A Testimony of Survival, Discipline, and Divine Mercy
(Oblong @ 60 – Lecture Series, as I Approach the Sixth Floor)
As I approach my 60th birthday, the sixth floor by God’s grace, I have spent considerable time pondering how best to thank God for sparing my life, and how to give a proper advisory testimony that does justice to His grace, mercy, and quiet miracles in my journey.
I eventually came to this conclusion:
My 60th birthday is not just a celebration of years; it is an altar of gratitude.
A moment to tell my story plainly, truthfully, and reverently, so that God may be glorified, and men may learn.
THE WARNING I DID NOT FEEL
In December 2023, I went for what I considered a routine medical check up. I felt fine. Strong. Functional. Confident. At the time, I weighed 150kg, felt no pain, no dizziness, no weakness, nothing that suggested danger.
As I was about to leave, my doctor casually asked the nurse to check my blood pressure.
The reading came back: 181/100.
The room changed instantly.
For the first time in my life, I saw genuine panic in a doctor’s eyes, not drama, not exaggeration, but urgency. I was immediately placed on 5mg of amlodipine, my first-ever blood pressure medication. I was visibly shaken. Awareness struck me like lightning.
I made a vow then, not in pride, but in determination, that I would not remain permanently dependent on pills. I was advised by a friend to embrace strict intermittent fasting and disciplined exercise.
I started immediately.
THE JOURNEY OF DISCIPLINE
I began with simple walks in my neighbourhood park. At first, after only a few yards, my waist would lock. I would sit, rest, and continue. Slowly, painfully, persistently, things began to change.
From:
struggling to walk a few minutes
to completing one full round
then two
five
ten
and eventually thirteen rounds of the park
By March 2024, by the unmistakable grace of God, I had lost 12kg, dropping from 150kg to 138kg.
I felt lighter. Clearer. Stronger.
Encouraged by this progress, I began cautiously weaning myself off amlodipine, especially as it had started interfering with my otherwise healthy libido. I reasoned, perhaps prematurely, that lifestyle change alone would now suffice.
I was wrong.
THE DAY GRACE STEPPED IN
On Sunday, March 3rd, 2024, after walking 9,000 steps, I returned home, took a short siesta, and sat down to dinner around 6:30pm with my ‘nwanyi oma di ebube’.
Without warning, a stroke struck.
I did not argue with it.
I did not negotiate.
I did not understand it.
But my ‘nwanyi oma di ebube’ noticed instantly and called an ambulance. Within 10 minutes, help arrived.
That moment marked the beginning of one month and eight days at The Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead (NW3).
On arrival:
I could not walk
I could not write
I had lost memory fragments I struggled to retrieve
I had to relearn myself by the grace of God.
THE FIGHT BACK
Inside that hospital, something awakened in me. Not arrogance, resolve.
By the third week, against repeated advice, I was dodging nurses, walking hospital corridors with a walker, then a walking stick. I used over five learner notebooks to relearn writing. I had to relearn how to stand before I could relearn how to walk, then how to develop a step.
In that season of vulnerability, I saw the hand of God clearly.
THE CHAINS THAT FELL SILENTLY
Here lies one of the greatest miracles.
I was once a heavy smoker, not less than two packets of cigarettes daily. Cigarettes were everywhere: my car, my pockets, my house. I never lacked.
I was also not a passive drinker. I drank socially, and heavily, especially in my element, among friends, in celebration.
Yet from March 3rd, 2024, till today, I have not lit a cigarette or taken a drink.
No struggle.
No craving.
No withdrawal drama.
Tell me that is not the grace of God. Tell me.
@
HEALING BEYOND SCIENCE
After discharge on April 11, still weak and unsteady, I pursued expensive physiotherapy in London, spending thousands of pounds with little progress. By July, I was advised to try traditional medical physiotherapy in Nigeria.
In Lagos, two elderly women from Bayelsa attended to me.
I hesitate to call them ordinary human beings.
Their understanding of the human anatomy was uncanny. They pressed nerves in the foot that reverberated through the chest, arm, or face. In three weeks, I was walking around Parkview Estate, Ikoyi.
Soon after:
Lekki Bridge, there and back
Ikoyi to Victoria Island and back
Banana Island, Ikoyi, VI, Lekki, on foot
I swam almost daily.
At that point, I accepted fully:
This had nothing to do with me. This was grace at work.
THE SIXTH FLOOR LESSON
Today, I am fully recovered, save for minor spinal issues I now manage responsibly. I may not have fully regained the famous Oblong walking step, but that is a small price for life.
This testimony is a wake up call:
Take your medications
Exercise consistently
Swim and walk briskly
Eat right
Sleep well
Shun unnecessary stress
As we age, infallibility is an illusion.
Today, I feel 20 years younger, lighter in body and cleansed in spirit.
ULTIMATELY: GRATITUDE WITHOUT CEASING
As I march gallantly toward the sixth floor, I look back only to marvel at the unmistakable hand of God upon my life.
All glory be to the Alpha and the Omega,
The Omnipotent,
The Omniscient,
The Omnipresent Architect of the Universe,
The God in us and the God everywhere.
I thank You.
I honour You.
And I will continue to glorify You by keeping Your precepts.
Oblong @ 60. Still standing. Still grateful. Still unbroken.
By Hon. Chima Nnadi-Oforgu
Duruebube Uzii na Abosi
Duruebube Ihiagwa ófó asato
Ndukaku III of Ihiagwa
OBLONG MEDIA UNLIMITED 
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