Tribute To Adebayo Ibitoye (Big Bamo) By Abiola Akintunde

How could this happen and how did it happen,
When did it happened and where did it happen,
A life so dear has been lost,
Only a body to mourn over.

The sun as bright as it is, so much of a life giver,
Has refused to continue to shine on this flower,
Out of love, he was planted,
With passion he germinated out to this world,
In tenderness and careness he grew,
Only for him to radiate the same,
Never to expect such benevolence from another.

Why? Why has the sun refuse to shine?
To shine on such a beautiful flower,
Why has the rain refuse to water this tree,
Even if it was a drop like a dew that will rain,
To survive longer, to see his smile once again:
I would have gone up the mountains;
Praying day and night for a drop of dew,
I would have appeased the gods;
Only to have another drink with you,
I would have pleaded with the gate keeper;
To deny you entrance into the after life,
I would have turned a prophet;
Just only to make your last day here forever,
But I wasn’t given that opportunity,
I was caught unprepared.

The dusk of a new dawn,
Has turned a night without end,
Like an unanticipated eclipse,
Turns a bright day into darkness,
So as your untimely death,
Darkens the brightness of our days to spend,
Only to brighten the memories of our days together.

To stay with you I hung unto the past,
Lost in your memories yet it was pathfounding,
Your goodness echoing through the blank space you left,
Your smiles illuminating the darkness,
Which you left us with and only for your care,
To fill the vacuum you created.

A rare gem you are even than jadite;
The rarest of them all.
Shocking and painful it was,
To hear you had an accident,
More shocking and painful it was,
To hear you had passed on to the world beyond.

Unfortunate it is for the world,
To have lost you so untimely,
More unfortunate it is for the gate keeper,
For our thirst to see you once again,
Might cause an underworld break,
Still the dead can not walk in the midst of the living.

How could it be you
That will be shot to death by flying bullets?
Why is it you that was smitten down by death itself?
How could you leave us without preparing us,
Your departure caught us unguarded.

We miss you as the plants misses the sun,
We miss you as the predator misses its prey,
We miss you as a pathway misses an enzyme,
We miss you as the hunter misses his sight.
In your memories we seek solace,
In God almighty we seek comfort.

Big Bamo can’t be forgotten,
Big Boyo will be missed,
Zemeze will always be remembered,
Boyo Logomba rest in peace and not in pieces,
Till we meet to part no more.