Tribute To Madam Irene Ine Iwo Sokari Danagogo by Nwokoma Messiah

Exactly on the 10^th of July the family of Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs witnessed a sad day in their lives when their ever loving mother  joined her creator. This day was not only a sad day for this accomplished family but for most of us who have come to know the family especially her dear son Dumo who has become an inspiration and source of motivation to a lot of us.

The news of her death though in old age was not easy to take but as the saying goes, “there is a day to born and a day to die”. Madam Irene was born to this sinful earth and she has left this sinful earth to meet her maker just like we all will do at one point in time in this life.

What matters most is not the fact that she has left her loved one but the kind of life she lived and the legacy she kept behind. I may not have been very privileged to meet her in person but if the saying that our parents’ lives are in most cases reflected in our lives is anything to go by, then I do believe strongly that she kept a good legacy in the persons of her children especially our leader Chief Barr. Dumo Lulu Briggs.

This piece is my way and the way of our organization (Niger Delta Renaissance Organisation) which I represent as the National Coordinator way of emphasizing our stand by the family in this period of grief. Losing a loved one is not only painful but tasking to the persons involved. The fact that they will not meet again in physical is something the people the deceased left behind will live with until they themselves are called to the bosom of the Lord.

Madam Irene lived a fulfilled life in her time and will be remembered for raising worthy kids as symbolised in the person of her very dear son Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs and the father of her kids High Chief Ombo Dumo Lulu Briggs. These are great personalities which only a lucky person would have had in both ways as per mother and wife. The outpouring of greetings and visits that greeted her death showed the kind of person she was during her life time. She is a mother not only to her biological children but to a lot of persons not only from her Kalabari ethnic stock but to people across the Niger Delta region. She was a matriarch with dignity and women did look up to her for advice and as a model she was to a lot of them, she really never disappointed.

As she gets ready for her journey to mother earth, it is imperative to quote from a poem her lovely son Dumo Lulu Briggs posted on his social media profile. Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs who apparently posted the poem to reflect on the life of a dying old person had said “…I remember the joys. I remember the pain.

And I'm loving and living life over again.

I think of the years, all too few, gone too fast.

And accept the stark fact that nothing can last…”

We also remember that in this life nothing can last but one thing that will surely last is the loving memory that those who have been left behind have for the gone.

Madam Irene Danagogo may have gone to meet her maker but the memory she left in her lifetime will forever remain and will be remembered by those she left behind. She lived a fulfilled life and was a true inspiration to a lot of persons and that indelible mark she left will surely not be obliterated by the sands of time because the shoe in which she wore to leave such marks were giant shoes which will be followed by those who know her and have become endeared to her teachings.

She will always be remembered for her smiles, encouragement, inspiration and most of all, fear of the lord her creator to whom she is journeying back to.

To the bereaved family, I say that it is not easy but the Almighty God whom we serve who is the creator of this universe and who knows the beginning from the end will always in His infinite mercies guide, guard and grant her peace in His bosom.

I will not end this tribute to this great daughter of the Niger Delta region without saying that “All that is left for we the living to do is to honour and rededicate ourselves to the cause which she lived for. Madam Irene, as you get laid to rest in the bosom of the Lord, may the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields until you meet your loved ones again and may God hold you in the palm of His hand. Amen”.

Nwokoma Messiah is the National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Renaissance Organisation NDRO