"One time too many"

"One time seemed many"

... How 21-year Tope died.

I actually met Tope once or twice but she left an indelible mark within the short period . She was my younger sister's friend and was in our Ojodu Berger abode that day to see Bukola. They both attended Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta where she had her National Diploma before she proceeded to University of Benin, Edo State where she obtained her Bsc in Mass Communication.
In her glasses, Tope looked serene,she was so full of life and very innocent,her demeanor depicted nothing but a feisty individual who has got potentials and "life" ahead of her.
I remember vividly one of my older siblings who wasn't married then telling my sister he likes Tope but along the line couldn't fathom what transpired.
As fate would have it,my sister got her introduced to one of her friends named Tolu, and until Tope left this world,she was with Tolu. I saw them together in (pix) during Tolu's elder sister's wedding and they looked lovely. We all looked forward to the day the two would actually become one.
I never really get to see her again except in pictures and I recall one of my siblings said she loves the way she uses her Scarf and Hijab while she was alive.
I was in the hospital that fateful monday when my sister called,I still remember her exact word.
"Do you remember that my friend,Tope? And I supplied; Tolu's girlfriend and she said yes!.What about her? I asked. And to my utter most surprise she narrated in tears that she died,I was speechless and stood transfixed in a place.
That girl who had so many beautiful dreams ahead of her! How can she die now? Still in awe about how she could have died ,I inquired how she got to know and ask if she has confirmed and she said yes. "I just spoke with her elder sister" she replied at the other end.
That moment,I saw life differently again. I had lost a cousin that same month and almost lost another person close to me,hence the reason I was in the hospital that Monday evening. And suddenly I couldn't bemoan my cousin who recently died again because he left behind kids. I started thinking about Tope,about the state her parent would be that moment and I almost burst into tears.

Temitope was on her way back to Sokoto where she was undergoing the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme when she met her untimely death. She was in Lagos to see her mother, Morikat, who successfully concluded the pilgrimage to Mecca. Tope was said to be apprehensive and restless as she read about the stampede in Mina and the casualty figures.
And she couldn't hold not seeing her mum after hearing she came back peacefully. It was for the simple reason of seeing her mom that she excused herself from duty.

Her father, Mr. Lateef Lamina has not ceased crying since his daughter’s departure.
Recalling their last moment, he said he drove her to the motor park that fateful Sunday morning.” I still vividly recall the last time I saw her. She was returning to her post in Sokoto.I took her to Iddo (Lagos) Park.
I remember looking at the vehicle (Toyota Sienna) that she boarded. For reasons I could not understand, I felt uneasy. I asked one of the conductors at the park if he was sure the Sienna wouldn’t be involved in a crash on the way. I bid her farewell,” the father said.
When Lamina last got in touch with his daughter, it was 11.30pm and she was still in Kaduna dropped off by the same driver who had given assurance that the vehicle was travelling to Sokoto. Left to her fate, Temitope stood on the road until she found a Golf car that was heading to the seat of the Caliphate. Unfortunately, she did not make it.
The car was crushed by a heavy duty vehicle. Lamina could not hold back tears anymore. “The Sienna driver told us he was travelling to Sokoto. I begged him to drive carefully to avoid accident,” he added. By 4.30am, father received a call announcing his daughter’s death. The body was already in the morgue, according to the caller.
The shock of Temitope’s death has now turned to a burden. Right from the day she was posted to Sokoto, her father cried to family and friends that he was not comfortable especially with all the stories of insurgency from the North. Lamina sought help from anyone, just anyone who could convince the NYSC to get the young woman out of that region. He found none.
While she Lived, Tope worked at the state owned Rima Television, Sokoto, where she was attached. She had her internship with AIT and TVC Lagos.






I think the relevance of the compulsory NYSC should be reviewed. The other side seems to supercede it's actual cause.6How I almost lost my life during the compulsory one year NYSC is a story for another day
Rest on Temitope Lamina