By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu, has lost his beloved sister, Dr (Mrs) Juliana Chibuogwu Nwazuruoke (nee Nwosu) to the pain-laden call of sudden death.
She was married to her husband, EmmanuelMary Nwazuruoke from Achina, Aguata LGA, Anambra State on December 16, 1989 with whom she built a cherished Christian home until her death.
Fondly called Chio in her cherished lifetime, she was born in Lagos to the middle class family of Chief Johm Chuka Nwosu (Ojuka), a senior civil servant, and Mrs Lauretta Nwadinafor Nwosu, a trained seamstress, both from Atani in Ogbaru LGA.
She attended the Catholic Church-owned Saint Mary’s Primary School, Broad Street, Lagos from 1962 to 1966.
She had to wait until after the Nigeria-Biafra war to undertake secondary education at Abbot Girls Secondary School, Ihiala and came out in flying colours with a Grade One in the West African School Certificate examination, majoring in science subjects.
When her plan to study Medicine in Europe was aborted, she studied Nursing at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and qualified as a Registered Nurse (RN) in 1979.
She worked briefly at Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Medical Complex, Lagos as a Staff Nurse but was quite determined to further the career in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale and Marry Slessor by enrolling in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu to study Midwifery.
She then moved on to University of Ibadan (UI) where she bagged a Bachelor of Sciences (BSc) degree in Nursing. It was at UI that the love-match with her husband, EmmanuelMary Nwazuruoke, was struck.
She did her National Youth Service at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital School of Nursing, Zaria, and her career then took her through Saint Louis Hospital School of Midwifery, Zonkwa, Kaduna State from 1986 to 1989; Bishop Shanahan Hospital School of Nursing, Nsukka from 1989 to 1990; Anambra State Ministry of Health from 1990 to 1991; and the Anambra State School of Nursing, Nkpor where she rose to the rank of Deputy Director of Nursing/Vice Principal (Admin) from 1991 to 2010.
She was transferred to Anambra State School of Midwifery, Nkpor, still as Deputy Director of Nursing/Vice Principal from 2011 to 2012.
Dr Nwazuruoke moved to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital School of Midwifery, Nkpor in 2011 as Deputy Director of Nursing and the Principal of the institution before she retired in 2016.
After retiring from the Anambra State Civil Service, she proceeded to Madonna University of Nigeria, Elele to become a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Nursing, and lectured there between 2017 and 2021 before she was appointed the Provost of Anambra State College of Nursing Sciences in 2022, a position she held until she passed on.
A dogged believer in education, she had after her National Youth Service taken a post-Graduate Diploma in Education and double Masters’ of Sciences degrees in Health Education and Maternity and Child Health Nursing respectively.
She eventually earned a PhD in Maternity and Child Health Nursing after an expository research into “Infant Weight Gain and Feeding Practices in the First Six Months of Life in Rural and Urban Areas of Anambra State.”
Dr Nwazuruoke had undertaken over half a dozen researches in her chosen fields of study, and published eighteen seminal works in international journals.
She distinguished herself as an external examiner of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria from 1996 until her death.
She served as the Africa Regional President of the International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medico-Social Assistants (CICIAMS) from 2012 to 2016, and was also a member of the Catholic Nurses Guild of Nigeria from 2016 till her passing.
She was the National President of the Catholic Nurses Guild of Nigeria from 2006 to 2012.
A devout Catholic onto her death, Dr Nwazuruoke was the President of Catholic Women Organisation (CWO), Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Woliwo, Onitsha between 2009 and 2012.
A happily married woman with four adult children (a lady and three young men), she served on the Marriage Advisory Council of Onitsha Archdiocese from 2008 till her sudden death.
The mourned lady who was fondly called Chio by her many admirers left behind four children, a grandchild, daughter-in-law, seven siblings, sisters and brothers-in-law, an uncle, many cousins and numerous friends, all of whom will forever miss her friendly warmth, kindness, wise council, motherliness and deep sense of commitment to both the Nwazuruoke and Nwosu families.
Dr Juliana Chibuogwu Nwazuruoke will be buried in her family compound, Emma Nwazuruoke’s compound, opposite Amaiyi field, Achina, Aguata LGA, Anambra State on Saturday, May 25, after a Requiem Mass at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Achina.