At 92, I have seen it all, says Dame Lynette Ohiwerei

My story

I was born in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State. I attended primary school in Benin, CMS Girls’ School, located at the present site of Imaguero College. In those days, going to Benin from Ekpoma was not easy. We had to hire a bicycle if we missed the lorry that went to Benin once in a week for two shillings for the day. We enjoyed it and never thought it was suffering. Sometimes it would rain on the way, sun would beat us and we would be dry before we got to Benin.

Education then was standard and not primary school. After I finished my Standard Six in 1940, I joined the Church Missionary Society (CMS) because I attended CMS Girls’ School. When I left Standard Six, I started teaching at St. Andrew’s Primary School, Ekpoma. There, I heard in the church that there was offer of admission at the United Missionary College (UMC), Ibadan. I wrote a simple application for scholarship to the senior education officer, Benin Province. Ubiaja used to be the headquarters of Esan then. I wrote to the senior education officer in Benin Province who was based in Benin. One afternoon in 1946, some people came from Benin and met the headmaster. The headmaster came to call me at the school garden where I was working. I wondered what I did as I had forgotten that I wrote the scholarship examination. He asked if I wanted to go to UMC, Ibadan and I said yes and that I had written the examination. He said that he was going to Ubiaja to see the district officer and see what he could do in respect of the scholarship. I told him that my parents are from Ora. He said okay. The man in Benin was a European and was the senior education officer. He said that he would try and go to Auchi to see the district officer on my behalf and he did. That tells you that all these people, Europeans, were good. I was invited for an interview and went to Auchi from Ekpoma. I was granted a scholarship of 15 pounds a year. Ten pounds was the school fee. Two pounds ten was my stipend for transport. I told them that my father was a peasant farmer and could not pay the school fee. They granted me the scholarship and I went to UMC, Ibadan.

UMC wrote from Ibadan that I shouldn’t bother to come for interview; that I should just come and resume on February 1, 1940 at the teacher’s training school. The school was being run by Nigerians and Southern Cameroonians. Southern Cameroon was a part of Nigeria then. When I finished after three years, I was posted back to Ekpoma. Our male counterparts who attended St. Andrew’s College, Oyo, did four years. That was how God raised me to become something in life. When I came back, I continued teaching. I got married shortly afterwards and travelled overseas with my husband. In the United Kingdom, I went to the University of London to do a teacher’s course and other places. All the courses I attended were on scholarships except at the University of London. God has been faithful to me.

My husband was a lawyer, a gentleman. He retired as a judge. We were blessed with six children. You see that young man there (pointing to a former military administrator Oyo and Taraba states, Dr Amen Oyakhire), he has been part of us. He is like our first son. People who surround me are good. God sends people to help me from different places – Benin, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.

How would you compare Nigeria of then, when you were growing up, and the present-day Nigeria?

There was peace then, love, faithfulness among the brethren. People you did not know would readily come to your aid. People liked one another then. At 92, maybe I have stayed too long. There is no basis for comparing the Nigeria of that time and the Nigeria of toady. There was not much hatred. When you love somebody, you won’t think of harming such a person. Whether you were Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa, you could leave your doors wide open. There were nothing like fences. It was when people started stealing that people started erecting fences. As far as I am concerned, there is no proper love like we had during our time. In the past, if a child behaved wrongly, you could spank that child. Now, even in school, you can’t even talk to a child. There is no basis for comparison. In the universities in those days, before you finished, potential employers would come to your school to interview you. In that case, you have to think hard which offer to accept but nowadays, when you train your children, one, two, three of them, they stay at home jobless and you still give them pocket money and feed them except you know somebody in a high place or in government. In Nigeria of yesterday, everything was based on merit. It was not about whom you knew or where you were from. Nigeria embraced competence, merit and national interest.

When did you retire as a teacher?

