Imagine attending a commemoration Service ahead of the burial of a colleague on Monday morning. That was what I did last Monday when I attended the service for the late Director of Publication of the Nigeria Baptist Convention, Dr. Adelokoji Okejimi Ijaola who died recently in Ibadan.

It’s been a while I heard from him, but while scrolling through my Facebook timeline days before the service, I saw the announcement of his death by someone who had worked closely with him on how he had transformed the publishing work of the church.

On Wednesday, I was at another Wake-Keep service for another close associate, the Provost of the West African Theological Seminary (WATS), Pastor Oluwafemi Martins who also recently died after a successful operation on the day he was to be discharged. What a week!

Like Dr Ijaola, I have not been able to meet Pastor Martins for a while, though we exchanged text messages and I have been hoping to visit him only to get a message that he passed on.

Dr Ijaola and Pastor Martins are two of some of the people I know very well who have died this year.  Others are Dr Olunike Ashaolu of the department of Mass Communication,  Yaba College of Technology, a popular columnist wth The Telegraph Newspapers who was my former colleague at The Punch and The Nation, Michael Awe ( Michael West), another colleague at The Punch who later worked with THISDAY, Afolabi  Lawal and former Chairperson of the National Association of Women Journalists ( NAWOJ) in Lagos, Hajia Raheemat Momodu.

While trying to get over the death of one, I get to hear of the other and sometimes I get so confused that I don’t know what to say. I was on a webinar when another colleague asked in a Whatsapp chat if I heard of Awe’s death.

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I remember asking him recently to contribute a write up to a book I was coordinating on memories of former staff of The Punch where we were once both Assistant News Editors at a time. We bounded well even when his appointment could have generated some animosity between us. I was so short of words on his passage, and couldn’t bring myself to write a tribute detailing our relationship that all I wrote on Facebook with his picture was Awe: Ko ye mi rara ( I don’t understand).

I first met Dr Ijaola in Singapore at an international Christian print media conference and really appreciated the good work he has been doing regarding various publications by his church.

He invited me for a training and created a Whatsapp group that has been a networking channel for Christian Writers and publishers in Nigeria.

Monday morning is not a day many will want to attend a commemoration Service but the New Jerusalem City Baptist Church in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos where he was a Pastor for about ten years before his appointment as Director of Publication was filled beyond capacity.

The solemn occasion was a celebration of the unforgettable impact Dr Ijaola made in the Church and other places he has served.

Pastor Martins got the kind of wake keep he deserved for what I know  him for as a member of Journalists for Christ and outstanding service in many capacities at WATS. Even as a student his commitment to the development of the institution was such that he was appointed into the governing board, later served as Director of Communication and Fund Raising and eventually the Provost.

Such is the acknowledgement of his outstanding performance as Provost that founder of the institution, Gary Maxey hoped it will be possible to find someone like him.

Afolabi died in United States where he has been based after working with THISDAY as the Bureau Chief. I remember our meeting in Washington during a visit and have been looking for the picture we took. I remember my Afolabi, my friend and gentleman former Aso Rock correspondent who shared with me some off the things that goes on in the seat of power reporters can’t write about. I remember Afolabi my boss when for some months we managed The Punch newsroom as Deputy News Editor and Assistant News Editor.