Omololu Falobi – A Hero Departs

His story began he said from his university days, when he had been an active participant in student politics. Upon graduation and starting work as a journalist, his activism somewhat waned as he began to concentrate more on the more mundane issues of living. At a point, he decided to enrol for a Master’s degree in political science at the University of Lagos while still working as a journalist. It was this course he said, that reawakened his passion for social activism, for bringing about change in society. At this point, he recounted, he was not yet sure what form this activism would take, but he knew that it would be in an area that not many people were paying attention to. The turning point was the death of the musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Omololu was a great fan of Fela’s music and was a regular guest at the concerts which the maverick maestro held at the Shrine.

On the day that Fela died, Omololu remembers deciding to head for the press conference convened at the Shrine by the elder brother of the late musician, even though he was in features and not on the entertainment desk. He was drawn to the conference because of his love for Fela’s music. While that press conference has gone down in Nigerian history as the first time that a public figure was announced as having died from HIV, it also apparently was the trigger for Omololu’s groundbreaking involvement in the field of HIV. He described to us, his shock, mouth agape, as Professor Ransome-Kuti, respected former Minister of Health announced that his late brother had died of AIDS and exhorted all Nigerians to protect themselves from the virus. Omololu went for a long walk that evening mulling over the implications, wondering how he could become involved in this battle against HIV.

The next day, on getting to the office, he drafted a press release announcing the formation of an organization Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria which would be committed to fighting HIV in Nigeria. Thus was JAAIDS born.

The next day, he decided that he had to learn more about HIV in Nigeria and from his research identified that Professor Femi Soyinka was one of the leading researchers in the field. So he set out to go and interview Professor Soyinka. On arriving at his office, he told the professor that he was keen to understand more about HIV in Nigeria and wanted to learn all that he could. After granting him a lengthy interview, the professor told Omololu that if he really wanted to learn and write about HIV in Nigeria, then it was very important that he met people who were living with the virus. As Omololu still mulled this suggestion over, the professor directed him to a village bear Ilesha where a nurse employed at one of the local hospitals was going round the homes of HIV?AIDS patients in the evenings providing them with what succour and support that she could. On an impulse, Omololu decided to head for the village that day. Coincidentally, the village was not far from where he had gone to secondary school. On arriving at the nurse’s home, she welcomed him and asked him to join her on her rounds. He watched in awe as this woman went from house to house, offering warm baths, milk drinks, beverages and whatever she could from her own personal meagre resources. He was stunned to see that they were so many people affected. Sitting in the restaurant in Toronto, many years later, he recounted his shock as they approached a house that was familiar to him. One of his friends when he lived in the area had lived there and he was struck with dread at what they might find on getting there. In any event, his friend had long moved away and it was someone else who was the patient there, but he described that event as one that brought home to him the reality of HIV.

Having spent two days in the village, following the nurse and talking to the patients, he was ready to return to Lagos. As he was about to leave the nurse showed him an invitation she had received from the World Health Organization inviting her to apply for a scholarship to attend an international conference on HIV/AIDS in Geneva. She encouraged him to apply, and when they could not find a photocopier to make a copy of the form, she trusted Omololu with her only copy. She asked him to take it back to Lagos with him and to send it back after he had made the copy. When he told us this story, we were astounded at the nurse’s selflessness and Omololu promised to introduce her to us, as she was also attending the Toronto conference. Sadly, that never happened.

Continuing his story, Omololu described sending in his application for the conference and being accepted while his original benefactor, the nurse failed to win the scholarship. He described the conference as an eye-opener, and said that it was there that he met Dr Oni Idigbe, Director General of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research for the first time. He remarked on how Dr Idigbe had jocularly teased him about the picture of his then fiancée which he had put up in his room almost as soon as he unpacked, thus forming the foundation of their friendship. As he went from session to session, he learned more and more, and at one of the sessions, he learnt how to use the internet and how to gain access to resources on the internet.

Armed with this new knowledge and a wealth of contacts, he returned to Nigeria and thus actively began his work in the HIV arena. Fortunately for Omololu, the Punch newspaper group where he worked had been one of the first organizations in Nigeria to sign up to internet access. He was therefore able to put into practice many of the things that he had learned and was able to nurture contacts internationally. The turning point was his being asked to write articles for international organizations for which he was paid in foreign exchange, which then eventually gave him the financial independence to devote more time to his HIV activism.

By the time Omololu had finished this fascinating story, I said to him “Omololu, you must write this down. This is history in the making and you need to document it” He grudgingly agreed and we moved on our conversation to other things. By the time that we finished dinner, we had agreed to collaborate on a number of projects andI had promised to come and see Omololu on my next visit in Nigeria in a few months time. The plan was that we would formalize our discussions then. Similarly I extracted a promise from Omololu to get in touch whenever he was passing through the UK. Later he talked about his family and his hopes and plans for his children and again, I was enthused by his passion.

The next day was the final day of the conference and I remember walking up to Omololu as he sat at a computer in the Media Centre and telling him I was leaving. He got up and embraced me, wishing me a safe journey and promising to do better at keeping in touch. He revealed that the next day was his birthday and asked me to keep reminding him about the need to document his story. I wished him a happy birthday and promised to send him admonitory e mails from time to time. We exchanged e mail addresses yet again and then mobile telephone numbers. I walked out of the media centre leaving him smiling and waving.

That Omololu’s life was ended so suddenly and tragically after that last meeting by armed robbers

is yet another sad indictment of the insecurity of lives in our country. What the country has lost in losing such a talent so young is unquantifiable. Omololu’s name may not necessarily have rung bells to those outside the media and HIV circles but to many of us whose lives he touched he was a genuine Nigerian hero whose moral stature and passion far outweighed the slightness of his frame and the briefness of his sojourn on earth.

We will remember him.