Sometime ago, in mid 2001, I had travelled from Kano to Abuja to honour an appointment with a
certain High chief Raymond Dokpesi. Once I got to the premises of the Sheraton hotel and
Towers now known as Abuja Continental Hotel, my friend, late Commander Moses, who's my
link man to the owner of Raypower FM immediately ushered me to the 8th floor which was the
Towers.
There I sat, calmly but uneasily on the sofa, my heart pounding, my head aching with a longing to
behold the face of the man whom I was scheduled to meet for an employment opportunity.
From the unwindowed windowpane of the Towers I beheld clearly the tender Abuja sky (I was
visiting the place for the very first time) and there was this surge of anticipation; the hope of
getting which causes a man’s mind to race recklessly against the winds of life.
Since I arrived Abuja from my base in Kano earlier that afternoon, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi
had been the subject of my discussion with my host, Mr. Commander Moses, on whose shoulder
I was standing to get through to the Agenebode High Chief and owner of Raypower FM in Lagos.
There I sat, still, lost in thought, every of my suffocated breath pulling me towards the 'mystery'
man I had been so confident will be my Daniel in the Lion’s den, my David who slayed Goliath,
my Joseph made Prime Minister in Egypt by Pharaoh, my Samson who killed thousands of the
philistines with a Donkey jaw bone and the Messiah to break the jinx of my joblessness many
years after graduating from the university. I had been without a paid job for a rather lengthy and
frustrating period.
Yet, I sat there, stretching out on the couch with subdued comfort and admiring the beautiful
Abuja landscape, one could feel the wind whizzing through the few trees around the hotel.
Moments later, the big man walked into the lounge majestically, looked at me fixedly and smiled.
Poor me, there before me stood the big man, splendid, jovial, radiating all the luster of unsullied
humanity. I dared to stare vaguely at the imperial man in the manner of one who has seen some
nameless wonder drop out of the sky at his feet.
It's very glaring that the man standing before was rich yet very humble, sublime yet inquisitively
engaging; he was just a strange personage enrobed in simplicity, love and a composure

undefined, and I dare say a man destined to work his way through millions of people, especially
the wretched of the earth till they drink from the prosperity cup.
The regal and very audacious and fascinating personage was the very HIGH CHIEF RAYMOND
DOKPESI, the founder and Executive Chairman of DAAR Communications Limited as it was then
known! High Chief Raymond Dokpesi all at once caught my wondering glance, passion glowed in
his face and he smiled and warmed up to me with a conversation. However, I got my first
shocker when I arose from the couch to greet the High Chief: behold, it's the High Chief Raymond
Dokpesi himself who did the most unexpected as he'd moved towards me and greeted me very
warmly, familiarly and courteously with that sort of piquancy very uncommon among money
bags in our part of the globe.
As though we've crossed paths previously, High Chief Dokpesi immediately threw a barrage of
questions at me and wondered why I, his own Etsako brother and "a very brilliant writer and
journalist" would not want to work for his media outfit in Lagos.
As he spoke on that fateful afternoon, I felt the ‘messianic’ deposits in the BIG BROTHER as he
called himself that fateful day. Without ado, the High Chief Raymond Dokpesi teased me into
accepting to be part of his DAAR family.
I was astir in his employment offer. I came alive!
His words awoken hope in my once troubled recesses, I felt a spontaneous healing from my
many barren years of unemployment and hopeless job hunt across Nigeria. I immediately felt the
pestiferous nuances of my despair melting away slowly like some ice cube under the sun in the
Sahara desert, giving way to a brighter promise of real identity.
The next time I had the privilege of meeting with High Chief Raymond Dokpesi at the same
Sheraton hotel and Towers, about two months after the first meeting, the humble big man was
so sorry about the mix ups from his office in Lagos that had delayed or prevented me from going
over to the Alagbado headquarters of his media conglomerate to take part in an aptitude test
and interview.
I yet remember vividly that hot afternoon day at the Sheraton Tower's lounge, how, in company
with some of his associates, including my friend, late Commander Moses, High Chief Dokpesi had
pulled me by the hand to his hotel suite and pointed me to a corner of the room where some
national newspapers were kept:
“My brother, I have been reading your articles and News reports in some of these national
dailies. The stories carrying your bylines in the titles on the stable of GARDEN CITY NEWSPAPERS
LIMITED, Port Harcourt, Rivers state, are quiet good and sound. How come you never thought of
working for your own brother? I'm not happy with you. Don't you know that the radio and TV
stations are our own? Please oga, you are not going back to Kano but Lagos after this meeting,
ok?"
Pronto my dear BIG BROTHER and benefactor High Chief Raymond Dokpesi brought out his red
biro and signed across my documents which I usually carried on me wherever I went being a job
seeker.
His words read in part, "I am highly interested in the services of this man..."
“Congratulations, my brother Clement Afemikhe, you have the job and I will see you Lagos next
week!”
Hmn, it's like a movie to me that afternoon but it was all real ...
That was vintage high Chief Raymond Dokpesi, the Ezomo of Weppa.
Another shocker was that besides offering me employment, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, my
liberator had also pulled out wads of crispy naira notes from his briefcase and handed over to me
as my transport fare to Lagos! Wonderful! I couldn't believe what was happening to me. His act

