The United Nations (UN) has expressed profound shock and dismay over the crash of Ethiopian Airlines plane on Sunday morning.
The global body stated this in a statement issued by the Communications Section of Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on behalf of Ms Vera Songwe, the executive secretary of ECA, NAN reports.
“As the UN family, we are deeply saddened by all the lives lost in this tragedy.
“We have lost numerous members of staff from UN agencies. We have also learnt of losses in other international organizations as well.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, close friends and colleagues of the victims of this crash.
“The United Nations family is mourning the loss of our colleagues and friends, many of whom lost their lives carrying out their professional duties today.
“We will be reaching out to families and offering our support,” Songwe said.
National Daily reporter, Ediale Kingsley, had this open letter to eulogize the departed erudite scholar:
Dear Pius,
This isn’t goodbye. You will always be with us — Prof Pius Adesanmi. The columnist, writer and academic professor.
The brightest star shouldn’t have to shine the briefest. Two deadly accidents. But the second claims your life. The first was an auto crash along Ogbomosho last year or or two years ago.
6mins. Time between the aircraft’s takeoff and crash. Time between life in the air and life no more. Too short a time. Too short to make a final piece of write-up. Also too short to snatch your works away from us. Your identity, personality, projects and lifetime deeds can’t be summarized by such six minutes. Time failed.
Words also fail us. Not because words want to. Words would definitely want to help describe one who used lots of words through out his lifetime. Words of impact and focus. Words of direction. Words carefully arranged in books of great tidings.
Your books are great and glorious:
— The Wayfarer and Other Poems,
— You’re Not a Country, Africa and
— Naija No Dey Carry Last.
In one of your books you talked about how former U.S President had pronounced Potato as Poraro. In one of the many columns you wrote for Sahara Reporters and Premium Times, you also shared thoughts on the Subject of the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi and the subject of his underage wife. And the Emir had to reply you. Cos you had a voice and your ink was liquid diamond.
Aircraft destined for Nairobi from Addis Ababa dropped from the sky. You dropped. Our hearts dropped. The last ink dropped.
What a waste! It seems Africa wasted one if it’s finest. And we have anger in our hearts for Ethiopia Airline. That airline, that aircraft from Bole International Airport disappeared with an intellectual asset.
A professor. Lively. Funny. Brilliant. Hard working (lecturing, writing, managing, helping) — a workhorse. Adored in Nigeria, respected in Canada. Although he lived in Canada, his love affairs with Nigeria was like one on a distant romantic relationship with Naija. His love was steady even with a Canadian citizenship.
Adesanmi, directly transliterates that royalty makes me prosperous (or comfortable, happy), more like the crown compensates me. Your crown actually made a lot of persons more prosperous. It indeed compensated Africa and the globe. You shouldn’t have gone now. You were young and lively.
You touched on many things. Even accent, your piece on accent is still refreshing on Sahara Reporters. In that piece you talked about how Wole Soyinka could not understand the drawl of those Canadian kids trying to flaunt assent when he came visiting you years ago — Lol (permit me to laugh. You were too awesome. Too awesome to only be spoken about in grief and pain).
You were a cool guy. On your Facebook, your timeline readers saw a cool dad to a cool daughter, whenever they came to consume your pieces. I read the last one where you and your 7year old angel were having a global conversation on the theme: Yorubas Don’t Hiss. It was cool fun. Awesome moments. And most women even in their mid-lives wished they had a dad like you.
You put in a lot of good works here on Earth. Like you knew you won’t be here for so long. You tried to make up for the times you won’t be here. A great job you did. You did well. We just would have loved you to stay some more. Some many more years. Some major many more years. Sadly you have strolled to afterlife.
You left a Bible verse for us on your Facebook timeline. Premonition? We don’t know. But we imagine your soul knew. I imagine that the soul knows a lot that it keeps from the spirit, and the brain (or the body). I imagine that the spirit has a way of knowing regardless. And that most times the spirit loves to gossip with the brain (the body). Man is spirit, soul and body (brain).
You have a beautiful brain. As a first class academic, your brain must have had a way to uncode the soul. My idea of death helps me survive the trauma and agony of loosing a loved one. I say to myself, we all came to this world in some horrific circumstance. A child birth scene is most times like a crime scene. Blood, blades, tears, screams, e.t.c. even as a baby with fragile bones, we squeezed through a muscular carnal. And gushed out of the vagina with some pushy force.
It should have been brutal. Why we have to come to earth (life) in that fashion is quite intriguing. But there lies the clue. We came to this world, from nowhere, to a man’s penis, then battle, then outran other competitive spermatozoas, then got into a woman through her vagina, albeit through a pounding process, yet we weren’t crushed.
A close look at all these stuff really looks horrible and terrorizing. But we became a living thing through the process, and we grew up to be kids, to be adults and some to be very old adults. But no body ever remembers what made him or her cry that first day on Earth. In short (for a fact), we never remember. We don’t remember the pains, the terror and the entire child birth troubles from a baby perspective.
Same thing I think happens when we die. We get to the other side and don’t remember any form of pain. However tragic it is. This is the only explanation. I know no one wants to question God. And I don’t. But when good people have such drastic crossover to life beyond. We wanna wonder why? As in ask God why? Why would you allow this awesome person go this way?
But we don’t question God and I have come up with a theory to help us not bother questioning God. This theory tells me you are fine dear Pius. It tells me you may have had a crash. But you are cool now. And happy there where you are now. You are not the ashes we see here, you are calm and can’t even remember the crash and the pains.
And we thank God for that. We thank God you are awesome. We thank God he created you. We love you to the place you are and back. We were blessed to have you as a fellow human — I bet the celestial beings are jealous we had you among us. Now I won’t stop inking here on Earth and your works would surely keep inspiring my fingers. We are pained, but we gained for ever having you in the first place.
Your Good Works Spotter,
Ediale
#ForTheCulture
PS: Rest In Glorious Peace.