I was in shock because this is one of the most gentle course mates I had while at the Ogun State Polytechnic studying Mass Communication at the HND level. I happen to belong to the group that did their OND at the Ogun Poly while Bayo came from Federal Poly, Bida. But our HND class was great fun because we had a bunch of guys and ladies that were out to enjoy themselves as much as they were dead keen to achieve something in life.
Amongst the core group of friends in our year were folks who are now Editors/Marketing Managers in major newspapers in Nigeria (Vanguard, Guardian, ThisDay, Punch, etc), Directors of Communications/PR in major organisations in the country (including British Council and Banks), broadcast journalists and key players in the Advertising and PR sector (such as IMC 24-7 – leading outdoor/bill boards ad agency and a host of others). Bayo was one of us and he was a brilliant mind with a smile even when the joke is on him.
Bayo was a guy who quite a few of us could seat with and crack jokes and banter, sometimes at his expense and he always managed never to take it personal or take offence, rather, he has a fantastic sense of humour and somehow will find a way to deflect it all and parry it on to someone else.
I can not begin to imagine what Bayo could have done to offend anyone to the point of his life being snuffed out in this untimely and heartbreakingly violent manner. I have scrounged around for information about Bayo's violent murder and all of the stories I am reading online do not bring comfort to my soul as I hear statements from the law enforcement agencies.
I am gob smacked by the fact that a Commissioner of Police was quoted as saying it could be murder, then came back to say its probably armed robbery because Bayo's laptop was taken by the assassins that gunned down my friend and a brother.
It goes beyond being a worrying phenomenon when a young, vibrant, intelligent and truly talented Nigerian is wasted in this manner with no sign of the culprits being brought to books. The sad side of the story is the fact that we may never know whodunit and why this dastardly act was committed.
I do recall interviewing a former Police Commissioner a few years ago on my radio show “Breakfast with Mr. Kay” and I learnt that the police do not have any enduring system of keeping data, its all in hard copy, paper files. I could not for the life of me imagine a police force in the 21st Century without computer systems to keep information about crime committed, who did, what’s the details of the investigation and so on. It explained why sometimes the Nigeria Police do claim that case files have gone missing and details of investigations carried out are lost forever.
Like everything else in Nigeria, the Police Force mirrors the poor state of affairs and institutional failure that makes a campaign like “LightUpNigeria” absolutely critical and essential. How else do we describe a nation swimming in trillions of oil dollars and yet remain unsuccessful in ensuring the Presidency and major government institutions do not rely on generator and diesel for electricity.
How do we explain the report that in the not so distant past, Aso Rock, the official residence of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria was thrown into darkness caused, not by PHCL, but malfunctioning generators, that needed engineers from abroad to come in and repair.
These are the kind of stories you can only imagine happening in films, a kind of Kongi Village story where the Village Head mismanages the finance of the people and fail to deliver on their expectation with the result being the gods punishing Village Head with total darkness around him. The plot thickens but I will not go into writing a play on this occasion just to make my point.
Those of us who are course mates that attended Ogun Poly and had the special privilege of being Bayo Ohu’s friend and classmates have come together to set up something small for his kids. The details of it will be in the public domain for other people that may wish to join hands with us in this noble plan in due course.
The question that will continue to play on my mind is whodunit and why. This is the same kind of question that has plagued my mind about the Late Chief Bola Ige, erstwhile Minister who was murdered in his house.
I am sick to the depth of my stomach by the thought in my head that if hired assassins could get away with killing Chief Bola Ige and till today, inspite of the President saying no stones will be left unturned to find the flipping murderers, yet no one has been brought to books, what are the chances that Bayo Ohu’s assassins and their masters will ever be caught?
I am pouring my heart into this as a way of cleansing the shattering that comes with heartbrokenness inflicted by the loss of a good friend. This is not the same as crying, rolling on the floor with tears flowing and shouting profanities, swearing and cursing the perpetrators of this act.
The essence of my blog on this occasion is to touch the heart of brothers and sisters who love our nation and humanity to begin to look within to find solutions that will bring the much needed change to a country that is rapidly degenerating into a ridiculous embarrassment. A nation bountiful in talent, blessed with natural, mineral and human resources and yet failing to utilise that which we are blessed with to get that which we desire.
My final word on this will be that we do not need to pray for Nigeria anymore. Those of us living in this part of the world with the advantage of having satellite navigator know how it works and I believe I can say it’s the same way God works. I believe God is like a Sat Nav and no one can convince me otherwise.
The Sat Nav tells you to turn right in 300yards, then in 30yards it goes "turn right", if you ignore it, you miss the way, then it re-routes you and gives further instruction on how to reach your destination. It never force your hand to turn or help you speed up to get to your destination in quick time. It will actually help you recalculate your journey time and what you have is a situation where your 25 minute journey could be changed to 40minutes and as long as you refuse to follow the basic instructions, you may never reach your destination.
In essence, Nigeria and Nigerians need not focus anymore on prayers because God is not coming down from heaven to help us. He has blessed us with all we need to make us one of the greatest people and nation on earth. Its all in our hands to decide whether to take the right turn or go the wrong way, continue to allow wrong people lead God’s blessed people or claim our esteemed position as emerging market with amazing abundance of resources.
Do I think we can find the assassins and their masters that sealed the fate of Bayo Ohu, guess what, I know we can, Yes We Can, but those who know the perpetrators will have to have their conscience pricked and then expose the culprits. I do not want to deliver a sermon or preach here, but if only we obey and do the right things, then things will begin to work.
That starts with you and I. As a nation, we need to pray less and obey God more…
May the Soul of Bayo Ohu Rest In Perfect Peace…
Condolences on the loss of your friend....
ReplyDeleteAnd, very apt analogy - the satnav and rerouting.....
I don't intend to sermonize, however...............just a few words.
True we need to start acting in obedience to demonstrate the faith we have, but if the people at the helms of affairs are still not obeying, I think those of us who still believe in change, need to keep praying for God to give the grace for obedience to those in authority or remove them - the powers that be are ordained of God..., no?
A man with a seared conscience, naturally turns away from the good of the populace and humanity in general. He becomes a 'Nebuchadnezzar who is all in all to himself' or 'another Pharoah who knows not Joseph' and cares for nothing but his own desires. However, if we move God with our groanings, then like God told Moses, "I have heard, and I am come down", then He may arise with a whip in His hand and shapen those in power or ship them out (like a well known former head of state).
Other than that, little drops of water they say make a mighty ocean. We as individual Nigerians need to do our bit and gradually it would catch on, no matter how frustrating it may be initially.
Afterall, Martin Luther King as an individual put his ideas, hopes and aspirations into action, Mohandis Gandhi started his hunger strikes as a course of action....and quoting from LightUpNigeria - from Queen Rania of Jordan,“Political will is born from popular will. Your leaders need to be pushed.”
Grazie!