ABIGAIL LUCY
AGU (1925-2017)
BIOGRAPHY OF MAMA, MRS. ABIGAIL LUCY AGU
In the early hours of Monday, May 15 2017, a call came from
my elder brother Dee Ngozi. Surprise was registered all over me that Dee Ngozi
could call me around 1.00am. Quite unlike him, lo and behold he dropped the
bomb/news that our mother had just died few minutes ago. That was the end of my
sleep. The bed, the room and every aspect of the environment was no longer
friendly to me. That was a rude shock. I was confused but later took solace in
the fact that she had at least achieved some things before her death and that
she died a peaceful death.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Mama was born at Umuene presently known as Umugwu village in
Alaoma Community, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area in Abia State in the
family of Nwosuagwu. Grandpapa Nwosuagwu died when mama was very young. We
doubt if mama could pick on any face that looked like her father’s. It was her
mother and she that constituted what could be referred to as members of
Nwosuagwu’s family - just a family of two members; mother and
daughter. So it can be said that Grandpa Nwosuagwu’s direct members of his
family finally disappeared from planet earth on the 15th of May,
2017, the day our mother died, leaving their grand children and a great
grandchild behind. May God grant them a
safe and successful journey that everyone present here and the world at large would appreciate with thanks to Almighty God on the day of Christ’s second
coming in Jesus name.
As fate would have it, our grand mother died young. She died
when our mother could easily be described as a young mother. The third child of
my mother then had not started secondary education when she died.
LONGEVITY
Contrary to her parents, mama died at a mature age of 92
years irrespective of teething hurdles marriage and life created.
OCCUPATION
Our mother embarked on various kinds of occupations in order
to cater for her children. As it was common then mama’s first occupation was
farming and later ,she developed interest in hair-dressing. She went into
trading. This led to her opening a provision store. She ran a provision store
at the popular Ariaria Market. This business too was shattered by
over-submissiveness. She later went into
firewood business. The same phantom of submissiveness hunted her and brought the
business to an unexpected collapse.
Mama tried to earn reasonable money that could enable her to
take care of her children but misfortune came knocking, using her marital relationship to shatter her
dreams in life. In her attempt to learn and start hair dressing business,
marital relationship misinterpreted it as an attempt by her to go into harlotry
and unfaithfulness. Her over-submissiveness in marriage could not allow her to
run her business independently and making provision for saving for capital
formation and enlargement. This placed her in a tight corner which could not
allow her to meet the demand of her children to reach the very enviable heights
they aspired. She and her children were hunted by this stigma infinitesimally or
remarkably, closer friends and relatives can bear witnesses to this. We all
have our sense of judgment to carry out this analysis, assessment and
quantification. Not that Abigail Lucy Agu lacked the love for her children, she
was simply misunderstood, misconstrued and her business efforts misinterpreted.
Daa Abi was unlucky in marriage. Daa Lucy’s unfortunate marital relationship,
killed her dreams, earned her condemnations and destructive criticisms and
brought unnecessary challenges and difficulties which negatively affected her
until her last day on earth. It may not also be wrong to say that Daa Abi/Daa
Lucy made some mistakes which could have
badly affected her family. As a human, she could not have been infallible. And
since none of us can claim infallibility,
we could have forgiven her. This is why we are here to give her the last
respect before she finally departs to her creator.
INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIP
Mama was very friendly. As a child, I did not witness her
exchange words, bandy or argue with anybody in anger. This is a rare and noble
quality in a world of today full of envy and malice.
PRACTICAL
DEMONSTRATION OF LOVE AND FRIENDLINESS BY MAMA
Mama always smiled. One of mama’s hubby was bathing of babies
on behalf of their mother during the early stages of child birth. Mama believed in peaceful living. Mama knows how
to make people smile even in times of
challenges.
She did not like a
situation in which she would be given “meat and stabbed on the back”. She used
to advise us that it is better to drink garri and leave peacefully than eating
a whole cow and quarrelling.
In place of envy, my mother will tell the achiever that he or
she is not the cause of her failure or inability to achieve and congratulate
the person. O bugi ngharam uba (Igbo interpretation)
CHRISTIAN LIFE
Mama would go to church and encourage her children to do so.
