Until we meet again. Bye for now untill we meet again

 

I SAW 'UNITY' AT OWERRI

Sunday September 22 was an important day in Owerri. It was the long awaited day of the presentation of my tribute and book in memory of my late Dear wife Nancy and my Loving daughter Jennifer. It was also my late daughter's birthday. She would have been 13. The presentation brought a semblance of political unity in Imo state. The event chaired by the state chairman of PDP also had chairmen and leaders of APC, SDP, UPP, APGA etc in attendance. Several current and past government leaders, religious leaders, Project Ike members, NAJICPA members from different cities, scores of my Facebook friends and rank and file of Imo people were in attendance. Of course the media outfits also came too. I thank all who took time out of their busy schedule to join me in honoring my late wife and daughter. We also took time to address some national issues especially corruption. Political leaders of Imo state dropped their divisions and threw banters at themselves. It was as if there were no political divides. Everyone was at peace with each other. God, Nigeria and my Family's Blood brought unity to Owerri albeit for a short time. Hopefully this is the beginning of new things in our body politic especially in IMO state. God bless and keep us all.

THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN.

Join us as we commit my wife and daughter Nancy and Jennifer Ibe to mother earth on August 24, 2012 at St Mary's catholic church, Amuzi, Ikenanzizi Obowo, Imo State. Time 11 am. God bless you as you share in our sorrows.

Weeks prior to this disaster called a crash,i had been very apprehensive i had this feeling something sinister was lurking, but i didnt know what it was, i actually worried for two people myself and my sister echendu! then one fateful day,just before that accident she called me  and shared a dream,my sister echendu,who was never much of a dreamer but practical and objective dreamt! maamaa she said, i was in a dream myself and jenny and jess then jessica got missing myself and jenny looked for her everywhere when i eventually saw her,she was walking in the company of  other people and i queried jess, where have you been? she said she was alright. i think she said she found out that herself and jenny fell into a pond or lake i cant remember which now; she was fearful and so was i so, i called a pastor close by her who prayed with her and she felf better,but i didnt feel better so i went to church and laid before the alter pleading with God for mercy.i did the same on thursday and that fateful  sunday trust me i prayed until my clothes was drenched  with my sweat.i even spoke to her on my way from church then that crash!!!!!! so since then I HAVE BEEN THINKING jesus,you mean you couldnt save my sister?i thought you said if i followed you i will loose nothing?have you failed?no tell me because i am lost here did you betray my trust in you? Days ago,jesus spoke to me and said my child,did you remember lazarus?i loved him ,her sisters sent a message to me saying master lazarus whom you love is sick,i got that message and on time too,but i went there 4 days later after he had been buried and her sister said to me just like you are saying to me now weremara" master if you were here earlier, my sister woudnt have died " did i say die? i have refused to use those words but jesus said 'your SISTERS ARE NOT DEAD' I, THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE I WILL WAKE THEM UP! AND YOU WILL SEE THEM AGAIN i tell this story to everyone who have loved my sistesr like i did please keep hope alive if you confess your sins and accept jesus the hope of the nations into your life and walk with him then on the day he comes to wake echendu,jenny and auntie maria  up from sleep,WE WILL ALL SEEM THEM AGAIN so you see i dont have to say goodbye...........................weremara okwulehie

Nancy and Jennifer singing happy birthday to me at Rockview on october 22 2011, I was going to do the same thing for them on July 17th and September 22. O' death, I see thy sting. It's bitting all over my body.

SUBMISSION OF RT (HON) IKE C. IBE TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AVIATION ON THE DANA AIRLINE CRASH OF JUNE 3, 2012

Mr Chairman and members of the committee,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at this public hearing. I have come neither as a regulator nor as an operator, neither did I come as an official or stakeholder. I came because I’m involved, and I’m involved because I’ve been dazed by Dana. Half of my family my wife Nancy, my daughter Jennifer and my wife’s Auntie Maria were victims of the Dana crash.

On January 1, 1997 I married an angel called Nancy Echendu Ibe (nee Okwulehie). God blessed us with a warm and caring family and sent two other angels to the world through us named Jessica and Jennifer aged 13 and 11. On Sunday June 3, 2012, I drove my family to the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport for Nancy and Jennifer to catch a flight to Lagos on their way for a family event in India. They were joined by another family member Mrs Maria Okwulehie. They were to be away for ten days. Now they will be away permanently.

