Remembering Emmanuel

Emmanuel was about 6ft 6 when we were at Uni 24 years ago. Slim, dark and soft spoken, but could drink half of Nigeria under the table without slurring- scary! The most notable thing about him, aside from his height being his bright red or yellow trousers, which often billowed on account of his slim physique and the generousity of the tailor who constructed the damn things

I last saw him in Lagos in 1991, after we graduated, he told me he was on his way to Germany - seeking greener pastures as we do. He graduated with a 2:1 in Accountancy, a really bright hard-working guy, I felt sure he would do well in whatever he would do or at least be comfortable.

I was to hear about six months ago, that he died in 1999, the cause? Well..the way it was put to me was that he died whilst doing the "Kidney thing". In simple terms, he had travelled to Germany and plainly was an illegal immigrant who was forced to eke out a living in the black economy and had gotten involved in the notorious organ trade. Emmanuel had sold his Kidney(s) to survive and had died from complications from the Surgery and/or complications arising from the loss of the organ(s).

A sad waste of a strong, intelligent young man and a lasting shame on the vermin who rule Nigeria and other African countries and force vibrant youth into desperation. It may have been his choice, but it is a Hobson's choice for a lot of young Africans

The blood of the dead and dying of a lot of young and old is on the hands of African leadership, I am truly sad and ashamed.

I hope Emmanuel has found peace.