I retired in 1983 as an inspector of schools in Benin. I worked in Ibadan, Western Region. When Queen Elizabeth II visited, we were still in Western Region. I taught at Kudeti, Ibadan and St. David, Inalende, Ibadan, before I travelled overseas. When I returned, I joined the Ministry of Education, Benin. I first taught at the Anglican Women Teacher’s Training College in Benin. Venerable Akinluyi started the school, Eghosa Grammar School and Anglican Girls’ Grammar School all in Benin City. The late Mrs Chukwurah and I were the teachers who started the teachers’ training school. We set the examination, interviewed the students before others joined us. It was from Anglican Women Teachers’ Training College that I joined the Ministry of Education.

What is your take on the general view that the standard of education in the county has fallen, especially in public schools?

Standard is almost zero. Most primary and secondary schools are not adequately cared for by governments. Some university graduates cannot even speak an impeccable sentence in English. Schools are not what they are supposed to be and they are very expensive. Even some private schools, the founding of which members of the church contributed to, their children cannot go there because they cannot pay the school fees. Education has become too costly. Education is life. Education is for public good. Everything is money. It is God that gives money, appreciates one and makes him what he will be. Money will come if you are on the straight path. You may not be fabulously rich but you will never lack. His Grace will be sufficient for you.

At 92, you are still mentally alert and articulate. What is the secret?

It is the Grace of God and the love that good men and women around me share with me. I interact with the young and the people and I believe very faithfully and sincerely in God. Whatever we are is the making of God.

When did your husband pass away?

He passed away nine years ago, in 2011. We were married for 61 years.

Today, people get married amid fanfare only to end up divorcing within a short time. What is your advice for young married couples?

Many women nowadays are very greedy. Everything is money. They look at others. You don’t have to look at other people. You look inwards and see what you can contribute to the home you are building. The home is for you: your husband and your children. Whatever you put inside should be to make the family grow. If you lay a good foundation, it will stand and prosperity will eventually come. These women have not even started life but want to ride cars. Even small girls in schools are looking for men that are rich to go and associate with. Nobody wants to start humbly and build whereas if you build, the reward is for you. There is a parable that says that the stone you throw in the front, you will walk and meet it. So, if you build well, fine. If you don’t build, fine, you will meet it. If you bring up children and tell them, this is my standard and tell them that you won’t steal to educate them and give them extra and stick to it, they will toe your line.

Women must be patient, supportive, loyal, faithful and obedient. Women must be submissive and truly respect their husbands. Men must love their wives in totality. Marriage does not fail but people tend to fail in marriage because of impatience, insincerity, intolerance and infidelity. What God hates the most in marriage is divorce.

How strong is your Christian faith?

I believe in God and no other thing. I am an Anglican to the core. There is no other attraction at all. In the Anglican, there are stages we go through and I am on the last one. As a young woman, you start with guild with the church, then you be a mother, then mothers’ union. You are given the title of ‘sir’ and ‘dame’. Even in Roman Catholic, they have it. That is the highest title one gets in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church. There is a lay reader. I don’t know of any other. I am a lay reader in the church. In the church, you can be a district lay reader; then you are an archdeaconry and a diocesan. I have gone through all these. When the present Bishop Imasuen came up, he said some of the lay readers were older than his father. In service to God, it is until one dies. His argument was that priests retire at 70 and so lay readers should retire at 70, too. I wrote through my vicar that I was above 70 and would stop. He wrote a beautiful letter of commendation to me which was very satisfying. He said that lay readers were supposed to organise, preach sermons and read lessons but we didn’t give communion unless by special permission from the bishop. That is service to God.

Have you ever participated in politics?

My husband was in politics before he retired. When we came back from England in 1962, his people at home wanted him to play politics. He was a member of the House of Assembly. He represented this state in Jamaica in a conference. He was in National Council of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC). He left politics and didn’t continue. After that, there was the Nigerian Civil War during General Yakubu Gowon’s regime. After that, he was no longer interested in politics. He became a commissioner. He concentrated on his law practice before he became a judge.

