A Short Biography of My Mother: Madam Mercy Ogeri Samuel Ugwumba
“Birth and death are the most singular events we experience — and the contemplation of death, as of birth, should be a thing of beauty, not ignobility” — Jacob K. Javits.
“No two people in the world live their lives the same way. Similarly, no two people die the same way. People may die in the same situation, of the same cause, but still they don’t die the same way.” Sadhguru, Death: An Inside Story
Intro
Some caveats are necessary in order to provide the context for a proper understanding of the following life account. First, it is not entirely accurate to label the ensuing account as a biography given its brevity due to space. Madam Mercy Ogeri Samuel Ugwumba lived, within the limits of her time and culture, a truly illustrious and engaging life that traversed generations and touched on different facets — business, culture, religion, and family. As such, one cannot condense her life’s account to the few pages of a Funeral Programme. What follows, then, is necessarily a substantially abbreviated biographical account (perhaps a biographical summary). Second, this is not a memoir. Even though the writer has personal knowledge of the subject, such knowledge was not sufficient to provide a historical account of the subject’s life given the wide gulf between the writer’s age and the subject’s. Indeed, the author relied extensively, if not solely, on the accounts of well-informed sources privy to her life. Third, all attempts have been made to remain objective in this account. For example, where there are conflicting “facts” (as is usual in any serious biographical account) and efforts have been made to reconcile them without success, the writer has considered it best to state the different versions in order to provide the reader with a richer, unabridged, and detached account of the subject’s life. Lastly, every biographical account is replete with underlying questions of contributions and achievement: did he/she live a fulfilled life? what is his/her contributions? Inevitably, the onus falls on the reader to make such assessments. The task of the biographer is to supply the facts. However, such assessment cannot be divorced from the relevant time and culture. We are products of our time and culture. And the question of whether we have lived an accomplished life is intertwined with culture and time.
With these, I proceed to lay out, to the best of my interpretation of available facts, a short account of Madam Mercy Ogeri Samuel Ugwumba’s life.
The Birth and Childhood of A Matriarch
Madam Mercy Ogeri Samuel Ugwumba (hereafter Madam Mercy) was born to Mr. David Egwu Aru and Mrs. Ogwe Egwu as Ogeri Egwu. She is from the village of Ndi Orie, a constituent of the Ekoli, Edda community which is presently governed as part of Afikpo South Local Government Area. She is the second child and second daughter in a family of five children — Christiana Ugwu Egwu, Ogeri Egwu, Comfort Afia Egwu, Nnachi Egwu, and Douglas Obo Egwu — whom all survive her. Her earlier departure, though, to the inevitable destination of mankind is not in any way an indication of her contributions for as William Shakespeare pithily put it, “live how we can, yet die we must.” Indeed, her contributions represent, if not the finest, some of the proudest acts of solidarity, piety, and courage in her community and family.
There are two differing accounts concerning when Madam Mercy was born. According to her publisher’s record card — a record of each member of Jehovah’s Witnesses who has attained the status of a Publisher — Madam Mercy was born on January 15, 1947. The other view is that she was born in 1948 without any known day and month. This latter account is maintained by the younger brother, Nnachi Egwu. The better view though seems to be the documented date as stated in her publisher’s record card. However, 1948 was adopted for the burial paraphernalia given that Madam Mercy’s family was not privy to the documented date of birth on her publisher’s card prior to the burial arrangements.
All these provide the requisite context for a sound understanding and appreciation of Madam Mercy’s life. First, as a woman in a deeply patriarchal society in 1947. In this society, to be a woman is to accept your eternal subjugation and subservience to the male counterpart. The choices of a woman, as well as life plans, were mediated by either her family or husband, if she was married. Put differently, a woman did not have rationality independent of a man’s. In fact, in this society you were either a man or not a man. This operative understanding of the relationship between man and woman reproduced rights and institutions that continued to dominate women in the society. For example, it was not until 1954 that suffrage (voting right) was granted to women in the Eastern and Southern regions under the Lyttleton Constitution. And of course the existence of a right does not mean it is being enjoyed or implemented. Furthermore, women were not afforded same rights as men in property ownership. Second, Nigeria in 1947 was deeply embedded in colonial relationships and struggle. This is important. Being born in the latter part of the 20th century meant that one’s adulthood would be negatively impacted, more likely than not if you were from the Eastern region, by the Biafran War of 1967–70.
With all these, a picture of Madam Mercy’s childhood begins to emerge from the dense thicket of history. In a society that privileged the consciousness of men over women and discouraged access to girl-child education, Madam Mercy was afforded little or no access to education. Her elder sister Christiana Ugwu Egwu recalls that both of them were sent to school but that Madam Mercy stopped at Standard 3 (the equivalent of Primary 3 in modern day Nigeria) due to her early marriage, as we shall see below, while she, Christiana, stopped at Standard 4.
