OLABISI EGEJURU, THE EXCEPTIONAL LADY WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY PERSONALITY
Writing about my dearest Olabisi Folamole Egejuru is quite daunting because Bisi was an exceptional lady, with an extraordinary personality. It is impossible to capture the outstanding qualities of Bisi and her contribution to humanity and the specific lives entrusted to her along the way.
Bisi loved the Lord, served, and represented, Him accurately till the end. She was God’s hand to many people and her countenance reflected God's many attributes. She nurtured many, provided for their small and big necessities. To many people, Bisi was kith and kin, and everyone felt close to her and well loved by her. Relating with Bisi was never burdensome, because Bisi was forthright, sincere, and humble. Her yes was yes, and her no was no. Bisi always came alongside people to lift them up in good times and bad. She was a prolific giver, but she never gave in a patronizing way. A few times when we had to contribute to some course, Bisi gave more. She even provided for any other thing needed for the project.
Bisi was a God-fearing submissive wife, who fervently adored James, her husband. She was a doting mother and grandmother and she raised them well, praying ceaselessly for them from the beginning till the end. Her siblings and extended family were dearly loved and held in high esteem. Her husband's family was also very dear to her and highly respected. Bisi loved her in-laws and was always excited to go to Abia State annually. She invited us (classmates), to come for Christmas with her. Unfortunately, we procrastinated and it never materialized! When our WhatsApp group started, we unanimously chose Bisi to be our President because of the mature way she carried herself from our childhood days at Queen’s School till now.
Throughout Bisi’s trial, with the ailments, her faith was strong. Bisi’s last call to me was on Thursday, the 18th of February, about three weeks before she fell asleep! She said God has been good to her and that there are many testimonies, which she will share soon. While Bisi spoke to my husband, I danced joyfully around the lounge, thanking God for answered prayers. She said "you are the first person I’m calling, but I will call some others later". Little did I know that it was the last time I will hear Bisi's voice on this side of eternity. As soon as the call ended, Bisi sent her usual WhatsApp signature, “I love you scatter”, to our WhatsApp forum, accompanied with some love emojis. Everyone was overjoyed because she had been silent on the forum for quite long. They promptly responded and expected more communication to follow. But alas, none came!
I will always cherish the the times we shared together. In February, 2017, Bisi and two of our mates, Bola Cole Kolade and Abiola Lamikanra, came to visit us in Cape Town. We had an unforgettably wonderful time together; here in Cape town, and when we went far away from the Cape to some tourist attraction venues. When Chijioke came on an official assignment to Cape Town, sometime in 2015 or so, Bisi told him to try and see her friend and He came to visit. I am very grateful for such a trusting friend. In 2016, Bisi told me that God instructed her to cut down on the many social events. She instantly obeyed. Now I think that God wanted her to slow down and enjoy a peaceful life with close family and friends before He took her to Himself.
Bisi was also my husband’s classmate in Federal School of Science, Lagos. After Queens School, while I was in University of Ibadan, I visited her and late Dupe Smith in their LUTH residence. But after marriage we all became busy raising our children and being good wives. At that time, communication between us was scarce but the bond was never broken. After we left the country, I visited her in GRA whenever I came home. In the past six years, we talked a lot on phone, confiding in each other, sharing testimonies of past and current events in our lives, failures, successes and victories, and prayed. We both knew what was confidential and what was not, and we kept it so. I am forever grateful for Bisi and the bond we shared.
My closeness with love for her is not just because we were classmates but more because, on Sunday, 5th of May, 1969. Bisi's kind personality played a pivotal role in cushioning my way back to God, without fear, and she forever became part and parcel of my salvation story. That simple, humble and loving act by Bisi has eternal rewards. I pray that my salvation story, will draw souls into the Kingdom of God Sons, and that the role Bisi played that night will open people’s eyes to the importance of manifesting God’s love to people at all times.