of kindness instantly made me to realize that all men were one stream, one flow through the
rocks of life.
High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi wiped my tears when I was crying in the falls and
whirlpools of life, he washed me clean when I yet twisted and turned the pebbles of
unemployment and a bewitched job hunt.
True, in the life of any human, there comes a time when being so beaten anumb one's compelled
to look up to the sky above in the hope of eliciting the comfort of the stars, the moon, and the
sun; it therefore is a catastrophe unimaginable not to find any of these up in the sometimes dark
and bright sky. Fortunately for me, I found a Raymond Dokpesi up there in the sky of my
struggles for survival. Thank you sir, great Ezomo.
Ever since I discovered High Chief Raymond Dokpesi in 2001, I have personally continued to
reference him, and wished that most other men of affluence would queue behind him in the
hope that good nature and entrepreneurial energy and devotion to people would help to
catapult the millions of slaving youths in Nigeria to the pinnacle of their dreams and endeavours.
The over two decades I have worked in your big DAAR farm have been a progressive match
decorated with memorable emblems: Ezomo engaged me as CLEMENT AFEMIKHE but through
our labour together on your farm, I became known across continents as AFE AFEMIKHE.
You gave me a new name, a new identity; my real identity as a writer and professional journalist.
Hmn, thank you sir!
Whatever I have done, doing now and would do in future in the big farm, DAAR
COMMUNICATIONS PLC, I do for you just so your vision is kept alive. It's a solemn promise to you
my dear BIG BROTHER and father. May God grant you easy passage to eternal life.
Ah, Ezomo, what an angel of a man you were; you were indeed a saint among us and I know that
the celestial Beings in the heavenly plains and even humanity recognized you so. Those of us
fortunate to encounter you closely realised much earlier that you understood very well that
economic growth and the individual development and stability stem from internal strengths,
national unity and shared common vision and purpose, and that they are not mutually exclusive.
Ezomo, you fought for that and more during your lifetime; you were a champion for the
individual’s welfare, the down trodden, the wretched of the earth.
Ah, Ezomo, you were always too eager to discover something good in everyone around you.
You always saw other people as some sort of 'injured creatures' whom you must get involved in
their healing. You taught us to face the world boldly, constantly reminding us that only the brave
and courageous win the battle of life.
It is a tragedy that such a one as DAAR has passed on; leaving everyone else in shock and
disbelief, the majority of us still groping in the dark about the death of our very amiable
chairman emeritus, founder, father and benefactor.
DAAR, you truly knew the secrets of living upright with God and the people around you. You paid
attention to everybody and everything.
The most amazing aspect of DAAR's earthly life was that he gave the same intensify, care, love,
and devotion to people who sought his assistance in one way or the other. His unparalleled
devotion to the lives of other people, especially to my career development, made me to believe
in him and therefore, alligned myself to his vision, despite all else.
My high chief, you were so engaging and jovial, never getting through a conversation without
gifting a word of advice and encouragement.
I still remember once when I’d come calling on your home-office in one of those my not-too-

frequent visits, you’d wondered why I was not getting serious attention to my lingering health
challenge; you'd given me some pep talks and reminded me of the futility of seeking for help
from outside God who alone is man’s best help in times of need. You prayed for me to heal faster
and permanently.
I deeply appreciate all those your spirited interventions all through this period of my Spinal
columns ordeal.
Thank you sir, my own saint now out of bondage of this earth plane.
It's true, you never gave up on me despite all else since I encountered you in 2001.
You were always a father, a friend, a mentor, a benefactor, a trusted BIG BROTHER, one who
disliked people who relentlessly seek for other people’s downfall when the very life we live is
short and transient.
The last time I saw you in the office, you’d looked me in the face and smiled that your captivating
and bewitching smile, always pregnant with godly feelings and good wishes; and you even joked
about my walking stick even as you brandished your own: "Oga, I don join your group of walking
stick carriers."
Ah, eeeramaaaah, it's difficult to believe that you’re gone?!!

Oh, ARABA, why didn’t you confide in me or in all those who genuinely love you as I do?
Certainly, we would have interceded with God the great Potter on your behalf. But, in your
characteristic bold manner, you romanced the Grim Reaper alone.
Oh, only God knows what happened on that afternoon of Monday May 29, 2023, and you’re out
of this life bondage to everything earthly.

