder of the Anglican Church in this village. Later on when I returned home (Port Harcourt), I went to Ogogoro village, my father’s place and I also established a church there. My mother died when I was eight years old and my aunt took over the responsibility of taking care of me. She took me everywhere she went and that way I learnt certain things. She taught me in the way of the Lord and we all attended the Anglican Church because my grandmother established the church and we had our baptism there.
I was an abiku or call it ogbanje and my family did the utmost to make sure I survived.
How did you know you were an abiku?
Whenever I had a crisis, I just watched the family run helter-skelter crying and carrying me up and down while I laughed at them.
What did your family do to make you stay finally?
They tied local rings around my ankles, but I threw one of them away. It was my mother that found it and tied it back to my ankle.
During your fainting spells, what actually happened?
I belonged to a spirit world and one day I fought with one of them as they were forcing me to come back because I was the Iyalode in the group. I just raised my hand and gave her a blow not knowing it was a stone I hit, so I cried and my father came to give me a mark on my face. Then, I had just given birth to a baby, so they said I should come back. I was more than 15 years old then.
We were many and as the Iyalode, they said I should come back as that was not the agreement from the beginning. We didn’t know what marriage was, we just got together and got pregnant in the spiritual realm.
Did you attend school and where?
When we were in Lagos, I attended a Catholic school and from there I went to Port Harcourt. I can’t remember everything but then it was Sister Anthonio that taught us. During school hours, I usually hid under a tree not knowing I was not doing myself any good. My younger siblings were in school and when I returned from Port Harcourt, I went to look for one of my younger sisters and I was told she stayed at Bamgbose town and I went there to see her but she told me she won’t be able to stay at home with me, that she was a nurse working at a hospital. She entered her car and left. Her husband also drove off in his car, so I regretted my lifestyle and wondered why I didn’t finish schooling. Please, send all your children to school so that they can become very important in society.
At what point did you forsake the ogbanje world?
Since I decided not to return to them, they left me alone.
What have you seen in life that’s not good?
I have discovered that God is the supreme being because whenever I sleep and wake up I know that I am alive. There was this Cherubim and Seraphim church I attended and many among the congregation came to meet me. But when they got to the big house, they turned with their cross and a man carried the cross and when they got there, they were entering, so I noticed that they didn’t come to me again. I just got up and I followed the remaining three members to enter, but before I entered, I felt a sharp pain and then I heard a male voice laughing. I began searching for who it was but I couldn’t see him. So, I wanted to enter again and the male voice told me that I could not enter, so I looked again I didn’t see the person talking. So, I sat down and started asking myself questions about where I was and the male voice answered and told me that I was in Jerusalem.
Did you recognise anybody among those you saw there?
I didn’t recognise anybody and those that I spoke to did not answer me.
Is any member of your group still alive?
There is none of them alive.
Could you remember any of them that died last or you saw last? How did you feel about their death?
The elder brother of the baale was my senior and they called him Debayo. I used to dance for them on the sand and they always ran after me and beat me. That was why I removed the chain on my leg. He died a long time ago.
What would you have done differently if you were still young?
I am just tired and waiting for God to call me.
What advice do you have for the young ones?
I want to talk to them, because humans are like clothes for cover. They should talk to their children and bring them closer to them, because if they become somebody in future, they will take care of them. This village is now a town.
Did you witness any war?
Yes, the war of Hitler. Then we were advised not to put on the light and anyone that wanted to cook did without allowing smoke to come out. I also witnessed the Biafra war that was fought not quite long ago.
What about the amalgamation, did you witness it?
It was Awolowo that merged everybody together. That was the cause.
When you were growing up, did you know you could be this old?
I never thought that I could be up to this age at all.
What’s the secret of your longevity?
God is the only one that knows the reason that I am as old as this and my children buy food for me on a daily basis and I also drink palm wine and malt drinks. I don’t take hot drinks because it affects me.
How did you meet your husband?
