August 24, 2016 will remain a dark moment in the memory of the staff of Gulu University and friends and family of Isaiah Okidi.
Isaiah Okidi was a very peaceful and humorous persons who held a first class degree in Philosophy from Makerere University. He was gunned down at about 8:00 pm Sunday night after picking up an argument with a security guard over a motorcycle he had earlier parked in front of DFCU bank on Free Zone Hotel building in the heart of Gulu Town.
Social media was awash with condolences and condemnation of regrettable gun use in Gulu. It was clear these comments were from aggrieving community in pain after losing one of their own.
Every adult has experienced great pain and suffering in their life time. Our different painful moments could have been social, emotional, physical or even spiritual in nature; but why was the demise of Isaiah more painful?
The tragic nature and the unanswered questions in the minds of the many friends and family of why a security guard would be at so much pain and anger to choose to end Isaiah’s life the way he did is the source of our pain.
The ironic nature of death is that those who die are never traumatized about being dead or how they died; it’s those they leave alive who bear this pain and suffering.
So how would Isaiah a former seminarian react to the news of such grisly death of a friend and family member if he had lived to see this day?
Many times in life when we reflect about our life ordeals, we passionately focus on our struggles and how it formed who we are today than the same joy and preparedness to face adversity.
Those who know Isaiah, know he was fond of passionately sharing his lives’ pain and suffering with so much humor and hope that could inspire any one going through tough moments in life.
Isaiah shared with me his life’s lessons from when he was faced with the reality that he may never be a priest anymore; when he was in between jobs; and when he was sick and could not medically make sense from what he was suffering from.
In his ordeals, he never wavered over his faith and love for those he viewed responsible for his predicaments. If he lived in such circumstance, it would not be surprising to note that he would forgive his tormentors. Even when it’s a fact, pain most times changes our perspectives.
If there is any inspiration from the life and death of Isaiah, then it’s the reality of how ready are we to face death.
Isaiah’s death reminds us to be ready to face death because we never know when the time comes. We need to prepare our families and friends for the eventuality of facing eminent death as a phenomenology of life.
In Isaiah’s death we learn that we have a choice to live in forgiveness or live in acceptance of the reality of death. Holding a grudge doesn’t make us any different from the murderer and can only keep us in pain of hate; which won’t change this reality of his death.
We can also use our pain to learn great things in life’s experiences. Pain can increase our faith but also put greater things in our lives to perspective. Pain can enable us put right our priorities in life. As we endure suffering and pain, we need to find a reason to be grateful for the gift of his life.
Isaiah was a great scholar of social justice. Surely, it’s in our interest to seek justice in his death. It’s only then that we can face his young children in the future and speak to them about the fate of their father.
In conclusion, pain and suffering may divert us from our values in life; seeking justice through just means is the most difficult but prudent thing to do, but let’s not forget that we have treasurers in every dark moment in our lives. So let’s not lose the silver lining of treasures of our dark moments. Rest in Peace Isaiah Okidi Woda Martina
David Martin Aliker is a great friend to the Late Okidi Isaiah and has Eulogized him on behalf of his friends.
