Oguejiofor Family Offers Free Medical Outreach to Celebrate Matriarch’s 80th Birthday

. . . As Bishop OkoyeCommends Remarkable mode of the celebration

By Chioma Ndife

The Oguejiofor family of Orofolo Village, Nnukwu Clan, Adazi-Nnukwu Community, Anaocha LGA, Anambra State, has offered free medical screening and treatment to indigenes of Adazi-Nnukwu Community in commemoration of the 80th Birthday of their matriarch, Mrs. Mary Chika Oguejiofor.

The free medical screening and treatment which commenced on 29th December 2019, preceeded the birthday party of Mrs. Oguejiofor, held on January 1, 2020.

The medical outreach which had over seven consulting medical doctors, consulting pharmacists and 8 registered nurses within and outside Nigeria, provided medical screening and treatment to over 3500 individuals facing various medical conditions.

Fides gathered that the celebrant fondly called Ochendo by all and sundry in Adazi-Nnukwu Community and beyond, was a renowned teacher who retired after 36 years of committed service during which she helped so many youths actualize their life potentials to excel in their chosen professions in life.

The 80th Birthday celebration of Mrs. Oguejiofor which attracted personalities from all walks of life across the globe, commenced with a concelebrated Eucharistic Celebration led by the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Awka, His Lordship, Most Rev. Jonas Benson Okoye.

Leading in the Eucharistic Celebration, Bishop Okoye commended the children of the celebrant for creating an avenue to celebrate and appreciate their mom, who he said was instrumental in the success which they had recorded in their various fields of endeavour.He described birthdays as important periods in the life of every individual and urged people to utilize such periods to have deep reflection about the life they had lived and how they impacted in society.

Bishop Okoye applauded the medical outreach organized by the children in commemoration of their mom’s birthday celebration, saying that such was a unique and remarkable way of celebrating, as it had touched various people’s lives positively. He pointed out the importance of people learning and practicing the concept of value addition, especially while celebrating, noting that people spend so much money on food and drinks that they do not put much value to human lives during celebrations.

Speaking to Fides, the Celebrant, Mrs. Mary Chika Oguejiofor, said that the birthday celebration was organized to thank God for the fulfilled life granted onto her and other blessings which God had decorated the Oguejiofor’s Family with. She recalled that her children over the years, had been pressing for birthday party to be thrown in her honour and disclosed that she had refused to yield to their demand but had to accept the offer when she clocked 80 years of age. She said that attaining the age of 80 was a special blessing from God, saying that she considered herself greatly blessed.

She revealed that she never knew she would clock 80 years of age after she lost a part of her leg in a ghastly motor accident that claimed the life of her first daughter in 1990. She noted that she had gone for over 7 surgical operations on the leg ever since the accident. She described the birthday celebration as a very special event devoted for thanksgiving to God. She said that the free medical outreach organized in her honour was the best birthday gift she can ever ask for.

Also speaking, the Celebrant’s second son, Mr. Chinedu Oguejiofor, said that the celebration was put together to appreciate their mom whom he said gave her all to ensure they succeed in life. He disclosed that the 80th Birthday Celebration was the first birthday that had been organized for mom since she married their father. He noted it was not easy for one to clock the age of 80, saying that the birthday party was in celebration of the support which she gave to all that came across her.

The various speeches made by people who came to share in the joy of the Oguejiofors portrayed Mrs. Oguejiofor as being instrumental to the grooming and successes which many people that passed under her care attained in life.