THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 18, 2019
18
PLUS
I’m a Village Girl, I Went to a Village Primary, Secondary Schools…That is My Background She is a daring combination of beauty and brain but with a heart of gold, sharing all she has with those in need. Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha who is a fourth term member of the House of Representatives rarely responds like a politician but answers as the questions come. Her greatest influence was her grandmother who trained her after her mother died. Nkeiruka tells Charles Ajunwa and Ahamefula Ogbu that she established foundations to ensure that people would not face hardship the way she did after her grandma died
H
ow did you start life? I started life like every other person. I was born in a family, was trained, my mother died early in an accident, then my father remarried and I went to school, primary, secondary and university, got married, was appointed a commissioner in Abia State and later was appointed local government chairman. In 2007, I ran for House of Representatives and I won under the platform of PDP.
Can we know the schools you attended and the memories you have of those places? I attended Isuochi Central School for primary school, then proceeded to Isuochi Secondary School but after class three, changed to Ovim Girls High School, then proceeded to University of Nigeria, Nsukka and got my Masters from Imo State University, that was before I was elected in 2007.
What about the fond memories?
Onyejeocha
Would I call it what was motivating? I remember when I was in primary school, we use to have ridge where you plant cassava, water melon or anything and it comes with your tag, your name tag and then you have Agric Master; who is anyway, your teacher in class which was fun. It was fun because you look at it and after that nobody was talking about agriculture anymore and then everybody started looking for white collar job. Even when I was in Ovim Girls, we use to get things from our farms in school and that was part of our programme then. Another thing that I cherish is the spiritual angle because I grew up with my grandmother having lost my mother early. She wakes you up at 5 or 4.30a.m., then we pray, then you must go to the stream and when we come back, we prepare for school. I was attached to my grandmother and I wouldn’t go to school because I wanted to stay with her and they will use cane to pursue me to school because of the attachment. At that particular time, I was feeling empty
because I was still growing up and I didn’t know what death was all about; that you lost your mum and you are scared of everybody. My grandmother ensured that I was always in school on time and of course in our house then, we always had many people, not necessarily related to us but when my grandmother saw people with one form of problem or the other, she inherits and brings them home and so we always had one full house. At no point were we having less than 20 people in our house then and when we cook, even if you know we are 20, you are going to cook more in case someone comes carrying someone on her back. It was like a communal thing and my grandmother was a community leader so to speak. At a time, people no longer regarded her as a woman because she was very strong and she was this kind of person that would not look at anybody’s face to say the truth. Of course, when things got stuck that people did not say the truth, she would be called and she would always resolve it because she would say the truth. So, these memories are there and of course, she was a very staunch Christian which you call born again today. She doesn’t joke with going to church, fellowship and all that. We use to go with her for soul winning where the women will follow her around and I was a member of the Scripture Union. At a point in Ovim Girls, I became the Secretary of the Scripture Union when I was in form four. Those memories are still there and still very strong.
Do you remember yourself as a pliable child or a stubborn one while growing up? Would I call it stubborn? Because of the type of grandmother I grew up with, when people are doing something wrong, you must say it. You don’t overlook it, you say it but you are not going to insult them but politely say it. You don’t just keep quiet because she said if you keep quiet, they tie your mouth. ‘If you see something, say something’. I remember that, ah! that was what I was taught by my grandmother. If you see something that is wrong you must say it and