Ooni of Ife
It was an invaluable moment for me to listen patiently to Prof. Mrs. Nnenna Oti, who remarkably epitomises the voice and intellectual reasoning that are embedded in an African woman. Our brief meeting at the Imo airport provided a crucial opportunity for us to interact and discuss some salient issues of national importance. She spoke to me passionately and beautifully. You are, indeed, a beacon of truth and one of the voices of reason.

I particularly admire your unwavering dedication to education. You stand on the threshold of history as the first female Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, and you continue to forge new paths within the same field as the first Eastern Nigerian woman to do so. Prof. Mrs. Nnenna Oti embraces cutting-edge research, and she is one of the pillars of our educational culture, dispensing and breeding decades of human intellectual talent. Significantly, she epitomises the finest and most dedicated intellectual culture of our beautiful nation. She signifies centuries of cutting-edge scholasticism, the foundation of which our great forefathers laid. Her records are exceptional because she embodies the intellectual innovation of the twenty-first century and facilitates the “exchange of new inventions” that are solving and proposing solutions to our nation’s challenges. Her work and value reflect the beauty of our young women, youth institutions, and the Obidients epic movement.

Fundamentally, our greatest resource capital as a nation is our women, who are keenly and immensely nurturing with all dedication our imperfect nation to perfection. Professor Nenna Oti exemplifies their world and our untapped richness. What a treasure Professor Nnenna is! She adorned democracy with patriotism in the recently concluded governorship election in Abia State, which produced Dr. Alex Otti of Labour Party. She convincingly demonstrates that there exists in each of us the capacity for great courage.

Despite tremendous lobbying and financial inducement, she gave democracy a new meaning as the returning officer by standing for equity, fairness, and righteousness, and declared Dr. Alex Otti the winner. Her purity of heart will continue to be a healing thread for our country. I’d like our nation to join me in celebrating Prof. Mrs. Nnenna Oti. Obidients, please join me in celebrating this impeccable woman all the way! She is a living example of excellence and patriotism, and I will forever celebrate her on the throne of my forebears, Oduduwa.