It’s God. When he came, he said he didn’t have a place to stay, that the palm wine house had been destroyed. He said he wanted to rent a house and I told him that I don’t have a place for rent, so he left. Then I had not built this my house. I stayed in a family house and he visited me there regularly and I told him that I could not marry him but after some time, God said he was the one that I would marry. Before this, he fought with my elder brother because of coconut. He came to cut a tree and while he was doing it, he became thirsty, so he climbed our coconut tree and plucked a coconut and drank the water. When my elder brother got there, he fought him, dragged him to my father and accused him of stealing but he said he didn’t steal it, that he just needed to drink.
So, my father reprimanded my elder brother and asked whether it was because of coconut that he fought the man and my father asked him to go. I thanked my father for letting him go. Then, they never played with coconut. After some time, my mother brought him and told him that her daughter doesn’t attend church and that may be he could be somebody for her in future. So, my mother got a job for him and he became a teacher.
How did you learn to speak Igbo language?
I travelled here and there to Borno, Imo, Uyo, Okrika and Enugu with my children. I spent 20 years doing this and I give God the glory because others would travel like that and would not return home but it pleased God for me to return.
This is where I was born. It was in Enugu that I got a place with my husband because he was a station master. That was where I learnt about things and I sold things with the children and travelled to Ibadan to sell soap. I just didn’t care enough to learn the language, if not I could have spoken it better than I can now. I took my elder brother there and he spoke it very well and they always danced every year and he dressed exactly like Igbo and he understood the language more than I do. He spoke it fluently.
Throughout your sojourn in some states, were those you came across friendly?
They loved me. When I returned from Enugu, my people called me an Igbo woman.
What do you want the government to do for the people?
They should help develop the economy.
How was the relationship between you and your husband?
The man was not my husband, he was like a father to me and I am like a mother to him too.
How did you get into the Civil Defence Corps and what was it like?
We were pioneers at the Civil Defence Corps. Our boss was from Benin and one of them was a Yoruba man and he married one of our daughters who is also in the Civil Defence Corps.
I enjoyed it but we were not well compensated because we were pioneers. Since our first boss from Benin left and we had a new boss, everything changed.
Did you resign or retire from service?
We retired and since we retired from the Civil Defence Corps, we have not received any pension. Some have died and I don’t even get to see some again.
Were you still agile while in service?
Yes, I even used to jump on buses to work. One day, I didn’t know a bus had already taken my husband from Lagos and I was waiting for them at the jetty, and when it was 11pm and I didn’t see anybody, I decided to start coming back all by myself, but when I entered the village, everywhere was quiet and everybody had slept, so I met my husband at home. Nothing happened to me on the way because God protected me and brought me home safely.
What’s your favourite food?
I eat any kind of food. Most times I fast too.
What was your worst moment in life?
There were many worst moments in my life, but God saved me from this Calabar man that asked me to marry him.
Then I was a nanny and he was a steward and he was very wicked. He said I should marry him and I said no, he then stuck a needle in my blanket and when I dusted the blanket, it seriously injured my hand so I removed it and the man saw me and said he was the owner of the needle but I made sure I threw it away even before he could come to get it from me. He did so many other wicked things but God always protected me.
Also, there was a place we usually urinate, and I am this kind of person that constantly urinates, so this particular day, he put native pepper at the place. So, as I was about to urinate, I saw that native pepper and I used something to pack it and I threw it at him.
Are you afraid of death?
The after life is sweet, I want to go home so that my children can celebrate, and everybody can celebrate. I have had enough of life here. I am tired. I desire to go home and join my people over there.
What legacy would you like to be remembered for?
I will leave them a house here in the village and also a building in Lagos.
What did you enjoy doing with your husband anytime he was around?
After cooking and eating with my husband, and he said do this and I said I wasn’t doing it, we quarelled and we settled it immediately. He was my father.
What’s your husband’s best food?
I cooked anything he wanted to eat and he assisted me in the kitchen.
What’s your advice to young married couples for their marriages to last?
It’s patience, they should be patient. When you offend your husband, you call him and ask for his forgiveness.
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