"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
Psalm 116:15

The death of a saint of God is viewed, by God, as something special and a time of rejoicing as the saint leaves this world of sin and goes to a perfect place to be with our Lord. Just four months shy of her 80th birthday, Pastor (Mrs) EMILY OKHENREN AIG-IMOUKHUEDE was called home by the Lord peacefully in her sleep in the night of June 8, 2021 in Surrey, England.  Naturally genial, amiable and kind-hearted, Pastor Emily, as she was widely known, has had a beautiful life of service to God and humanity. She was a loving mother and grandmother who loved and served the Lord till the end. Pastor Emily retired from active life in the last one year and spent a great deal of her time with her children and grand children. Her days were filled with prayers, quiet moments, supplications, meditations and praise and worship.

She prayed fervently for her family, friends, the Church and Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria - the country she loved dearly and served most passionately in many capacities. Nigeria was on her mind all the time. She listened to messages from the US evangelist, Kenneth Hagin and the Singaporean Preacher, Joseph Prince. Her favourite TV programme was Fareed Zakari GPS, the Sunday talkshow hosted by the brilliant Indian-American journalist on CNN.

Pastor Emily was born on October 27, 1941 in Sabongida-Ora, now the headquarters of Owan West Local government Area of Edo State. Her parents were Chief and Mrs Mefullbode Ihonde. Her father died when she was a toddler, and her mother, a young petty trader had to raise her with her siblings. It was a fairly big family and her mother worked hard to provide material comfort and love to the family; and because she loved education and appreciated the importance of quality education, she spared no expenses in training his children. 

It was in this beautiful setting, filled with discipline, peace and love, in which Young Emily grew into a beautiful maiden. Her native name was ‘’OKHENREN’’, which means star. She sure shone like one, and grew up to be a bright shining light in her family, church and country. As a young girl, she had her early education in the community. For secondary education, she attended Anglican Girls School, Sabongida-Ora in 1952, but due to her brilliance, she gained Western Nigeria government scholarship to study at St. Anne’s School, Ibadan, an elite high school for girls in what was then a burgeoning capital of the Western Region. She was at St Anne’s from 1954 to 1958, where she obtained her GCE in Division One. With this, she enrolled in the Nigerian College of Science, Arts and Technology in 1959 and graduated in 1961 where she obtained her A Levels (Advanced Levels Certificate). As soon as she left the College, she was admitted to the University of Ibadan in 1961 (then known as University College) from where she graduated with a Second Class Upper degree in History in 1964 – a considerable achievement at the time (and even now!). She grew up in a Western Nigeria that was brimming with active, and sometimes, incendiary politics and it is no surprise that her worldview was shaped by what she experienced.

Upon graduation from UI at age 23, Pastor Emily followed a broad and diverse career path spanning teaching, public service, private business, art collection and social enterprise. But it was in her days in the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) that her leadership skills, organizational talents and capacity for social mobilization were fully appreciated. She started off in the classroom as a teacher; teaching at Aunty Ayo Girls Comprehensive High School, Lagos (1964) and part-time lecturer in history at her alma mater, St Anne’s School, Ibadan (1966). In 1967 she joined the civil service as the Curator of the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos. At the museum, she introduced the use of the museum to Nigerian children. This initiative led to the establishment of the Directorate of Education in the Commission for Museums and Monuments.  She served for six years till 1973 when she resigned to pursue her passion for the arts. This also allowed her enough time to take care of her young and growing family. She started by hosting arts exhibitions at her home in Lagos. She hosted works of well-known artists like David Dale, Joshua Akande, Kolade Oshinowo, the Lijadu Sisters and Bruce Onobrakpeya and the late Chuks Anyanwu who have all turned out to become Nigerians masters. Chuks Anyanwu even lived in her family house for about a month to prepare for his display. These exhibitions were so successful that it attracted many arts aficionados, including some from the Lagos diplomatic and expatriate communities. Encouraged by the achievements of these exhibitions, Pastor Emily established an art gallery in Lagos christened Gong Gallery essentially for the promotion of Nigerian arts and artists. It was the nation’s second art gallery, and it became an instant hit among Nigerians of diverse backgrounds who had just emerged from an internecine civil war in search for a new meaning for life. The fact that her husband was also carving out a name for himself as a culture specialist in the federal bureaucracy provided the needed complementarity to her efforts.

