Two years today daddy, you left us... continue to rest in peace. Forever in our hearts.

First Christmas without you in the world daddy... I miss you, your strong voice and infectious laughter. May God rest your soul. Love you.

You will remain in my heart forever grandpa since there will never be any other person who can replace you in my heart and soul and the great love I have for you. Rest in perfect peace grandpa

Dear Grandpa,

It has been a real honour knowing you. You are literally my father! It has been a blessing being your Grandchild! Thank you for looking after me in my early years of Secondary school. I remember when I was 10 years old, you would come into my room every morning to give me popcorn and a drink, every single morning! You loved me so much!

I have learned so many things from you! You are very caring! You looked after so many people. A great father to many! I am so glad to have been part of those you fathered. I am glad to be your child. The name Grandfather means a father that has been promoted to a Grand version. It is so disheartening that on this earth you will never get a chance to meet my children, but by the grace of God, I have so many wonderful pictures of you that I will one day show my children. That will be another promotion to "Great Grand Father”.

God honours anyone that has been given the heavenly and God-given responsibility of being a father on His earth and so do I!!! I honour you not just because you are a wonderful and great example of a Father, but because God delights in the honouring of Fathers. When we honour our Father whom we see with our eyes, we honour the God that we cannot see with our eyes. I love you from the bottom of my heart!

I have made wonderful references to you even at my University, your life, style and experiences have been admired by many academics in the United Kingdom. I saw with my eyes how you honoured God by building a room in your house just for prayer. God bless you! What a great example to behold! What a sweeeet Grandfather you are! What a sweeeet Daddy you are!

Till we meet again Daddy! Thanks A million!
Your First Grand Daughter! Anna
Lots & Lots of Love xxx

To my amazing and loving grandfather, Mum has always told me amazing stories about you and how strong you are. You were a solider, a fighter, a warrior and loving a father. You were a kind and caring man and you have always shown so much love to me, I really wish I could have spent more time with you Grandpa, you were so proud of me and always called me “champ”. I will forever be your champion Grandpa, I am motivated to make you proud and follow in your footsteps, I love you forever and ever and keep watching over me Grandpa as I will continue to make you proud❤️

May you rest in Heaven in eternal peace❤️

From your eldest Grandson,

Jonathan Uyiosa (Eleyare) Okundaye

Who can question GOD ...nobody!!!

The man Capt Adaba was living proof that we can never know the ways of God.
Capt was filled with endurance...he passed through a lot but came through more refined..

He has left behind ABLE hands who have all grown to be fine wine.

One thing I am certain of is this..where he is Now..No more pain...no more discomfort..man took care of him but now he is free ,he is happier and his race is run.

Don't cry for him...because if you could see him now, he is walking through streets paved with gold..smiling..and now living forever...far away from this troubled world.

Capt Adaba
I hail you sir.

Tribute To Pa Thaddeus Adaba

I have been with Pa Thaddeus Adaba since since 1982 which translates to 39 years. Pa Thaddeus Adaba is more or less my Father since I have lived almost all my life with Daddy (Pa Thaddeus Adaba). As Daddy always insists on taking me to wherever he is going or reside in any part of the world referring to me as his hand bag.

He always referred to me as "onaseme" meaning my own. He always prayed for us that God will also take care of us as we are taking care of him. His favourites includes groundnut soup with pounded yam or semovita. He also likes beans or ogoja beans. He sometimes referred to me as his wife.

May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace in name of almighty God. Amen


In-law/caretaker


Yusuf Abu

Tribute To An Icon Late Pa Thaddeus Adaba

Late Pa Thaddeus Adaba, a fine gentleman, an icon, a philanthropist whose generosity touched so many lives positively including his children, brothers, uncles, sisters, friends and a host of others.

God gave a gift to the world who happened to be Pa Thaddeus Adaba. Indeed he is a father in isreal for all his deeds to those that crossed his path. He radiates love and honesty to everyone and these values are immeasurable.

