Mother of Multitudes: A Biography of Prof Ebele Ofoma Eko, Betty Abbah, Pensrule Communications Limited, Lagos; 2015, pp. 189
By DAMIETE BRAIDE
The book, Mother of Multitudes...A Biography of Prof. Ebele Ofoma Eko, is a compelling biography of an equally compelling personality, Prof. Ebele Ofoma Eko, a professor of English Literature, author and former Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Calabar. more...
The author, Betty Abah, extends her sincere appreciation to a couple of people who had helped in so many ways to let the book see the light of the day. Abah notes that, in the course of 15 years of tagging along her, learning and taking mental and actual notes, she opened up her house, mind, her history and, especially, her heart to her.
The book contains 13 chapters. Chapters 1-4 examine topics like “Unto Us a Gift of Mercy Was Born”, “Ebele Goes to School”, “The Ofomas: a Godly Heritage” and “Ebele: God Ordained the Walk.”
Professor Eko says of her family in her early days: “We don’t have money, but we had love in abundance”. The Ofomas are from Umudim in Nnewi Local Government Area of Anambra State. Her roots, steeped in integrity, religious fervor and a transcendental love for parents, siblings and humanity, explains, to a large extent, the secrets of the enigma called Ebele Eko.
Abah’s shadowing of the Eko’s for years, in the course of writing the book, reveals that she never once saw Mommy and daddy Eko argue or disagree, at least not openly. Without a doubt, it was a marriage truly ordained by God and made successful by their mutual effort in love. Chapters 5-10 centre on Eko as a teacher, writer, mother, administrator at Unical, homemaker, cancer fighter, etc.
Writes Abbah: “Tall like a wild okra plant, slender and lean, yet elegant and sprightly like a gazelle and narrow at the waist like a wasp yet regal like a princess, she had then and still has the penetrating gaze of a prophetess. She was so skinny that behind her back, we her students rumoured that she was fasting a little bit too much for her long frame and might drop dead one day due to starvation! We were wrong! What she lacked in body weight she more than made up in enduring spiritual strength...”
That was the impression many undergraduate students had of the ‘slim American-schooled lady,’ as portrayed by a pioneer student of ELS and later a colleague, Dr Imo Eshiet, in 1979, when Ebele emerged at the newly established English and Literary Studies, Department in the University of Calabar. Settling down quickly to do her job as Lecturer II, she soon impressed every one with her sheer brilliance. She was in Comparative Literature, majoring in African and African-American Literature and Black Women Writers. Her expositions of issues were profound, just as her striking beauty and students, old and new remembers her office bursting with books. According to the author, Dr Eko’s spiritual leanings do not necessarily signify lean literary endowments or outputs. As one of the prominent figures in African Literature in the last four decades, Eko’s literary achievements are simply remarkable.
Her publications, spanning English grammar, poetry, literary criticism, among others, include Effective Writing (Grammar), Wings of the Morning (poems), Bridges of Gold (poems) Healing Streams (poems), Colour him Love (poems), Elechi Amadi: The Man and His Work (criticism), Elechi Amadi at 55, Poems, Short Stories and Papers (criticisms). Others are The King’s daughter (prose), Seal Me in Your Heart (prose), Joy Unspeakable (poems), Ewa Eko: The Man and His Works (collection), Masterpieces of African Literature (criticism), among others.
Chapters 1-13 examine topics such as like “Ewa Eko: A Stainless Walk with God, Touched by an Angel (10 lives transformed), Mother of Multitudes (testimonies), and works dedicated to mommy Eko. Evana “Mfon” Oli (third daughter and last child) says of her: “Like any other human being, she had her ups and downs; but, if I know one thing, she knows how to encourage herself in the Lord. She stays up, because she knows so many people are looking up to her. I also know that it’s nothing but the grace of God that has kept her so strong for so long, despite many challenges. She is the rock of our family, the one who ties us all together; the one who builds us up. The one who covers us and I am so grateful to God for blessing me, for blessing us with such a precious gift.
The book also has 11 pages filled with pictures highlighting a remarkable life in pictures, families, friends and school days. Mother of Multitudes: A biography of Prof Ebele Ofoma Eko is written in simple English. It is a must-read for young people, couples and Christians who are seeking for mentorship on how best to raise their families, heal their marriages or build and maintain very successful professional careers on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
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