A TRIBUTE TO MY BELOVED SISTER, HON. JUSTICE CHINWE IYIZOBA (RTD) NEE FGN OKOYE, (ADADIORRAMA). By Mrs. Ngozi Orakwue-Nwachukwu (Nee Oselloka-Orakwue)
I am at a loss and do not know how to do this. I find it difficult to comprehend what happened to Chinwe and why I have to write this Tribute.
First, it’s still a shock to believe that my sister and friend has passed. Secondly, I do not know where to start from and where to end in describing my relationship with my beloved sister and friend, Chinwe Iyizoba.
Chinwe and I met in 1962 in Uwani, Enugu. I cannot remember the circumstances of our meeting.
However, we became friends and we visited each other regularly when on holidays from school. At the time of our meeting, we lived with our parents in Uwani Enugu, 10 minutes’ walk from each other. We were young teenagers both in secondary schools. Chinwe was schooling at Elelenwa Girls Secondary School, Port Harcourt in the then Eastern Nigeria, now in Rivers State and I was schooling at Zixton Grammar School, Ozubulu also in the then Eastern Nigeria but now in Anambra State.
The friendship continued until we left Enugu in 1967 escaping from the Biafran civil war. We later reconnected in Umuahia town and stayed in touch while visiting each other from time to time. While in Umuahia she started dating her late husband Ossy Iyizoba and our friendship incorporated her husband. We both got married during the civil war.
After the Civil war in 1970, we reunited again in Enugu and continued our relationship. We agreed we would continue our education which was disrupted by the civil war and decided to study law at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Enugu Campus. We sat for the entrance examination to UNN in 1970, Chinwe passed the examination but I did not. This is how brilliant Chinwe was. Chinwe was not happy that I did not pass the exams. She encouraged me to try again in 1971. To help me pass the exams, she gave me a text book which she used for her studies for the exam in 1970 and I retook the exam and passed.
I joined her at UNN in 1971. Every one admired Chinwe. She was a combination of brain and beauty. She was very studious and focused. I wondered how she could sit in the Law library for hours studying without any form of distraction, while I could hardly sit for 2 hours without going for a walk. This explained why she could sit for hours through out the night writing judgements when she later became a judge. Chinwe graduated in 1974 and I graduated in1975.
On graduation, Chinwe relocated to New Jersey, USA to join her husband Ossy. I also relocated to Washington DC in 1975 after my graduation to join my husband as well. We once again reunited in the USA and we were in touch and maintained the family relationship. We both returned from the USA in 1976 and signed up for NYSC service and served in Enugu.
We enrolled at the Nigeria Law School (NLS), Lagos in 1977. At the Law school we sat next to each other in the Lecture Hall. While at the Law school, I was pregnant with my second son and was sick all the time. Chinwe was there to help me throughout the period of studies. Though she was off campus, she stayed on after lectures till late to ensure I was alright before she drove home. I am for very grateful to Chinwe for the loving care she gave me during this period. This made it possible for me to pass my Bar Exams with high scores. We were called to Bar in 1978 and we went back to Enugu to continue our family lives.
Chinwe was a friend, a sister, a confidant. Our relationship grew to include our families. Chinwe was part of my family. My children related to her as their mother and they related to her children as their brothers and sisters. I treated Ebele, Onuorah, Ifeyinwa and late Ossy boy as my biological Children. I had the freedom to speak to them the way I spoke to my children. The FGN Okoyes and the Iyizobas are family to me because of my relationship with Chinwe. I am aware of the way she held together the Iyizoba family. She was a daughter and sister to them not a sister-in-law. Her husband Ossy once told me that the day he married Chinwe was the day God blessed him. Indeed, Chinwe was a blessing to whoever came in contact with her. She was a virtuous woman, who impacted her world immensely. Chinwe was a trusted friend.
We spoke almost every day checking up on each other and the children. Whenever I was in Enugu, I would stay with Chinwe at the Oranges even though I have my place in Enugu. I enjoyed her company and her ofe onugbu. I will miss that.
When Chinwe started having issues with her knees, we discussed it extensively and explored all options, especially where to have the surgery done. She decided to have it done in Nigeria. I didn’t query her choice, because Chinwe does her homework very well before taking decisions and especially one that has to do with her health. I believe she made the right decision. However, there were complications that led to her passing.
On 31/01/2026, at about 6.30am, Chiedu Iyizoba called and I was surprised that he called that early. So asked him if I had won a lottery for him to call me this early, he said, “NGOZI OYIGINWAYI ARAPUGO”. I didn’t understand what that meant, so I asked him to repeat what he said and he said Chinwe a rapu go, I lost it and started screaming that they had killed my sister and threw away my phone. My children ran out to find out why I was screaming and who was killed. They called Chiedu back and he confirmed that Chinwe had passed. I still could not believe it. I kept expecting that someone would call to say it was not true.