He is man of faith. He believes in the power of prayers. A veteran soldier, a retired captain of the Nigerian army. Communication officer (Signal) during the Nigerian Civil war 1967-1970.

May his Gentle soul rest in perfect peace in Jesus might name Amen.


Care Taker,

Godwin Ighoviano Asaije

To my great and loving father, all l hear Daddy is the sound of your voice , is that Rhoda and l reply yes, over the phone all l can hear is the sound of joy in your voice any time we speak. As l write, l feel such deep hole in my heart knowing l can not hear your voice or see you again.
You were a Legend by your stand. A great man and outstanding in everyway. No dull moment. There can never be anyone like you Daddy. You were a great lending hand to God because you reached out to everyone you encounter you showed love in so many ways , your home was open to anyone and everyone. It was always fun and laughter, You were for the people, a home that never lacked food. You took pride in feeding all, you treated all fairly. Like l always say to my kids and friends if you don't know how to eat, you will learn how to in my fathers house. I will ever miss your presence.
You are more than a million men put together. 
You once told me l was your favourite, after a very long conversation I cried so much. I know you have won God's heart regardless, I know you are definitely by the side of our God almighty. Daddy, you were such a disciplinary and no nonsense man you instill a lot of your known traits that still lives and beyond to generations to come.
l am ever so proud to have you as a father . I will always love you forever till we meet again, fair well Daddy. Love you always Daddy ❤❤❤

You lived a fulfilled life big daddy. The fund memories of your visit to my father in Jattu when I was I child when ever you are home linger in my mind. You were such a gentle and kind man. Handsome and homely. It was a pride to us as children having an officer in our family. May your soul Rest In Peace. May God give the family the fortitude to bear this lost. It is well.

Itsemhe, Oyakhamho, Teddy, my brother, my friend, my play mate. It is hard to say goodbye.

As a child, you were very careful, I even mistook it for fear. You joined the army, went to war and came back. You have always been there for me, answered me whenever I called, gave me a shoulder to lean on, showed me a pathway to take.

I wish you could have stayed longer. Adieu Brother.

We love you, but God loves you more.

Rest in Peace Brother till we meet to part no more.

Your sister,

Alice Adaba

HOD as we fondly call you, joy to be with, full of laughter, My uncle who thought me how to speaks etsako fluently, I remember your popular slang "Ona mha kida leg, aye nu gho, ohbo lor". In our local dialect, ubi means slap. You told us that your slap can only be seen once a year, we never got to see the slap even once in your life time.

In your words, " in this Lagos, you must be smart, you must wear nickers, walk smart, don't walk like "udo Oghuegbe".

You have lived a life of a warrior, never gave up, always looking for the next opportunity.

Adieu HOD, My Uncle, My Daddy, My Friend, My Teacher, Gallant Soldier, Our Father. Rest on, Goodnight T. I. Adaba Capt. Rtd.

Kareem (Adaba) Mohammed

TRIBUTE TO MY UNCLE THADDEUS ITSEMHE ADABA
As my mum's elder brother he played both uncle and fatherly roles in my life. He was kind and very generous to me. As the little child living with his mother, he took me as he's. I usually accompany "mamaagba" as we fondly called grandma to daddy's place and we could stay with him and his family for several months and sometimes a year. He bought same clothes for I and his daughters. He was a great disciplinarian. We could play and turn the house upside down while he is away and rush to arrange when we are expecting him back from work. I remember when they paid Nigerian Army a huge allowance popularly called "UDOJI" daddy took I and all his children then to the market and bought us several clothes, same as his kids. He took very good care of his mother whom I grew up with.
I have a lot of good memories of him but can't put down everything here. May his kind soul rest peacefully in Jesus name.
Mrs Juliet Aniyo Uduehi.

Tribute to my loving and caring father-in-law, PA. THADDEUS ADABA.

Your love was an indication and part of my overall marital happiness. I did not know you were too fond of me until my child and I spent time with you.

