CHIEF (HON) MATTHEW KADIRI OKHASIVHO (MKO) OBOH: A MAN AND HIS ENDURING LEGACIES

It was aptly captured by High Chief Aliyu Umaru, the Oduewoi of South Uneme Clan in his tribute ‘M. K. Oboh – The Teacher of Teachers’ when he said ‘as a child, I grew up to know Mr M. K. Oboh as a Teacher. When and where he started was beyond my ken. At St Patrick Catholic School, Udochi, I was one of his pupils.’

Sincerely, anyone that grew up at Udochi or went through Osesiameh Primary School (formerly St Patrick’s Catholic School) without remembering MKO for his selfless sacrifices, teaching and imbibing knowledge and morals into the children of Udochi and her neighbouring Communities, is certainly an ingrate.

However, no one can ever articulate or contemplate the level of sacrifices that he gave, willingly for the benefit of the Community, but his enduring legacies will live on, with us.

His life was a gift to many.

It is said that it is natural for us to identify ourselves with our families because in them, we find meaning of our lives and with them, we get a sense of good moral approval.

And this was the context or structure that I met while growing up as a child at Udochi where many families or kindred, clustered together in the same area for ease of identification and the Oboh’s family was not different where he lived very close to his brother, late Pa Obaze Aleobua, the Oghumah of Udochi and of the Edo Dynasty, however there was something different about the Oboh’s family.

At that time, it was the epicentre of all the activities at the village and the reason for this, was not far-fetched.

Firstly, as the Village Headmaster, it was natural that pupils of all classes would mill around his house for one reason or the other.

Secondly, through the instrumentality of the beautiful heart of his dearly beloved wife, our mother, late Mrs Florence Asana Oboh (Madam Uzomovie), his home became the home for all.

Thirdly, all his children had these natural gifts of technical abilities and through this, every other child became a child of the family of the Obohs. However, all these were made possible because of the nature of Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh, who, in his learning and exposure, displayed a calm and welcoming spirit to all children. He never segregated in his love for any. He opened his home to all, to everyone.

He was a man of deep learning, but more than this, he was naturally and technically gifted as there was no mechanical machine or instrument, no matter how complex that he could not dismembered and reassembled, and therefore in her tribute ‘A Short Tribute to My Dear Honourable Father,’ Josephine Amiuniegbe Oboh stated clearly ‘you were a jack of all trades and a master/successful in all. You were an extraordinary human being.’ Little wonder therefore that all his children took after him, giving the Community of Udochi, a worthy legacy in this regard because of his dominant genes.

Similarly, it is very true that each age has continued to produce its crop of great men and women who went on to make great and amazing impacts on earth.

Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh is one of such men. According to available records, he was born in 1938 into the family of Pa Momoh and Mrs Aminetu Oboh (Nee Oshiogbele) of the Edo Dynasty, but more significantly, he was the first surviving child of his parents, who at age fifteen (15) completed the difficult and challenging Standard Six in 1953 from St Boniface Catholic School, Idah and through this feat, became the first Headmaster from our dear Community, Udochi.

I recall with fond memories when Bendel State through the Ministry of Education gave our Community a Honda generator and a television set, it was only MKO that could operate it, hence as the Headmaster, it was kept at his home, not only for its physical safety, but even for its technical safety.

However, in no distant time, he had, in the spirit of his true calling, taught Alhaji Musa ‘Duru’ Dirisu on how to operate these strange ‘boxes’ in the eyes of many of us.

Truly, it is said and rightly so that education is a valuable heritage that would be treasured in the present time and would continue to be transmitted in every age and time.

This is one of the enduring legacies that Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh left for us because he taught only what was good and right, sound morals and godly behaviours.

Truly, we all benefited from his paternal care as he was always there whenever anyone needed him and through this, he gave his life, wholly and truly to the cause of education.

The classroom was where he felt happiest.

Sincerely, MKO is a man of enduring legacies because his work was of such great significance and far-reaching positive consequences for our Community, Udochi because without it, perhaps, education in the early days by our people and even now, would have been a mirage.

He introduced and taught us progressively in the formative years of our educational lives.

He was a man of discipline. He was brave and he was courageous in his convictions.

He taught us with so much valuable examples to always be courageous and honest in whatever we do.

