By Jonathan Ugbal
The remains of Madam Regina Achi Nentui, mother of the leader of the seventh senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba will be committed to mother earth tomorrow (Tuesday), August 4, 2020 a statement from the family said.
“The Ndoma-Egba/Nentui Families of Akparabong and Ikom, Cross River State announce the burial arrangements of their mother, grandmother and great grandmother Madam Regina Achi Nentui who died on 1st July 2020 at the age of 90 years,” read the statement signed by the former lawmaker.
The statement said the late Madam Nentui will be buried, “in a very simple ceremony according to her wish on the 4th of August 2020 in Ikom.”
“As a one time Chairman of old Ikom County Council; (now Ikom, Boki & Etung Local Governments) 1960 – 1963, her remains will make a brief stopover at the Ikom Local Government Headquarters, Ikom before proceeding to the Holy Family Catholic Church, Ikom for a funeral mass. Interment will be a family only event,” the family said.
“We acknowledge all the condolences and goodwill extended to us by families, friends and the public on the demise of this most remarkable woman.
“In compliance with her wish and extant Government protocols on the Covid-19 pandemic, the burial will be low keyed and devoid of any ceremonies howsoever. There will be no vigil, no reception and no visitations. Condolence visits are put in abeyance until such a time when the families are able to properly celebrate her life.
“We crave the understanding of our friends, well wishers and the public. It is our new normal given the unrelenting corona virus pandemic, and deference to Mama’s wish. On the date of her burial we enjoin all to join us through prayers for the repose of her soul,” the statement added.
The lawmaker had in a tribute to his late mother on July 2nd said Madam Nentui and his late mother-in-law who had passed away less than a month earlier were now “feasting in Heaven as Angels.”
In the tribute titled “A Feast Of Angels,” the former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission board wrote: “My dear mother, Regina Achi Nentui just passed on. She was 90 years old. She died on Wednesday 1st July 2020.
“She was among the first women from old Ikom (now Ikom, Boki and Etung Local Government Areas) of Cross River State to receive western education . She spent many years as a teacher with the Roman Catholic Mission before transferring to the Civil Service of the then South Eastern State (now Cross River and Akwa Ibom States) in 1968 during the Nigerian Civil War as a social worker. She established the Remand Home in Ogoja.
“She retired in 1991 to a quiet life in Ikom, her home town, busying herself with Roman Catholic Church activities, community service and farming.
“She is survived by three biological sons, Chief Kenneth Effa, a retired Executive Director, Bank of Industry, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba CON, SAN, former Senate Leader and former Chairman, NDDC and Roy Ndoma-Egba a Development Specialist and former Special Adviser in the Cross River State Government, many grand children and great grand children. Her step children include Professor Rowland Ndoma-Egba, the entire Ndoma-Egba clan and many more.
“Remarkably, she was elected as Chairman of the then Ikom County Council (now Ikom, Boki and Etung Local Governments) on the platform of the defunct NCNC and served as such from 1960-1963, making her the first female Chairman of a County Council (now Local Government) in the defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria, and indeed, the entire Country.
“I had on the 5th of June 2020 lost my beloved mother-in-law, Mrs Ethel Onono, who like my mother was also a teacher. She too was an ardent Roman Catholic and had also retired to church activities and community service. She held a prestigious ‘Odu’ title. She died two weeks to her 82nd birthday and she is survived by four daughters, a son, sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, many grandchildren and a great granddaughter. Both of them were from royal lineages yet remained humble with the common touch. They are now feasting in Heaven as Angels.
“I remain grateful to God for having had them both for this long and for the fond memories and example they leave behind.”
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