On one of his trips to Ghana a couple of years ago, his KLM (connecting) flight from Amsterdam to Accra suddenly and violently started to lose altitude. Oxygen masks dropped; there was panic in the cockpit and pandemonium in the cabin. Some passengers vomited. Some wailed. Some fainted. And some prayed.
Pius was terrified.

When the plane landed in Accra a little more than three hours later, I met Pius just before he reached the Immigration counter. And the first thing out of his mouth as we hugged was: “Olorun lo ma yo wa ke! (It was God that saved us!) Our plane was going down!”
I thought it was the usual turbulence.
“Ore, eleyii o ki n se turbulence o. Mi o sa sese maa fly. (My friend, this was not turbulence o. I am used to flying.) We were going down!”
I looked at the faces of some of the other passengers in line for Immigration. They were also still in shock.
(This was the normal route my family always took to Germany since Lufthansa stopped flying to Accra…probably the same aircraft!)
Even though the incident had happened more than three hours before landing, and the rest of the flight had been smooth, Pius was still shaken.
“O da bi enipe iku plane crash ni mo maa ku o.” (It appears I am going to die in a plane crash), Pius continued as we loaded his luggage into the trunk of my vehicle.

Of course, I didn’t take it seriously and didn’t think much of it. But when I spoke with Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, our mutual friend, last week after the crash, she told me he had told her about that KLM near-mishap.
He had also told her something else that he had told me – that he felt he wasn’t going to live long.

In fact, after his accident last year along the Ogbomosho – Oyo road in which two people died (he was a passenger), Pius was even more specific about how long he would live:
“Ore, bi mo se n baa lo yii, boya ni maa ri 50 o.” (The way I am feeling, I doubt that I’ll make it to 50.)
Another mutual friend of ours…Bayo Emm…confirmed to me that Pius had said the same thing to him just days before the ill-fated flight.

Pius regularly sent me photos of his leg that was injured in that automobile accident so I could see the progress. And we talked about the progress being made on his physical and psychological therapies.

For many months, he couldn’t write, partly because he was emotionally damaged and partly because his hand was also affected by that accident.
He told me that apart from his professional therapist, he drew a lot of strength from talking with Bamidele who basically nursed him back to public life.

We took the first picture below at Dele Momodu’s residence in Accra. Adunni is, of course, to my right. Pius is across from me. And Bob Dee is at the head of the table.
We took the second picture at our house in Accra. This was on the eve of Sowore’s declaration for president. And in front of us on the table is the keg of palm wine given to Pius and I by our friend – Yemi Taiwo Alabi in Ibadan. I had driven from Ibadan to Accra with that Palmy. L – R: Pius, Adunni, Sowore and me.
We took the third photo at an open air pub in the popular Osu district in Accra. You can se Pius’ favorite drink…Origin…in front of him. This photo was taken by Kenny Adetola, our family friend who was also our guest at the time.

At Momodu’s house, you bet we had a robust conversation about Nigeria. And with Sowore, you bet we talked a lot about Nigeria.
Good night, Pius.

• Biodun Ishola Ladepo