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Saturday 12 January 2013

Irawo Ademolakun, Gone Too Soon




It’s easier to destroy than to build.

THE BUILDING PATH …
I remembered a very close friend and secondary school classmate of mine who confided in me her confusion and that of her mums over the frustration of her god parents (she is Catholic) inability to bear children despite their enormous wealth, and their futile effort to adopt my friend as their child. My friends mum refused to part with her last child – she was blessed with three – to people she claimed to love and who had the means to ensure her child’s well-being. She loved them, yes, but she loved her daughter more. How could she give her up suddenly when she had labored for months to give birth to her, and suffered sleepless nights through the years to watch over her daughter, watch her crawl, take her first steps, stay patient for months till she is able to call her ‘mummy’, and grow into a fine teenager. She couldn’t just give out her daughter like she was a birthday gift bought with money from a corner shop.

THE DESTROYING PATH …
A pistol is pointed at the head of a young doctor as he sits in his corolla at Anthony, Lagos. Panic! Gbam! The hand holding the pistol let go the trigger and the bullet fires straight into the skull of the gentleman at point blank. Irawo Adamolekun did not survive the attack.



The assailant, according to an eye witness account, calmly walked to the other side of the road, mounts a bike and sped off.

Perhaps the assailant has no understanding of the process of giving birth and nurturing, which is a continuous and pleasantly tumultuous journey as I have explained above.

If he knew the pains some childless couple go through to bear children, or if he knew what those who already have them go through to train them, or had he been aware that Irawo Adamolekun, the young man’s life he took was the only surviving son of his parents before his untimely death may be he wouldn’t have been too quick to pull the trigger for whatever reasons, robbery or otherwise.

It is not his lack of conscience that bothers me though, it’s the scary message the incident sends of how severely porous our environment has become security wise. Of how easily anyone with a gun or any other weapon can walk up to anyone they don’t see eyeball to eyeball with and settle scores with in the blink of an eye.

Mind you it could be you or someone you know or somebody someone you know knows.

It’s so easy, very easy, too easy to destroy than to build.

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