In writing this biography, I have often paused to wonder if Madam Mercy understood the effects of this socially constructed and enabled domination in her life. My own sense is that she did not and here I rely solely on my personal experience with her. There are possibly two reasons for this. First, it is an irony of life that those who have been conditioned to suffer do not understand that they suffer. Their imaginations of an alternate world are exhausted by the experiences they have been conditioned to experience. Second, Madam Mercy excelled in trade and business in her community. The limitations of education did not seem to have limited her business achievements. And so, to her, the socially enabled inequality was a natural order.
Marriage and Adulthood
Adulthood is not defined by the attainment of a certain age, say 18 years. It is true that legally one is only an adult if he/she reaches a certain age. But realistically adulthood is at its core an experiential thing. We become adults when our lives become enmeshed and mediated by conditions for survival and fulfilment. Madam Mercy experienced adulthood at an early age. She was married at age 13 to Late Mr. Samuel Ugwumba Agwu Ugbo of Ezi Chukwu, Ugbo. It was at this stage that her husband gave her the name Mercy, although they preferred calling each other “Nwanne” ceaselessly (Nwanne means brother or sister but for them it meant that they were one and the same).
There are three different accounts concerning where she got married. Given that her soon-to-be husband, Mr. Samuel Ugwumba, lived in Calabar prior to their union, it has been suggested by one of her daughters, Mary Ammanac (Mary), that she married in Calabar. The other view also by one of her daughters, Rose Epelle, is that the wedding occurred in the husband’s village, Ezi Chukwu. This account has been disputed by Madam Mercy’s elder sister Christiana Ugwu Egwu who maintains that she got married in Aba. She recollects that it was upon the return of the soon-to-be husband from Calabar to Aba in the early part of 1961 that she got married. The first view, however, seems to be the better view as it was corroborated by Madam Mercy’s in-law, Mr. Ukpai Nnachi, who lived with her and the husband in Calabar when they were newly married. He maintains that the marriage occurred in Calabar but that shortly after they moved to Aba.
At this juncture, I point out that it was certainly a courageous act to be married at 13 even for her time. The following year in 1962, just when she turned 14, she gave birth to her first son, Michael Ozioma. To put these heroic acts in context, Christiana Ugwu Egwu recalls fondly with a tinge of laughter that upon hearing that her sister was pregnant, she broke into tears because her sister had barely formed any breasts that would sustain the child if eventually she gave birth. It was believed that the child would die but he survived. Not long after, at age 19, Madam Mercy was confronted with another life-altering reality. She had given birth to her third child and second son, David Ugwumba, just as the Biafran War broke out. Mr. Ukpai Nnachi narrates this with great clarity. He recalls with profound admiration that David Ugwumba was born two(2) days before the war and that as soon as the war started, she had no other alternative than to run into the forest for safety with baby David wrapped around her back in the traditional African way of baby wearing with a cloth tied around her torso (perhaps, it is this outré experience that would endear her, amongst all her children, to David Ugwumba).
Mary emphasises that she ran into the forest while still at the Ekoli Health Centre nursing her new born baby. Ukpai Nnachi, with uncommon enthusiasm, proceeds with a reminder that she and her husband continued to conduct trade while hiding in the forest in order to sustain the livelihoods of their children.
It is with great respect and admiration that every reader must confront the above account. First, the boundary between childhood and adulthood was not fully demarcated for Madam Mercy. As soon as she became a child she became also an adult. Yet she handled this premature transformation with great tenacity and courage. Second, her unrelenting determination, in the face of adversity, despite her age to place family above self is a classic example worthy of emulation. There are numerous examples of such acts narrated to this writer by well-informed sources but due to space, I have reluctantly left them.
I shall now proceed to outline briefly, again due to space, her important achievements in business.
Business: A Dominating Force
Madam Mercy was the foremost farmer, trader, and businesswoman in Edda and its neighbouring communities. It is not arguable. And there is no alternative fact.
Some years after the Biafran war ended, Madam Mercy started trade in cow skin (colloquially known as Kpomo or Kanda depending on what part of Nigeria). I have not been able to establish the precise year, but Mary recollects that it was while she was carrying the pregnancy of her sixth child and last daughter that she engaged in this business. Mr. Ukapi Nnachi also confirms this succinctly. Mary and Ukpai narrate beautifully how she started the business of Kpomo. They both agree that she always travelled to Kpiri-Kpiri, Abakiliki, where she sourced Kpomo in truck-load quantities in the company of a Yoruba man named Tunde. Additionally, there exists a surfeit of evidence, as many would recall, that buyers from all over the region — Abiriba, Uzuakoli, Nkporo, Ohafia, Afikpo and even Cross River — would travel to Ekoli Edda to buy from Madam Mercy as soon as she returned from Kpiri-Kpiri. Pulling out memories from her childhood as if stacked in some timeless vault, Mary points out, having assisted Madam Mercy in the Kpomo trade, that her little education notwithstanding, they kept accurate records of Kpomo sales, creditors, and debtors. More so, I have wondered how she managed to break the barrier of communication with her trusted companion Tunde, given that her English language was non-existent.
