By Banji Ayoola
Dear Dupe,
Be assured that the Good Lord is enthroned high above the worlds in His Great Omnipotence. He is at work!
He, Who is Justice and Love combined, Who will never allow injustice anywhere nor allow the powerless and oppressed suffer unjustly, the powerless who devoted his blood, his life to the service of another that did not pay him his entitlement in his critical hour of greatest need, a bedridden labourer who was in pains for six years, who begged his employer for many years to pay him his N3m gratuity to rescue him from the jaws of an untimely and preventable death… until he eventually died… still begging his employer for help in the most refined way.
I remember, Dupe, the humble efforts you and I made, applying the most refined way of resolving matters like this – through personal visits, dialogue, appeals person to person and in writings.
I remember many visits I personally made to those in high places, those in power today over this same issue, many WhatsApp messages I sent to them, many stories and appeals I sent to them and copied many other highly placed individuals who hold power today, which neither were acknowleged nor ever elicit any positive response before it was too late for Remi Aye.
I remember that the morning of Friday February 11 he died, you and I were about writing another Save Remi Aye’s Soul letter to the Governor appealing to him to foot Aye’s medical bills and pay his outstanding gratuity, and sadly we had to change the theme of the letter to mourning our colleague’s painful passage.
And so he died without reaping the fruits of his labour himself.
Like the six other former staff of The Hope who had passed on before him also without getting their entitlements.
Who is next?
Many stories have been published on the entitlements of human beings who served selflessly and meritoriously without dipping their hands into the coffers of government or cutting corners. And so Remi Aye died!
Who is next?
The payment on time of the entitlement to this powerless, helpless bedridden man who had to endure hunger and pains for six years, whose family, already stripped bare of their savings which they had exhausted in keeping him alive for six years and for his last days at the Trauma Centre Ondo, could not afford the N400,000 cost of the operation to save his life at the Federal Medical Centre Owo until he gave up, could have at least helped alleviate the excruciating pains he suffered since 2015, which were aggravated with his retirement in 2018.
And so Remi Aye died.
Similarly the payment of his colleague labourers, who are lucky to be alive today, some of whom already are nursing some life threatening ailments, however paltry, would have helped them embark on some economic ventures to keep them active and thus their body and soul together in a dignified way without resorting to begging or kindred other indignities accompanying struggling to survive in their post service years of frustration and despondency.
Nevertheless, I am convinced strongly, Dupe, that the Good Lord Who is the Source of all powers, will send help to compensate the helpless and powerless who cast their gaze purely upwards unto Him!
He will open doors of radiant help and abundance to redress whatever is wrong everywhere on earth and give everyone his due which he earned through his work – his thoughts, words and deeds without fail. At the right time.
I thank you, Dupe Balogun, the immediate former Chief Sub-Editor of The Hope, most sincerely and deeply from within me for your wonderful support, especially the passionate efforts you made to safe the life of a human being before it was too late for Remi Aye.
May Remi Aye’s path be blessed, lined up with helpers and experiences that will smooth his path eventually upwards towards the Light.
May the Lord bless you.
Letter to Dupe Balogun by Banji Ayoola, the immediate former Editor of The Hope newspapers
