Date: 2017-10-18

In this life, the inevitability of death is a stark reality that one has to wittingly or unwittingly imbibe. Without any equivocation, one day, the finality will descend on every mortal preparatory for account of stewardship in the hereafter. Musing over the demise of his father, AHMED 'LATEEF scripts this piece.

The existence of man on this planet earth is riddled by varying circumstances. Like other creatures, his actions and inactions are determined by inscrutable forces; his activities are woven around his destiny.

As a creature of the indescribable and indefinable God, his actions and inactions are not determined by his own volition. In his desire to make things happen the way he feels, he would traverse every nook and corner, and deploys resources within his reach but making it real is an exclusive preserve of the Most High.

In this life therefore, man has to contend with overwhelmingly high number of challenges, for his destiny is shaped around them. In the quest to surmount them, there are steps he has to take. Whether that would succeed is transcendental.

Certainly, life is complex and complicating but the reality of that is what the man has to live with. In fact, past failings sometime forcefully made him to capitulate and submit self to the dictates of the invisible forces. Although life is a difficult terrain, whether man strives or not, the words of God shall not go unfulfilled in his lifetime.

As observed earlier, life is characterized by riddles and mysteries, and man has continued in his quest to unravel those things believed to transcend mere mortal knowledge through ceaseless search.

Despite this continuous search and as lofty as his ideas were, the man is obviously oblivious of ephemeral of life; he has forgotten that it is indeed infinitesimal. At appointed time for every living soul, the finality will descend and each soul will cease to exist on the surface of the earth. This is copiously espoused in one of the verses of the glorious Quran, which says, "Whenever the time ticks, it will never be altered".

Other issues of life are inarguably surrounded by uncertainty. Whether man will be rich or poor, faithful or unfaithful, grateful or ungrateful in his lifetime has to do with his fate or destiny. Though it is believed in some quarters that through prayers what has been fated to be misfortunes can be altered for good.

That of death is unavoidable, inevitable, inescapable and ineluctable. It is a reality that man has come to terms with. Verily, he is unaware of the appointed time. The knowledge of that finality is an exclusive preserve of the Almighty God. Thus, it is vividly said in the Quran that "With me (Allah) alone is the knowledge of the appointed time".

But before the appointed time, man is enjoined to be firm, upright, righteous, of good virtues and exemplify legacies, which would upon his demise will be issues of discourse as contained in the prophetic saying that "Man will become issue of discourse after transition to the next world".

At appointed time, man will nilly-willy bow to the marching order of the Almighty God for the journey of no return to the heavenly realm. At exactly, 9:18am last Saturday, a star sobbed at Jagbara Compound, 70 Niger Road, Ilorin, Kwara State capital. The unwanted guest visited us. With his dreaded claws, the death snatched my father, Alhaji Ahmed Oloruko-Alfa Ahmed. I watched him gasping for breath before he took the final one.

It was the first time in my life to see life and direct and with my naked eyes the transition of man to the unknown world. Until that very day, I have never seen physically the appointed day for the living soul except on screen movies.

Within that space of time that he gasped for breath and the Doctor's afterthought fixing of an oxygen to possibly restore life in him, I yelled and wept uncontrollably that my father was leaving behind baggage of responsibilities.

As Muazhin (Ladani) of Ita-Amodu Mosque, the first in Oke-Aluko community in general, who is to take-over the years of devotion, sacrifice and selfless service from him? Honestly, this is beyond sentiment or sounding hyperbolic; it is a staggering reality. While I'm not unaware of the fact that those who can surpass his records are innumerable, it is only our indefinable God that cannot be equaled with a mere mortal.

My beloved father was a genius. He neither had any form of western education nor attended any school. Throughout his lifetime, he was not lettered. But surprisingly, he could write with ease. Before the management committee of Ita-Amodu Mosque was lately constituted, my father, as Muazhin (Ladani) used to be the record keeper for many years. He penned down all activities taking place in the mosque.

I remember with nostalgia how my father used to interpret (like a moonlight tale) the network News of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) at @9pm during our formative years. After listening attentively to a particular news report by a newscaster on NTA news, he would have told us what happened ahead of the presentation of video or footage of the report.

From there, we would have known ourselves. If it were to be a ghastly motor accident or fire outbreak, we would have been informed beforehand. Such was our father, our teacher. He gave us best form of education within his lame resources. Left to him, many of his offsprings would have obtained only Islamic education. This might be the reason he ensured each child of his, at least, underwent and acquired Quranic education.

In his early years, he used to be a weaver of Aso-Ofi (local fabric) with so many apprentices. Our Jagbara compound, 70 Niger Road, Ilorin was a beehive of activities then until latter years when the age long vocation known with Ilorin community was verging into oblivion.

Whenever we misbehaved as humans, he never spared us. He made sure we were rebuked as a corrective measure so that our shortcomings would not be repeated again. He was of little age when his father, Alfa Ahmadu, died, Alhaji Ahmed Oloruko-Alfa Ahmed, did not surrender to the excuse, albeit genuine.

Another beautiful thing that you cannot take away from my father, Alhaji Ahmed was the fact that he was a poor man but not a pauper. In spite of his poor nature, his inner room was like a bank vault where people with financial constraints approached to take cash home.

Of paramount importance to him was that it would be unfair to walk up to him with dejected look and leave same way. He believed the best to do, despite not having, was to wipe tears from another person's face and bring out hidden smiles.

This has therefore continued to manifest from the deluge of testimonies by those who depended on him for help. Upon hearing about his death, they wept ceaselessly. It was as if the end was near for them.

On the home front, my father was a bridge builder, a peace-maker, a mediator, a unifying force and integrity personified. He did not possess financial wherewithal but the quality character in him was more than enough when compared to just paper notes that would vanish. This is because instances abound for those who were money bag but do not possess such again.

Despite his old age, he would not because of that not doing domestic chores. Like the common saying that cleanliness is next to Godliness, he would not want to see any dirt around him. As popularly known, old residential houses in Ilorin were built interconnectedly and that alone interpretatively strengthened the bond or family ties. At every corner of the family compound, he would pick up dirts and ensured they were appropriately dumped or disposed. Sometime, he would buy kerosene to burn them so that everywhere can become clean. I'm baffled, who will takeover this enormous task from him.

So far, mourners who thronged his residence had given series of testimonies on who my father was. Today, he is no more. The legacies he bequeathed to us would definitely outlive him. My father died at age of 80. He was healthy, hale and hearty throughout his lifetime until last Wednesday when his health condition became deteriorated and was rushed to a hospital for attention. Last Saturday, the finality descended and we all bowed piously, especially to the word of Almighty Allah in Quran Two verse 155 to 157:

"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient.

"Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.

"Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the (rightly) guided".