I remember that date as it was that day; the sun rose above us in its usual effulgence,
brightening the sky over the Eagles Square in Abuja where dignitaries from far and near had
converged to witness the inauguration of the 16th President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The
entire Federal Capital Territory wore vivid radiant glory. Nature itself had been most generous as
it surprised the territory with a light rainfall earlier that day but little did we know that it had
other surprises for us. Nature took you away, our BIG BROTHER from another mother, High Chief
Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi!
Ah, it's difficult to come terms with the fact that you are now no more with us; certainly I have
been through this route dozens of times ( lost my both parents long ago and even so many loved
ones), but I have never been so weared down by their deaths
Beyond the the portals of friendship and family ties, you were renowned for your charity and
philanthropy.
Your benevolence, humanitarianism and love span the breadth of human existence. You remain
my own idea of an angel because you gave your children and everyone else a reason or reasons
to hope.
For me, your death is a sudden and violent transition from earthly existence into a realm which
most of us alive on the earth plane hardly ever devout time to ponder over.
Personally, this is a grieving moment and a solemn period for millions of your admirers across the
globe. I wish I know what to do to bring you back! Your exit is painful and hurtful but, what can
we do? Death is the natural course of man’s life, the way of all mortals.
Your earthly life remains a labour of hope for humanity, your death a reminder of the frailty of
man and the brevity of earthly life.
Though we mourn you today, our beloved Engineer, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, yet will we continue

to celebrate you because you remain for me, and I’m sure millions of your well wishers, the
symbol of unyielding, heroic political activism, the signification of populist democracy, blighting
and in the purity of your conviction, unshaken till the intervening might of fate.
Your death certainly cannot be the end of the story, your dream, your vision; maybe just a new
chapter, a new beginning, a total refocusing of energy and resources by we who are your assets. I
will always hold very dear to heart your philosophies of life which include human capital
development, respect for all human dignity, benevolent and philanthropic leadership.
We will continue to behold DAAR in the emblems of kindness to the deprived and despairing, in
the selfless salvage of the denied and oppressed, in the bold, unfurled banner of progressive
democratic largeness of Nigeria.
Your generosity spoke the language of everybody; always looking for ways to improve and add
value to people's lives.
Today, most people remember the great Araba as a man of intense love, humility, integrity, with
a totally untainted reputation for equity, fairness and justice; a highly detribalized, disciplined
marine engineer and a charismatic local investor who in spite of the vicissitudes of Nigeria’s
economy retained the confidences of his business associates, employees and bankers.
I miss you today and will miss you more tomorrow; the degree of my pain over your passage
continues to grow in intensity.
I just think that, today, as we mourn amid subdued celebration, a man who lived a most fulfilled
life, the greatest honour we can give to the late great son of Edo, an industrialist, a trailblazer in
private broadcasting and a patriot, is to pick up the threads of the ideals High Chief Raymond
Aleogho Anthony Dokpesi stood for, weave them to redefine ourselves and our country Nigeria:
while he yet lived, populist democracy, love and respect for all satisfied DAAR and they will
definitely gratify his soul even in death.
You gave your all to humanity, you used your time and resources for the advancement of all
people and in the service of your creator.

I'm particularly comforted by the knowledge that you are resting peacefully in the bosom of the
Lord but, the swiftness of your death has left me and millions of others in shock and devastation.
It's sad to recall that death, the last bus stop in our earthly expedition, has abbreviated Ezomo's
journey but
I am consoled by the words of a certain THOMAS MOORE that, "All that's brightest must fade,
the brightest still the fleetest: all that's sweetest was made but to lost when sweetest."
High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, you remain a great man even in death. "In the end, it's not
the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years," Abraham Lincoln, a former President
of the United States of America said a long time ago.
It's well my BIG BROTHER DAAR. This world is not our home after all and, always the bell of death
tolls for every living flesh. We thank God whom we cannot fight nor even dare to question for
the good life that you lived.
We celebrate you because you passed through a turbulent childhood to became the
Handkerchief that wiped the agonizing tears and sweats of sorrow away from the faces of
millions of people across the world.
Your departure hurts but who owns your soul has called you home: our creator is God the Lord
of all the seed-time and the harvest.
Certainly, a personage as DAAR cannot die. Aleogho Dokpesi cannot be entombed in some
concrete banishment, eclipsed from edifying memory. Impossible! The DAAR that I have known

since 2001 can neither die nor will he ever be forgotten because he will continue to live on our
lips, in our hearts, in our everyday lives; his marshalling of entrepreneurial and political struggles
will never die, the ethical writ of his oracular effulgence will forever blaze, beyond the grave.
Our own DAAR will forever remain in the cosmic latitude, girding the dithering of the political
trenches, intensifying the unstable walk, tutoring, motivating, stamped in didactic radiance.
The God who led His people through the parted sea, and from Egyptian bondage, set his children
free is the God to whom I pray for the sustenance of your legacies and grant you eternal rest in
Heaven.
You were a warrior for humanity and God.

Adieu our dear Ezomo,
Rest on our dear Araba,
Eeeraaamaa, I think the world of you!!
Itaaaa, okhiako oooooo!!!!