By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

STUDENTS of the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra and members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, are presently in grief and brimming with emotion over a tragic loss that befell them. They are mourning the death of a colleague, Chijioke Benjamin Okonkwo a.k.a. Okons, who died in an auto crash while on NYSC assignment.

During a memorial procession held for the late Okons, the students and some corps members, who were all dressed in their black mourning attire, wept all through as they walked from the polytechnic’s main gate to different parts of the institution, carrying the picture of their departed colleague.

The Nnewi-born entertainer ( the late Okons), who recently graduated from the Department of Mass Communication, reportedly died alongside another corps member following an accident involving a 14-seater Volkswagen bus, with plate number AE 135 JUX, which was conveying the corps members from the Benue State Orientation Camp in Wannume, to their places of primary assignment in Otukpo.

Speaking on the tragic incident, the Chairman of the Oko Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, ASUP, Dr Onyeka Uwakwe, called for quick compensation for the family of the deceased, noting that Okons died in active service. In his words: “The passing away of Okons is untimely. We mourn his exit and did not expect it. He is one of our best, very hardworking and respectful. Ultimately, Okons was a promising young boy.

*The late Chijioke Benjamin Okonkwo a.k.a. Okons

“I am of the view that the Federal Government should take responsibility for his burial. Beyond that, the family should be compensated quickly because he died in active service. He died after his parents had finished training him and he had gone to serve his fatherland. It was a big disappointment to the entire family and indeed my department (Mass Communication)”.

Another lecturer who gave her name as Mrs Ebue Constance described the death of Okons as very unfortunate, adding that she wept openly like a baby the day she got the news. The lecturer who teaches Journalism Ethics said: “Even the HND Course Rep. who broke the news to me, I almost pushed him into the gutter. Honestly I wept, I felt so bad. This is a boy I knew so well, very friendly and very lively. He was all over the place. Everybody knew him, he was very nice. So it is very unfortunate”.

A French lecturer, Mrs Agemekwe Stella, told Vanguard Metro that she wished the accident had left the late Okons two legs paralysed so that people will at least have the opportunity of contributing to buy a wheelchair for him, adding she would even volunteer to sponsor the wheelchair instead of seeing him die at this hour of the day.

She said: “I am sad to hear that Okons is dead; my heart is even bleeding. I couldn’t believe it that death would strike Okons by this time of the day. The death is very sudden and it is uncalled for. I don’t know if Okons’ death is natural or man-made; that is my own feelings about his death. If it is natural death, may his soul rest in peace but if it is man-made, the person will suffer for it”.

Mr. Okika Emmanuel, an Entrepreneur lecturer, described Okons death as an insurgency that came on a vibrant young man who went for his youth service, adding: “Okons death is a grievous development, we are mourning. Death is an insurgency and we are very sorry with the way Okons has fallen into the insurgency of death.

Students here are touched by it, including lecturers of the institute because he was a good student. The situation is pitiable, a vibrant young guy who went for his youth service only to meet death on his final departure from the NYSC camp”.

A close friend and classmate of the deceased who is still serving as a corper, Ejike Agbancha, pointed out that his departed friend was entitled to what a civil servant would have received in same circumstance because he died in active service.

“He did not die going to visit his friend, he did not die going to the market; he died while going to his place of primary assignment on that fateful July 23, 2012. So whatever is due to a civil servant who died in active service, is due to our friend Okons,” he said.

Meanwhile, a student of the Mass Communications Department, Chimezie Ezembu, has urged the institute to dedicate a minute silence to Okons, adding that a holiday could also be declared in his honour. She stressed that when the deceased was at the Federal Polytechnic Oko, he put smile on the faces of many.

“Okons death is so painful. The last time he was in school, it was an opportunity for us to chat happily. So when I heard that he was dead, it was very shocking. Okons was too good to die but we can’t question God on why he died. We just give God praise for everything,” she said.

The remains of Okons have been committed to earth, at his home town in Nnewi, Anambra State.