(2nd part in a 3 part series: continued from yesterday's post)
Theresa Ifeanyi (or Teresa Ifeanyi Catherine as she now prefers), has always been a
great mother (In my biased mind, she, Kemdibe, and mama Rose vie for that
role). She always managed to make me feel special even in the midst of all our
disagreements. She taught me love and compassion, faithfulness, and the grace
to channel my emotions. She taught me how to trust and have faith in God and
was the one who helped me learn how to read. She taught my siblings and I how
to find our way around the kitchen and the sense to remember people’s
birthdays, appreciate them with a card, how to choose and wrap a gift, and to
enjoy the celebration of Christmas in all its glory.
From a rustic
background in Asaba, she went to school in Ogun State, completing her secondary
school at Our Lady of Apostles, Ijebu Ode, just a stone’s throw away from her
future husband’s father’s house (small world, eh?). She excelled in Languages
and taught Secondary School students in Lagos. She took on a role in the Army
Signals Corp, Apapa (I remember soldiers delivering flower pots to my house in
Festac in the early 80s) and gave up on the opportunity to work in the
organised private sector when she joined Nigeria Airways.
Serving with the
National Carrier, she moved from movement control to bilateral Air Services and
soon crafted a reputation for being a hard as nails negotiator, diligently
serving several Chief Executives of Nigeria’s premier airline. Her knack for
languages and keen business sense set her apart as the airline’s principal
negotiator as she continued to rack up the air miles and traverse the globe in
a bid to see the flag of Nigeria hoisted ever higher.
But she was always an
industrious woman, in the early 80s we lived in Festac Town, as the government
of the day imposed austerity measures and restrictions on certain items in its
mis-guided response to the looming recession, a ban on certain items created a
new regime of essential commodities. One of the primary victims of this ban was
bread, as the Federal Government had decreed that one of its vital ingredients
(I struggle to remember which) could no longer be imported. In order to ensure
we weren’t denied our staple, my mother swung into action and started baking
her own loaves at home using an alternative. I remember my brothers and I
moaning about the taste of this bread, but in time the quality of her product
improved and we were relieved from a potential crisis.
Mama With
the Alpha himself
I remember her
making chin-chin in commercial
quantities which she would then bag and package and I would take to one of the
retail outlets she had negotiated with in 5th Avenue for sale to end-users.
She was always willing to try something new and different. When she was at
Nigeria airways, she would use her travel allowance (the so-called estacode) to buy items in demand for
sale back home, whether it was jewellery, clothes or whatever the market
required. When we moved out from GRA in Ikeja, she soon set up her rental
business running it out of a rented complex before, time, chance (and a heavy
dose of her cousin’s wise counsel) so her fashion her own office from the ample
space within her premises.
She’s grown her
business and customer base, moving it from a standard char and table rental
company to a full blown events management firm. She has mentored several young
people, many going on to succeed in their own right, while her own sense of
enterprise waxes even stronger. She’s participated in network marketing
exploits and continues to identify and explore opportunities to diversify her
streams of income. She joined the Lions in the 2000s eventually rising to
become Chapter President (or is it Charter?), championing a string of causes
including education for the under-privileged and health initiatives for the
poor and needy. And even at the height of swapping hotels, planes and airports,
she was still able to successfully play the roles of wife, mother and caregiver
to her husband and 5 children, in particular to three troublesome, robust,
demanding, adventurous, stressful and trying boys, and one wily, cunning and
infinitely clever and manipulative boy genius.
The picture that started it all!
4 generations of Amazons!
Kemdibe, OluwaToyosi, Great Grany and Mama Rose
Her sense of
adventure is mirrored by Mama Rose, my mother-in-law, a queen, a diva and a
peach. She is expressive, full of life, and full of heart. She is an
unrepentant giver for which many have sought to abuse her generosity and take
her for granted. She took the bold step to move to New York in a pursuit to
further enhance herself and believes you can never stop improving yourself and
getting better. She is a bastion of medical knowledge and a first rate
caregiver. She sees business opportunities where others see only challenges and
has successfully sold cars, sold jewellery, electronics and clothes.
She has an eye
for a good bargain and drives herself harder than anyone could logically
demand. She seems to grow younger by the year and is a source of great
companionship and counsel to her friends, family and neighbours. Her local
church has come to depend on her as the go-to person when they need to get things
done, and her enthusiasm for service means she will drag every and anyone close
to her into her web of service to get the tasks done. She is a great source of
inspiration for me and for...
(Look out for the closing part of this post tomorrow)
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