Ibiso: The Light Just Went Out

 

Late Mrs Ibiso Igonibi Jamabo-Jack

Ibiso was everything to me. She was not only my younger sister, I saw and felt my mother in Ibiso. Far away she communicated with me at the same levels as my mother did. We made jokes, we laughed and hoped for the future together. We had shared concerns, fears, hopes and goals and in our chats she demonstrated the level of wisdom I never had when I was her age, perhaps even now. I am naive with little understanding of the prevailing thought pattern but in Ibiso I had an extremely insightful and logical ally who possess great vision of comfort and prosperity for the family. I abhor sluggishness but Ibiso is different; she is calmer than I am even though it is noticeable that she has a no-nonsense approach to her ways which comes out whenever it is necessary and required. 

I never saw the aspect of her which became quite palpable and vivid to me soon after she took up the task of managing the construction of the family home. She was a great project manager with vision and the mind of a strategic planner. She became the construction manager of our family home in Abonnema not because I knew that she has the skills and capability to do the job; I didn't even seek her advice about the construction management of the building project in the first place. I gave her the chance to do the job after an open minded chat in which she questioned me why I was trusting other people to manage the construction. She was calm and incisive which got me to think not too far and deep before throwing the ball into her court. 

I love challenges and I noticed that Ibiso was not only fearless, she was certain and trustful of herself. Ibiso worked hard and her doggedness and persistence saved us a few millions of Naira which would have gone into the pocket of others. She was the chief material buyer alongside managing the different aspects of the building project - from foundation to roofing level and up to the stage it is today. Ibiso built the house and Ibiso is the one who will never be able to put a key to the door to a room in order to find comfort and be grateful to God that we now have a home of ours on our family land in Abonnema. 

I am not in mourning because I know that we are still connected and she is still very much a part of me. I know it as I still feel her presence. She is where I never imagined would be a place for her at her prime and with all that I was looking forward to but God will always have the last word - I respect and accept that it is the will of God but it really hurts.

"Life becomes a lot easier when you realise that nothing is a mistake, just a learning opportunity - a chance to grow without judging yourself [or anyone or any situation]". Life since the December 29 2022 has been like nothing I had experienced since hearing the news of the incident which would be considered a weird one in sane and normal environments. But this happened in an environment which is not only abnormal but crassly insane. I had hopes which flickered albeit steady and as the days went by I couldn't speak to Ibiso as she suffer enduring the pain. 

I couldn't reach her because she was either asleep, resting or being dressed. The pains, as she hinted earlier was excruciating and she requested that I pray for her. From that point on and until I lost contact with her I prayed but each passing day kept me in touch with the pains she felt. She hallucinated believing that no one understands her suffering and that she is being blamed - I was sad but still hopeful. The flickering but steady hopes started to fade but I wasn't expecting that Ibiso will give up on the fight.

When I got the call, it was late in the evening and something told me that the worst might have happened. I was told that she was struggling to hang in but irresponsive. At that instant it became clear to me that she was gone. Daso called again later to confirm that Ibiso was gone, I comforted him and we hung up. I wasn't terribly surprised as I lay awake. I could only afford to embarked on a walk in retrospect. A lonely journey in my wild imagination which began from February 2021 when we started work on the building. I was indifferent or better put, I didn't know how I felt but it was certainly not a grief. It was rather a regret that, perhaps, Ibiso would still be alive had I not brought her to the un-welcome focus of vile and eventually fatal attention. 

When she was alive it gave me tremendous pride that we are working together perfectly as a team but now I am sad and to some extent I wished that we didn't embark on the project but it's the will of God. I hope that I am wrong, however, the feeling was strong but it's subsiding albeit quite slowly. I hope that getting the house ready for occupation as Ibiso so fervently desired might bring some closure. God knows best what happened but God's time is the best. The night of March 11 2023 was part of the day God made but instead of rejoicing a cloud of sadness and misery enveloped late Ine Data Ajuka Briggs household. 

It is my firm belief that the Divine Spirit of the Almighty God will roll back the dark cloud and the flickering hope will blossom into hopes of prosperity, peace and harmony. I will not be able to overcome the great loss soon but by dedicating the family home to her memory, the spirit of Ibiso will always be a part of me. I, therefore and with the Grace of God, dedicate Ine DATA WARI to the memory of Ibiso Igonibi Jamabo-Jack RIP.