Temitope: Another Corps Member Cut Down In Her Prime

Temitope: Another Corps Member Cut Down In Her Prime

Temitope: Another Corps Member Cut Down In Her Prime

TEMITOPE Balikis Lamina bore the torch of
happiness among her friends. Born 21 years ago
in Lagos, she strived to understand the human
mind, solve the little problems she could and
deploy a rare facility with words, to sooth pains,
stir laughter and crack life’s dizzying puzzles.
From her days at Ambassadors Primary
School, to Iganmode Grammar School,
Ota, to Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, to
the University of Benin, she wielded an
outstanding intellect that saw her curry
double promotions, clinch prizes and,
finally, finish among the top five in her
graduating year at the Mass
Communication department in the
university.
But, in what her family and friends
described as the darkest day of their
lives yet, Temitope was untimely
snatched from them by the cold hands of
death in a ghastly road accident along
Kaduna-Sokoto expressway while
reporting back to her duty post at Rima
Television in Sokoto, where she was
observing the one year national youth
service.
She had traveled home after due
documentation to celebrate her mother’s
safe return from Hajj. She was returning
to base after being called up to form the
core of a team of corps members who
would coordinate orientation for the
latest batch of National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC) members in Sokoto State.
Eyewitnesses said that passengers in the
Golf car, which Tope boarded, were
asleep when the vehicle rammed into a
lorry carrying cows. The surviving
passengers woke up to find themselves
in a nearby bush, with various degrees
of injuries. Only Temitope died. The car,
they said, had to be cut open to retrieve
her remains.
When The Guardian visited the family’s
Ota, Ogun State, home, her grieving
family asked what could be crueler than
losing a child, who was an ‘inspiration’,
and whose grace and charm radiated,
not just within her immediate family,
but also among friends, colleagues and
acquaintances.
Temitope’s father, who is a senior sales
executive at New Telegraph newspaper,
quaked as he spoke glowingly about a
daughter that could have taken over
from him and excelled in the media
industry.
According to him, “I decided that my
children wouldn’t go to public primary
and secondary schools, because I value
education. I worked in the media, and
because I could only afford a diploma
while I was with Concord newspapers in
the North, I have had to endure playing
second fiddle to young university
graduates, who headed the various
media establishments. I made up my
mind to take up bricklaying, if that was
what I could use to afford sound
education for my children. Tope was the
brightest of them all. I ensured she was
enrolled in the best of schools. When she
showed interest in the media,
particularly in broadcasting, I was
relieved that I would have one of my
children who would go the lengths in the
industry that I could only dream about.
“She worked towards her goals. I was
proud to see her name among the credits
at news programmes on African
Independent Television (AIT), while she
was an intern there. She would tell me
not to worry, that she was on track to
achieve her dreams. It pains to lose such
a child. But, so far, we are not God; we
can only hope that she is happy
wherever she is. I believe it is God that
gives and takes. If I could, I would have
stopped the death. I was always praying
to God to make her live long because
Tope had the luck of finishing school at a
young age.”
He said he had premonition of danger
and asked Temitope to pray before she
travelled. In obedience to the advice, she
decided to move the date of the journey
from Saturday to Sunday, and fasted to
ward off evil.
He noted, “I called her elder sister, who
was also serving in Kebbi, and asked her
to pray too, warning her not to go too
far from her Place of Primary
Assignment (PPA). It was unfortunate
that the incident occurred. On the day
she was to travel, I went to her room
and found her already prepared. The
journey was top priority for her. She was
always determined and set her mind to
whatever she wanted to do.”
He said there have been efforts by
National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
officials in Kebbi State to fast track the
deceased sister’s redeployment to a
nearby state, so the family wouldn’t have
to worry about her or live in perpetual
fear of a double-tragedy during the
service year.
Late Temitope’s mother, Rahliat Lamina,
who, hard as she tried, couldn’t hold
back tears, said more than her other
siblings, the deceased understood her
needs and above all, was a determined
child, who kept her eyes on the mark.
According to her, “She understood me;
she was so helpful. She understood my
health condition and searched the
Internet for solutions. She would come
and tell me what I needed. Some of the
medications she prepared for me are still
in the refrigerator. She was so
knowledgeable. She would make cakes
for her brothers.
“I believed in her. Before she left, she
collected N2000 to fix her hair, and the
hairdresser told me later that the job was
worth more than my daughter paid. So,
anytime Tope came to me for money, I
told her that I would collect all the
money I spent on her. See me, now?”
She continued, “While I was in the Holy
Land, I called her to ask when she was
coming home. She said she wasn’t going
to come home until after Ileya. When I
came back, she was around and she
asked me to rest. She said she would be
spending a month here, but she came
one day to tell me that she would be
going back, that her attention was
needed in orientation for new corps
members.
“Who will say that I did not pray enough
in Hajj; I prayed. When you come back
from Hajj, you have 41 days to pray for
people. That was why we were rest
assured.”
Mohammed Lamina, Temitope’s
immediate younger brother, said his late
sister was his motivation, a perfect
sibling anyone could ask for. He would
miss her knack for understanding and
protecting the ones she loved.
He said, “She was ready to do anything
for us. She was a sister I looked up to. I
always wanted to better her records.
Anything I do in academics, I always
strived to break her records. It wasn’t
jealousy; it’s just that it was cool to
better an elder’s feat. She would always
light up a dull house. She was that
sweet.”