She was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. She was a choir until
old-age marked came calling.
NEATNESS
Mama detested dirtiness. She would always like to ensure that
the environment I is clean.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Mama was blessed with children whom God Almighty kept
guiding, providing and protecting in their life struggles. Permit me to also say that this is where Mama Abigail Lucy
was blessed on planet earth. She bore children that can pass for responsible
humans from her last child to the eldest.
I make bold to say that this is an achievement using the
Lagos environment where one of her
children resides. Situations abound
where the so-called united and wealthy parents
spend their money, begging their children to live good lives to no avail but none of
Lucy’s children belong to this breed of children.
Her children have been guided by God Almighty to be good citizens of Nigeria
and ambassadors of Christ, at least till her death and forever through Christ,
our Lord Amen.
Anybody with evil plan to re-write what God has written in
this family did not come here today and will never come in Jesus Name.
In a world full of undaunting challenges, a woman who lived
up to the age of 92 cannot be said not to have achieved.
She has left five(5) men on earth, with nineteen grand
children, one great child and five daughters-in-law.
SURVIVED BY:
a. Sons namely:
I.
Chikezie
Richard Agu 1st
Son
II.
Gabriel
Ngozi Agu
III.
Lawrence
Eze Agu
IV.
Chiemela
Newman Agu
V.
Robinson
Ugochukwu Nnanna Egbu-Agu
b. Daughters-Inlaw
namely:
I.
Eziaku
Agu
II.
Gold
Agu
III.
Josephine
Patience Agu
IV.
Harrietta
Egbu-Agu
V.
Rosemary
C. Agu
GRAND CHILDREN
1.
Bestman
Agu
2.
Caroline
O. Akachi (Mrs)
3.
Obinna
Agu
4.
Chimaobi
Agu
5.
Glow
Agu
6.
Adanna
C. Agu
7.
Doris
Agu
8.
Derrick
Chinonso Egbu-Agu
9.
Emmanuel
Ikechukwu Egbu-Agu
10.
Mary
Chioma Egbu-Agu
11.
Prosper
Chigozie Egbu-Agu
12.
Patrick
Chidozie Egbu-Agu
13.
Bright
Agu
14.
Glory
Agu
15.
Chidinma
Agu
16.
Uchechi
Precious Agu
17.
Rex
Chinedu Agu
18.
Chinaza
Victor Agu
19.
Noble
Agu
GREAT GRAND CHILD
Master David Akachi
R.C. Agu
for the family
ABIGAIL LUCY AGU
– SOME NOTABLE INTERPRETATIONS OF
MAMA
Mama means different things to different people. Having noted
this, I have been moved to state some of them here.
Description of this great and lovely woman has come in different ways by people who know her.
If you say that she was a girl who had no father,
brothers and sisters but very pretty as a young girl you are right. If you say
that she was unfortunate to the extent that
her ambition and dream were
misconceived in her chosen career, interest and passion you are a great
analyst. And this was what seemed to make her journey on earth very
disappointing but we thank God for his infinite mercy who made it possible for
her to live up to a very mature age before she bowed out this terrestrial
planet. And this also gave her sojourn on earth different interpretations by
different people. The whole scenario was suffered by her hardworking,
gentle, and amiable children. This also negatively affected the
tall dreams of her gentle and positively unique and enduring children. So, if
you have the impression that circumstances and mother luck were not favourable
to her choice of trade as they did not get the approval of her husband or got
the approval but was mismanaged or both you are correct. Over submissiveness and too much belief in
her husband, did not help matters. At the end of the day, the woman seemed to
have been misinterpreted as her chosen trade did not get the nod of her first
husband and over submissiveness for her second husband, dashed her hope of
giving her children the much needed push and support to climb in life. The
children suffered this till she finally bowed out of life.
However, her children cannot be said to be the worst hit in
the difficult terrain of life. What could be ascribed as the worth-while-ness
of this write-up is that the desire to
climb and get to the apex of mountain of life is very warm and manifest in her
children but for this bitter dose of fate.
May the name of God be praised for He knows it all. He is the
master of destiny.
AGU, C.N.