11 November 2009
Innocent Okonkwo — Rev Francis Oleghe of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) Lagos has charged Christians to serve God faithfully and make positive impact in the society during their life time.
He said the most important thing about life is how well an individual affected the society and not the number of years such person lived.
Oleghe said this last weekend at the Vaults and Gardens Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos while officiating during the burial of Late Mrs. Ekanem Louis Eyo. He thanked God for the life of the deceased, saying that she served the Lord faithfully till the end.
The cleric said many people make their pastors liars by their lifestyles, stressing that if a pastor makes positive comments about a deceased at his or her grave side when the individual had live a godless life that such person had made such a pastor a liar.
He advised Christians to be agents of change by living righteously; stressing that righteous life would make positive impact in any society.
"People should live a godly life so that they won't make pastors liars because pastors cannot just stand by a grave side and begin to say evil things about the dead. It does not matter the number of years one lived, some may live for 100 years without making any positive impact on their world," he said.
Fielding questions from newsmen after the burial, Late Mrs. Eyo's daughter, Dr. Mrs. Lizzy Ikem said her late mother was special because of the way she served God and humanity when she was alive, noting that she loved and served God even in her old age.
"She finished strong and well in the faith. She was dogged to the last moment. She served God and left us with the legacy of service to God," she said.
Ikem who is also Provost of Nigerian Institute of Journalism(NIJ), Ogba Ikeja said the deceased touched everyone that crossed her part positively, stressing that she was sacrificially kind to people irrespective their backgrounds, adding that the children would miss her presence.
"She was there for us, all through her life, any time that any of her children had a challenge, such a challenge would have to contend with two people because Mama would be there backing you up. It is always a double victory" she said.
Also speaking, Felix one of the sons of the deceased said he named his daughter Ekanem after their late mother because of the impact she made to his life as a mother noting that he would remember his late mother for her exemplary good character.
The late Madam Eyo was born to the Royal family of Eyo 11 in Creek town, Cross River State. She had her early education in Calabar before moving down to Lagos where she later became a successful entrepreneur, becoming a major distributor for Nigerian Breweries Plc. She died at the age of 87 years.
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