From Petrus Obi, Enugu
It was a colourful event at the Trans Ekulu, Enugu, residence of the Madubukos recently. The family held a service of songs in memory of their matriarch, the late Princes Phyline Ayoze Madubuko (née Njemanze) who passed on at 91.
Among the children of the deceased was Apostle Anselm Madubuko, General Overseer, Revival Assembly, Ogba, Lagos.
It was the beginning of a three-day journey home for the late nonagenarian.
There were no tears as the Christian family proclaimed that the demise of Princess Pyline Madubuko was a decision of God that must not be questioned, even as everyone admitted that she lived a fulfilled life.
Younger brother to the deceased, Ugochukwu Njemanze, a lawyer, recalled in his tribute that all the other siblings always rallied round his late sister as kids. He described the deceased as a beacon of justice, one who would always tell you the truth not minding if you liked it or not.
“She was someone who would always bring you back to her bosom after admonishing you whenever you did something wrong. I did not drop a tear when I heard of her death and we would be selfish to desire to continue to have her alive. I keep telling my niece that Mama is happy where she is, so nobody should cry.
“That is why I call this occasion an occasion of celebration, an occasion of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the love, the grace of having her in our midst. It would be selfish of us to desire to have her around us. There is no place than that last ticket, which every one of us must endeavour to have, the ticket to paradise.
“Nobody should cry. Let us continue to ask for her golden presence in our midst. Let us continue to ask for that strength, the grace we had in her so that we can always look up to God and use her example to steer our lives. Let all of us who are gathered here today benefit from the radiation of that grace and love, that dignity, honesty, impartiality, that exuded and radiated from my sister. May all honour, all glory, all majesty and all worship be unto God now and forever,” he said.
In his sermon, Evangelist Ugo Evergreen Wems of the Resurrection Force Ministries International, expressed the belief that there were people that God has blessed in life, people whose destiny God has helped fulfil: “And I believe our relationship with such people, attachment to them would bring blessings upon our lives. The Bible says, ‘Blessed is the man that standeth not on the counsel of the ungodly nor the way of the sinners nor the seat of the scornful, but the light is in the Lord thy God; it needs to be maintained day and night. Then it shall be like a tree planted by the side of the water that bringeth forth fruit.’”
He noted that because the people came to honour the departed, the blessings of God upon her life would come upon their lives.
“One of the blessings is that God has blessed her with children that are not an embarrassment, that have not brought disgrace, reproach or shame to her life. And because her children were a blessing to her and we came to honour her, our own children will end up being a blessing to us. Our children will not be of embarrassment or shame,” he said.
He stressed that the purpose of the message was for all to learn how to honour their parents the way Apostle Madubuko and his siblings had honoured their mother when she was alive.
“Honour your parents the way they honoured theirs, you get the same blessing and we have long lives without sickness,” he said.
On why it has been difficult today for Nigerians to grow as old as Mrs. Phyline Madubuko, the man of God noted that most people never wanted to follow the principles of life: “They don’t want to follow the law of harvest. If you are living a reckless life, you don’t expect yourself to live long. If you abide by the principles of God, immortality and long life are part of our heritage from God. And when you abide in the principles of the kingdom, and in the medical principles as well, you will live long.”
Apostle Madubuko described his late mother as a special one who showered love and care to people around her.
“She was a wonderful woman, loving, and a mother to everyone. She took everybody in. I grew up just seeing many people around,” he said.
The event attracted many people, who came to honour and pay their last respects to the deceased during the service of songs. There was singing and dancing as Princess Phyline Madubuko, a daughter of the prominent Njemanze family of Owerri, Imo State, continued her journey home.