You poured your heart into my dearest husband, you told him how much I cared for you and how grateful you were to have me as a daughter-in-law.

I miss your jokes and laughter and I always remember when you asked me to prepare a nice meal for you to eat. You always told me that you enjoyed the sweet aroma whenever I was cooking groundnut soup for you in the kitchen. As a father-in-law and a father to me, your absence left a deep wound in my heart. It is sad to feel that you are no more with us on earth, but your love and peaceful memories are still our guide.

Your endless love will continue to bind us together as a family. One day I believe we will rejoice with you when God calls us home.


Rest In Peace Papa


Your Daughter-in-law,


Omolade Adaba.

“My Dad was an incredible man. He provided for his family and made sure his children had the guidance they needed. I am grateful for my dad and I miss him every day.”

“Today I am remembering my Dad and the great memories we shared. He was one of a kind and my best friend. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him and smile.”

“My Father was my biggest role model. I could call him at any time and he always has a solution to my problem. Whenever I had problems, he always gave me the best advice and he opened his arms wide with a warm hug. Life is so much different without him, but I am grateful to have him as my Father and my Daddy.

“When I remember my Dad, I smile each time. He was a Military action man and filled with so much adrenalin. When he returned from his trip at idiroko, the moment we heard his car horn, we would scream Samanja is back and everyone will be absolutely quiet knowing that our action father is back home.

“Today I am remembering my Dad and the great memories we shared. He was one in a million and I always admired him. I never questioned if he loved or cared for me because he made it so obvious. I still feel him with me each day and I am living life for the both of us now.


Love you Forever Dad.


Your son,


Elijah Adaba

Tribute to a Daddy and Uncle
Oh Daddy, I share with other members of our family in the grief of your transition . You were a great Daddy to all of us, a father who never turned his face against any member of the family. You make us proud to be among our peers. As you depart from us today, you have created a big vacuum in the family, I pray that God will give all of us the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss. May God almighty receive your soul and grant you eternal rest. 
Adieu Daddy

Daddy! It’s hard for me to write this. You were many things! A good husband, father, grand father and uncle. Loving and caring. Taught us a lot of things on how to get on in life… how to be courteous, show respect and behave well. I remembered when you sent a friend of mine who was visiting out of the house for been disrespectful. That my friend later admitted that “your dad taught me a good lesson that changed my altitude towards people”.
Daddy you were very hard working, industrious yet very prudent. I remember those days that you will wake us up very early to go to village market with you to get foodstuffs at very reasonable prices, that taught me a lesson on how I shop and manage my finance to this day.
You were a very caring and loving dad yet very firm. You never wanted us lazing or going through the day without any sense of purpose. Through you dad, I learned my first lesson of time management.
Daddy you taught us hard work; you taught us to be discipline; you taught us to be strong; you taught us the need to be educated; you taught us to love and fear God. All these helped to shape the woman I later become.
Daddy you were fun and fun to be with. No dull moments at all. Good laughs and meaningful jokes were part of our household and everyday life.
Daddy I never new this day will come that I have to write a tribute to your passing, but we all have the resurrection hope that we are looking forward to when we will all meet again. 
Thanks for everything.
Love you Daddy

