TheCable

Olusegun Adeniyi, chairman of THISDAY editorial board, has announced the death of his younger brother, Agboola, whose irregular immigration adventure inspired his current book, ‘From Frying Pan to Fire’.

The younger Adeniyi, 46, died on Friday morning from complications arising from a surgery on liver cancer.

In a short statement released on Saturday morning, Adeniyi said he would discuss with Bookcraft, his publishers, on an early release of the online edition of the book.

“I want many of our young people to read Agboola’s story and learn. The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side, especially if you do not have the requisite qualifications,” he said.

Agboola went missing for six years as a result of irregular migration between 1993 and 1998.

ADENIYI’S FULL STATEMENT

THE PASSAGE OF MY BROTHER

…Thankfully, I was lucky to have met Dr. Kay who gave me an injection he said was meant for cattle. Incredibly, before I completed the recommended dosage, the entire wound healed. Chi also got the insect bite that created wounds in her leg and she was administered with Dr. Kay’s cow drug and it worked for her. So also was Chinedu. We paid Dr. Kay 5,000 CFA each for complete dosage before he gave us the injection, in spite of the fact that we were his guinea-pig. But he was honest enough to disclose he had not tried the drug on human beings before –Agboola in ‘From Frying Pan to Fire’

I had just switched on my phone in Paris where the Air France flight made the customary stopover yesterday morning when I saw condolence messages. That was how I learnt that my younger brother, Agboola had passed on. And ever since I arrived Abuja last night, I have been receiving a deluge of calls and text messages. I appreciate every one.

While I am still trying to process what happened, I am also conscious of the fact that it was an act of divine mercy that Agboola lived for as long as he did. He himself admitted as much in recent years whenever he recounted his experience as an irregular migrant in the 90s. He told my visiting wife two weeks ago in Ibadan: ‘With what I have experienced in life, if God decides to heal me completely, He can. And if He chooses not to, I am still very grateful to Him.’ Even though he remained positive to the end, he also kept saying he was not afraid of death. Ultimately, he died on Friday morning at an Ibadan hospital of complications arising from liver cancer.

I am glad I documented his story. Agboola’s experience as an irregular migrant who first travelled to Brazil as a stow-away on a ship (thinking he was going to America) before crossing the Sahara Desert twice, reaching Europe on both occasions, is very instructive. I hope his story will be useful to some of our young men and women who may still be planning to gamble away their lives in the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. It is not worth the trouble.

As the family comes to term with Agboola’s passage, even as we cherish the memories of him, I will be discussing with Bookcraft, publisher of ‘From Pan to Fire: How African Migrants Risk Everything in their Search for a Better Life in Europe’ on an early release of the online edition of the book, possibly with a postscript. I want many of our young people to read Agboola’s story and learn. The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side, especially if you do not have the requisite qualifications. Agboola left behind a wife, two children (a boy and girl) and four siblings (three elder brothers and a younger sister).

To all my very close friends and well-wishers who have rallied in the past one month with incredible support, including offers of facilitating medicals for Agboola abroad, my prayer is that God will always be there for you in your times of need. To put it the Yoruba way, A o ni fi eleyi san fun ara wa!