By Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir
Every 12th December had always been for celebration. It’s a date we used to roll out the drums to celebrate life. But today is different; that soul is no more. The tall, straight tree had fallen. We lost the way we celebrate this day, the day we lost Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim.
Shame to death for taking you away from us at an age and time when we still needed you. Indeed, fairness does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young. It was such a difficult time for the family, for Kwara and several others too. Till now, I had to ask myself how I recovered from the shock and accepted the reality that you were gone.
Even as this remembrance of your birth date drew closer, the feeling of that loss filled me up. It seemed as though the shock was restored and the pain caused by your death pervaded everywhere again.
The demise of Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim taught me great lessons and experience. First, I knew what it felt like to lose a loved one. Then, I realized the vanity of life and most importantly, it dawned on me why it’s so essential to live a good and impact-filled life. If he did not serve humanity, we obviously wouldn’t be talking about him as much. You can dissect the late Ojoku-born as a financial expert, a politician, and a family man. He was an awesome individual who left us with fond memories of him and his good deeds.
Days after the departure of the late Bobaselu of Erin-Ile and till now, I continue to hear amazing testimonies from several people. And this cuts across political, religious or tribal strata. He was a man of the people and for the people. If there’s succour after his death, it’s the realization that he lived a fulfilling life that impacted many. Because, indeed, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young but to live long enough and yet not ever truly to have lived.
Leaders of nations have repeatedly admitted that one of our greatest challenges is leadership. My experience in the political space has made me agree to a large extent. But if we have leaders like the late Bobaselu, then, we have hope.
Yes, Dr Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim is no more, but his legacy lives after him. I am a testimony to his enviable deeds. Ojoku, Kwara South, Kwara and Nigeria at large will always remember you for good. You completed the race of life too early, but we take solace in the fact that your work continues to speak for you.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn captured it all when he said, “Some are bound to die young. By dying young a person stays young in people’s memory. If he burns brightly before he dies, his brightness shines for all time.”
Happy Posthumous birthday Distinguished Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim. Continue to rest in peace and may Almighty Allah preserve for you a beautiful abode in Aljana Firdaus.
Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir writes from Ilorin, Kwara State.