This
is two days after. I am sitting down here. Dazed, still grieving in denial wishing
that it’s all a dream and my head completely blank even as I try so hard to
muster or calibrate on the words to begin this article on our very own OJB, the man who had a beautiful soul.
Many
people who never met him in person except on TV would never understand or have
the privilege of ever encountering the man OJB because if you did ever had that
opportunity, you would agree without a doubt that OJB was indeed a beautifully ‘souled
man’.
I
still find it difficult to pardon myself for not being able to contact him at least for the last time before I got the
news of his death that morning. Gosh! It hit me hard when I was told that he had just “died
an hour ago”.
Procrastination
is truly a robber of beautiful things.
Just
Thursday morning last week while leaving for work, on my way going downstairs I
was asked by my hubby if I had called or heard from OJB after the last time we
spoke about two weeks before then and my quick response was “no, that’s true o,
I will call him this morning” of course events overtook that ’self-given’
assignment as soon as I got the office.
I
remembered that I didn’t make that call on Sunday night and again promised to make it the following day,
yet I still postponed it until Tuesday morning when the news of his death broke
that he had just passed on and has become the ‘otherwise man’ barely an hour
before I got it. My whole Tuesday was literally ‘messed up’.
“I
should have made that call or gone to see him” I have been telling myself. I know
it may not have made any difference in the turn of events but then I would have
had that one ‘last’ talk as it was always a pleasure to interact with him. He was
one very intelligent dude and so deep in the things he said and you will not
help but marvel at the level of inspiration you can garner just from one
meeting with this wonderful soul.
To
the very few who knew less about him, OJB is the same person as Okungbowa
Jezreel Babatunde, the prolific
music producer/singer and the founder of the OJB foundation which he only just
started not too long ago.
And not forgetting that he was also
married to a very STRONG woman Mabel Okungbowa who against all odds extended
his stay here with us by donating a kidney when he was first diagnosed with
kidney failure. Sadly he had a relapse and this time around couldn’t make it
out. I guess OJB was just tired of fighting, fighting to stay alive by dialysis
with so much money going down the drain and no hope in sight.
I’m SO SAD. I know a lot of people would
say “well people die every day” and yes, you are right but then it still hurts
to lose people as wonderful as OJB. He was an enigma, and a lot of people just couldn’t
understand him and those who did would agree with me that this is indeed a HUGE
loss not just for his immediate family nor the Nigerian entertainment industry
but to every one of us and the world at large.
When we spoke a couple of weeks ago, we
talked for hours and even when his credit ran out, I called him back and we
kept on and on. We talked about so many things. So many things I would talk
about on a later date. So many things I bet you, dear reader you would love to
read about.
Ha! OJB, but you promised to hang in
there and hit the fifty years old mark. What happened? Fifty for you is just a
few weeks away. It is two days after your demise, yet the pain of your exit can’t
seem to ease.
That your ‘jigijigaman’ smile and bounce
when you talked. Even though you were
getting weak, you still tried to smile whenever you were around people. If I feel
this way as a friend, I just can’t imagine how Mabel, your wife of over twenty
years would be feeling right now.
Nevertheless, I am consoled in the fact
that she believes you are in a better place with God where you will no longer
have any pains like you suffered in these last couple of years. Most importantly
she will be consoled that in spite of all the ups and downs, you were a good
husband, father and friend and of course memories of your times together will
remain in her heart forever. She proved that she truly was your ‘AFRICAN QUEEN’.
OJB, was interestingly funny. Even though
he had three wives and managed them and his home to a large extent well, he
would still speak against polygamy whenever we talked. He was a realist.
For those of us who admired you as a
person and as a legendary producer, given your beautiful works in the likes of Tu
Face Idibia, Paul Play, Jazzman Olofin, Ruggedman, Wizkid and the likes, we will NEVER forget you. Too many
people in the industry were touched by this OJB, but again, what do I know? Story
for another day.
I want to say a lot of things but I would
really rather save them for another day.
For me OJB, you will live in my heart
forever. I wish you had the wherewithal to keep you alive and well for a few
more years. But then, what do I know? I am not God as He’s the only one who can
make and keep alive. I guess God knows best. JAH IS INDEED YOUR LITE.
Rest in Peace dear friend and brother Okungbowa Jezreel Babatunde, our very own OJB.
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