By Tola
This piece would have been my submission last week… but there was no way I was going to send it in as is.

I didn’t have verification you see. I had seen it up on one person’s BB and even though this person is level headed and not known for frivolity, one person’s word does not make it so! My mind could not conceive it; and even as I write this several days after I have received confirmation my mind completely rejects the very concept.

This is the second time this year that I’m saying ,“but we were together just three weeks ago…!!” its freaky, it’s scary, it’s sad. Goldie’s passing took the wind out of my sails, Efere Ozakor’s just simply blindsided me… I don’t think I have fully come to terms with that cold hard fact.

“My in-law” was what he called me. He had claimed my last daughter for his son since she was about three or four I think and though we did not see often, anytime we met; our conversations would begin with him enquiring after the well-being of his ‘daughter in-law’.

Beyond that Efere was a wealth of information and knowledge. I doubt that there are too many people who understood the intricacies of the legal and business end of entertainment the way he did. This was information he gave out willingly, freely. You did not have to put Efere on a retainer before you could benefit from the wealth of his knowledge. Even if your conversation began on a  frivolous note it wasn’t long before it would veer into serious waters and before you know it, he’d be handing you golden tips on how to navigate successfully, in the entertainment business.

And that was the case the last time I saw him… barely three weeks ago. I had been invited as a guest on the Bimbo-Sola Connect show on LTV 8; one of the several who had been asked to come that day to be part of a special surprise tribute to Ali-baba the ace comedian. There were quite a number of us; Uncle Bisi Olatilo, Ufeoma Enejebor,Teju Baby-Face, amongst others, the co-hosts of the show and of course Efere. We had had a swell time and at the end of the hour long show we took the party outside the studio there at LTV 8 and inevitably (as it always is with Efere) the conversation moved from jokes and the mundane to serious issues concerning the entertainment business and ways and means to navigate wisely within the industry. And if you ever had the privileged of being ‘tutored’ by Efere, if you listen carefully you’ll hit pay dirt. Efere handed out pure nuggets of gold in information like Santa Clause handing out candy at Christmas.

And so it was that day; one hour in his presence drinking from the deep fountain of his knowledge I had my mind renewed and reinvigorated. That’s the effect Efere Ozako had on people; he caused you to look at things differently, encouraged you to change the way you ‘played the game’ so that you can maximise your potential.

Efere is gone?? Just like that?? All that energy, all that knowledge and information, the vibrancy of the man… all of that gone?? I’m not questioning God… or maybe I am? The pervading ‘loud silence’ in wake of this shocking occurrence proves I am not the only one struggling with this concept . . .

Chai… na wetin sef!!!