Ever versatile, Mrs Aig-Imoukhuede also worked as a freelance journalist for Sunday Times and Daily Times, contributing articles on arts and culture. She also scripted for Voice of Nigeria and NTA on women and children issues, in addition to hosting and producing many children’s programme on TV.

In 1976, the US embassy in Lagos acknowledged Pastor Emily’s towering credentials in the arts and gave her a grant to visit the United States for the bicentennial celebrations that year. In a recently declassified diplomatic cable, the embassy described her as ‘’one of Nigeria’s leading entrepreneurs in art’’. The cable noted ‘’her educational background and her past position as curator of National Museum elevate her to unique and singularly noteworthy position in a profession where few Nigerians and fewer women are found. She is keenly intelligent, well poised and articulate. Mrs Aig-Imoukhuede is a combination of feminine charm, artistic sensitivity and business acumen. These attributes have earned her much respect in Nigerian artistic/business circles and will, if she continues, take her even further’’.

In addition to establishing a gallery, she also set up an art school and hired an Indian national as artist-in-residence. In terms of business ideas, Pastor Emily was always overflowing with many initiatives that complemented each other. To cater for the emerging middle class of the mid ‘70s, she established a business which offered packaged tours to schools and groups to foreign countries. It was an idea that was far ahead of its time! Travels and tours is now a booming subsector in the tourism area. She authored a storybook for children titled ‘’Seven Maidens and Other Stories’’ based on the stories her mother told her when she was a child.  

Little wonder the federal government soon took notice of this vivacious lady and appointed her director in many state-owned enterprises, including Nigerian Mining Corporation; Nigerian Cargo Handling Company; Warri Refining and Petro-Chemical Company Limited; National Universities Commission (NUC) and Peoples Bank Limited. In addition, she served as a foundation member of the Assessor Committee for the Nigerian National Merit Award and also sat on the Board of Kaafee Enterprises Limited and Majestic Securities Limited. She is also a member of Board of Trustees for Women and Children of Hope (HIV AIDS Support Programme), Women in Peace Initiative and Center for Africa Settlement Studies and Development in Ibadan.

One of Pastor Emily’s most prominent national assignments was her election as the President of the National Council of Women Societies in 1988. She served till 1993. She had risen through the ranks in the Council, becoming as Assistant Secretary in 1978 under the Presidency of the unforgettable Mrs Hilda Adefarasin. A federation of women’s organizations that promotes the welfare and progress of Nigerian women, NCWS is the biggest and most influential non-partisan and non-political women group in the country. In its March 1990 edition, Ebony magazine, the well known US-based African American monthly publication, carried a special section on Nigeria.  The glossy eight-page supplement, titled ‘’Nigeria: The African Giant’’, featured the nation’s economic and social panorama. Pastor Emily, then President of NCWS, was among the few Nigerians interviewed in the publication. She said in the interview: ‘’For a long time, we (Nigerian women) have been happy to be appendages to men, but we no longer want to be viewed as second-class citizens’’. It was a resounding voice of reason that reflected the ascendancy of the women folk then. The nation has just had its first female university Vice Chancellor and the first female Board Chairman of a bank. It was during her tenure as the President of NCWS that the foundation stone of the headquarters of the Council was laid in Abuja after which construction work started also during her presidency.

The welfare of women, proper child upbringing and the role of the family as the building block of the society have always been the focus of Pastor Emily’s official and Christian life.  The federal government did recognize her specialty and passion in these areas. She was appointed, at various times, as member, Child Welfare Committee of the Federal Ministry of Social Development, Youths and Sports; member, Police Community Relations Committee; Member, International Council on Women and member, the Lambo Foundation. She also served as member of SOS Children’s Village Association of Nigeria Nigerian and Member, Association of University Women. In addition, her skills in museum management were also invaluable when she was elected member of Museum Education for Africa Committee and International Councils of Museums.