When I decided to move my family back to Nigeria from the United States, many people thought I was crazy and that I would regret the move before long. They were right. Here I was, yanking my family away from a society where everything works, where life is good, where the government works, where rules and regulations are obeyed, where there is a high level of certainty of public and private actions, where schools are highly rated, where hospitals are properly equipped and very well staffed, where drivers are intelligent enough to pass junctions without relying on traffic wardens or lights, where there are hardly potholes on roads, where official corruption is hardly present, where leaders are trustees of the peoples’ power and people are the custodians of the power. I was dragging my family out from this society and taking them to Nigeria where everything seemed entirely and sadly apocalyptic.

My wife and my daughters tried so hard to adapt after the first year but it was tough for them. Of all things, my family couldn’t understand the constant blaring of horns by drivers on the road, nor why there was always traffic jams especially at intersections. They did not understand why there was constant power failure and black out or why we always had to generate our own home electricity, pump our own water and hire our own security personnel. They could neither understand why we have to spend hours on fuel queues nor why people were always angry and desperate on the roads. They wonder whether Nigeria will survive, whether our people will ever be happy, whether our officials will ever be responsible, whether the legal system will ever work, whether the ordinary masses will ever benefit from our vast natural resources, whether there will ever be electricity or good schools or running water or good roads or clean hospitals or safe skies. They wonder whether the street children who hawk goods will ever leave the roads and go home to comfortable environments where government will provide their needs.

In the last several months, my family had become more worried each time I set out to travel. They would always be curious where I was going. Dad, they would always yell, don’t go to the east they will kidnap you or don’t go to the north boko haram is bombing there. I dare not let my kids see my travel tickets and each time they do and see the endangered territories written on my ticket, I try to assure them that I will come back safe even though I wouldn’t be sure of that myself. Whenever I’m out of town, they call hundred times a day to check if I’m safe.

Nancy my wife was a medical laboratory scientist and a public health specialist. Since she relocated from the United States of America barely three years ago, she has not held any paying job. The last position she held in America was head of blood transfusion services in the Laurel Regional hospital in Maryland. She devoted her three years in Nigeria to charity work and philanthropic activities. She spent her time traversing different rural areas with her groups giving medical assistance, public health education, food, money etc. to the most vulnerable people in the communities especially women and children. She has spent her time campaigning about those issues that matter most to the ordinary person, the voiceless, the weak and hungry. Week after week the lowest of the low looked up to seeing them for their salvation. These people will never see Nancy again. She had written to many government agencies and organizations making suggestions and giving ideas about how to make life better for ordinary Nigerians. These letters have never changed anything. But she has touched many lives in amazing ways. Nancy believed in her cause in Nigeria, she gave her time, her money, her sweat and now her blood.

Jennifer my daughter was just 11 years old. She was innocent, pure and angelic. All she did was to sing, smile and make people happy. She took to the stage early in kindergarten in America and all the way to Nigeria and up till her last day in International Community School Wuse the weekend before she boarded the Dana aircraft that faithful June 3rd afternoon. Jenny will never sing again here on earth.

Mrs Maria Okwulehie was a consummate administrator who turned the federal government college Bwari from nothing to something. Her family loved her dearly. Her students loved and admired her but they will never see her again. They have also been dazed by Dana. So have the families of all the other victims, each will never see their loved ones again. This crash was one too many. ENOUGH.

All kinds of commentaries have been written and all shades of reasons have been adduced for the Dana crash. I have read stories that the black box has been recovered and taken abroad for analysis. If my wife were to be here, she will tell you that there is only one reason that the black box will give for the crash and it is CORRUPTION. I agreed with my wife on many things during our 15 years of marriage. I would have agreed with her on this. I will therefore not bother to speak on the reasons for that crash. It is very clear that over the years, the Nigerian system and structure has broken down. For every disaster or incident in Nigeria, the same templates have been adopted being investigation, recommendations, white paper etc. There is never implementation until the whitepaper turns brown or another disaster happens and the template is dusted up as the cycle continues. In Nigeria, operators are regulators and regulators are operators. Government officials are contractors and contractors are government officials. There has never been shortage of investigations of corruption. More often than not, investigators unearth massive frauds in the system but end up also committing their own frauds. The tendency has been for the investigators to end up being investigated and the beat goes on as if government is one huge joke.

