We often weep bitterly when our loved ones depart this world. We mourn their absence, bury their physical remains and struggle to accept that we will never see them again in the same physical form.
Perhaps, however, we should begin to look at death differently.
Death is like birth. Birth is an arrival; death is a departure. One brings a human being into the physical world, while the other takes the soul beyond it.
No human being was created to remain on this earth forever. From the day we are born, an invisible clock begins to tick. Whether we are rich or poor, powerful or powerless, famous or unknown, a day will come when the physical body must be left behind and the soul must continue its journey beyond this earthly existence.
Death, therefore, is not necessarily a punishment. It is the great departure.
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At the moment of departure, something profound happens. The body gradually weakens. Breathing may become laboured before eventually ceasing. Consciousness begins to fade. Those standing beside the dying person may watch helplessly as life appears to withdraw from the physical body.
It is a moment that reminds us of the fragility of human existence.
The body that once walked, spoke, worked, laughed, loved and pursued ambitions eventually becomes still. Whatever force animated it is no longer physically present. The vessel remains, but life has departed.
What happens next?
This is where faith, spirituality and the mystery of existence begin. Many religious and spiritual traditions teach that the soul continues its journey into a realm beyond the physical world.
Whether one fully understands this mystery or not, one undeniable truth remains: none of us will remain here forever.
That truth should fundamentally change the way we live.
We enter this world with nothing, and we leave it with nothing. Yet, human beings spend their lives accumulating possessions as though they will own them forever.
We chase money. We pursue power. We acquire houses, cars, businesses, land and political influence. Some people even destroy the lives of others in their desperate pursuit of wealth.
But what happens to these possessions when the owner is gone?
They remain behind.
The money in the bank does not follow the departing soul. The mansion remains. The expensive cars stay in the garage. Businesses continue under different hands. Political offices are occupied by other people. The properties over which we fought eventually belong to someone else.
We came with nothing, and we will leave with nothing.
That is one of life’s most uncomfortable truths.
It is, therefore, tragic to watch some people seize and loot public resources as though they have negotiated a permanent lease on the earth. They steal money intended for hospitals, schools, roads, security, electricity, water and the welfare of ordinary citizens.
They accumulate billions while millions struggle to survive.
They behave as though political power is an inheritance and public resources are their personal property.
But death does not recognise political office.
Death does not recognise bank balances.
Death does not recognise titles.
Death does not recognise mansions.
Death does not treat the powerful differently from the powerless.
When the final journey begins, the billionaire and the beggar must confront the same departure.
This is why Nigeria’s political class must wake up.
To those entrusted with the people’s resources: stop looting what does not belong to you. Stop converting public wealth into private fortunes. Stop enriching yourselves while citizens drown in poverty, hunger, unemployment and insecurity.
You cannot take Nigeria’s treasury beyond the grave.
The money you steal may build a mansion today, but it cannot purchase another breath tomorrow.
The office you occupy may give you power today, but it cannot command death to wait.
The wealth you accumulate may make you powerful among people, but it cannot make you immortal.
Life is temporary. Power is temporary. Wealth is temporary. Fame is temporary. Even the body we proudly protect and adorn is temporary.
Everything we possess is on borrowed time.
Perhaps the greatest wisdom is not to ask how much we can accumulate before we die, but how much good we can do before we depart.
Feed someone.
Help someone.
Build something that will outlive you.
Protect vulnerable people.
Serve humanity.
Use public office to improve lives rather than destroy them.
Eventually, every political empire will collapse, every fortune will be left behind, every title will lose its meaning and every human being will make the same journey.
The grave does not ask how much you owned. It receives only what remains of the body.
So, let us live with humility.
Let us serve rather than exploit.
Let us give rather than accumulate greedily.
Let those who steal from the people remember this uncomfortable truth: death is not a punishment reserved for the wicked. It is the great departure awaiting us all.
We are temporary travellers in this physical world.
We came with nothing. We will leave with nothing. When the body is finally left behind, the soul must continue its journey beyond this world.
Life should not be measured by what we possess, but by the good we do and the legacy we leave behind.
Life is vanity upon vanity.
The only question is this: when the moment of your departure comes, what kind of life will you have lived?
Written by Festus Edovia, ANIPR, FICM
