It is an understatement to say that I am saddened by the death of my good friend, Ekpenyong Ekpenyong. His death is a personal loss to me. One of the saddest duties death imposes on the living is to speak of our beloved ones and cherished friends in the past tense – an indication that our separation has become permanent. But death being inevitable, it is the moral burden we are all obliged to discharge from time to time.
Ekpenyong and I were colleagues in the Nigeria Standard, Jos, in the middle to the end of the eighties. He was a sub-editor. I was his friend and his boss. But we did not have a boss-subordinate relationship. We were friends, period. When we first met, we instantly took to each other in what could be described as cherished friendship at first sight. We called each other Joey. I also called him Ekpe Ekpe. We shared great times in the Tin City.
My dear Joey was fun to be with. He was a warm man with a sunny disposition. He made jokes of even serious matters and thus helped to reduce tension in the editorial department. He had a repertoire of funny stories and he shared them with me and our other senior colleagues in the editorial department almost daily.
Ekpenyong refused to restrict himself to the sub desk. Being a versatile professional journalist, he threw himself at entertainment reporting for the newspaper. He soon acquired a sizeable following through his thoughtful reviews of drama, music and sit-com on television.
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When Ekpengyong obtained a car loan and told me he wanted to buy the Russian car, Lada, I told him that when I joined the newspaper as chief sub-editor, I also wanted to buy Lada but that my friend dissuaded me by pointing out that it was a car meant for executive officers. I suggested he should consider buying another car that would not put him in the same category with the executive officers whom we regarded then as inferior to our middle-class status. He refused and bought the top of the line in the Lada range. A large and roomy car he enjoyed tooling around the town with.
One day he told us a story about the car. He said that he gave a lift to two female students of the University of Jos. One of them said, “I have never seen this car before. What is it called?” Her friend quickly told her, “Ah, this is the new model of Volvo car.” We had a good laugh.
We had not seen each other since both of us left the Nigeria Standard so many years ago. He went home and simply got lost. This is why it is particularly painful to me when his son, Eddie, called me on the morning of September 28, to give me the sad news of his passing on. This tribute to my dear Ekpe Ekpe is inadequate in all respects but it comes from the heart. I know that the good Lord will comfort his family and friends. I know too that being a good man, the good Lord will grant him eternal rest. Joey, I remember and still cherish our times together – and will do so for the rest of my life.
Mr. Agbese is one of the founding editors of Newswatch magazine and one of Nigeria’s best journalists.
