In my first ever published work in
the year 2003 while still working for The Guardian in the nation’s capital, a
good friend lost his father which compelled me to dedicate the last chapter of
that book to reflect on the concept of death.
By then the postulations by
philosophers were predominantly focused on the sacred fact that in life, human
beings are apprehensive of coming to terms with the existential reality that
death is inevitable.
From 2003 till now, with happenings
all around us as a population under the terrible siege by variety of armed
freelance hoodlums who are unleashing mass killings of hapless and innocent
people, the reality of death has become a daily occurrence and indeed a
notorious fact.
Before reflecting on the issue of
the sudden and indeed shocking departure to the great World beyond of Mrs.
Grace Oluwayemisi Izinyon -a budding writer, lawyer, teacher and the wife of
Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), one of the nation’s best known Senior Advocates and
indeed one of the few egg heads in the Nigeria’s legal profession, let me
return quickly to borrow some lessons from some reputable philosophy masters on
the concept of death.
In a celebrated proposition of etica
(Ethics), Spinoza affirmed thus: “Of no other thing does man have less thought
of than of death; his wisdom remains not in the meditation of death, but of
life, which he wrote in Latin language thus; “homo liber nulla reminus quam de
morte cogitate. Et eius sapient non mortis, sed vitae meditation est”.
Battista Mondin said in his book “Philosophical
Anthropology” that the above suggestion by Spinoza who is one of the
fathers of philosophy and modern western culture has become the law for the
adult’ ‘mature’, ‘free’ ‘secularized’ man of all times.
The argument or discussion of death
has become ‘taboo’ not only for convivial conversations, but also for the
serious meditations of philosophers and men of letters of all clime and times.
“The French Anthropologist L. V.
Thomas observed that: “Between the society of today and intellectuals, there
exists a tacit understanding: I count on you ‘say the readers’, as long as you
furnish me with instruments with which to forget, disguise and negate death. If
you do not perform the task I have given you, then you will be dismissed; that
is, I will no longer read you”.
Ironically, death has become not
only the most immanent characteristic of human existence, it is also an actual
event; an absolute potentiality, and death is the fate of all human existence.
For according to some philosophers the moment we are born, we are already
candidates for death and condemned to die.
Blaise Pascal, one of the best known
French philosophers presented the above fact of death in a very beautiful way
when he wrote thus; “what we are speaking of is ourselves and our all. The
immortality of soul is something, which regards us so strongly, which touches
us so profoundly that we need to completely lose our good sense to be indifferent
to the knowledge of how things stand. All of our actions and thoughts must take
very diverse directions according to whether there is (or not) an eternal life
to hope for so that it is impossible to make a sensible and prudent choice
without working from the solution of this problem which refers to our final
end.”
Battisa Mondin said, “Man cannot
escape from the research of the existential truth- that is the truth that
ensures a sense for and present and future life”.
For those who have not had the
misfortune of witnessing the sad reality of death, this may appear like one of
those creative tales coming out of Nigeria’s Nollywood movies industry.
But death is worth reflecting on so
that each and every one of us would make an introspective journey to his/her
better self and resolve to do good to every member of our human family.
It was while still reading the day’s
newspapers on April 15th 2014, moaning, groaning and regurgitating on the level
of bestiality of the members of the dreaded Islamic sect- Boko Haram who
detonated bombs in a parked public park in Nyanya, Abuja the previous day that
I came face to face with the obituary announcement of the death of the wife of
Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN).
In the obituary signed by the senior
lawyer, he had stated thus; “with total submission to the will of the Almighty
God, I announce the passing and sudden painful death of my dear wife, mother of
my children and friend Mrs. Grace Oluwayemisi Izinyon”.
Dr. Izinyon continued in the most
poetic format thus; “you left in a sudden twist and staccato indescribable. I
am proud of you that we labored through thick and thin but you left without
reaping the fruits. I still love you but God loves you the better….”
Grace Yemisi Izinyon was a
professional teacher and a trained lawyer. She had her first degree in
Education (BA.Ed) from the University of Ilorin in 1991 and a master degree in
personnel psychology (M.P.P) from the University of Ibadan in 1997.
After teaching for many years, she
proceeded to the university of Buckingham, England, where she obtained’ her LLB
in 2002. She had her LLM in 2004 from Oxford Brookes University Oxford England.
The late Mrs. Izinyon then went to
the Nigerian law school in 2004 for the Bar parts one and two and finished in
2005 whereupon she was admitted and called to the prestigious Nigerian bar in
November 2005 and practiced.
I must confess that although I have
encountered Dr. Izinyon (SAN) since 1998 during the course of my professional
career reporting the Abuja court rooms for The Guardian, the only time I met
the late Mrs. Izinyon was only few years back when she joined the rank of
Nigerian writers with the public presentation of her first work in which she
reflected on the history of the professional rise to stardom of her lovely husband
and the book was aptly titled; “The transmutation of legal Genius: The
story of Dr. Alex Aigbe Izinyon (SAN).”
In chapter eight of the 131 page
book, the late Mrs. Izinyon showered encomiums on her husband and rightly branded
him ‘the golden fish”. Keen followers of the goings on in the ever busy
political litigation industry in Nigeria, would have noticed that this
gentleman has indeed carved a niche for himself as one of the most sought after
intellectually deep lawyers. Izinyon became very popular with the dexterity
with which he handed the case involving the erstwhile Delta State Governor- Mr.
James Onanefe Ibori. Dr. Alex Izinyon represented the then Governor and this
particular landmark political case proceeded to the Supreme court from the
court of first instance on two occasions and on those two occasions he came
tops. The stories of the successes recorded and the success story in the making
from the law firm of Dr. Izinyon were replicated in this small but intellectually
rich historical book written by the now late Mrs. Grace Izinyon.
She had written that her husband
remains a Golden Fish in the following words; “With such a prevailing notion,
there was the demanding task for him [Alex Izinyon] to carve a niche for
himself and in the process build an image for generations to come, of Abuja
lawyers. So he insisted that the hallmark of legal practice is qualitative
legal representation which makes the lawyer the true advocate, i.e. the man who
pleads the case of another.”
The passage of this intellectual
queen-Mrs. Grace Izinyon is therefore not only a loss to her husband but to the
literary society of Nigeria who have now lost the opportunity of reading her
other collections particularly when her academic resume is so richly blessed
with some of the finest post-graduate qualifications/degrees. It is true that
the earthly departure of a budding and gifted literary mind meant the burning
of a huge richly endowed library, but the wisdom encompassed in this beautiful
book on her husband will remain admirable for years to come. The fact that she
indeed helped in bringing up her children to attain lofty intellectual heights
including some of them pursuing their dreams as lawyers, means that she lived a
fulfilled life and the Angels of God will surely keep her good company in the
bosom of our Lord.
She has transited. Equally, each of
us will pay this debt that we individually owe.
Adieu great soul.
* Emmanuel Onwubiko; Head; HUMAN
RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA; blogs@www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
15/4/2014
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