Ade Ori Okin Richard Idowu’s demise was one death too many for every right thinking sons and daughters of Ejigbo land. It became more painful when such occurrence came at a time our father and paramount ruler of Ejigbo Royal dynasty, Kabiyesi Oba Oyeyode Oyesosin was celebrating his golden grace on the throne as Ogiyan.
Adé Orí Okin’s death came at a time the well traveled academic rose beyond all probable postulations,; political or societal rivalry unlike a typical Nigerian politician, to celebrate the special occasion with our charismatic monarch, the Ogiyan of Ejigbo land.
It was a moment Dr Richard Idowu was true to his nature of simplicity. He had no premonition of what to come. He was fit as fiddle, free minded as a baby and would not suspect any thorn of death lurking around him in human flesh.
For me, this is the first time my strength was aroused to write anything since the unfortunate death of our brother, Dr Idowu. However, I got taken aback by the ensuing reaction from one of our brothers too, Ayodele Asalu David.
Maybe I’m feeling too touched as a human being over the tragedy that befell our town. But, I felt more devasted that David Asalu could garner sufficient strength so soon, to begin to attempt political capital in a situation he was actively involved, up to the last breath of Dr Richard Idowu Ade Ori Okin that fateful night.
First, I doubt if there’s anywhere in Nigeria today, where a better health care could be sought than state capitals. And therefore, I expected Asalu, who was the one who prevailed on Dr Richard from leaving the event for Osogbo earlier and who saw first hand, the imminent danger to the life of his kinsman, Dr Richard Idowu and being the one who appeared to be in control of all scenarios from the point of the unfortunate gunshot, to have taken a proactive step of either racing to Osogbo, or at least, Ede, where better medicare could be accessed within range of minutes.
Instead of Asalu to resort to bragging in his usual rash immaturity, claiming to have bribed a hospital staff to buy fuel to power their generator for an emergency patient, even while watching his brother drenched in his own blood, with his veins caving in, one would expect Asalu to have effected an Immediate movement to a better healthcare center outside of the town, especially when a precious life was fainting away to early grave.
Asalu appeared however, to be more interested in the story he would make out after Dr Richard must have died. This is perhaps in a desperate bid to show himself off as usual, even when the whole town must have been thrown into a devastating grieve.
Asalu is a political clown I must say and that is why he will continue to sink in a spot.
Trying out a political capital out of such unmitigated grieve of a community, is callous and suicidal of anyone. Castigating a mere 13 month old government that took over from his newly adopted party after his self destruct, is absurd and inhumane. Asalu should be questioned over his roles in the death of Ade Ori Okin!
Rather than writing epistles to attack the PDP government for elusive attention obviously, one tends to query Asalu’s garrulous level of reasoning, crass stupidity and and lack of empathy. This is because the sad development was not just one of those accidents. It was one which took the life of a kinsman next to him on the night.
Did he arrange for the shooting in the first place? such that he had the guts to approve of the jargons he signed? I think we must interrogate.
We must interrogate because I find it extremely unimaginable for a man who witnessed and should have done better to prevent agonizing death of our brother, but rather descended to the arena of such absurdity.
Asalu could have made more sense in his chronicles of horror if he had done a bit more sensibly to save our brother’s life on the night.
Alas, instead of doing the needful to save Ade Ori Okin, Asalu was playing politics ahead. He wanted Richard dead, He wanted to play politics with anything including the death of Ade Ori Okin.
Little wonder, the first negative narrative about the incident in Ejigbo on the night was first wired on twitter by his cousin and at the time the cousin was writing on EX, conjuring a false narrative of PDP members engaging in shooting, Ade Ori Okin still had life in him. But Asler was too drowned in what he saw as an opportunity and so, was already giving political directives to his baby spin doctors.
In all of the deliberate time wasting, Dr Richard would have wished he could gather some audible energy to ask Asalu to stop the dangerous politics against his life. He would have wished he was rushed to Uniosun Teaching Hospital. Dr Richard would have shouted on Asalu, in whose hands, death placed in charge of his life at that moment, to shelve the shenanigans and prevent the imminent death. Unfortunately, Dr Richard had no such energy anymore! He was helpless in the hands of a wicked enemy costumed in guise of a friend. He was losing blood profusely and helplessly too, while Asalu was gallivanting over the dying life. Dr Richard Died and Asalu began to dance!
Yes, Dr Richard died and Asalu gathered drums of politics immediately. He was jumping for joy literarily because just moments after Ade Ori Okin breathed his last, the circulated writeup was already in bed with his Aide, who only delayed a momentarily for publication.
As a Christian, who expectedly, should understand biblical finality and vanity of life, one would expect Asalu to still be in shock and not in comfort of spinning political nonsense.He however chose to do a horror dance on the grave of his kinsman.
In a society of so much poverty, Asalu took charge of a man he considered as a potent rival in the town. Asalu Supervised gruesome passage of his kinsman.
He pretended to care, but never cared!
He was asking hospital to go shopping for fuel in an impossible hour,
He knew the fuel mission was impossible at such ungodly hour. He must be laughing, watching Richard dying in tears and pain.
While the hospital he claimed to have bribed would not secure fuel, Ade Ori Okin was left with just a strand of life. He was merely taken to Baptist Hospital thereafter to be confirmed and certified dead.
Asalu immediately instructed his proxy writer to begin work because he lacked the capacity himself. The devilish spin was sent to him and Asalu approved of the publication with his signature gleefully appended to impress his masters in APC that he has taken down a life for them. What a world!
Hassan Babatunde writes from Osunfade Compound, Ejigbo.
Ayodele Felix Omotoyosi