Tribute to My “Best Friend”
It is usually not in the best interest of anyone to speak about a dear one in past tense.
For somebody as emotional as I am, it’s like being forced to perform a sordid ritual, but here am writing about my ‘’best friend’’ and Daddy like no other in past tense.
Sad as it may seem, the reality is that any reference to him will forever be in that form.
He was regarded as my best friend because whenever he was angry with everybody in the house, he hardly found any reason to yell at me, we were always in agreement on almost every issue.
I can speak emphatically of late Capt Adaba’s warmth and humanness, as anyone who knew him will attest, these were unmistakable traits that he embodied.
Indeed, he accorded respect to everyone who was hardworking and ‘’smart’’ just as he had no patience or sympathy for anyone  he perceived as ‘’Ikharafu’’, a reference to a lazy and a never do well in Afemai dialect.
He personified the character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s classic novel, ‘’Things Fall Apart’’ by his uncompromising stance against failure, waywardness and inertia attitude and was never afraid to call the bluff of anybody or address any  misdemeanor irrespective of the status or age of such an individual.
I had a very successful spell with him because his advice that his house was a school and anybody that fails there may never recover always resonated with me.
He was always quick to draw my attention to those who lived with him and were doing well and am happy to be a proud alumnus of his ‘’school’’.
His mentoring shaped my life and I give him credit for whatever I am today- a successful and reliable husband to my lovely wife, a caring and loving father of my children and a reliable in-law, just like he was.
There are so many positives about him but this is not a time for long speeches, rather, it is a moment of reflection and sobriety!
Like all mortals, he was not infallible. May God forgive  all his misdeeds and rest his soul till we meet again to part no more.
Adieu Daddy!

 

Tribute To Daddy Thaddeus Adaba
By Bello Abu, Esq.
 
Although death as we all know, is a natural phenomenon which must occur to all mortals, its occurrence still always leave a deep gash of pain in our hearts.
 
The passing to the great beyond of Daddy Thaddeus Adaba is not an exception! It also inflicted great pain in our hearts. It took us down memory lane with reminiscence of his kind deeds while on earth.
 
He was the father of all. A disciplinarian who imparted in us the great virtue of hard work. His tutelage contributed greatly to what we are today. We shall greatly miss him!
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.

A TRIBUTE TO MY UNCLE - DAD. (63NA/3065, CAPTAIN TEDDY ADABA)

I was nine years old when my mother called me one evening and told me that I was going away to live with my uncle, Thaddeus Itsemhe ADABA, her younger brother, in 1962. Having agreed it with my father, my dad called me the next morning to talk to me as a young child, that he was not sending me away because he did not like me, but because he loved me and wanted a better life for me. He added that if I did not like my stay there, I can always come back home and tell him and he will stop me from going back there. The year was 1962, and I was in primary three. From that day until now, Capt. TEDDY Itsemhe ADABA has been my uncle and father, as I never went back to live with my parents until I became an adult.
Our journey started at Ayoguiri primary school where he was a teacher. From then on until his demise, he has been a father figure to me and a constant factor in my adult life. And looking back, he was only 19 years old at the time, and he was everything to me and everything I knew.
We spent two years at Ayoguiri. Then during the end of the school session in 1963, he came to Lagos to join the Nigerian army and proceeded to Zaria for his military training while I went to live with my grandpa and grandma at Ikabigbo to finish my primary school in 1964. I came to join him in Lagos in 1965 when he was deployed to the Headquarters of Nigerian Army Signals Corps in Apapa. He was bright and top of his class in the military training he attended. I got to know this from his course mates gossips and discussions. He was loved and related well with his mates and superiors in the army. He was so neat in his turnout that they called him " Teddy Pepempe"...I played a role in that because he taught me how to wash, starch and iron his "kakhi" to make him look "Pepempe"... On more than one occasion, his senior colleagues brought their uniforms for me to wash and iron so that they too can be neat and look "pepempe"...He did not allow them to tip me for my services.

From that early beginning in 1962 to the time he got married and fought throughout the Nigerian civil war in the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army in the Midwest, Onitcha and Awka, he was the father that I knew.

During the July 1966 counter coup, led by the northern officers, he was in the entourage of the then Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, then (Head of State) tour of Ibadan western region. He was the radio operator of the motorized signals communications trip to Ibadan. He was arrested as they were arresting all Igbo soldiers and officers. He was detained for two days. Luckily, his first cousin, Sgt. Mamudu Adaba, with whom they bear the same ADABA surnames, was also a sergeant in the army but was with the counter coup team. He identified him and pleaded for his release that he was his brother and he was set free.

