Old Soldier's Wife: A Sojourn of Love and Fate.

The story of her life reads like a fairy tale, with incredible plots and improbable gluts of rare occurrences. Sometimes I wonder if it was a game of providence or a gamble of innocence. Very early in her life, mama Grace Adesote, a pretty Igbo lady followed her fantasy and fell in love with a total stranger, who is also a soldier from Yoruba land! But it was love in the time of war. They met in the heat of the Biafra war. Young Adesote, a private in the Nigerian Army was fighting on the side of the Federal Republic of Nigeria while his would-be wife was a citizen of the now outlawed Biafra Republic. She hailed from Ozuitem in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. But she was a petty tailor plying her trade in Afikpo, one of the major cities in Eastern Nigeria. Meanwhile, her soldier crush was residing in the military barracks also in Afikpo. Their love reigned even as the civil war raged. Mama Grace moved in with the youthful and zestful soldier, Bamidele Adesote at the military barracks, Afikpo. That was the beginning of the journey that changed her story and shaped her destiny. From Afikpo to Enugu to Lagos and finally to Idanre, she followed her husband wherever he was posted. She radiated the aura and the spirit of the biblical Ruth as recorded in Ruth 1- 16...". For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.." Really, that is what captures the earthly sojourn of this outstanding woman of grace. From the moment she relocated to Idanre with her husband and children, she never looked back again. She became a naturalised indigene of Idanre. She spoke the Idanre dialect with a native-like competence. She would communicate freely with everyone, using Idanre proverbs, idioms and diverse figurative expressions. She was the Ruth of her generation, a virtuous woman of uncommon valour. Her commitment to her husband and Idanre community was mind blowing. She was blessed with eight children but she diplomatically refused to teach them the Igbo language! None of her offspring understands a word of Igbo. Neither did they ever visit Ozuitem. For her, Idanre was home and Ozuitem was her history. Indeed, her sojourn was an epic, full of twists and turns, travails and triumphs, tragedies and comedies. But for her, it was largely an adventure of faith in the face of life's vicissitudes. She lost her mother as a teenager and death snatched her only sister some years after. She was left with an aged father, Ogbuefi Ujah, a lanky dark-skinned Igbo man with a dizzying sense of humour. She brought her father from Ozuitem to live with her in Idanre. And for many years, the old man enjoyed the warmth and the hospitality of her in-laws. Mazi Ujah lived the rest of his life with her only surviving daughter until he passed on in 1997. His body was later taken to Ozuitem, his hometown, for burial. Highly courteous and courageous, she was the pillar that held her family together. Soon after she settled down in Idanre, she added outdoor catering services to her a tailoring career. She later established a flourishing grocery store and expanded it to a mini supermarket. Her income soared as she continued her multitasking endeavours. Even when her husband was faced with daunting economic challenges, no one knew. She stood in the gap and ensured that her children's welfare and education were not disrupted. She was her husband's guardian angel and her children's golden guard. For her labour of love, fate rewarded her with an abundance of grace. Not only did she witness the growth and the glory of her eight children, she also joyfully beheld the birth of her 17 grand children before she answered heaven's final call. From Idanre to Akure, from Ijebu Ode to Lagos and even to far away United States of America, mama traversed the world and enjoyed the best of care and pampering from her children. But like all mortals, mama began a romance with death like a child's play. For about three decades, diabetes threatened her existence and she put up a great resistance. With faith and pharmacy, she fought the deadly affliction to a standstill until that fateful Sunday, May 25, 2025 when she surrendered to the cold hands of death. It was a painful surrender, a devastating exit that shattered hopes and ended the journey of love that started in Afikpo. The old Soldier's wife has gone to join her husband in the land of no return. A woman of tremendous courage and elastic faith. She often demonstrated calmness even in the most tempestuous times. She served God with vigour and gave so much for the cause of the redemptive gospel of Jesus Christ. She was installed as the first Iya Ijo of Wesley Methodist Church, Utaja Road, Idanre, February 10, 2024. For mama, Wesley Methodist Church was home. A cell of the Idanre diocese of Methodist Church, Wesley started in the living room of mama and her husband, Bamidele Adesote. Even after her husband's demise four years ago, she continued to serve God and remained committed to the growth of Wesley Methodist Church. During her last days which she spent in my house in Lagos, her greatest wish was to return to Idanre and resume her activities in the house of God. That never happened! Mama is gone. Life! Just like the eternal words of the great woman, Ruth in the book of Ruth 1-17 "Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried." Today mama Grace will be buried beside her husband, Bamidele Adesote at their family house in Ala Road, Odode, Idanre. Born in Ozuitem, buried in Idanre, the historic sojourn of love, faith and fate has ended in praise. Hallelujah!!!