Death is an inevitable end. Life itself is like a stage and each of us has a role to play before we exit from the stage. The Yoruba people have a saying that death does not announce the day it is coming neither does illness announce the month it will come; what will be will be. The question of death has been problematic to all mortal beings from time immemorial. We all know that one day or the other, the owner of our lives will come for them but in most cases we are usually not prepared for that eventuality. In Yoruba religion, it is generally stated that heaven is our home and that the earth is a market place where we come to buy and sell temporarily but inevitably return to our home in heaven. We also say that heaven is anxious to have us come home even though heaven itself knows that we will all eventually go there.
When the Christian and Islamic religions came to our shores, the concept of the Almighty God did not seem strange to us. Yoruba people believe in a pantheon of gods and that the Supreme Being is indeed supreme over all other gods and over all creation. As Muslims and as Christians, Yoruba people now believe in a monotheistic God who is indeed jealous of other gods and would not tolerate our worship of other gods. Christians and I believe Muslims know that there is a correlation between what we do on this earth and what we will do in eternity in heaven. This is why we try to live according to the holy books of our religion because what will a man profit if he gains this whole world and loses eternity.
As a Christian, I share in Martin Luther’s concept of a priesthood of all believers. This is to say all Christians should behave in such a way that the Holy Spirit will live in us and the Holy Spirit cannot live in a sinful body. By living the life of a good Christian, you will gain this world and you will gain eternity. We cannot gain eternity unless we die. In other words, it is through death that the transition to eternity takes place. That is the hope that we have when we lose a dear one. This concept also permeates the two other monotheistic religions of Judaism and Islam.
I had known that Gbenga Ashiru had been ill shortly after he was removed as Foreign Minister by President Goodluck Jonathan some two years or so ago. What immediately came to my mind was that he was fatigued by his constant travelling and that he needed to rest. My friend, Bolaji Akinyemi also had the same experience of fatigue when he was foreign minister. So it never occurred to me that this illness was unto death. A student of mine had a few weeks ago told me that she would like to do a thesis on Gbenga Ashiru and the conduct of Nigeria’s foreign policy. I told her that would be no problem and gave her a guarantee of direct access to Gbenga Ashiru. Gbenga Ashiru was like a younger brother to me and I am sure he related to me too on that same basis because I had known him since he was in high school in Ijebu-Ode and I had also watched him grow into a brilliant and easy going diplomat. He always had something going for him because of his sociability. He was good looking, likeable and a good mixer and an extrovert. These attributes are very important in diplomacy where the machine of diplomacy is oiled by entertainment. Gbenga Ashiru also comes from a remarkable family of the Ashirus of Ijebu-Ode where education was given the pride of place among competing brothers and sisters. His mother had retired as a nursing sister while his father had taught in Ijebu-Ode Grammar School before going into business and making a success of it. Gbenga went to Ijebu-Ode Grammar School like his father and the University of Lagos and after graduating, he went into the Foreign Service. He served in such places like London, Stockholm, Bangui and became high commissioner to South Africa which was his last diplomatic posting before retiring from the ministry of foreign affairs.
After coming back from South Africa he served as Under Secretary-general in the ministry of foreign affairs. These were specially created positions for senior and able diplomats who would have been permanent secretaries in the home ministries. He was considerably young when he retired after the statutory 35 years in service. It was in retirement that he was appointed foreign minister, a position which he deserved and more than merited. He carried himself with dignity, suavity and sure-footedness as foreign minister. He was in his elements. He brought a lot of innovation to his ministry and I remember once being in his office when he had to pass quick messages to some heads of missions. Right there in his office, he was able to communicate on skype with his ambassadors. I am sure older ambassadors would have been envious of this technological advancement in communication.
He was loyal to his diplomatic colleagues and I remember he pushed through a policy by which former career diplomats were allowed to keep their diplomatic passports even after retirement to avoid embarrassment meted out to Nigerians at the entry point to foreign countries. One of course is not sure if this measure will work especially these days when hundreds of members of parliament would insist that they should carry diplomatic passport with the effect that the passports do not carry the respect that they ordinarily should confer on them. As foreign minister, he was patriotic in the defence of Nigeria and was particularly critical of South Africa’s treatment of our people which he must have found difficult to do publicly because he had many friends in that country but what had to be done, he did not hesitate to do it. During his term in office, he also ensured that considerably large number of Nigerians got elected and appointed into international bodies and institutions. He was a successful foreign minister who was removed because of intra-party politics and fight among the top dogs in the PDP. Gbenga was of course not a politician but a technocrat. He did his bit and he is now gone, he now belongs to the ages. History will be kind to him and he will live in the hearts of those of us who love him. His death to me is like the loss of a junior brother. I pray that the Ashiru family will be able to bear the loss of this brilliant diplomat and a gentleman. My heart goes to Kehinde his wife and to his young children. Adieu, good man.
