Tribute To Late Angela Fubara

Yesterday, an Angel went away
Instead of any of the demons
And today
Nkpolu mourns

Who says there’s nothing in a name?
Angela, you were made for Nollywood
But you coveted not fame
Rather, you selflessly served cerebral food
On the desks of our leaders of tomorrow
Who, today, lament in sorrow
As they, one and all, cry
Wondering why
Why it had to you be
And not X, Y, Zee
Or any of the middling that prowl this Ivory Tower
Oblivious of the transience of time and power

In a system where many wards are traumatised,
Consistently harassed and practically dehumanized;
Where villains are virtually valorised,
The virtuous victimised,

The pious pauperised
And psychologically pulverized,
To lose such epitome of pedagogue
Takes the system a step closer to the morgue

Angela, rest in the Lord
While we pray that the erudite Bedford
Should be able to ford
Through the murky waters of this life,
Where pepped-up mediocrity is rife,
Without you, his loving wife

Adieu, essence of outer and inner beauty,
Adieu, embodiment of humility
And disarming simplicity;
Adieu, Bedford’s Angel
Till the toll of the mystical bell
© 2015 O. Jason Osai
NB:
Dr (Mrs) Angela Fubara, a Senior Lecturer at Institute of Foundation Studies (IFS), Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt and wife of Professor Bedford Fubara of University of Port Harcourt, translated on Sunday November 30, 2014; she was interred in her home town Opobo on Saturday December 20, 2014. Numerous groups of students gathered in front of her enthralling portrait at the Institute and, rather worrisomely, a voice from three groups actually asked the question on lines thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, in the heat of passion.
Osai  is of the Institute of Foundation Studies (IFS) Rivers State University of Science and Technology