*A tribute from the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC)*
It is with profound sorrow and deep affection that we at the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) pay tribute to our dear colleague, Mrs. Juliana Ngozi Ihejirika, whom we fondly called Julie.
Her passing has left us with a painful sense of loss. We mourn a valued member of our team, a friend and a fellow traveller in the struggle for justice and human dignity. Behind the responsibilities she carried was a person whose presence mattered to us, and whose absence we now feel deeply.
Our association with Julie preceded her appointment as RULAAC’s Programme Manager. Through her work at the Centre for Constitutional Governance under the late Dr. Adewale Balogun, and our shared engagements within the OneVoice Coalition, we came to know her abilities and appreciate her commitment. She was brilliant, hardworking and resourceful, with a particular gift for organising programmes and bringing people together around a common purpose.
When she joined RULAAC, she brought that experience and dedication with her. We valued her capacity to take responsibility, attend to details and help turn ideas into practical work. In advocacy, much depends on the patient effort that takes place beyond public statements and public meetings. Julie understood that work and gave herself to it.
Her time with us was shorter than we had hoped. Illness interrupted the contributions she was eager and equipped to make. Throughout those difficult months, we hoped for her recovery and looked forward to welcoming her back. Her death is especially painful because it closes a future we had continued to imagine with her.
Yet we will remember Julie through the fullness of her life and service. Her work belonged to a wider commitment to a society in which people are treated fairly, public institutions answer for their actions, and vulnerable voices receive attention. She contributed her skills to that cause across the organisations she served.
To her husband, her beloved daughter Angel, and the entire Ihejirika family, we offer our heartfelt condolences. We recognise that our loss as colleagues is only one part of the grief you bear. You have lost someone whose place in your daily lives is intimate and irreplaceable.
Angel, we hope that, in time, the testimonies of those who worked with your mother will bring you some comfort. She was respected. Her abilities were valued. Her efforts mattered. We will remember her with gratitude and speak her name with affection.
As an organisation devoted to human dignity, we are reminded that the people who carry this work forward deserve to be remembered as fully as the causes they serve. Julie’s life calls us to cherish our colleagues, acknowledge their contributions while they are with us, and meet one another with compassion.
We honour her memory by renewing our commitment to the work we shared: defending rights, seeking accountability and standing beside people who need support.
Dear Julie, thank you for the experience you shared, the responsibilities you carried and the part of your life you gave to RULAAC. We wish there had been more time.
May God comfort your family and all who mourn you. May your soul rest in perfect peace.
Farewell, Julie. You were valued, and you will be missed.
Okechukwu Nwanguma
Executive Director
For the Board, Management and Staff of RULAAC
