By Moshood Fayemiwo
I have just read with rude shock and the unbelievable news of the death of Mr. George Onah, of the Vanguard Newspapers and my former detainee buddy at the Directorate of Military Intelligence Apapa, Lagos in 1997.

I have not read either in any Online medium or in the traditional media of George’s illness, sickness or inability to function, except his brushes with Nigeria’s ubiquitous urban guerillas known as armed robbers which he survived on Ikwere Road in Port Harcourt three months ago.

The circumstances of his death were that George went to work, supervised his crews at the Port Harcourt office of his employers, The Vanguard and left his desk at 8pm, arrived home about 9pm, had a good dinner and went to the bed at midnight and to the Other World at dawn.

That George chose this manner of death was comforting because, he never died throughout the one year we were both detained together at the Directorate of Military Intelligence in 1997 and survived armed robbers ambush on his way to work ninety days ago.

Death is the inevitable end of every mortal, and that makes it tragic but for those of us who have genuinely given our lives to Our Lord Jesus Christ, death is segueing us into the positive side of eternity with triumphant ease. I knew Onah intimately on the spiritual plane during my two years detention life in Abacha’s Gulag between 1997 and 1998 and we bonded as prayer partners.

He gave his life to Our Lord Jesus Christ before he was bundled into detention  by the goons of late Gen Sani Abacha but as he told me, he was determined to deepen his relationship with the Lord during his incarceration, and he accomplished his mission.

I was the Bible teacher appointed by my fellow detainees, and even though I was the “Tunnel Man” completely quarantined, George Onah, like other fellow detainees never tired of badgering me with tons of spiritual questions mostly on Bible exegeses.

I still remember one of our private Bible studies; I was explaining Satan’s temptation of Our Lord Jesus Christ and how the Devil took the Lord to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glories, baiting the Lord to worship him and the fleeting glories would become the Lord’s.

I said, every genuinely born-again child of God indwell with the Holy Spirit will sooner than later be confronted with his/her own Satanic Temptation. George asked when he would have his own contact with Satan humorously retorting that if it is the kingdom of Nigeria that Satan would entice him with, Satan was already a failure which drew laughter from other detainees.

A very reserved and gentle soul, George would not hurt a fly. It took him a long time to disclose to me he was a retired soldier. Throughout his forced stay with us at the DMI, courtesy of Col Frank Omenka, he was always by himself reading the Holy Bible, except when he wanted some clarifications and would whisper to me through the thick walls separating us.

His voracious appetite for the Word was amazing. We had a bet on who would finish both the Old and New Testaments at our first reading; George was among the First Five at DMI. He was also conspicuous and performed brilliantly during the Bible Quiz Sessions I introduced at the DMI during our detention days.

He regained his freedom before me and when he was about to leave, he urged me to get in touch with him. We exchanged couples of email when I left Nigeria for the United States in which he disclosed his employers paid all his salaries throughout his years of incarceration with additional one-year paid leave in tow.

George went straight to the Nigerian Army from elementary school and after his retirement, he made up his mind to better himself by studying for his Ordinary Level via correspondence. He entered the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, NIJ, and graduated in 1985.

Still determined to reach his goals, he entered the University of Portharcourt and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelors degree in English Language, and top it with a terminal degree, simultaneously working full time. He was at the Army Signal School, England in 1976, and joined the Calabar-based Chronicle Newspapers where he covered ECOMOG in Liberia before he was appointed Defense Correspondent for Vanguard Newspapers.

He remained with the newspapers for seventeen years growing through the ranks by dint of hard work, industriousness and professionalism rising to the position of Assistant News Editor. His favorite quotation was “Honor has not always been to those who receive but honor has been to those who give,” which he borrowed from Calridge.

The hour is ticking and the moments are passing each day. As we inch into eternity, the successful lives are not the politically famous, the well-connected, the stupendously rich, the well-heeled, the powerful and the famous of the world but those who have committed their eternal destination into the Saving Hands of Jesus Christ.

George, I am happy our paths crossed, for you sharpened my faith just as I sharpened yours. George is gone; Onah has passed on, a thorough news professional has left us and a man of faith has bid the world goodbye but my fellow-detainee and colleague is sure of his eternal salvation.

George, sleep at the bosom of Our Lord Jesus Christ and surely we shall meet at the Feet of our Savior on Resurrection Day.

*Dr Moshood Fayemiwo, former Publisher/Editor of Razor Magazine and author, lives in Chicago, United States of America.