In Loving Memory of

Johnson Oboh

To view the live stream of the service for Johnson. please click here: https://www.oneroomstreaming.com/view/authorise.php?k=1613094358100375 .

To view the slideshow, please click here:

On January 31, 2021, surrounded by family, Johnson Edafemuno Oboh, the patriarch of the Oboh family of Ikpide-Irri, Nigeria and Canada passed away at the young age of 86 years. Many people were touched by Johnson’s kindness and generosity of spirit. His legacy of devotion, duty, passion for life, and discipline will live on forever. Left to cherish his enduring memory and life full of meaning and honour are his wife of 55 years, Eunice Uyoyo Oboh; children, Enifome (Grace) Uzih, Oghale (Sam), Virai (Joshua), and Ajiri (Patience) Omoniyi; as well as 12 paramount grandchildren (also known as disciples of Johnson Oboh), Noora, Oghenefego, Iruoghene, Anita, Orevaoghene, Christabel, Ewomaoghene, Ewomazino, Gerald, Ogheneruona, Oghenefejiro, and Ireayo; as well as numerous relatives and friends. Pa Johnson Oboh is also predeceased by two children, Andrew (Ogheneovo) and Christy (Oghenerue); and three brothers Josiah, Moses and Francis - all welcoming him home in the beyond - to rest in calmness, gratification and serenity.

Born on January 6, 1935 in the riverine serene island town of Ikpide-Irri now in Delta State of Nigeria, Johnson was the third of 4 boys and a girl - born to loving devoted parents Joe Ahierimoni Oboh and Sophie Umukoko Oboh (Nee Okpolopo from Uzere). Johnson attended the Canaan -Ikpide Irri Church Missionary Society (CMS) School and later proceeded to Oleh to live with his uncle John Etoroma - a very influential technocrat and politician in the late 1940’s and 50’s – who as the Superintendent of Education in the Midwestern Region of Nigeria, had so much influence on Johnson to further his career. Johnson later proceeded to the ancient city of Kano in northern Nigeria after he had his vocational training and specialization in technology of his time… Johnson became a Diesel Fuel Injection Systems Technician with the Swiss Firm UTC at the tender age of 18. Living in Kano, he married Eunice in 1966 and they were forced to flee the Kano 1966 uprising. Johnson later relocated to Lagos and still working with UTC.

With specialization in Bosch Injection Pump, Johnson was in high demanded in new branches set up by UTC. He would later relocate to Maiduguri (near Lake Chad) in 1977 and to Yola in Gongola State (by Nigeria’s border with Cameroun) in 1980 where he rose to management position to become the Workshop Manager of UTC in Yola until he retired in 1987 after 33 years in services. Johnson relocated from Yola to Lagos with Eunice in the 1990s and they both later immigrated to Canada where Johnson spent his last 5 years and gave his best to family, friends and colleagues - willingly and generously.

As many of you know, Johnson was an epitome of brilliance and a blend of down-to-earth god-fearing gentleman and a world news and current affairs junkie. He is meticulously and stubbornly particular about certain things - Neatness and Aesthetically pleasing environments. When he was building the Oboh family house in Yola in the 1980’s, his children learned their first architectural lessons in wall assembly from him. He had taught them that all walls do not have to be finished with cement plaster and paint and he demonstrated the practicality of this lesson by finishing the walls in the family house with exquisite wallpaper cherished by everyone who visited the house.

Johnson is a stickler for life and he gallantly fought prostate cancer with all he has. With his mental superiority over cancer, he held his ground and held strong - even while living with Cancer from 2009 (when he was first diagnosed) until he got jubilated on January 31, 2021.

Johnson was a faithful husband and an immensely proud and dutiful father and grandfather. A beloved Patriarch of the Oboh family in Canada, Nigeria and the diaspora, Johnson embodies friendliness, bliss, devotion, duty, passion for life, discipline, and warm hospitality, often hosting friends, family, newcomers, colleagues, and many others at home. Johnson Edafemuno Oboh, you will surely be missed.