BEFORE OUR EYELIDS ARE PERMANENTLY CLOSED By Tyover Gum For some hours now, the social media has been awash with news of the death of Mr Conrad Wergba, a serving commissioner in the cabinet of the Benue State governor Gabriel Suswam. Wergba who hails from Ushongo Local Government Area of the state first served as Special Adviser to the governor, then later appointed Commissioner for Information and Orientation and later redeployed to the Ministry of Water Resources and Environment as commissioner in a minor cabinet reshuffle where he held sway until his death. The state government-owned Radio Benue broke the news of his death today, saying he died yesterday in an Indian hospital. And since then, mixed reactions have endlessly continued to greet his demise among Benue people especially the youths who have taken to the social cyberspace to discuss the bad news that has suffused the air and ventilate their sentiments. While some pray for the repose of his soul, many arent hesitant to quickly jibe at Mr Wergba citing rudeness, high-handedness, arrogance... as some of his traits and generally tagged him unapproachable. While this may not be far detached from the truth, I think his position as Commissioner for Information and Orientation - one of the image managers of the governor, a difficult job indeed given the volatile and shark-infested world of Nigerian politics and the cutting tongue of nosy opposition political parties, further stripped him bare and became a sort of clean and large prism through which his true personality could be viewed by the people. A controversial figure, truly he was ! For instance, the Benue State House of Assembly had once called on Governor Gabriel Suswam to immediately sack him. The House gave the order following the alleged refusal of the then Commissioner for Information and Orientation to resign after the expiration of an ultimatum given to him to do so. Wergba had allegedly made an uncomplimentary remark against the House in his attempt to defend government’s stance on the allegation of delay in payment of workers’ salaries raised by the parliament, and had described the lawmakers as arm-twisting the Executive for “pecuniary motives.” The House invited the commissioner to appear before it and during this meeting, he admitted guilt and apologised to members but quickly insisted that he had evidence against the lawmakers - the arrogance, rudeness and uncompromising attitude people now accuse him of at his death, had again openly played out! That apart, his advertorials in the dailies and press statements in defense of his master did not only carry some of these behavioural patterns he is now identified with, did unfortunately sell him out, but were also very terse, dripped venom, were mostly a catalogue of lies and innuendos, and confirmed him a sycophant, scoundrel and a hack writer who embarked on slippery adventures to defend the indefensible, impervious to reason and facts with a mission to insult intelligence and generally ran against decorum and the elevating language for a mature political discourse. His comments against anyone who criticized the government were too tough, too personal and highly unprofessional that more damage was done than laundering, pacifying or educating and reason pathetically suffocated even when he was making sense. However, I pray God to give his soul eternal rest and for him to find over there in abundance whatever it is he missed here. I also urge all he might have offended knowingly or unknowingly to forgive him his mistakes. Pray for the repose of his soul and leave the rest to God as the Holy Book says, “The soul who sins is the one who will die. . . . The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him” (Ezekiel 18:20). But that does not mean his ideals can/will easily be obliterated but will rather serve as a reference point for those coming before or after him to learn from, especially people in positions of privilege, and make proper restitution. I have deduced two things from Mr Wergbas death: 1. That we should live in peace and harmony with fellow human beings and mark our lives with honesty, kindness and truthfulness while alive bearing in mind human behaviour which moulds society should reflect the moral agenda set by God, an agenda implicit in nature, and which constitutes the distilled essence of life. 2. I have also come to terms with the reality of life and discovered its futility and emptiness and how death is unquestionably greater than us. The more reason WHEN I HAVE A WEDDING AND A FUNERAL TO ATTEND, I always choose to attend the latter because it helps capture in bold relief the suddenness at which life can slip out of even the richest, the strongest and the poorest of men. It sobers me. It tells me in a manner no word from the tongue of any man can give me the message of our mortality. I was attending a funeral of a young man early last Saturday morning and was staring starry-eyed at the coffin that held him, and wondered how well all end in that small container in spite of all our physical beauty, children, friends and pursuits while we lived... What was the worth of all those labour, school, fights, competition, money, etc?... If all were worth at the end is tenancy in a small wooden box, then were of all creatures most miserable... Certainly, GOD must have something higher for those HE created in HIS own image... But then, we must make it right with HIM here to have any chance of finding the Greater Theme of creation.. Itll be too late when our eyelids are closed. At the cemetery, as I stared at the graves sitting sombrely pretty with their bouquets of flowers daintily placed, I wonder if those who placed them still remember or are even thinking about these fellows right now... I wonder what people remember them for... I wonder if the occupants of these tombstones still remember their children, their friends, their enemies, their neighbours, their houses, their cars, their monies, their gold... All the things they worked themselves to the bones to acquire... And most of all, I wonder if they are at peace with their Maker... If I had my way, I would have peeped through their stone houses to see if anyone of the dead didnt become dust, but then Im not that ghoulish.. In all, the eternal truth rings true, For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. - (1 Timothy 6:7). Hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear GOD, and keep HIS commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. - (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Looking at the gravestones, I couldnt distinguish between who was a warrior and who was a coward, neither could I see who was an MD of a large corporation and who was an office cleaner... Nothing in that gloomy place told who got married and which woman died without a child or who had a litter of children... Except for the happy-go-lucky larks and sundry birds of varying plumage that chirped and pranced about in the trees, everyone lay eerily silent in his lonely grave, deaf to the world, and cared less if we brought in another stricken tenant or not... As I stared in detached and subdued amusement at those indistinct mounds, I couldnt help it, and even now with the demise of Mr Conrad Wergba, I cannot help but remember James Shirleys words: The glories of our blood and state Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armour against Fate; Death lays his icy hand on kings: Sceptre and Crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crookèd scythe and spade. •Originally written and circulated last Thursday being March 6, 2014.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 00:05:52 +0000
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