Other deaths only speak but murder shrieks out. Yet each man kills the thing he loves. Some do it with a bitter look, some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss, the brave man with a sword; Okon Iyanam’s murderers did it with a blazing gun. Last night, Iyanam was killed by unknown gunmen at his guest house, his family and friends are still mourning and agonizing over the cause of his murder.
They are at a loss about who could have been responsible for the gruesome act and why? Hence the matter remains a Gordian knot as no one can categorically trace his death to a specific person. But that Iyanam met his end in a gruesome manner that ill-fated Wednesday night is not in doubt. In the wake of his demise, not a few friends and family allege that there is more to his death than meets the eye. According to a family source, “Okonpapa had just recently opened his new Heritage Hotels and Resorts in Mowe, Ogun State where he spent most of his time trying to stabilize the management and sales techniques. He reported a successful ongoing venture. While a birthday party was going on in the hotel, some men, suspected to be either armed robbers or hired assassins crashed into the place at about 12.30am with sporadic gun shots. They asked for the owner. When he was eventually identified, he was shot at close range in the neck region. He stood no chance. He died instantly. The Police first Responders then deposited his body in a Morgue”
Once again, the death of this handsome man reminds us of our dour humanity, and of the fragility of our hold on human subsistence. The world is indeed a stage and life itself is but a walking shadow. Life is a permanent shuttle in the sepulcher, and what we have are fleeting memories, stilled mementoes, fraught memories and the fractured memorabilia of those who are gone forever, never to be seen again.
Iyanam was until his death the chief executive officer of Bond Consulting. A pioneer staff of Globacom, Iyanam was special adviser to the chairman, Mike Adenuga, general manager corporate communications and general manager corporate sales. He left Globacom and was briefly with the Enyi Odigbo-led DDB Lagos before joining Insight/Grey.
