Joachim Oki: Dirge For A Classmate And Friend

The time was 5.19 am on May 14, 2023. I had been awake all night, working on some clinical notes for my “day job.” In the background, was one of Bob Marley’s tracks, “Ride Natty Ride”, playing solemnly to give me the necessary inspiration to trudge through the weekly routine.

As I often do, I took a moment off to check the happenings on social media. The first port of call, which happened to be the last for this day, was the Alumni Association platform of my class at Cherubim and Seraphim High School, Ilesa.

The news was there. It was broken by our Chairman, Prince (Pastor) Oluwatoyin Ademola Abe. He had passed on. Yes, Joachim Oki had passed on, 36 hours earlier in Ilesa. It was a sad news that blackened the mood. A sad news that drove home the mortality of man once again, except in the deeds we might have had the grace to leave behind.

Joachim was in the same class as me. We spent five years together in that great school. He was a jolly good fellow. Always very jovial and minding his business almost all the time. He had his circle of friends but largely related to the rest of the class without any inhibitions.

He loved soccer and we played a lot of it together. He had a reputation for having shots akin to that of legendary “Owoblow”, our own Felix Owolabi of the famous I.I.C.C. Shooting Stars of Ibadan and the Nigerian national team.

I remember when we were in Form two, another classmate of ours then, Samuel Akinrefon (we called him “Baba Ife”) had tried to stop Joachim’s shot at the goalkeeper and had his right foot twisted. He missed school for about a week and half, because of Joachim’s shot.

The shot, a deadly grasscutter, was not curvy. It was a straight shot that oozed like a bullet out of the furious nose of a frenetic AK-47 gun, aimed at the target, the goalkeeper, without any malice or guile. Ganiu Aliyu, another classmate of ours, who was playing on the side of Akinrefon, had deliberately dodged the shot and had allowed it to sail, only for Akinrefon to try and stop it. And the rest is history.

Joachim was in love with Ibodi. He talked of Ibodi with enormous pride as often as he could. He would travel there several times within the week and come back to Ayeso. Ibodi is just a couple of miles to Ilesa. It was his ancestral origin, yes, for the entire Oki family.

Joachim Oki was part of the Ayeso crowd of our Kerubu, the great Cherubim and Seraphim High School, Ilesa, in our set. The crowd included Samuel Banji Olanipekun, who lived directly behind the Police Barracks; Samson Ayeni who lived beside the Akata Mosque (the mosque was on the same street with that of Banji). There was Friday Osoba who lived on the same street with me. There was Joachim Oki who lived right on the “Trunk A” road from Ile-Ife. His house was located almost opposite the famous Hastrup royal family mansion, where the exiled Alaafin Adeniran Alabi Adeyemi II (1945-1955), spent his days in banishment.

There was also Peju Osunloye who lived about four houses away from Joachim, then. But because she is a female, she does her own things her own way. It never meant that she was arrogant, or insouciant. It was just because she is a Lady. She was friendly, courteous, and very civil. She was a kind and considerate person too.

This crowd, almost always meet at Joachim’s house most mornings before proceeding to school. It was one of our most memorable experiences - going to and coming from school, every day. Every morning, Friday Osoba, and I, (his brother, Augustine, did not stay long. He went back to Benin after a year and was in KERUBU briefly), would meet Joachim Oki, at his Ayeso home. Banji would also join us. At times, Samson, another classmate who lived two streets away from me, would join us. But he seemed to prefer the company of Senior Famose, who also lived around Oke - Iyin, more times than ours.

Our daily journey to school often started via Biladu road. At times we went through the street of Mr. Ajagunna, one of our teachers and passed by his house. Mr. Ajagunna taught us History in Form Three. We would go through Commonwealth High School's grounds and navigate what looked like a dense forest then, threading the snaky path to school. Usually, it took us about 15 - 20 minutes to get to school.

From the grounds of Commonwealth High School, as we took on the fairly beaten path, we would walk into an amazing puddle of the freshest air on the planet. In the dry season, even with the heat of the sun and high humidity, this alluring environment through which our path crawled, guaranteed natural and uncontaminated air. Often very soothing, it aggressively reduced the impact of furnacious heat that could have been our lot, if we were walking on open streets.

In the raining season or what is referred to as Spring in Europe and America, the coolness of the breeze blowing through this forest, with a degree of subtle and disarming bellicosity, often seared into our skin, permeating us with a modicum of comfort. Its aftertaste in the palate of our bodies left a tasteless sweetness that we all savoured happily. It imbued us all with a kind of satisfaction that could not be fathomed except when experienced.

As we traversed this small forest on our way to and from school, unconsciously, with our light-hearted attitude, we reveled in the beauty, comfort, and richness of nature. We playfully, especially on our way back from school, savoured the scent of the leaves, relished the beautiful ugliness of the peeling shrubs, the rhythmic flapping of the tree branches and the helpless leaves on the ground, that groan with cracking cries when stepped upon, as if mourning the imminence of their decadence into becoming manure.

Then, there was the badinage of the birds. The birds, excitedly chatted away, always endlessly. Unrestrainedly, they exuded effervescence at their fortunes, cheery at their freedom, ecstatic at their flipping prowess as they marinated in the natatorium of nature's beauty. We never attempted any form of hunting, no matter how mundane. Even, if others had wanted, yours truly would have opted out because of his mortal fear of snakes.

Every time we came to school through this forest, we would come out often about a stone throw from the school's gate. The short cut was helpful and interesting to boot. I am not able to remember if we were ever late for school once. It never happened. Not just because we took that path through the small forest, but because of our sense of responsibility. Moreso, who would want to be whipped by Mr. Oki, who happened to be Joachim’s uncle, and our French teacher in Forms 1 and 2, and who took joy in caning recalcitrant students to order?

The loss of Joachim is very impactful on our hearts and our memories. In it, our mortality was brought nearer home. It underscored the value of our memories which we should endeavour to savour at every available opportunity. We should get together as often as possible, to relive those beautiful days of yore. No matter how rich anyone is, he or she could never buy those memories back. There is never enough money to buy back those fantastic and beautiful memories.

May Joachim’s soul find repose in the bosom of Eledumare, the God of our forefathers. May all of us, his classmates, his friends, his family members (immediate and extended) be granted the fortitude to bear his loss. Amen.

Joachim, good night.
By Remi Oyeyemi