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Chuks Udo Okonta
Business associates; friends and family members were all gathered at Grandeur Event Centre, Lagos, as past President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and Managing Director SCIB Nigeria & Company Limited, Shola Tinubu, held a celebration of life event for his late mother, Deaconess Modupe Samuel.
Late Deaconess Modupe Modinat Samuel, who was born on November 14, 1941, passed on to glory on March 22, 2023 at the age of 81.
Dignitaries, who graced the event, include: Past Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Eddie Ifekoha, current Chairman of the association, Segun Omosehin, Director-General NIA, Mrs. Yetunde Ilori; past President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Sir (Dr.) Muftau Oyegunle; current President, Edwin Igbiti; Past President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Sir. Feyisayo Soyewo; Vice President, NCRIB, Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe; Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Tope Adaramola;Managing Director Royal Exchange General Insurance Company, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu; Spokesman of NCRIB, Dele Ayeleso amongst others.
Tinubu, welcomed the guests and appreciated them for gracing the event.
In a tribute, he writes: My Mother was the strongest, bravest, and kindest human I know.
She loved her children, the ones she conceived, her siblings and those she adopted in Christ but above all, she loved God dearly.
I often talk about her Gospel ministry and evangelism which often took her far into remote communities, and villages. I recall her once saying, Shola the people here and villages don’t know anything about Christianity or Islam; so I must show them the way to the one and only God. Often times, she would embed herself , make a home amongst them for long periods of time, getting to know them and how they lived and was always happy at the end of each sojourn, knowing that she had won souls for God.
That was her life and undoubtedly the legacy she wanted to be remembered for.
My Mother, an unselfish truly altruistic spirit, epitomized a life of sacrifice of self for others. She also left of her self, many of such traits as Genetic markers in her children.
Only a few years ago did I realize that my burning passion for insurance broking over the last 35 years was genetically rooted. I found out that about the time of my birth, she started out as an insurance agent, skills she redirected to Broking Souls for God , her occupation till she transited on the 22nd of March 2023.
A few weeks before her transition I was speaking to Gladys and asked how mama was. Gladys said she was fine but she had stopped sleeping at night. I retorted that mama never slept most nights , she was always praying out loud and reading her Bible. I pictured her Bible , nearly every page underlined in different colours now looking more like a copy used and reused , by 10 doctorate students of theology, one after each other. Gladys exclaimed that she had forgotten to tell me that for some time now Mama had stopped reading her Bible. Alarm Bells ! I could not imagine what could possibly cause Mama! to stop reading her Bible. So I told my Chairman Olola Bode Ogunlana and took off the next day for Osogbo without announcing my trip to Mama. As I walked into her room I hardly greeted her before I queried her as to what I had heard , that she was not reading her Bible again. She gave Gladys a Look, and said vigorously that she just found it too difficult to read the letters. Apparently her eyesight may have deteriorated. Gladys now had a few queries of her own…. But we realized Mama just simply did not want to bother the people around her. She requested and we agreed that she would move back to lagos in a few weeks when I returned from a trip abroad.
On getting back to Lagos we set in motion upgrading Mamas room and bathroom, fitting it with age friendly accessories etc. When I told Chairman what the problem was he said he had the solution and he went upstairs and returned with a huge Bible with really Large Prints. He remembered something else and went upstairs again and returned with a large case full of Cassettes. The Bible in Cassettes so Mama could listen to her Bible. Hmmm just as i was saying where would I find a cassette player , my Chairman rose again and returned with a cassette player. But when I remembered the challenges of Cassettes Vs Cassette players i only delivered the Huge Bible to Mama , not before she sent me two reminders a day apart. The huge Bible did the trick Mama was reading again. Unfortunately she did not make it back to our home in Lagos as she transited 3 days after I returned from my trip abroad.
She transited as she would have always wanted, in the service of God.
May the almighty Allah Rest her Soul In Perfect Peace Aamin.
