Daniel Ukadike Nwaelene, Th. D.

MY TRIBUTE TO MY FATHER-IN-LAW, HON. DOMINIC OKADILI OJEI (a.k.a. PAPA) (MARCH 1924 TO APRIL 2017).

Having formally related with Papa these past 39 years (April 1978 to April 2017) as father and son, I am grateful to God for blessing me with the opportunity to become a member of his family, through giving me in marriage the first fruit of his marriage.

Papa was kind to me and to everyone that came his way. He opened his doors to many, some of whom I know personally. He was a loving father, to which I am convinced all his children (and Mama) can testify.

“Your safe arrival at your station is more important to me now than your being here,” was a usual statement whenever I visited home and was foot-dragging to leave. Just because he cared! Papa was an encourager. He said, “We stoop to conquer” especially in work place or where one was at the mercy of another that had the pen and paper and could contribute to, or determine, the one’s future. That’s a lesson on humility. “Nemo dat quod non habet” is a Latin axiom that says that nobody gives what he does not have. He was a humble man. Papa was a father per excellence. Papa was a very punctual man – thanks to the old-time colonial and Federal civil service. Happily, my wife copied him well!

Though it is painful that he passed on, I/we give thanks and all glory to God for his exemplary life and legacies. We do, and shall, miss Papa greatly.

ADIEU, Papa. Fare thee well. May the almighty God with His Holy Spirit the Comforter fill the big vacuum thus created by Papa’s transition, in Jesus Christ’s matchless name. AMEN.

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory! (by Eliza E. Hewitt).


Daniel. U. Nwaelene, Th. D.