Chief (Mrs) Mabel Nkechinyere Ochulor is wife of the pioneer Military Administrator of Delta State, Air Commodore Luke Chijiuba Ochulor (rtd). In this interview, the former first lady, who trained as a professional teacher and fashion designer, speaks about life with her husband and more. Excerpts:
Daily Trust: How would you describe your husband?
Chief (Mrs) Nkechinyere Ochulor: He is a good Christian and a God-fearing person. He is humble and likes people to be happy. He accommodating, doesn’t like to see anybody suffering and helps as much as he can. As far as I know, he doesn’t suppress people under him and is peaceful.
DT: What easily gets him upset?
Mrs Ochulor: It’s dishonesty. He hardly can move along with dishonest people. Before he gets provoked, he must have given you a long rope.
DT: What is his favourite food?
Mrs Ochulor: He eats sparingly, although he may eat three times a day. He picks what he eats and doesn’t just eat because he is hungry and wants to eat. He like to know where his food is coming from and how it was prepared. He prefers light food.
I know him as somebody who watches his weight a lot. He doesn’t like to be fat or have a protruding stomach.
DT: What kind of music appeals to him?
Mrs Ochulor: Back in the day, he used to like Jim Reeves. I think he had almost a hundred albums by Jim Reeves when he was younger. Now if hip-hop or rap music is playing, he would say it should be put off that they are not serious artistes.
DT: What are his regrets?
Mrs Ochulor: I can’t remember him telling me about things he regrets. All I know is that things you think should bother him hardly do. He is not a rigid person who would say this thing must be this way or that way otherwise heavens will fall. Any way God presents something, he accepts it like that. He is not the aggressive type, and it has nothing to do with his training as an airman. It is his nature.
DT: Does his name open doors for you?
Mrs Ochulor: Why not? His name opens doors and I can’t recall any occasion when his name failed to open doors.
DT: What are those lessons you have learnt from him over the years?
Mrs Ochulor: I have learnt quite a lot. He doesn’t like one to get angry. He likes peace. He taught me how to love people and make peace. When I was young, I used to be aggressive over small matters. But with him all these years, I have been humbled.
Being peaceful is one of the things we need in Nigeria. We need peace and our leaders must imbibe the culture of peace and humility for us to take things easy. For some people, when they lose anything, they feel like killing or dying but it doesn’t help. Sometimes God will want something to be like this but we may want it the other way. However, it’s God’s own will that will be done, but you may not know.
