Three pieces of news of deaths in the last four weeks or so got me scampering for my copy of Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard’s existential philosophy. Kierkegaard wove his theory of death around what he called the uncertain certainty of death. To him, death is that strike we all know will surely come, are aware can strike at any moment of our lives but of which human beings assume their immortality. “It will not come now; it is not my portion…” are some of the assumptions of our immortality we weave in response to the sureness of death.
Three persons I was acquainted with disembarked from their life’s bus-stops during the above period. They were, Dotun Agboluaje, Mofehintoluwa Onirayi, otherwise known as Mofehintoluwa Koye-Ladele and the most recent, Hon Temilola Adibi.
Agboluaje and I got acquainted as members of Ibadan Recreation Club. In the short period of our knowing each other, he came across as a gentleman whose constituency was humanity. In his short sojourn on earth (he was in his late 40s) Dotun touched lives like one in a hurry to impact. He spent on the needy and young persons in need of life props. A civil engineer, I remember one of our conversations where he complained bitterly about the travails of investors in the Nigerian economy. On the morning of January 1, 2025, a news flashed on Fox News and other American news channels. Two persons had died about 4am during a major crash on the Central Expressway in Dallas. The crash occurred on the northbound lanes of US Highway 75 around Southwestern Boulevard. The poor soul of Dotun Agboluaje was one of the two victims trapped in the fire of the early morning new year car crashes. Firefighters battled to rescue Dotun and the other victim in vain.
As Dotun’s photograph was hoisted at the Recreation Club where he played tennis, a game he enjoyed tremendously, ball boys and adults alike wept uncontrollably. The boys cried like the kids they were. They had lost a man who cared for them with all he had.
A short history will suffice in conversations around Koye-Ladele. His father, a reverend, was a popular voice on Ibadan Splash FM radio. He contributed to famous broadcaster, Edmund Obilo’s Saturday programme. I must confess, I detested the reverend gentleman. Suave, articulate but I couldn’t stand his uncritical support for Mohammadu Buhari. He irritated me endlessly with how he potatoed the Buhari government. However, I began to create a space for him when I found out that he genuinely fancied the retired General. So when his death was announced about two years ago, I was downcast. I even attempted to be at his burial.
His son, 26 years old Mofehintoluwa, then a law student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) was a popular voice on the social media. Articulate as his father, he had the bustling energy of youth and voiced his views repeatedly. Our paths crossed early last year when he requested to see me. You could then imagine my shock when, as the year 2024 receded, I got the news of his passage. He had died on December 28 and was buried on the last day of the year.
Last week, the news of the passage of Hon Adibi struck me like a thunderbolt. He was a member of the 1999 class of House of Representative members from Oyo State. He was from Ogbomoso. He died a couple of months to his 65th birthday. Adibi had woken up feeling happy only to be struck by the rude hands of death a few hours later. He was a wonderful soul who mirrored the life of impact we need to make in this short sojourn called life.
To Dotun, Mofehintoluwa and Hon Adibi, this is a tribute to lives lived for humanity. It is tribute to three unripe mangos rudely plucked by fate.
•Dr Adedayo is a lawyer, social critic and columnist.
