The remains of NWO GI (RTD), Baba John Mandap Nimmyel, father to Navy Commodore Paul Ponfa Nimmyel, of Nigerian Navy has been laid to rest in Dadur Langtang-North Local Government Area of Plateau State last Saturday.
Baba, who before his demise was a retired Navy Warrant Officer and a committed communicant member of the Church Of Christ In Nations (COCIN) Gigiring, Hwolshe Jos-South LGA, died on October 7, 2022 at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) where he was receiving treatment since July this year.
Born into the family of Pa Nimmyel Nimdul Chifa and Mama Fayen in Dadur, Langtang-North LGA in 1948, late Baba Nimmyel after his school enlisted into the Nigerian Navy in Kaduna in 1967 and was the third Tarok man to be so enlisted where he trained at the Basic and Divisional (B&D) Training Centre Beecroft, Apapa, Lagos.
In 1970, the then young Nimmyel attended INS Venduruthy, in Willingdon Island, Kochi, Kerala, India for further military training and was engaged in detailed services to various Naval ships and establishment across the country when he returned which included: NNS Beecroft as Instructor, NNS Olokun, NNS Aradu, NNS ANANSA, NNS DORINA, NNS RUWAN YARO amongst others.
Late Baba John Mandap Nimmyel, retired from active service in the year 2000 after attending the mandatory retirement age and relocated from Lagos to Jos, Plateau State, where he was living happily before he took ill and was admitted at the Jos University Teaching Hospital.
Earlier, while at the wakekeep and prayer session in honour of late Baba, held at Sarau Events Centre Jiyep, the leading Reverend of COCIN LCC Hwolshe, Rev. Istifanus William, described late Baba as a committed Christian and appreciated God for his life having achieved this much in life.
Reading from 1Peter 1:24 & 25, the cleric said life was fragile and no one could deny how it ends because death was inevitable, hence the need for people to maximize their lives by impacting on the lives of others just like Baba did while still alive.
However, the first son of the deceased, Navy Commodore, Paul Ponfa Nimmyel, speaking during the burial said the name Nimmyel reverberates in the Nigerian Navy for the legacy he laid and left behind. He said, ” I am so proud to be your son and happy to call you my father. You helped groom so many including myself. And for the Navy, the Nation owes you its gratitude.
The first daughter of the deceased who is from Bournemouth University UK, Dr. Abigail Manwor Uchenna Emelonye, said, “Papa, you taught us well, we are who and what we are today because you built a strong foundation for my siblings and I. I will miss you direly”.
There were out pour of eulogies from senior military officers, Baba’s friends, relations, the Church and many others who came to sympathize with the family. He died at the age seventy-four (74).