I am therefore here today on behalf of Nancy Echendu Ibe, Jennifer Ibe, Maria Okwulehie and all the other victims as well as our dazed families and friends to charge this National Assembly and indeed this nation that the bloodshed from corruption has got to stop. I have been to many countries of the world. I have flown in all manners of aircrafts, long-haul and short haul flights in all regions of the world. The aviation sector is very tightly regulated and controlled. But here in Nigeria, it’s all about business and profits. Many questions are left hanging. Was the Dana airline qualified to be an operator in our country, were its aircrafts worthy or were they just certified with money? Was their technical crew qualified? Were their planes a danger to our people? It is obvious now that from all the information available, my wife, my daughter, my sister in-law and all the other victims of the ill-fated flight walked into an untimely death once they boarded that flight. They didn’t know it, but regulators knew it. Safety is the least of our considerations. Many unnecessary losses of lives have occurred because regulators in this country close their eyes to even latent irregularities because money usually changes hands. I have been a legislator over twenty years ago, I have practiced law for over twenty four years in different jurisdictions, and I have participated in congressional public hearings in the United States. I can state therefore without prevarications that the real last hope of the common man is the effective and responsible use and application of the nation’s legislative powers. This legislature has often cried that their resolutions and laws are not implemented by the government. I also watch with bemusement that the legislature does not apply its constitutional powers to ensure that things are done properly. I have often wondered whether it is because of the climate of corruption also.

Mr Chairman, I came here today not to cry because my wife already cried a lot for Nigeria. I am not here to sing praises because my daughter has sang enough. I am here to formally tell Nigerians what my wife has been trying to tell us all these years. Her voice was not heard by our leaders during her life time, perhaps it will be heard now that she has paid the supreme price of dying in and for a nation which did not bother to do anything for her. Will these investigations give us hope as the chairman answers or are we going to continue to be a hopeless nation? Only time will tell. But I am certain of one thing, the blood of my wife Nancy, my daughter Jennifer, Auntie Maria and all the other victims will be a wakeup call for this nation. So help us God.

Rt (Hon) IKE C. IBE

Plot 22 Aguiyi Ironsi Steet, Merit House, 5th floor, Maitama, Abuja.

08035495935, ikeibe2@yahoo.com

When things go wrong, we wonder

What did we do wrong?

Nothing

What would we have done better?

Nothing

If given the choice

Will they want to come back to us?

Maybe not

Why?

 “Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard,

nor has it entered into the hearts of men

 the wonderful things God has prepared

for they that love Him”

What will they be happy to know?

That we are coping without them

What will they want us to know?

That they are in a better place

“Daughters of Jerusalem, 

do not weep for me, 

but weep for yourselves 

and for your children”

They are looking forward to seeing us again

Chinyerem Nwachukwu (Sissy)

It was a Great day as friends and families gathered at The Nigerian Catholic Community(St Jerome Catholic Church) in Hyattsville ,Md 20781,Usa to pray for the souls of the departed..May the souls of Jennifer Ibe and Nancy Echendu Ibe rest in perfect peace..

NANCY AND JENNIFER….WHAT CAN I SAY?

On July 17th, 1967, I noticed an unusual pain on the left side of my ribs. I felt like something was plucked out of my body. I was then only two years and three months. Our paths crossed for three years in the same set at Ibeku High School Umuahia between 1977 and 1980. Each day I saw her in class, I momentarily remembered that pain that I felt in 1967. Several years later, in the mid-nineties, I saw her again in Houston Texas as I felt the pain again. It was only on January 1, 1997 did I fully understand the meaning of that rib pain of that 17th July 1967. That was the day God took a rib from my side and she was born. That day, her parents named her Echendu, her friends called her Nancy and I called her my wife as she became and completed my life on that January 1, 1997. My missing rib was found. All our family and friends were present on that faithful day when we said ‘I do’. From then on, indeed, we did everything as one for an incredible and unbroken fifteen years.

Through us, God brought two Angels Jessica and Jennifer into the world. Jessica came in December 27, 1998 while Jennifer followed in September 22, 2000. Jess taught Jenn how to sing and she took the stage for several years. She taught her how to read and she read every book she saw. It was a complete family and we owe all the credit to our first lady Nancy. She had no blemish, she had no bitterness, she had no worries, and she had no foes. What could I possibly say to capture our life of fifteen years….It’s a lot. It’s more than anybody could imagine. It’s more than I can write.

Every day was a page, as every year was a stage. Everything we did was an event. There were smiles every day and there were tears some days, tears of joy and tears of pain. There were many ups and there were few downs. Jenny was always radiant, always happy, always singing. Nancy was always calm, and always warm, she was always caring and always sharing. She made life worth living when it seemed worthless. She made us come alive when we seemed hopeless. Our life was near perfect until Dana dazed it on June 3, 2012 when God called Nancy and Jennifer. Nancy and Jennifer, What can I say? Eloi Eloi, Lama Sabactani.

IKE C. IBE