A Tribute to our great father Dr David B.A Ofomata, KSC
Our father Dr David Ofomata, Atuma Nnewi is dead but memories of him and the life he lived will remain indelible in our hearts. He was the best father anybody would have prayed for and I owe him all that I have become today, He was unflappable under pressure, never revealing that inner anxiety that got the better of most men .
Daddy never compromised his quest for fairness, peace and justice .He was an advocate for the underprivileged in his society. He abhorred injustice and reckless and unwarranted use of power and will be the first to protect anyone who was a victim of such unsavory treatment.
Daddy was the consummate physician, radiating warmth, compassion, and kindness to the individuals he encountered in his medical profession. Many a time, his patients will stop me on the way, in the market places and in his hospital where we worked ever so closely for many years to heap praises on him for curing their several ailments. His shoes were always too big for me to fill.
He never minced words when he advised me on how to treat patients and was the best medical teacher I ever had. He was very patient with me as he taught me the intricate details of various surgical and medical procedures. This man was a genius in his own right and through all my medical training as well as current professional life I am yet to encounter anyone who sensitized me to the finer points of medicine the way he did.
As Sir William Osler said," The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease." So it was with my father, the great physician who understood his patients and the context under which their illness thrived. He lived up to the ideals of the great physician, Dr William Osler.
Daddy touched many lives including those of his immediate family in more ways than can be recounted in this tribute. My whole life and indeed those of my siblings were positively impacted by his presence and infinite love.
His advice, understanding and laughter will be missed but memories of him will be everlasting. He loved his family and provided for them to the fullest extent possible. Daddy afforded me the financial assistance that guaranteed an uninterrupted medical education in the process allowing me all the time to focus on my studies.
He gave me my first car upon finishing my rotatary internship at Iyi-Enu Specialist Hospital,Ogidi for which I remained ever so grateful to him.
My father had an uncanny ear for the truth which as most of you are aware he respected all through his life. Whatever the matter, whomsoever the person, he had his own views and offered them unequivocally albeit ever so gently. He was not the one for gossips and small talk rather he told it the way it is sometimes to the consternation of his family and friends.
He handled his illness with such equanimity that characterized his whole life.
We are not here to pass judgment on him as we must certainly leave that to the Almighty Lord. On the contrary we are here to celebrate the goodness, love, intelligence and wisdom he radiated to all during his long and memorable life.
In death there is usually a galaxy of memories but with this man, our father there is a quiet but certain understanding that he left his community better than he found it.
We would have loved for him to be alive today, but his creator has greater plans for him. No matter how much it hurts to lose a father, there is the sense that he is resting in peace with his Savior. The legacy he left will never be in vain.
Therefore, as we commit his life and soul to the savior he served well, may we individually reflect on our own lives. And may those who knew him cherish their memories of him and store them jealously in their hearts.
May Almighty God grant him eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon him.
God bless and keep our most beloved father, David Bennett Anagwu Ofomata until we meet to part no more.
Tribute delivered by Ikechukwu,Ifeyinwa,Adaora and Chisom.
