By Patrick Ochei
The city of Asaba, the capital of Delta State, was today, Friday 14th June, 2024, agog with sounds and beats and the influx of eminent personalities from all walks of life to pay their last respect to the memory of the legendary former Secretary to the Government of Bendel State and Head of Service of the same Government, Obi Patrick Isioma Goodluck Onyeobi.
At the Interdenominational Farewell Service at the Southend Event Centre along DBS Road in Asaba, the Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. (Elder) Sheriff Oborevwori was represented by his Deputy, Sir Monday Onyeme who eulogized the sterling leadership quality of Obi Onyeobi that has become transcendental in the annals of history of Edo and Delta States.
Sir Onyeme said that the Iyase of Asaba lived a life of impact and service, and would be remembered always for his exemplary disposition to societal good and service to humanity.
The Deputy Governor further praised Obi Onyeobi for his innumerable and credible contributions to the development of peace and harmony within and outside the state.
From Edo State Government, represented by the Honourable Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Osilama Okuofu, he addressed Obi Onyeobi whom he knew growing up as an immortal being.
His words, “The former SSG and HOS was dear to us (Edo and Delta), and his records in the service of the defunct Bendel State had remained unbeaten in term of the quality he brought into governance and leadership at the time.
“He ‘stands out’ because of the way we see him as an extra ordinary being, and so I don’t like to refer to him in the past. He falls into the category of certain people who are eternal. He is in the mode of Ambrose Alli, Chief Samuel Ogbemudia, Pope John Paul 11, etc.
“Chief Onyeobi lived a good life, he lived long and he lived well. We will not only miss him, we will continue to see his loss as the disadvantage of humanity. His demise is a big loss.
“It is my prayer that those he left behind, especially the immediate family be granted the strength and wisdom to continue to carry on from where he stopped. It’s my earnest wish that he be found worthy to rest in the bosom of our Lord”, Okuofu prayed.
It was indeed a memorial celebration of life in an acoustically serene atmosphere where men of honour and dignity mounted the podium to pay glowing Tributes to the departed Leader of Leaders.
Earlier in the programme, the Guest Preacher for the Interdenominational Farewell Service, Bishop Kenneth Ebolum of the Dominion Christian Centre, Asaba had mourned Chief Onyeobi’s demise, describing death as not observing protocol.
He had however, anchored on a scriptural passage in Ecclesiastics 6:6, where he sounded a warning to those who disregard the potency of death to call at anytime.
Bishop Ebolum therefore, called on those still ignorant of the salvation of Christ to take the advantage of the funeral service to accept Him as their Lord and Personal Saviour, reaffirming the scriptural verse in John 14:6 where Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.
Aside the good music that was intermittently played to captivate the atmosphere, the people were also entertained with variety of sumptuous foods and drinks.