In our Community, Udochi that I grew up, it was a rarity, in fact, it was a near taboo for a girl to get pregnant at her parents’ house. Apart from the bushes of the farms and perhaps, the waters of River Niger which were never comfortable or convenient for any sexual encounter, there were no separate rooms for the boys at that time as most lived with their parents, where one cannot afford to have a girl all to himself at any particular time of the day without the prying eyes of the villagers, hence most, if not all of the girls got married as virgins, where the day following the wedding night, the mother of the bride would wait in positive anticipation for the positive news of her son in-law to bring the white clothes stained with blood of her daughter first experience, accompanied with the traditional gifts, becoming a pride of the family, and the entire Community and with these, all the girls worked hard and lived a positive life in order to emulate this good virtue, to bring pride to their own families on their wedding nights.

This was the good era of sound moral teachings and education and the late MKO was one of the strongest proponents of this sound moral teaching where his late wife, our good mother, Mrs Florence Asana Oboh (Madam Uzomovie), played a significant role, the role of a good mother to all the boys and girls in the Community. In fact, until her death on Saturday, August 30, 2008, no boy, or girl that grew up at the village that would not have had a positive and rewarding relationship with her because she was such an amazing woman and a true mother to all.

Sincerely, this was the good era where every child was the child of every home and family and in this, his household, family became for us, an example, a model where everyone or child would have loved to be born into the family and in fact, we were all born into his family educationally, spiritually, and physically for many verifiable reasons.

Unfortunately, many children today do not know what it takes to receive discipline from schools and homes when compared to the present generation which lifestyles appear alien and cosmetic. It is truly an era where most parents are complacent and those who try to discipline their children on account of wrongdoings are viewed with contempt, owing to perceived norms that are in support of child’s right and freedom.

This is an era of the collapse of family values, the collapse of societal values, sadly. Sadly too, today, we do not fancy virginity, purity, decency, and chastity.

However, this could never have happened in the era of MKO because he was a disciplinarian who wanted the best for the society irrespective of family ties or tribes.

He taught us only the core values of the society and we will never forget because these were built into our hearts by his scholarly kindness.

May God continue to bless his educative soul. Amen.

In his tribute ‘A Tribute to an Honest Father,’ his son, Mr Jude Ikhelua Oboh stated ‘You taught us love, kindness, generosity, excellence and honesty.’

Honestly, Bábà as we all fondly and lovingly called him, was an authentic witness who through his lifetime, spoke the truth without fear or favour. He was a sincere and honest man as he was never afraid to say what needed to be said even if people were not too happy with what they would hear, even when he pointed directly to or at them.

He fearlessly and consistently through his lifestyle, both in verbal and written communication, proclaim what was right and just and of course, this led to denials of most of his rights, yet he was steadfast.

May we, through his enduring legacies, be found to consistently tell the truth through his true examples as an honest and sincere man.

A Teacher they say, is always a Teacher. I recall one moment at the village that almost caused me a near embarrassment but turned out to be a great admiration for me.

I had visited the village one certain year and I attended Sunday Mass at our local Parish, St Patrick’s Catholic Church, but hardly had I settled down when one of his sons, Mr Jude Ikhelua Oboh thrusted upon my laps to take the Second Reading from the Book of Proverbs 31 and for whatever reason, I was very uncomfortable or unsettled to take the reading because I was to do this in our local dialect, Uneme and I do not think that I actually did a good and true service to the translation when I eventually took the reading.

It was as if my tongue was tied to my mouth with a rope. I stuttered!

However, on this particular Sunday, there was no Priest at Mass, hence the onus to take the Gospel and do the homily fell, honourably on him, but before he took the Gospel reading, the Teacher in him prompted him to take the Second Reading again and as I watched the movement of his tongue, I knew and I realized that I did not do any good justice to my earlier reading and instead of an embarrassing situation for me, it turned out as an admiration for me for a man who have done his best all his life, to propagate the sustenance of our mother tongue by instilling in us, through teaching, the art of mastering vernacular.

On that day, I realized, once more, that knowledge and learning are invaluable. These are gifts that can never be taken away from us. One either has it or not. It is never borrowed, and it can never be borrowed.

That day truly symbolized everything that he represented for us, a true educationist.

It is noteworthy to note therefore that even before the recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval of compulsory mother tongue instruction in primary schools in Nigeria, Chief (Hon) MKO Oboh and his contemporary had already navigated this delicate, but necessary route in our educational formation.

Father was truly a father to all and I just feel proud and grateful to be counted among his numerous children, natural and adopted, firstly through my big sister, Josephine Amiuniniegbe Oboh which I had already chronicled in ‘Josephine Amiuniniegbe Oboh: My Unique Big Sister’ on Thursday, December 31, 2020 and later through my brother, friend, and age mate (Otu), Mr Joseph Oshiomah Oboh.

