BIOGRAPHY
PREAMBLE
I bear witness today that there is no deity but God Almighty. The One, and only true God, the creator of Heaven and Earth and all therein. The giver and taker of life, the merciful God, who has been merciful unto Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi from birth to childhood, from adulthood to parenthood, and has decided to take back his life.
My brothers and sisters, brethren in the Lord, friends, and relatives who have come to mourn with us, encourage yourselves in the Lord and maintain self-composure as the Bible requires. Hence, Heaven has gained a soul. To God be the glory, Amen.
BIRTH
Late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi (Filibo) was born on the 8th of September 1949 into the family of Mr. Ekperechi Uchenwoke of Umuikegwuonu, Umuahii Obudi, Agwa, in Oguta LGA, Imo State.
EARLY LIFE
Early life for the late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi could be “Rough and Thumble umble” or “Rope of Sand.” He had nothing to start life with and was greatly disadvantaged. His father, the late Ekperechi Uchenwoke of blessed memory, died three months after his birth, thus denying the young lad all the rights and privileges of a father. This sad development necessitated the decision of her mother, the late Mrs. Christiana Nyaa Uchenwoke, to take him back to her maiden home in the family of Eberendu, Umuoboro Mgbala Agwa. He was, therefore, nursed and grew up in his maternal home.
EDUCATION
The death of his father dealt a mortal blow to his education and early child development. Regardless, the late Barnabas was enrolled in Standard 1 Class to gain a Western education but couldn’t sustain this because of the paucity of resources and the demand to take care of her foster siblings at the age of 15 years after her mom remarried the late Mr. Chimezie from Okwuodor Mgbala and gave birth to three other children, to which only one is alive—Mrs. Abigail. Adaukwu, Polycarp, popularly known as Dimka and now Barnabas are all late.
MARRIAGE
Late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi got married to Mrs. Anastasia Nkemhuru, the daughter of late Nze Ahalaonu and late Mrs. Ijeoma Alugburu from Umuogbueghi Okwuodor, Mgbala Agwa Autonomous Community, Oguta LGA, Imo State on Thursday the 9th of September, 1977 being Afor Market Day, with a dowry payment of Two Hundred and Forty Naira (#240).
The marriage was very successful, and God blessed it with nine children, six boys and three girls, out of which five boys and a girl survived.
WORK
Late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi left Agwa for Lagos State on the 26th of April, 1977, in search of greener pastures. He was accommodated by a friend and member of the Order—the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim (ESOS), Agwa Branch; Mr. Ambrose Otumegwu, from Umuojere Mgbala, Agwa.
He secured a job in Tin Can Island, Lagos, as an unskilled laborer and worked there for barely a year. This job helped him to raise funds to rent his apartment at no. 28 Akinbiaye Street, Isolo, Mushin Local Government Area, Lagos State, on the 17th of September 1977.
On the 25th of October 1977, the late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi, through his late elder brother, Mr. Gerald Akpaelu, came back to the village from Lagos to bring his wife, an expectant mother, to Lagos to live with him.
Mrs. Anastasia Nkemhuru Ekperechi was registered at Mushin West Maternity Home. The young family was to welcome their first child, a baby girl named Glory. Life in Lagos was not that rosy for him.
Late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi would later live in different other States, viz., No. 133 Ikpoba Okha Slope, LGA, Benin City; Abumere Primary School, Ebute-Ekpoma via Iruekpen, Esan West LGA; Ogreda Street, Warrake, Auchi; No. 11, Ozo Street, Cherubim and Seraphim Road, all in Edo State. St. Thomas Anglican Church, Azu Ogbunike, Onitsha, Anambra State; No. 11 A, Gambia Lane, Mile 2, Diobu, Porth Harcourt, Rivers State; and LA School Nsukwa, Ezi-Obodo Street, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, before he finally returned to settle with his growing family in the village in 1982.
Back home, the late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi was a successful farmer majoring in palm fruit production for commercial purposes, selling to his Ihiala, Mbaise, and local business partners, as well as producing other staple foods from his farming exploits.
He was able to sustain this vocation until June 1st, 2005, Sunday morning when Mrs. Glory Akabuiro hit one of his eyes with stoking firewood, which damaged the only good eye he used to see after a previous accident that also affected his eyes. This development forced him to stay away from his main economic farming until his death and also took a large chunk of the family resources medically while taking him to an eye specialist for treatments.
SOCIAL LIFE
Late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi was not much of an extrovert. He enjoys minding his business but was not an isolationist when it mattered most. Of course, he was not a coward. He was a fearless being, brave! These are claims his contemporaries from Mgbala, where he grew up, married, and came back to Umuahii Obudi in 1984, can attest to. To say the least, he was peaceful, attended community development programs, and was civically inclined. Irrespective of his limited education, he has all his civic documents intact.
It is important to tell the world that though Filibo was not educated, he wasn’t daft either. He gave himself to personal education via listening to programs on radio stations, a feat that kept him updated on current affairs. Until his death, he was a regular program caller of Darling, Ozisa, Heartland, and recently Busy Body FM.
CHRISTIAN LIFE
The late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi was a man of faith. He believed and worshipped the Almighty God unflinchingly. Having grown up in his maternal home, the Eberendu family in Umuoboro, Mgbala, via Edede, was a strong fortress for the Order. So, when the “Band of Seraph” landed in Agwa in the early 1960s, through the late Emmanuel Nwadilugwu, Filibo, as he was fondly called, was amongst the early converts who beat the Seraphic drums. All his children were born and baptized in the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, Agwa Branch (Olu Ukwu). He was a strong member of the Order and rose to the ranks of Rabbi until he left Cherubim and Seraphim during the wake of the crisis around 2007.
Faced with the challenge, the late Barnabas, after assessing churches that suited his spiritual yearnings, quickly identified with the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, Agwa Branch, in November 2007.
While in Chosen, he gave his flat-out services in serving God with his time and resources. He was instrumental in the creation of a new branch church at Obudi, where he worshipped until his death and was among the church’s regional workers. He attended church programs and crusades up to Lagos State and Abuja. Just as he was not a passive member while in the Order, so also he did as a Chosen.
DEATH
Late Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi faced too many challenges, including sicknesses while alive. The most recent was from April 2022 till February 2023, when he was afflicted all around, resulting in various health complications, but to the glory of God, he survived it. The relapse that pleased God to call him home was like a thunderbolt! He had called on the 30th of September, 2024, complaining of stomach issues. He was moved out of the village on Monday evening to be taken to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri. We all talked frankly at night, and he updated us with events in the village. When it got to the morning, Tuesday, 3rd of September, as preparation was geared to go to FMC, he told us to wait to say his morning prayer. He died a few minutes after praying, and that was the end of his earthly journey.
A man of great courage and undaunted audacity is gone! He always tells his children to live an upright life as the Bible teaches. He taught us survival and faith in God. To outsiders, he might mean nothing to them, but to his children, he was a man of honesty, faith, courage, and records.
His solitary passage reminds us of some of his maxims or beliefs that “He will not die anyhow” and “His children will not spend money in the hospital for any sickness that he will not survive from.”
Indeed, he didn’t die anyhow, and we didn’t spend money in the hospital. He died before his beloved wife, whom he had told us that he would have been a dead person if not for the type of wife God gave him and his children.
You came, you saw, and you conquered!
Adieu, Father!
Adieu, a man of faith!
Adieu, Barnabas Ndubuisi Ekperechi!
Until we meet to part no more.
Amen.
Left to Mourn Him:
His Wife, Six Children
Nine Grand Children
Three Great Grandchildren.
Signed:
Mr. Emmanuel Ekperechi
