It was 22:30 on Monday 20th June, 2011 when I got the
call. She was wailing, incoherent and inaudible. When I finally mad out what
she was saying I was sure she was confused, either that or she was joking; the
wrong type of joke at the wrong time. I made two other calls and then I knew it
was true. 20mins later, I was in their house. The house where I had been a
million times before. The house where had he lived for as long as I’ve known
him, but surely as the news had come, he was not there. A house where there had always been joy and
laughter was cold; the life had literally been sucked out of it and death had
encompassed the place and all you could hear was wailing. Why will she not
wail? She has lost a companion, a friend…a BROTHER!
As a man, you have to be strong at times like these, especially
for the women. I saw my friend in an obviously dazed state. He probably got the
news long before others, but it had obviously not hit him yet. Less than 24hrs
before we had been talking; plans were being made to travel, to show support to
our friend and his family at a joyous occasion; a wedding and now that trip
will be pushed forward for all the wrong reasons. He was receiving calls and
seemed to be ok which seemed to torment others. Then he made a particular call
and I saw him breakdown. I saw the grief
within him come out. To us he may have been a friend, but to him, he was a
brother. They had grown up together and this was not how the story was to end.
Where were the celebration; each other as best man at their wedding, where were
the children and grand-children? Why should he not grieve? He had lost a
companion, a friend…BROTHER! In his case, he has lost a FUTURE!!!
In our human understanding we don’t know why. We fear to
question GOD or to ask HIM why, but in our minds we think it. We feel it could
not possibly have been his time, not this one, not this guy. So reliable, so
humble and so down-to-earth. If you met him and didn’t like him, there was
obviously something wrong with you. From the house to the clubs, to the parks,
to the gardens, the restaurants to the bukkas, Chicken republic or the corner
shops in Gwarinpa, back to the house; he was real. He was funny, loyal and
honest. Why will we not miss him? We have lost a good companion, a true friend
and a loyal COMRADE!
Even in our grief, in our loss, we should remember his family.
Not us who may have surrounded him day-to-day especially during his time in
Abuja or at UniJos, not those on his BBM or the people following him on
twitter. I mean his real family. The Okeke’s who brought him into this world,
who nurtured him and moulded him into the man that we all love so much. The
one’s who supported his dreams and aspiration with words and finances, the
people he spent his last days with. We shall be grateful to GOD that he was
able to spend those last days with them at such a wonderful occasion. We seek
GOD’s consolation upon their hearts and soul. For they shall, grieve, they
shall wail and they shall miss and why should they not? They have lost a
BROTHER, a SON and a bright FUTURE. They deserve your prayers.
My friend Chuka Okeke is gone. Gone to the flames of a burning
vehicle. He was loved by many and will be missed by us all. I know he would
want us to be happy, but there is no happiness in this. He has departed from us
at a time we all feel is not the right time, but GOD alone knows the right
time.
C for Chuka…Rest in Peace. “T for Tare” is definitely going to
miss you…
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