Dominic Sunday Ijika Passes On

Death stalked him in a manner he could not survive it.  About midday last Friday,  his 9 year old son found him in an unusual position in the bedroom and phoned the mother who is far away in Jaji.  The mother got through to a good Samaritan near the house who offered to ferry him to the hospital immediately.  He was already in coma. Shortly after departure from the house,  the car taking him to the hospital crashed.  Obviously tensed carrying someone in coma,  the emergency driver somersaulted. It took time for a new set of Samaritans to get him and the wounded former driver to the Federal Medical Centre,  Abuja. Subsequently,  he was moved to the National Hospital where the doctors considered his case meriting immediate operation.
The operation started 1 am and ended by 3.30 am on Saturday.  In medical language,  he was stable.  But,  that was up to 5 am on October 2nd when he gave up. His is a classic of irreplaceable loss. His communal activism is unbeatable. He was the unpaid chief publicist of both the Idoma Forum  involving collating published materials,  republishing & circulating them multimedia wise.
He was also a problem solver par excellence. He has a unique capacity to present his problem in such a way that you must listen.  Above all,  he was completely unselfish with his time.  If Ijika was in Lagos and one called to inform him of being on his way there,  he was sure to set aside his own commitments, take one to wherever  he  had on his list. He left off only when one was safely in the plane. He put no cost to such things at all.  
The numerous callers who sought to confirm his death confirms his sociability.  He had diabetes but he was very aware of that and told whoever cared to listen about it.  Ijika obtained his first degree in Information Technology from the University of Michigan in the United States.  Upon return to Nigeria,  he set up his own printing press in Lagos which he moved to Abuja recently. Before his sojourn in the US,  he worked with Lintas Advertising Agency,  Lagos. He’s survived by a wife, Lt Commander Cecelia Ijika and three children. 
His death coincided with that of Anthony Agbo, the proprietor of Tosema Diagnostic Laboratory in Makurdi,  Benue State. He died of brief illness. The two come from the same part of Idomaland.