The sudden death of retired General Dominic Oneya early last month came as a rude shock, as there was no indication of any serious ill health before now. For us in the GRA Effurun Sub Council of the Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM), where he had just served out his tenure as our Worthy Grand Knight, he was with us two days earlier, when we gathered to pray the office of the dead for a deceased lady of the Order. He participated in the prayer session from the beginning to the end, and drove back home unaccompanied. So there was nothing to suggest that he would be gone barely two days later.
The late brother Oneya was a man of many parts, but more importantly, he touched many lives in many ways with his simplicity and humility, qualities that made it easy for him to mingle with both the high and mighty, as well as the lowly. When he joined the Order nearly twenty years ago after his retirement from the Army, he had no difficulty whatsoever in interacting with his brothers, most of whom were civilians. It was a very interesting sight then to behold a retired General joining hands to arrange tables and chairs for meetings and other events, which was usually the job of younger members of the Order. It was very clear to those of us who were privileged to know him up close, that he enjoyed immense good will from the various constituencies with which he had been associated in his lifetime.
In concluding this tribute to his memory, I would like to recall here, a recent incident which illustrated clearly that indeed, our late brother was the true son of his father, well bred and ever ready to respect his elders, despite his high standing in society. Just by chance, some of us got to know about an incident that happened between him and another senior member of the Order, and we decided to initiate reconciliation between them. We approached both of them separately to hint them about our intention, and both of them welcomed the idea enthusiastically. As the younger one, our late brother assured us that he was ready and willing to participate in the reconciliation process at any time and place. With this assurance, we decided to hold the peace meeting in the home of the older member. It turned out that the apparent disagreement between them was really more of a communication gap, but in the course of the discussion, our late brother, as a sign of utmost sincerity and respect, knelt down to assure his elder brother knight that he had no grudge or misgiving against him, and that he was sorry if he had given that impression at any point in the past. For those of us who were present, this spectacle was simply too much for us to take in. Infact, our elder brother and host was equally overwhelmed by what happened that he rose from his seat and lifted our late brother up, after which he remarked that by this rare gesture of humility, he was now convinced that indeed he may have misjudged our late brother's action..
May the soul of our late brother and father, Dominic Obukadata Oneya, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace, amen. To our beloved mama Patricia, to Olorogun Anthony, to Mrs Anthonia Ewebe and their other siblings, to the grandchildren and to members of the larger Oneya family of Ewerhe Agbarho, to his numerous friends, colleagues and well wishers, not to forget his beloved constituency the Nigerian Army, the Government and people of Kano and Benue states, the Nigerian Football Federation NFF, the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba KSM, Agbarho Improvement Union among others, we commiserate with you all on the great loss. May the good Lord continue to comfort and console us all, amen. To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die.
Emmanuel Omo Irabor KSM
Effurun, Delta State.
01 September, 2021.