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It was never going to be a quiet birthday. When Chief Mrs Mimi Adzape-Orubibi, former Chairman of the Benue Internal Revenue Service, turned 50 on November 17, 2025, she threw open the doors of Saint Patricia’s Parish in Manyam, Jato-Aka, and turned her thanksgiving service into a full-blown festival of giving.
The headline act: ten brilliant female students of Greater Bethel Academy, Jato-Aka, were called forward one by one and handed complete scholarships covering primary through university education. Tears flowed freely as parents who never imagined tertiary education for their daughters clutched the award letters like gold.
In a surprise announcement that left the congregation speechless, Chief Mimi revealed that she had already cleared the medical bills for corrective surgeries for 13 inmates at the Gboko Correctional Centre. The operations, ranging from hernia repairs to cataract removal, began that same Monday morning. “No child of God should celebrate freedom while others suffer in pain behind bars,” she said simply.
Traditional rulers, politicians, and community leaders who came to honour her ended up becoming the ones doing the honouring. The Ter Kwande, HRH Engr. Timothy Ahile, spoke of how her quiet philanthropy had transformed Kwande over the years, boreholes sunk, widows sponsored, youths employed, while the Mue-Ter Ichongo, HRH Simon Baver, reminded everyone that it was her work that earned her the chieftaincy title “Iwanger I Kwande, The Light of Kwande” in 2017, with another title in the works.
Former Governor Samuel Ortom, represented by Hon. James Gbande, praised her trailblazing tenure as the only woman ever appointed to the Joint Tax Board in Nigeria not once but twice. PDP state deputy chairman Hon. Azua Ashongo went further, commending the Tiv Traditional Council for pushing for female inheritance rights and declaring that “what this tax amazon has done for Kwande, many men have not even attempted.”
Widows from Ikyurav-Ya were not left out. Their leader, Mrs Wuese Terzungwe, thanked Chief Mimi for years of standing by them and for personally sponsoring medical outreaches across Kwande and Ushongo. Hundreds of women and youth groups went home with cash gifts, wrappers, rice, and envelopes that brought many to their knees in gratitude.
By the time the 2027 Benue South senatorial hopeful Hon. Thomas Tyolumun Unongo and PDP state youth leader David Mzer finished their tributes, the message was clear: this was not just a birthday; it was a statement. A statement that one woman, armed with faith, hard work, and an uncommon heart, can shift the destiny of an entire community.
As the choir belted out the final thanksgiving hymn and the sun set over Jato-Aka, Chief Mimi Orubibi stood surrounded by ten wide-eyed little girls who now dare to dream of becoming doctors, lawyers, and engineers, thirteen prison inmatesates who will walk out healthier than they walked in, and hundreds of women clutching seeds of hope she planted in their palms.
Fifty looks good on her, but the real beauty is in what she chose to do with it. Happy birthday, Iwanger I Kwande. The Light keeps shining brighter.
