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Following the death of Abia State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Solomon Ogunji, one of his closest friend Mr. Obi Nzeadibe has penned a heart warming message to pay a last respect to him.
Nzeadibe reminisced on how their friendship, how Dr Solomon turned family and gave in-depth detail of who Dr Solomon Ogunji Is.
Read below;
Till Death Parts Us
We did not stand before a priest. Not at all. We did not stand ready for a marriage, not for the solemnization of the holy matrimony between Solomon and Nzeadibe.
The friendship we shared through many years was much more than a marriage. The usual marital union brings two unique people together, two brilliant souls shining besides one another, in search for unification and companionship for a lifetime. Some succeed, some don’t, crumbling under emotional incompatibilities, marital discrepancies and simply them not working together, not understanding what it means to be part of a whole, to act as a duo instead of maintaining the solo act we’re born as.
Fortunately, we were not yet adults and such was not our case.
I remember our first meeting as if it had been yesterday, or even earlier today. It was on a Friday, the second day of the new school year in September 1973, our first year in High School.
We had both attended the Friday Sun down worship at the College Chapel and were going back to our dormitory, walking in silence surrounded by the growing darkness that can’t compare to my days without him.
It was traditional in those days for boys to start their friendship with a “little fight”. Solomon suggested we had one to determine who was stronger. Not inclined to such, I politely declined but he insisted and I caved. He was good at wrestling and had me on the ground within seconds. After I lost, I held on to him in a headlock position.
He proposed a second round, to which I recounted to him my adaptation of the immortal words of Winston Churchill to the House of Commons on the eve of Germany’s defeat in 1945: “This is not the end of our wrestling contest. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”.
We were still on the ground when the dreaded Dining Hall Prefect arrested us for disorderly conduct and punished us by making us cut the grass on the lawn beside the old School block. As we labored,he told me of his mother who was a nwa-afo Ubakala of the Ikeri lineage from Laguru. “That’s not far from our village”, I remember telling him.
It was during that toil, with sweat and tears under the scorching sub tropical heat, that our hearts fused together in bounds of everlasting friendship and love that stood strong until the cold hands of death laid its greasy hands upon Solomon on Saturday, May 23,2020.
He had an extraordinary willpower wired into his very soul. He precisely knew what he wanted and how to get it. I found him to be forthright, fearless and brave, which I both envied and loved about him. He has been described by our dear friend Okezie the Governor as strong, brave, courageous, well educated, committed, defiant and straightforward to a fault, but that was only a part of him.
My Solomon was full of compassion. He stood by his friends in the time of their greatest need without counting the costs. One could always rely on him.
Neither a tsunami, hurricane, earthquake or any such disaster would dissuade Solomon from being early to any kind of compromise, he was endearingly stubborn to a fault. When my father died in 1993, I could not attend the burial because of British Immigration complications.
It was not that painful to me because Solomon and Henry aptly stood in for me and provided my mum the security and comfort she needed at that trying moment.
He was also a synonym for loyalty, and fought many battles for me behind my back.
Long after other friends had gone, he remained with you to tidy whatever mess you had been through. After all, he was a pastor’s kid and that part of him was predominant in his behavior.
Deep down in Solomon’s psyche, there was nothing he could not fix. As they say in James Hadley Chase, “He approached the most convoluted conundrums with the calmness of a Bishop presiding over a tea party”. My dream man. The one my heart yearned for with utmost earnestness. In his company, my fears evaporated and my feeble hands became strong.
The only drawback was his high energy level. Tiredness did not exist in his vocabulary but nonetheless, I admired him passionately even when I found it difficult to keep up with him.
When I reflect on my friendship with Solomon, I tend to conclude that it was us that the great American songwriter, composer and singer- Lionel Richie had in mind in that classic “Endless Love” song. Some of the lyrics like, There’s only you in my life, Two hearts that beat as one, You are every breath that I take and I can’t resist your charms pointed to us.
His eyes told me how much he cared for me. He was indeed my endless love.
Our lives and friendship began at Ihie. Our school was the Adventist High School, Ihie.
At that time in Nigeria, there were many schools of great renown. But for us as Adventists, none was comparable to Ihie. It was our Eton, the very epitome of top class secondary education for kids of distinction. At Ihie, moral and spiritual upbringing was mingled with our academic development. Underneath the tall Pines and majestic Gmelina trees, our founding Missionaries laid out the evergreen manicured lawns with flowered pathways that led to our dormitories, classrooms, admin blocks and laboratories. Dotted with lush palm groves and fruit orchards, our school was like the Garden of Eden, and what a beauty it was. Okezie joined us at Ihie a few years down the line and we had the most amazing life together growing up.
Solomon’s family accepted me as one of their own. From Pa Nwabo of blessed memory to Daa Mkpasoka, Dan, Adanne, Eby to James and John. Uncles and Nephews and close friends of the family like Isaac Ugoala took me as one of the Nwabos.
Wherever Solomon was, Nzeadibe was there. My own family reciprocated the love in equal measure. It was difficult to remember where my family ended and Solomon’s began, as it felt like we all were part of the same.
Solomon was an icon. Like a Sandhust seasoned army general, he preferred to lead his troops into battle from the front and not the rear. He didn’t delegate responsibility, he shared it. The same candor and equanimity made him the Abia State Commissioner for Environment. He meritoriously complied with his responsibilities to Abians until the cold hands of death struck with a deadly precision that he was snatched from us before we had a chance o save him, to keep him with us. I still think I can bring him back to me, and then I wake up from the dream and face reality.
How can living be denied the opportunity to fight and save the lives of their loved ones? Someday soon, the dark things shall be made plain.
Like the songwriter once said:
A few more years shall roll and a few more seasons shall pass
We shall meet our loved ones who are now sleeping
Then oh my Lord, prepare My soul for that great day
I will meet my friend Solomon again. He will tell me why he went down without a fight.
Together, we shall go through the Golden Gates and receive the welcome of our Heavenly
Father: “Welcome, thou Good and Faithful Servants, Receive ye now the inheritance
prepared for you from the foundation of the earth”.
Until then, my dear Solomon,
Sleep well and sleep tight,
I will meet you in the morning,
If I forget thee, let my tongue
Cling to the roof of my mouth
Your family will always be mine
And your children my children
Goodnight.
Written by
Obi Nzeadibe
Software Engineer
Vancouver, BC