At the end of the civil war in January 1970, he was based in Benin City at the Headquarters of the Nigerian Army Second Division Signals where I was also now a soldier. He had enlisted me into the Nigerian Army in February 1969 and I was enlisted as Anthony ADABA. This was because the Warrant officer, who was one the officers in charge of the exercise and a close friend of my uncle, simply wrote my name down as Anthony ADABA when it got to my turn. He did not asked me my name as he did others. He had known me from visiting our house and believes he was my elder brother. This was how I served out my time in the army as Anthony ADABA. I tried a few times to correct this to my proper surname, but the process was tedious, so I let it be.

While he was posted to Warri at the end of the civil war in 1970, I remain in Benin with his wife and daughter. We only separated for the first time when he was posted to Akure in 1971 after the birth of his second daughter. I visited him often in Akure to see my family as it were...And when 2 Division eventually moved to Ibadan in 1972, I visited Akure more regularly to see him and family.

I grieve today over your passing dear "Brother" as I called you. I am the first child in your household and I know you are a good man, misunderstood by many including your siblings. You taught me almost everything that I know and for that am so grateful. All your children were born in my presence and under my care and I know you loved and stood strong for them all.
Capt. TEDDY Itsemhe ADABA alias "I beeeg" as some of yours friends and associates fondly called you, rest in peace and in the bossom of the Lord...MAY GOD GRANT YOU ETERNAL REST..

TONY IYAFOKHAI (ADABA).

Not much to say about my late uncle .
The tall and handsome uncle Ted as I remembered him was full of life.
I remembered him visiting his brother, my dad way back then in maiduguri and I was home from school and he looked at me and said, vio as they all called me , you’ve grown into a very beautiful girl o, we all laughed . That day he sat me down snd advised me about school and other stuff, before I left back to school, he dashed me money , I was 15yrs old snd I still remember that encounter like yesterday.

Death is an inevitable end for us all , In due time we will all answer the call .
May his soul rest In Peace

In loving memory of Daddy Thaddeus Adaba...

When I first met daddy 2003,
it seemed like I had known him
for years because of the way
he made me feel at home and his jokes. Now he is gone to answer a home call.
I always share Isaiah 57:1&2.
God is an unquestionable God.
Daddy has gone home to rest.
You will be greatly missed.
May your soul rest in peace. Amen.

Tribute by....
Winifred & TJ Iyafokhai.

In loving memory of Mr. Thaddeus Adaba

I met Mr. Thaddeus Adaba very briefly while I was in college in Calabar…he was nice to me. That he would remember me many years after is a bet I would have lost. From what I know now, he did.

Rest In Peace and may his memory be a blessing.

From: Dr. Kenneth Amayo

In Memory of Uncle Teddy - RIP

Growing up as a child I always remembered Uncle Teddy coming to our home often to see my Late Mum and Dad.

On these frequent visits, he always treated me and my siblings like his own children. He gave us good advice and also wasn't shy in telling us off when we were naughty and mischievous.

He was outgoing and always loved celebrating with parties for his family where we were always invited. You can always hear him laughing from a mile away and you could tell he loved life!

As a military man he was often posted to various places but still made the time to come and see our family.

I always remember him bringing foodstuffs, bags of rice, beans, garri, yams and many other things whenever he visited my parents. That's how caring an Uncle he was.

When I told him I was going abroad, he sat me down and gave me so much good advice and guidance. One piece of advice from him that I remember most of all was "never to forget your family and where you come from" which resonates with me till today.

Uncle Teddy was a man of tradition and very proud of his culture. I remember the first time Uncle Teddy met my husband Malachy in Lagos and to welcome my husband into his home, Uncle Teddy sprinkled a bottle of alcohol on the ground as part of our tradition. My husband still remembers and often talks about how kind and welcoming Uncle Teddy was to him.

He was a very kind and loving Uncle to us all and we will miss him greatly.
I know that even though Uncle Teddy has gone to his resting place, he is still with us.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Teddy
AMEN.
From : The Currans, Quinette, Malachy & Family in England.