“A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and loud lamentation; Rachel was weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15
Indeed, for a long time to come, the love story of Onyeka and Maimuna Anyaene would be a reference point for all lovebirds. It was a love story that defied ethnicity, religion and all reasonable imaginataions such that death could not do them part.
Their love story from its beginning to its end was so strong that even the legendary William Shakespeare would have turned in his grave in envy for a real life love story that trascends the story of Romeo and Juliet.
Onyeka Anyaene was a decent young man. The last time I saw him was last year when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal visited Lagos for a parley with Editors after he was sworn in as Speaker. Onyeka came in his entourage and during our encounter, I realised he was working in the Speaker’s Chambers.
But knowing him went beyond Tambuwal’s visit to Lagos. Onyeka Anyaene was a very close friend of my brother Emeka Obiakor who is also a lawyer. Their friendship was so deep that Onyeka was spending a lot of time in our house then at No 11 Ladipo Street Olodi Apapa in the 1990s.
He was always kind and was never given to talking too much even though he could crack jokes out of very serious situations.
I spoke with him occasionally after the Tambuwal visit and then this.
At Ndiowu in Orumba North LG of Anambra State, the mood was sombre.
The peace loving people of the sprawling town of Ndiowu in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, unfortunately are the worst hit by the crash of the Dana Flight 992 of Sunday June 3, 2012.
Like other Nigerians ,most members of the community were either relaxing or watching the Eagles football match which was the greatest event of the day when the news of a plane crash filtered into the town. No one took it seriously until Monday June 4, 2012 when the manifest was released indicating the town had lost over six members of its own. People clustered around popular joints like the Ibeagwu, Avenue and Easy Junction, a popular joint beside Onyeka Anyaene’s beautiful mansion.
The joy of the previous days’ Football victory against the Namibians had suddenly given way to a flood of anguish, dismay and wailing.
Along with other villages, Ubaha village was thrown into mourning just as members of the St Lawrence Anglican Church where he worshippers were seen in groups whispering, wondering and ruminating over what has befallen them. The atmosphere was so tensed up you could almost touch it.
To insiders, the mood of the community was not a surprise considering the popularity of the Anyaene’s family as a result of the contributions of their late father Ben Anyaene, a popular church teacher whose intelligence and selfless service touched the lives of many citizens of the community.
First to break the news was Chibueze Kingsley Kanu who wrote on the community’s forum on facebook “Please my dear brothers and sisters,can someone help to find out which of the Anyaenes. According to the manifest of the Dana Air plane crash, I saw Onyeka Anyaene and other Anyaenes in the manifest. Please make some diligent findings”.
We give thanks to the almighty God for seeing us through this journey;We LOVE him and will continue to serve him.We sincerely appreciate our parents ,siblings ,families , in-laws, friends for the LOVE !!!!..We wanna say a big thanks to all Ternopil (Ukraine) people...wow..what a surprise !!! ...una too much !!!!..God will continue to bless us all.....Amen
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