“I had no certificate when I got my first teaching appointment. I
had only a ‘Slip” (C Slip), given to me when I passed my promotion
examination. This showed me that God loves me better than any of my
mates. Thanks be to Almighty God.” –Nicholas Otti
There was no written record of the birthday of Mr. Nicholas Dieke Otti. In an affidavit sworn at the High Court Registry on July 1, 1975, his elder brother, late Igattah Otti, said his birth date was not officially registered. However, unofficial sources from the family archive suggested that he was most likely born between 1933 to 1942 to Mr. Enejere Oti and his amiable wife, Ereme Ikeozala.
However, there was no proof of the exact date.
Papa’s parents, Enejere Otti, from Otti Ebule Diugwu family in Itakwuna Village, Ugbene Ajima, and Ereme Ikeozala from Utonu, Ugbene Uvuru, in Uzo-Uwani LGA of Enugu State, were peasant farmers. They were diligent workers of the soil, tilling their farmland every farming season. It was from them that their children, Igatta Utazi Otti, Utazi Otti Ebule, Oyie Oshinigwe, Oliefi Utazi, Ogoro Ikpa and Nicholas Otti, learnt the dignity of labour.
It was gathered that these three brothers, Igattah, Utazi and Nicholas never quarreled for a day till their death. Their family ties were so strong that nothing could cause a fight among them.
During his childhood, Pa Nicholas Dieke Otti, was a quiet person, a man of few words and quite fearful. As he stated in his unpublished biography, The Story of My Life, “I could not talk boldly to people but I could not lie. My ‘yes’ was my ‘yes’ and my ‘no’ remained ‘no.’ I am the last born among my brothers and sisters”.
Papa’s timidity almost prevented him from going to school. No matter how hard his parents pleaded with him to enrol, he refused. But one day, God spoke to him through his friend, as he narrated in his unpublished book.
“God does his work through human beings. One morning, my people abused me, calling me, “onye gayi-gayi” because I refused to go to school. My friend and age-mate, Odidi Mbata, asked me why I refused to go to school. He said if he were in my shoes, he would gladly go to school instead of doing hectic farm work at our farmland located faraway at Agbaeko (close to Ukpabi Nimbo). Immediately after his advice, I prepared for school the next day”.
In November 1947, Otti went to school for the first time. At school, he was told to write ABCD. He quickly brought out the ABCD alphabets that his friend, Mr. Samuel Anigbo, had written for him at home and copied for the teacher. When the school closed for the Christmas holidays, the teacher called him out and said, “Dieke Otti, if you can do your Infant One (also called Prima) next term, pass!”
Luck smiled on him when he returned to school in 1948 to discover that there was no Infant One class anymore. So, the government promptly ordered all the children, who were to be in Infant One, to move to Infant Two.
Mr. Otti completed his Standard One at St Patrick’s Catholic School, Ugbene Akutala, in 1949. He finished his Standard 2 in 1950 and did his Standard 3 at the Central School, Ugbene. There was no Standard 4 at that time in the entire Ugbene community, so he went to Sacred Heart Catholic School, Nkpologu on foot for one year. He went further to Saint Mary’s Catholic School, Nimbo for his Standard 5 in 1954 and his Standard 6 in St James Catholic School, Aku when Mr Patrick Ezugwu from Opi town was the Headmaster. He did his final exam in Standard 6A in 1954 and passed.
He was posted to St Michael’s Catholic School, Ugbene Akibite in 1955. He taught in the school till 1958 when he was transferred to Sacred Heart Nkpologu. Few weeks after he resumed at the school, his appointment as a C Teacher was terminated on February 28, 1958.
Although he lost his job, Papa quickly took up trading as his lifeline. Francis Nwa Osuji from Uwenu Onyishi was kind enough to lead him to Onitsha where he bought clothes for sale.
In fact, Papa had a Midas touch; whatever he touched turned to gold. He admitted this in his unpublished book, “I did this trading successfully and I was one of the traders who did well in our town. I continued trading till the Nigerian/Biafran war broke out in 1967”.
He married his first wife shortly- Virginia Ezugwu, from Ugwu Isiama, Ugbene Ajima in 1960. They survived the cruel war that finally ended in 1970. Sadly the end of the war was the beginning of their misery. Papa and his wife had nothing left to live on. So, life started from ground zero.
Papa said God visited him in the likeness of a man when late James Oke of Ashenyi Ugbene, informed him that the Enugu State government was recruiting teachers. Without hesitation, he dusted his Standard 6 slip and went for the exercise along with his close friend, late James Oke of Isiama.
He was shortlisted among the recruited teachers and he resumed work at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Ugbene Akibite on Wednesday, February 5, 1975 on a salary scale of N800 monthly. He got double blessings because while he resumed his new teaching appointment in the morning, God blessed him with a son, named Samuel, in the evening of the same day.
In 1977, Mr. Otti went to the Teachers Training College, Nsukka under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme. On completion of the training, he returned to full time teaching till he retired on January 10, 2008 on Grade level 12 step 6, as a Principal Master 11 (PM 11).
Hear his testimony; “I had no certificate when I got my first teaching appointment. I had only a ‘Slip” (C Slip), given to me when I passed my promotion examination. This showed me that God loves me better than any of my mates. Thanks be to Almighty God.”
Mr. Otti married his second wife, Grace, a young girl from Orba who lived with her sister, Augustina, the wife of Dieke Ajogwunta. The union was blessed with seven surviving children.
