Late Prof Mathias Obiaya to be buried on November 20

Thu, Nov 5, 2020
By editor
3 MIN READ

Passage

The Obiaya family of Asaba, Oshimili South local government area, Delta State, has announced the death of Prof. Mathias Owelleamaka Obiaya, father of Ikechukwu Obiaya, former dean, School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos.

Prof. Mathias, 88, who died after a brief illness, on September 3, will be buried in his hometown in Asaba, on Friday, November 20, after a requiem Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Asaba, Delta State, by 10am.  Prior to that, there will be a Vigil Mass at St. Paul Catholic Church, 30, Airport Road, Benin City, Edo State, on November 18, by 4pm. Also, there will funeral Mass at same venue on November 19, by 10am.

Prof. Obiaya was born in Owelle (Owerri) Olubor, in the then Asaba Division, on July 19 1932. His parents were David A. Obiaya and Christiana O. Obiaya. He attended St Thomas Catholic School, Kano, and did his secondary education at St Patrick’s College, Asaba, where he, subsequently, taught for four years before proceeding to the University College, Ibadan, where he studied medicine and qualified as MBBS (Lond.) in 1962. He joined the Midwestern region as a medical officer before moving to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital to study Anaesthesia in 1966.

In 1967, he was awarded a one-year postgraduate scholarship to study Anaesthesia in Canada. He later transferred to Addenbrook’s Hospital, Cambridge, England. He obtained his fellowship in Anaesthesia (FFARCS Eng.) in 1969 and returned to Nigeria during the civil war. He joined the Bendel State Service as a consultant in charge of anaesthetic services in the state. In 1973, he joined the, then new, University of Benin as a senior lecturer and acting head of Department of Anaesthesia.

1n 1975, he was appointed a commissioner in the Bendel State government. He later became the deputy chairman of the State Executive Council. At the end of the military regime, he returned to the University of Benin. He was promoted to associate professor of Anesthcsio1ogy in 1981. In 1987, he spent three months at the Royal Free Hospital, London, before moving to the King Khalid Hospital, Hail, Saudi Arabia, where he was the chief anaesthetist for five years.

On his return from Saudi Arabia, he worked as chief medical director and head of the Department of Anaesthesia in Igbinedion Hospital and Medical Research Centre at Okada. In 1997, he became the chairman of the Faculty of Anaesthesia of the National Post Graduate Medical College and, later that year, President of the National Post Graduate Medical College.

In 1999, he was appointed a chief (the Osuma of Asaba) by his Royal Highness, the Asagba of Asaba. He was married to Mrs. Anthonia O. Obiaya and they had five children. Mrs. Obiaya died in December 2001.

Prof. Obiaya was an exemplary Catholic who put his time and skills at the service of the Church.

– Nov. 5, 2020 @ 18:49 GMT |

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