As the preparations for one of the most significant dates in my life approached, my wedding on Saturday, August 18, 2001 at St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Ugbowo, Benin City, there was only one name in my mind that would serve as the Chairman of the occasion, even though I would have preferred that he served the most important role of a Sponsor, but for other considerations. So I set out to Fugar, his political residence at that time, to see him, but when I got to Fugar, I was told that he had left for a political meeting at the nearby town of Ekperi Ugbekpe and so in the company of one of his hardworking sons, Mr Matthew Osighe Oboh, we decided to trace him since I desired to return to Benin City same day enroute to Lagos, but he was not very pleased when we eventually caught up with him because in simple terms, he said to me ‘why should I be looking for him just to inform him in a matter as simple as this that I could have dropped a message for him about?’

This is an honour that I will never forget.

Such was the simplicity that he lived his life because as a trained Classroom Teacher, he had compassion for all, treating all his pupils in the same light and manner.

Gratefully, he played the role of a Chairman at my wedding so effectively where my marriage and others that he mentored, have continued to be a success because he never left his eyes off us nor did he closed his mouth, but in prayers and supplications, commended our marriages and homes into the hands of God, imploring the Holy Family of Nazareth to be our model, but most importantly, his heart was always full of love for us.

Sincerely, it will continue to hold a place of pride for me and in my heart when on Saturday, August 18, 2001, he graciously and generously as the true Father that he was, agreed to act and serve as the Chairman of the Day at our wedding and the joy of my heart knows no bound and in this, his role and prayers have been pivotal for the successes of our marriage so far in these past twenty-one (21) years and it is our hope that those prayers, sincerely said, will continue to guide and guard us for the journey ahead even as he would continue to intercede for us from the heavenly place.

Honestly, on that day, Saturday, August 18, 2001, he did not only play the role of a Chairman at my wedding reception, but stood in, ably for my late father, Mr Dominic Sule Osabomeh, who was his contemporary as a classroom Teacher himself, but left this world on Assumption Thursday, August 15, 1996 to be with the Lord.

Father had this distinctive and unique way of calling and pronouncing my name, Domark. His voice was spiritual. It connected, both physically and emotionally. It connected spiritually.

Honestly, we will never miss him because his enduring legacies live with us. He is with us forever.

Father was a great listener. He always listened patiently and sufficiently to take in the minutest of details. Even as a Teacher, he listened more because in listening, we learn to understand and to speak, but more than this, we listen to hear from God as Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta would put it succinctly, ‘In the silence, God speaks.’

I recall one instance that tested his listening ability or perhaps, his level of patience to the limit. In the company of our late father, Pa Emmaneul Gimah Momoh (Pa Emmanuel Gimah Momoh: Tuesday, November 20, 1934 – Saturday, September 14, 2019: A Good Man Has Gone Home), they came to Block 6, Room 17 residence of our big brother and friend, Mr Timothy Sunday Azegbeobor at Bonny Military Camp, Victoria Island, Lagos with one mission, to convince my brother and friend, Joeman to take up an appointment with the Edo State Universal Primary Education Board (SUBEB) as offered by our erudite father, Mr Dominic ‘Domus’ Azegbeobor (he has since gone before us to be with his Lord on Saturday, August 11, 2018), but Joeman refused this offer, outright.

At that time, we had just finished our Ordinary National Diploma (OND) program at Auchi Polytechnic and we were undergoing our one-year compulsory industrial attachment program, preparatory for our Higher National Diploma (HND) program when suddenly this ‘tempting’ offer came, however, Father like the true Teacher that he was, listened patiently while Joe put forth his superior arguments why he should not be taking this offer at that time and he saw reason with him.

Thankfully, time has proved right the decision of Joe to reject that offer at that time in 1994 or so in furtherance of his educational career, but more than this, we had a father who always listened patiently and sufficiently to whoever came to him with any issue to be able to proffer the appropriate advice and on that occasion, he listened sufficiently and patiently to us.

And he allowed our superior arguments to prevail.

Sometimes, it is said that one has to go through difficult moments for one to get to the good moments and so it was in the case of Chief (Hon) MKO Oboh because after several efforts to crown him as the Onotu of Udochi without success, he was, in furtherance to his services to humanity and his immense contributions to the growth and development of our dearest Community, Udochi, honoured with the distinguished title of Daudu, which is administratively the Second-in-Command to the Oliola-in-Council and in a well-attended ceremony, was crowned with this title on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017 as Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Oboh, Daudu (Kpakunyakpa) of Udochi Community, South Uneme Clan to the glory of God.

What an honour that this title brought to him because in truth, he gave his all to the cause of his Community, Udochi.

