(Inna llilai Waheenah illahim Rajihunna – From God we have come; to Him we shall return)
Death is an existential mystery that human beings need to demystify. When death creeps in and saunters spontaneously to snatch a beloved one from a joyful family, the family mourns; the family wails; the family gnash teeth in an unending anguish. But in the dead one has unloaded the agent of As-araillu (death) as the dead one cannot be a victim of death anymore.
The dead one becomes the extraterrestrial being to feel empathy for the living beings. As the dead one deconstructs death itself, the dead one short lived reminds us that death is a necessary end, it will come when it will come. In the efforts of man to attain self-actualization, he struggles with worthlessness of life. We are reminded that life is void. Void is life itself. Life is saturated with nothingness. Only the ones with wisdom will understand. We are daily entangled with this nothingness of life, oblivious of the “dead-alive” weeping for the dead.
The shock and sad news of the death of my uncle few days ago is existentially instructive and painful. Brother Awesun was a meek man you will not love to hate. He epitomized the dignity and respect a man should command. My uncle was a tireless man who would discomfort himself for your own satisfaction. He was a man who calls spade a spade and not minding what he tends to lose by nurturing his conscience with truth.
In my last trip to Nigeria for my beloved mom’s fridous prayers in June 2015, my uncle was bountifully agile with his deft and smooth organization of the prayer event. I never knew that was going to be my last meeting with a man who grew up with his siblings, with a lot of respect, love and admiration. He was a man who would never look at you in the face while you’re subsumed in conversation with him. A lucky man who was born and grew up in a terrific family that gives humanity the definition of love, hard-work and respect.
Uncle, your death stunned us like a stun gun; we will not question the Almighty God for reverently sanctioning your demise. It will amount to sacrilege if we do that but the healthcare system in our country-Nigeria shares from our agony and your untimely death. As you’re joining your totemic home to suffer no more, we celebrate your achievements as a man who cemented our harmonious family relationships with prayers and true love.
My admonition to us all is to remain unrepentant advocates of human tranquility and development. Those are legacies we can live behind after our journey to eternal bliss or the unknown. Anything short of these nuances are ephemerals and inconsequential.
Egbon Uwais Balogun, As we morn your inconvenient demise, may Almighty God give us the fortitude to bear your irreparable loss. May He grant you blissful eternal life.
Sunre o Egbon!!!
