My friends are dead — 101-year-old Man....SEE PHOTO

101-year-old Isigwuzoro Ogbuisi narrates his life journey and the
secrets of longevity with firstclass newsline
When and where were you born?
I was born on December 28, 1916 at Umuanyawushi in Amaogwugwu, Imo State.
Where did you have your education?
I come from a poor family; my parents enrolled me in a very affordable
school. I can't remember the name of the school, but it was a school
their pockets could afford. Luckily for my parents, I was quite
intelligent, and they didn't have to force me to read. By the time I
got to Standard One, my parents didn't have money to further my
education. So, I had to stop my education at Standard One. Then, I was
the only student who could read and write English very well in my
class, to the extent that the seniors in my school used to come to me
for help.
What did you do next since you couldn't proceed to Standard Two?
At that time, there was nothing like university. I decided to do
menial jobs such as assisting people with their household chores.
As a child, what type of activities did you enjoy?
Throughout my childhood, the only activity I enjoyed most was singing.
What are your hobbies?
I like singing. Whenever I sing in my church or anywhere else, people
are always surprised. My voice has always been described as an angelic
voice. I owe it to God, my voice has taken me places. I have passion
for music, especially hymns.
How do you relax?
I relax better with my favourite foods; I enjoy eating dried tapioca
and palm kernel, roasted dried corn and fruits.
What is your best meal?
My special meal isfufu; in our dialect we called itutara.
Are you still in touch with some of your old friends?
I am not good at making friends; though I do interact with anyone I
meet, especially those in my age group. Unfortunately, they have all
passed on; I am the only one left, and I'm the eldest in my community.
Not many of your mates are still alive, how do you feel at your age?
I thank God Almighty, I marked my 101st birthday on December 28, 2014
and I will soon be 102 years. I feel great.
What is the secret of your sound health?
God is the secret of my sound health. I am blessed.
What is your view about tertiary education in Nigeria?
In my time, tertiary education was excellent. But now it has gone bad.
So bad that both students and lecturers are birds of a feather— full
of corruption, immoralities, and cultism. Students have left education
to pursue other things.
What advice do you have for youths?
They are not behaving well. My advice to them is to have the fear of
God. They should be upright, this is one of the reasons I'm still
alive. They should focus on their education, respect their parents,
the government and elderly ones. They should flee from immoralities,
especially fornication.
How was life as a child?
When I was a child, I passed through hell. I suffered a lot due to
poverty. My mother always felt bad about the condition of my family.
The hardship I passed through made me meticulous.
Back then, marrying more than one wife was the norm, how many wives do you have?
I married two wives.
Did you have female admirers when you were younger?
I had so many female admirers, women loved me but unfortunately, I
didn't marry any of them. I was based in Cameroon.
When did you meet your first wife?
My first wife is late, my second wife is the one living with me now. I
met my first wife through a dear friend and that same friend took me
to Cameroon and later Adamawa State, where I worked with some Danish
businessmen as a mason and painter. She was a friend indeed.
What did you love about your wife?
My first wife was my friend, we were close. I loved her dearly because
she was outspoken and she didn't like intimidation. She was a bold
woman.
How many children do you have and where are they?
I have nine children. Four of them are living in Lagos, three are in
Aba, one lives abroad, and the other lives in Umuahia.
What type of business did you do?
I am a professional mason and also a painter with a difference.
Unfortunately, I can't do any of them now. Somebody trained me as a
mason while nobody trained me on painting. God endowed me with that
just like he endowed me with a good voice to sing.
Do you still have dreams?
I don't have any dream. My dream is for the will of God be done and
for my children to live longer than me.
How long do you hope to live?
My hope of living is in the hand of God. As a human being, I can't
really say how long I will live.
Do you have any regrets?
I don't have any regrets.
How do you keep yourself busy?
The only way I keep myself busy is by singing hymns. Age has made me
jobless. What I hope to achieve before I die and which will make me
happy, is to see all my children married and living in their houses.
What kind of training did you give your children?
I trained my children in a godly way, I taught them to be humble and
obedient, to respect their elders. I trained them to be independent.
Did you witness the Biafra war?
Yes I did. I was in my house at Amaogwugwu when the war started. I
still remember that day vividly. When I realised that the sound of
bombs and guns were approaching closer to where we lived, I gathered
my family members and ran to a place called Umudiawa. Another bomb was
thrown there but it failed to detonate. We then crossed over to
another village called Obowo. During the war it wasn't easy for men
with families to move from one place to the other. Wherever a bomb
exploded, I would run with my family to the opposite direction. Then,
our major food was cocoyam. We ate it with a glad heart even if it
wasn't well cooked. I thank God that none of my children died during
the Biafra war, it was a terrible period. My family could have died
once when a bomb was thrown into the Imo River, but it failed to
detonate. We were at the river looking for a way to cross over when
the bomb was thrown. Out of fear, one of my daughters, carrying our
food, threw everything away and started crying. We tied her mouth to
stop her from crying because we didn't want the soldiers to hear her.
After some days, soldiers came to the river. I think they heard that
some people were hiding close to the river. Immediately we sighted
them, we all ran. Some families lost their loved ones, other families
got their relatives mixed up. I searched for my family until we were
complete, I couldn't leave any one of them behind. We then took
shelter at another place. From there, we relocated to another
community. When the battle moved closer to where we stayed, we ran to
the next community. We kept moving from one place to the other.
Throughout our journey, I carried my bed on my head. People used to
make mockery of me. Once, I was nearly caught by the Biafran soldiers
when I escorted my brother to sell his dog. Then, Biafran soldiers
were hunting for people and anyone they caught was taken to their camp
called MacDonald, but God saved us and gave us wisdom. I pretended as
if I was sick and my cousin was taking me to the hospital; that was
how we escaped.
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