Truly, Father, as he was fondly called by all of us, his children, biological or otherwise, was a great Teacher, Farmer, Fisherman, Hunter, and a Doctor rolled into one. In fact, growing up at Udochi, one would think that he was a professional Doctor because of the way he treated and cared for the sick as some of us had our first injection experience from his stable hands. His fishing expeditions are yet to be matched by any within or outside the Community. In fact, he was so good at this art that even men of the legendary Nupe Fishermen Community from Niger State sought his advice on fishing expeditions on numerous occasions.

His collection of different sizes of fishing hooks, was a marvel to us as this fishing armoury became for us, a sort of a museum where we go to admire these collections of fishing materials. One of the hooks even caught the ears of one of us during one of such escapades, but for the timely intervention of Father, who was at home at this material time, otherwise, the ear of that boy would have been gone, forever, feeding its blood to the fishing hooks like a sacrifice!

I recall with nostalgic feelings a particular ‘Obe,’ large catfish that he caught with one of his fishing hooks which my elder sister, Mrs Theresa Onomoane Asekhameh (Nee Osabomeh) bought, and the eggs were so big and large that it could not contain a single bowl.

Father was simply a magician in fishing expedition!

In African folklores, names are very significant because it is through this that the identity of a people are known and recognised and Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh realised this early in his lifetime, hence he gave all his children deep and meaningful Uneme names and through this unique act, helped to portray the beautiful and cultural heritage of the Uneme man, while preserving it. In fact, the native names of his children have become the dictionary of names for any new parent in Uneme land (Omokhudu, Amiuniegbe, Oshiomah, Osighe, Imokhai, Esegbua, Ikhelua, Okhaisimafeh, etc).

Ugbhaikhosah. Truly, it is wisdom that makes the man!

He was truly a man of sound culture, tradition and custom. This truly explains his deliberate choice of deep traditional and cultural names for all his children, portraying the essence of culture and tradition in the life of his people.

Truly, there is nothing to subtract from the life and time of Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh because his life was of simplicity, humility, learning, poise, and sublimity. He was dedicated and diligent. He was simply an exemplar in all aspects of his life.

Sincerely, he left for us a legacy of purpose, the purpose of education, hence we will never miss his peaceful passage to eternal life because he will always be with us, in our hearts and like High Chief Umaru stated ‘as a Teacher, he emerged easily as an exemplar in measuring committed tutorship’ and this is not far from the truth as he had an obsession for education where he became the gateway where most of Udochi sons and daughters passed through, to cut their teeth in their educational careers.

His eloquence and sanctity helped us, many of us to come into our learning and we are simply grateful to him for the legacies that he left behind with us.

Honestly, I could write a book about his life to the best of my ability and knowledge because he made so much positive impacts in our lives.

Sadly, on that peaceful afternoon, Thursday, December 09, 2021, death decided to take away from us our dearest beloved father, Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh at the ripe age of eighty-three (83) years to the glory of God.

We were sad, but truly, we prefer a time to be born. We rejoice in the birth of a new birth. And we celebrate a birthday because we love to, we love life. But we must also remember that there will be a time to die. And this is a grave reality about our lives because we are all candidates of death.

Therefore, Qoheleth, who himself was a teacher of great wisdom, in his words in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 stated very clearly ‘there is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die’ and on that peaceful afternoon, Thursday, December 09, 2021 when our father decided to call time on his impactful time here with us on earth, he did not die because death is not the end, it is the transition to the next line and in this, it is a good thing for the Christian to see Jesus Christ and doing good is the only way to prepare for death and our father did good, not only for his immediate Community, Udochi, but for all and we are all proud of this.

He prepared adequately for his death by doing good and heaven would only be his reward.

This is therefore to celebrate the beautiful memories of all the beautiful things that he did for us, not only at Udochi Community, but for humanity in general. His legacies, certainly live on and we are proud of these.

Thank you for leaving behind for us eternal legacies that we can always be proud of. And the lighted candle of education that you gave to us, we will keep it burning to the end of time.

So, on this day, Friday, December 09, 2022, one year anniversary of his death, we will continue, in our prayers, to commit him into the grace of God, asking Him to grant him eternal rest and through this, may he continue to intercede for us.

And may the beautiful and enduring legacies especially in education that he has left behind for us, continue to guide our pathways to greatness.

Eternal rest grant unto Chief (Hon) Matthew Kadiri Okhasivho (MKO) Oboh O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him and the souls of all the faithful departed.

Sleep well Father! We love you and we miss you, but we shall meet again on the resurrection morning.

Na me

Your son

Domark Oshioke Osabomeh

Friday, December 09, 2022