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[email protected] Atlanta, GA, USA

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RE: IN MEMORY OF OLATUBOSUN DANIEL ODUNMBAKU

�Heavens only mourn the living, because we are the ones far from home�.

n this fateful day 20th December, 2006, I had the misfortune of reading this sad article (https://odili.net/news/source/2006/dec/19/41.html). In the last 20 minutes, I have gone through some intense emotions. They have ranged from acute sadness, to bitterness, to anger and all of a sudden mental rage that I can only liken to psychological inferno. For the records I do not know this young man and I will never have the privilege of knowing such a brilliant human being. I dare say that is my loss and our collective loss as a country because he might have just being our own Bill Gates (but then I forgot that as a people, we only regard the Adedibus, Fayoses and the lot). To a lot of us, this is probably just another young boy dead, to me this is my future partly torn off.

As I read about this young man named Olatubosun Daniel Odunmbaku, I could not believe my eyes and for a lot of reasons, I still struggle with this story. Firstly the Yoruba will say �Ti eye ba ku, eye a se idaro eye� (if a bird dies, then birds have to mourn one another�), I am a young man myself (although, I am guessing that I am slightly older than the young guy), thirdly I grew up in Ibadan and I attended a school on that motorway, fourthly for 3 years, I travelled the same route a lot and for hells sake, I am a human being albeit with a young son myself. I believe these facts qualify me to first of all wish this young man a peaceful journey to the world beyond and I hope that will be a more peaceful journey than his last in this sinful world we all live in. My sincere condolence to the widow who had worked and hustled through the struggle to raise this young man only to mourn him just as he was about to become useful to a society that regarded him as a statistic and like Phil Collins said, �Is there nothing more anybody can do, well THERE MUST BE SOMETHING YOU CAN SAY�, hence this is what I have to say and I honestly do not care your opinion, I am just interested in your reaction to this.

To give you an insight, I have a sister who had lost her husband and I can ATTEMPT to relate to the pain of such a loss (I dare not say I �know� as I have only watched from a distance how she has coped magnificently) and the effort a single woman goes through in raising her child (or children alone), having said so, I also lost my own mother at the age of 7 to cervical cancer. A disease which the British government sends out a reminder to every woman, I repeat every woman from the age of 16 to come for regular check every four years or so, thereby almost eliminating its ability to kill 4 times as many women in the country; For this I say shame to you Mr. President. Please read the link above before you proceed with this rejoinder

This is not about me in any shape or form, neither about my story but my bitterness at the society of ours. A society which no man should be proud to call himself a leader, and every one referred to as an elder (yes because you raised these bandits) should hide their head in shame like the lepers of the biblical times. A society where every past leader will be shot in heaven (if there is one) if or when they get there (by leader, I do not mean the presidents alone, you will know if you have had a chance to make a difference and you have added to the pain of people like Olatunbosun�s mother). You all know yourselves and I am not na�ve enough to know that no matter what is written here in this piece, it will probably not make an inch of difference to your hearts of stone as you have a million reasons and I am also sure ten folds of sycophants to tell me why I am wrong and why I need to shut my mouth, but I hope you never sleep easy if you are part of the problem.

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For starters, accidents can happen anywhere, they do happen here in England as well and people die from them. Statisticians will tell you that you have a much higher chance of dieing on the road than in the air (this is no consolation to you officials of the Nigerian aviation industry and considering recent events, I am not too sure if this applies to Nigeria), hence this is not to blame anybody for the fact that there was an accident on the road but let us get to the root of this problem. The driver? He probably had no driver�s license (I do not know if he survived the accident), the road? Was probably not maintained or the funds for maintenance had been embezzled, the road safety people (God knows where they are or what they do) the police (they are living dead in Nigeria), the ministry officials (busy chasing bribes and trying to survive, what a dichotomy) and their leaders? They are the crux of my bitterness.

I make a habit of watching the documentary on Ogun state on BEN TV every Sunday evening and I sometimes could not believe the jamboree that this Daniel of a man goes on about how they had developed Ogun state but in all honesty would he allow his child to be treated in the hospitals we have in Ogun state. Before you confuse matters, I mentioned Daniel because the event happened in Ogun state and because the hospital they took the dead and attempted to treat the injured was in Sagamu. I do not have any personal grouse with Daniel, as a matter of fact, it could have been any of the other 35 governors. I am not personalising this, but I just hope this lot have any conscience guiding them. Mr. Daniel, Obasanjo remember one thing. You might think you have the means to travel out any time if fate hits you this hard, but I will only say you lot are very na�ve and a bit short on intelligence. You are not in your position of authority and power because you are necessarily intelligent. I will admit you lot are ruthless though and you have mastered the Nigerian way but check this.

Your son whom you have sent to England to study God knows what, is on holiday in Nigeria and they unfortunately get involved in some ghastly accident. Remember it will take at least 6hours between the Lagos/Ibadan expressway and the best hospital in London (I am assuming your spiritual fathers, sorry thieves on that motorway work their miracle when it happens and a helicopter lands immediately) or any where in Western Europe. Imagine 6 bloody hours that could be used in saving his life in a very good hospital in Sagamu, Ibadan, Lagos or Ijebu Ode. I have only mentioned a few locations; I am only asking you lot to do what is right. I do not know if they read newspapers but this cannot just go on. We have probably lost the man who would have used the computer to find a cure to AIDS (I know you think I am loony, but that is just a limit of your imagination, you should come to places where there Universities are making a difference. For the records the aim of the NHS in England is to start treating breast cancers like they do malaria today and they are working on it, Uncle Sege (Aremu, Baba Iyabo whatever they call you) and co, what are you people working on? They are not going to cure this problem by praying on holy ghost night and what have you, they spend money, time and effort on research. Who funds this research institutions. Rich people and government and we are even talking about rich people who got their money through hardwork and sound business investment, not via looting of public funds e.g. I am not allowed to mention names.

I will spend the whole day going on about how you lot can make a difference but I am not convinced if it makes any difference. When a precious life like that is lost because of the short comings of our society, then we are all in trouble. I dare say that the living dead are mourning the actual dead. In short, we are all dead; it is just a matter of time. That young man had gone through life without a father and against all odds, had gone on to do bigger things for himself, ready to launch himself on to the labour market and in our usual style, we snuffed life out of him. You do not have to put a knife to his head, but either by action or inaction, we are all collectively responsible. When you take that �5 and vote for the next bandit, thereby losing your right to complain and your demand for the respect you deserve as an electorate, then be rest assured that your children is next in line. When you do not pay the doctors, then it might be your child�s turn tomorrow.

As for the original writer of this article, what role did you play sir as the chief whip of Osun state house of assembly? Is Osun a relative safe haven? If the boy had the accident on Ife/Ibadan motorway, would things have been different in terms of care for the injured and the dead. Did it occur to you to raise issues like this with the executive when you held sway? As for me, I sit down here feeling guilty myself not knowing what I could have done to make a difference, but knowing fully well that somewhere somehow may be there was something I could do. As for what I could say, this is my piece. I am just by myself filled with grief.

Adieu Olatunbosun Daniel Odunmbaku