Concurrently with the Kpomo trading, she engaged in Tomatoes farming and sale. As if preordained, if there is anything as such, she would also come to dominate the Tomatoes business. Just as with the Kpomo business, many people would travel from afar to buy her tomatoes. In fact, her tomatoes would come to be regarded specially as “Ogeri Tomato”. Poring through the available facts, several factors did converge to ensure and consolidate her domination in the tomatoes business. First, she is renowned for being the first farmer in the entire Edda land for bringing in fertiliser, amongst other farming accoutrements. This aided the speedy cultivation of tomatoes. Second, her husband owned vast swathes of land in Osisioma Letu that was used for the cultivation of tomatoes and other vegetables. Third, her daughters — particularly Alaeze, Rose, and Mary — had become physically able to assist in her businesses. According to Alaeze, they were principally responsible for transporting the tomatoes from Ekoli to Owutu. Lastly, her enviable team work with her husband provided the indispensable platform on which the businesses grew. For instance, Mary gives a detailed account of how in unison with her husband she proceeded to buy a truck which was used to transport tomatoes from Edda to Umuahia. They saw an economic opportunity in selling their tomatoes in Umuahia because the price per bag less transport expenses was higher in Umuahia than in Ekoli. So in order to exploit this price difference, they unanimously agreed to acquire a truck that would deliver the tomatoes to Umuahia. According to Mary, Madam Mercy and her husband would take turns in joining the truck to Umuahia.
There were other businesses which Madam Mercy incontrovertibly dominated. Particularly, Okro farming and sale, as well as cereal pudding and black-eyed pea fritters (colloquially known as Akamu and Akara respectively) in which all her children participated apart from her last child and son, Samuel Ugwumba Jnr. However, the limitations of space prevent a substantial narration.
Conclusion: A Woman of Exemplary Faith
Madam Mercy Ogeri Samuel Ugwumba, as I mentioned above, lived a very fine and engaging life. On whatever interpretation one chooses to subject a study of her life, it is impossible not to arrive at this fact.
Of course there are specific parts or attributes a reader might find compelling above others in this account. But I, particularly, consider it a truly awe-inspiring and compelling fact that despite the deeply interwoven patriarchal society in which her life was embedded, she managed to dominate many businesses. At this juncture, it is important to pause and offer one crucial explanation. The implied understanding so far has been that the purpose behind the businesses was the usual one of profit-making. Certainly it was but did it constitute the entire purpose? But we must ask ourselves, why was it that all her businesses were solely concerned with food production and sale either in its raw or finished form? My own sense tells me that there were other underlying motive beyond the purely materialistic one (here I rely on personal experiences with her). Mary without bias agrees with this and points out that Madam Mercy saw the food trade as an opportunity to improve the well-being of her community. What an inspiring woman!
The reader must also be reminded that her entire life was punctuated by illnesses. I, Samuel W. Ugwumba Jnr., remember vividly during our entire stay in Aba how she would travel for prolonged periods to Calabar, Uyo, Isi ala Ngwa, and Abakiliki for medical treatment. I have often wondered why such a fine life was plagued with too many illnesses. My own sense tells me it is a consequence of the premature transformation from childhood to adulthood. The spirit was eager but the body was not fully matured to encounter the realities of adult life. Again, society with its embedded inequalities, orchestrated by men and ordained as a natural order, had failed her. She did not know this!
Today, if you are reading this biography, then you are mourning Madam Mercy Ogeri Samuel Ugwumba, a matriarch who lived a beautiful and inspiring life. But I am confronted with the question of how she would want to be remembered. This is important because that is how she must be remembered. We, everybody present in this funeral, owe her that respect. I have spent considerable time curating her history and narrating her achievements. But being a humble woman, she would want to be known simply as Madam Mercy without the fireworks. More importantly, she would want to be remembered as a servant of Jehovah who maintained her loyalty, being baptised on November 10, 1960, throughout her entire life. We pray that she is in the memory of Jehovah. Finally, she would want the world to remember her as being survived by her eight (8) children: Michael Ozioma, Eunice Nneoma Ugwumba, David Ugwumba, Mary Amannac, Rose Epelle, Alaeze Ibeakanma, Nnachi Ugwumba, and Samuel W. Ugwumba Jnr. She is also survived by thirteen (13) grandchildren. As Albert Einstein puts it, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us; our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life”.