How have you coped in the last nine years, since you lost your husband?

God has been very faithful to me in the last nine years. It is not the person that you do for that will do for you. You will be surprised that people you don’t even know will carry your burden and do things for you. There are many people who I did not help who have been of tremendous help to us. So many come and give me money but my husband laid a good foundation so that we would not suffer. We are very happy, by the Grace of God. We are comfortable and very happy. I cannot remember having a headache or fever for a very long time. None of the children has been on admission. Those who are working are diligent and humble. God is faithful and if you rely on Him, you will get what you need in life.

What is your philosophy?

Be faithful to God. Praise and worship Him. Spend time with Him and He will spend time with you. Be faithful and if you rely on Him, your life will be good. There was a time armed robbers came to this street. They came to the next house by my left, by my right, opposite but didn’t come to my house. Since 1971 that we have been here, no robbers have visited us. The only case of stealing was the culvert that was removed. We have been at peace. God has been very faithful to us.

What is your favourite quote from The Bible?

They are so many that I don’t even know. Which one to choose from? ‘Jesus I love you’. ‘All I have is thine’. ‘Yours I am and yours I want to be’. ‘Do with me whatever you will’. I say that every day. I have another prayer. Sometimes I won’t be in the divine grace but I know that God is faithful. Nobody is perfect except Him. Sometimes I pray to God for more patience. In life, you have to be patient, believe in God and have faith in Him. Patience can never be too much. It can only be too little. You can never have too much of it. If you are patient and rely on God, most things will come to you easily. Patience is the crown of glory.

How do you relax?

I like reading but most of the books I read are scriptural. I developed a strong reading habit when I was young. I travelled often with my husband on holidays. Every year, we must travel for holiday. Do I really relax? I don’t know how to sleep in the afternoon. It is only now that I am learning to do it. There is always something to do. I do fellowship in the church. I am a member of Full Businessmen Gospel Fellowship. On Mondays, I do that. On Tuesday, I go to the fellowship with women. And on Wednesday, I go for Bible study. On Thursday, sometimes we have something in the church. Fridays are free and so are Saturdays, except for marriages. This is how I spend my time.

You are 92. What is the secret of longevity?

It just pleases God to keep me alive. In the last few weeks, I was really ill. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t drink anything. Since Christmas, I had not crossed the gate of my house. My parents had six of us and I am second to the last. I am the only one left. All the others are gone. It is not because I am good. It is just that it pleases God to allow me to live. In fact, I was saying a few days ago, God wants me to see more days when I clocked 92 otherwise I was so ill during the Yuletide. People brought me things but I didn’t have appetite. It is just by the mercy of God that I am still alive.

Is there any special food that you eat or medicine that you drink which has kept you?

No, no, no. I eat twice a day. I take breakfast and supper. That is just it. I eat anything that appeals to me. There is no special diet. I am hypertensive and on drugs. That is the only health problem I have. Anytime I forget to take the drugs, I will have the sign and so I will remember that I have not taken the drugs. This has been on for many years. I have not gone on admission all my life except for delivery. I have never been admitted for one illness or another. So, this last Christmas (2019) and New Year would have been one. I said to myself, ‘Oh God, I ask of You that when You are going to take me, you should let me know and I still say it’. God is faithful and I know He will tell me when I am going to die. I have asked Him and I keep saying it: ‘When You are going to take me, let me know’. At 92, people who are younger are gone. So, what is it? Why am I alive? It must be for a purpose and I pray. I say, ‘God, whatever that purpose is, help me to fulfill it’. What am I doing? It is just the mercy of God that has kept me alive.

How many children and grandchildren do you have?

I have five children made up of four males and a female and 13 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Some are in Britain, America (a professor) and Nigeria (Lagos/Benin). I am happy and grateful to God who has continued to sustain and prosper all of us in this noble family.