VITAL OBITER®
The Diary of a Roving Counsel
I have this nagging feeling that something is terribly wrong with us as a country.
On October 14, 2026, gospel singer Olayemi Bayonile Bolaji, popularly known as Toluwanisings, died in Ibadan, Oyo State.
His personal assistant gave a disturbing account of their desperate search for emergency medical attention at seven or eight hospitals in Ibadan.
The story became national news. Newspapers reported it. Radio stations discussed it. Nigerians at home and abroad expressed outrage.
Yet, when contacted by Saturday PUNCH, the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, herself a medical doctor, reportedly responded:
“Which gospel artiste? I don’t know the gospel artiste that died recently.”
SHE IS NOT AWARE!
I have no evidence that she was being economical with the truth. But suppose she genuinely did not know.
IS THAT NOT AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM?
Then came UCH’s response: its management reportedly had no record of Toluwanisings being brought there.
But did his personal assistant even identify UCH among the hospitals visited?
How was the hospital’s conclusion reached? What records were examined?
And what about the other hospitals?
Must a grieving family now wait for hospitals to confirm or deny their experience before government considers it worthy of investigation?
SIX DAYS AFTER HIS DEATH, WHERE IS THE OYO STATE GOVERNMENT?
As I write on October 20, I have found no subsequent public statement from the government acknowledging this death, commiserating with the family or announcing an investigation.
This is somebody’s husband. Somebody’s father. Somebody’s son.
A prominent resident of Oyo State dies under circumstances that raise troubling questions about emergency healthcare, yet the government appears unable even to publicly acknowledge the tragedy, let alone communicate what steps it is taking to prevent a recurrence!
What about basic human sensitivity? Could an emissary not have been sent to the grieving family?
And if this is the response to the death of a prominent resident, WHAT HOPE IS THERE FOR THE UNKNOWN, THE VOICELESS, THE ORDINARY PERSON?
In a country where dishonesty has become disturbingly commonplace in public life, how do citizens distinguish genuine ignorance from convenient denial?
GOVERNMENT BY DENIAL. GOVERNMENT BY SILENCE IN THE FACE OF HUMAN PAIN.
How do we pursue change with this disposition?
What lessons are we learning? What failures are we identifying? What lives are we determined to save?
Government exists to serve the needs, hopes and aspirations of the people, not merely to defend institutions when tragedy strikes.
Today it is Toluwanisings. Tomorrow it could be me. It could be you. It could be anybody.
That is why we must speak.
Not merely to publish another commentary, but because perhaps someone will listen. Perhaps something will change. Perhaps another life will be saved.
IF WE CANNOT CONFRONT OUR TRAGEDIES WITH TRUTH, EMPATHY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, WHERE IS THE HOPE FOR CHANGE?
Enlightenment is Superior to Enforcement®
Follower of Christ. Husband. Father. Egalitarian. Goodwill Investor. Change Agent. Rebel with a Cause. Attorney.Author. Thriver. Culture-Led Family Strengthening and Child Safeguarding Pioneer, Innovator and Practitioner. Value-Based Parenting Ideologue. Three Decades in the Saddle.