Mr. Otti is survived by his wife, Grace, 11 children, many grandchildren and innumerable relations.
There was no written record of the birthday of Mr. Nicholas Dieke Otti. In an affidavit sworn at the High Court Registry on July 1, 1975, his elder brother, late Igattah Otti, said his birth date was not officially registered. However, unofficial sources from the family archive suggested that he was most likely born between 1933 to 1942 to Mr. Enejere Oti and his amiable wife, Ereme Ikeozala.
However, there was no proof of the exact date.
Papa’s parents, Enejere Otti, from Otti Ebule Diugwu family in Itakwuna Village, Ugbene Ajima, and Ereme Ikeozala from Utonu, Ugbene Uvuru, in Uzo-Uwani LGA of Enugu State, were peasant farmers. They were diligent workers of the soil, tilling their farmland every farming season. It was from them that their children, Igatta Utazi Otti, Utazi Otti Ebule, Oyie Oshinigwe, Oliefi Utazi, Ogoro Ikpa and Nicholas Otti, learnt the dignity of labour.
It was gathered that these three brothers, Igattah, Utazi and Nicholas never quarreled for a day till their death. Their family ties were so strong that nothing could cause a fight among them.
During his childhood, Pa Nicholas Dieke Otti, was a quiet person, a man of few words and quite fearful. As he stated in his unpublished biography, The Story of My Life, “I could not talk boldly to people but I could not lie. My ‘yes’ was my ‘yes’ and my ‘no’ remained ‘no.’ I am the last born among my brothers and sisters”.
Papa’s timidity almost prevented him from going to school. No matter how hard his parents pleaded with him to enrol, he refused. But one day, God spoke to him through his friend, as he narrated in his unpublished book.
“God does his work through human beings. One morning, my people abused me, calling me, “onye gayi-gayi” because I refused to go to school. My friend and age-mate, Odidi Mbata, asked me why I refused to go to school. He said if he were in my shoes, he would gladly go to school instead of doing hectic farm work at our farmland located faraway at Agbaeko (close to Ukpabi Nimbo). Immediately after his advice, I prepared for school the next day”.
In November 1947, Otti went to school for the first time. At school, he was told to write ABCD. He quickly brought out the ABCD alphabets that his friend, Mr. Samuel Anigbo, had written for him at home and copied for the teacher. When the school closed for the Christmas holidays, the teacher called him out and said, “Dieke Otti, if you can do your Infant One (also called Prima) next term, pass!”
Luck smiled on him when he returned to school in 1948 to discover that there was no Infant One class anymore. So, the government promptly ordered all the children, who were to be in Infant One, to move to Infant Two.
Mr. Otti completed his Standard One at St Patrick’s Catholic School, Ugbene Akutala, in 1949. He finished his Standard 2 in 1950 and did his Standard 3 at the Central School, Ugbene. There was no Standard 4 at that time in the entire Ugbene community, so he went to Sacred Heart Catholic School, Nkpologu on foot for one year. He went further to Saint Mary’s Catholic School, Nimbo for his Standard 5 in 1954 and his Standard 6 in St James Catholic School, Aku when Mr Patrick Ezugwu from Opi town was the Headmaster. He did his final exam in Standard 6A in 1954 and passed.
He was posted to St Michael’s Catholic School, Ugbene Akibite in 1955. He taught in the school till 1958 when he was transferred to Sacred Heart Nkpologu. Few weeks after he resumed at the school, his appointment as a C Teacher was terminated on February 28, 1958.
Although he lost his job, Papa quickly took up trading as his lifeline. Francis Nwa Osuji from Uwenu Onyishi was kind enough to lead him to Onitsha where he bought clothes for sale.
In fact, Papa had a Midas touch; whatever he touched turned to gold. He admitted this in his unpublished book, “I did this trading successfully and I was one of the traders who did well in our town. I continued trading till the Nigerian/Biafran war broke out in 1967”.
He married his first wife shortly- Virginia Ezugwu, from Ugwu Isiama, Ugbene Ajima in 1960. They survived the cruel war that finally ended in 1970. Sadly the end of the war was the beginning of their misery. Papa and his wife had nothing left to live on. So, life started from ground zero.
Papa said God visited him in the likeness of a man when late James Oke of Ashenyi Ugbene, informed him that the Enugu State government was recruiting teachers. Without hesitation, he dusted his Standard 6 slip and went for the exercise along with his close friend, late James Oke of Isiama.
He was shortlisted among the recruited teachers and he resumed work at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Ugbene Akibite on Wednesday, February 5, 1975 on a salary scale of N800 monthly. He got double blessings because while he resumed his new teaching appointment in the morning, God blessed him with a son, named Samuel, in the evening of the same day.
In 1977, Mr. Otti went to the Teachers Training College, Nsukka under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme. On completion of the training, he returned to full time teaching till he retired on January 10, 2008 on Grade level 12 step 6, as a Principal Master 11 (PM 11).
Hear his testimony; “I had no certificate when I got my first teaching appointment. I had only a ‘Slip” (C Slip), given to me when I passed my promotion examination. This showed me that God loves me better than any of my mates. Thanks be to Almighty God.”
Mr. Otti married his second wife, Grace, a young girl from Orba who lived with her sister, Augustina, the wife of Dieke Ajogwunta. The union was blessed with seven surviving children.
Mr. Otti is survived by his wife, Grace, 11 children, many grandchildren and innumerable relations.
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