It was a Saturday evening, May 4, 1969, after the usual Saturday socials (sing-along and dance evening), a day after we returned to school from holidays. During the dance session, Lagos girls were asked to take the floor and show the others the trending dance steps in Lagos. Many of us took the floor, and I think Bisi also came out. Back in our dormitory at about 9pm we, form four girls, being the seniors in the dormitory at that time (Forms 5s and HSCs were in different buildings) gathered around Bisi’s bed as a discussion ensued with another classmate who said she was born again because she accepted Christ at a Scripture Union conference during the holidays. We argued with her for a long time. We said no one has the assurance of going to heaven. We will only know when we die and God weighs our good and bad! I and some others said, "there is no God and no heaven because on one of our social evenings, we all watched Neil Armstrong landing on the moon to collect rock samples, and return to earth. So, scientist will soon discover that there is nowhere called heaven".
She was quiet but interjected calmly at intervals, saying, “You must be born again. If a man is not born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Infuriated, we used some derogatory terms to describe her and her conviction. At about 11pm, we decide to go and sleep, but I was afraid to sleep alone on my bed because I thought God might send an angel to kill me before daybreak, and it would be terrifying to face the angel alone. So, I asked Bisi to let me sleep on her bed with her. To my amazement Bisi, a very neat and clean person, said OK! I was relieved and I slept soundly beside Bisi through the night on those small dormitory beds. Till today, I stand amazed because I never saw anybody sleep with Bisi on her bed before and after that day.
If Bisi had refused, I might have been too fearful to sleep and not have the calm state of mind needed to hear God dialoguing so clearly with me in the morning of Sunday, 5 of May 1969, just after 5am.
With a clear mind, God started conversing me with me after I woke up and had my bath. While making my bed, to sleep again until the 2nd breakfast bell would ring, a scene played out before me. I saw builders actively talking, saying things like, “pass me the cement, pass this, that etc.
Then God started questioning me:
“You said there is no God. If there is no God. How is it that this dormitory continues to exist long after the people who built it, brick by brick, are dead and gone”?
Secondly, God said “some of the soldiers who were trained in this compound, built during the second world war, died and never came back from the war, and here you are, a little girl, living in the same dormitory in which they slept. Where are they? Did they just disappear into thin air”?
Thirdly, God said, “Look at the aero plane, people who manufactured it ensure that every little portion was placed in their correct positions. The inanimate plane they made continues to exist long after they are gone. While that lifeless machine continues to function for years, and years, did they just vanish into thin air”? Where are they?
Lastly, God said, “if people who built an aero plane are inside one that malfunctions, they cannot say, “we put you together, stop dropping”. They will be killed inside what they made.
At that point I knew that there is a greater power in control of human lives - GOD. Then I said to myself, “if there is God, what does He think of me”? I knew the answer was unfavorable. I realized that God hates sin. It was about one month to my 16th birthday, and I was sorely ashamed and sorrowful for the sins committed in my short life. I got into my bed, covered my head, and cried as I remembered specific sins committed in my childhood. Events rolled before me like a movie.
One of such event was when my mum said I could not put on the newest dress to church, because she intended it for the next big even (Easter, Christmas, wedding). I intentionally cried out loud so that my dad intervened. A vehement argument ensued and sadly, my mum always conceded! Another vivid one was when I took my junior brother’s biscuit from him, and he cried out loud. When my mum asked what happened, I said, “he hit his head on the wall”. I saw myself the way God saw me and feeling very filthy before, I wept profusely, confessing my wicked behavior at such an early stage in life. I pleaded for forgiveness for each sinful act that came to my mind. My dormitory girls woke up and came around my bed asking why I was crying, but I could not answer them. I just wept silently as I prayed.
After some time, I said, “O God, please forgive me, and send Jesus Christ into my life, to show me how to live for You until I die”. Even though I was lying in bed, I immediately, felt and “saw” in the spirit, a heavy sac loosed and fall off my back. I realized that, unknown to me, I had been carrying a huge burden of sin. Great joy welled up in me and I felt like a new person. I knew that I was about to embark on a new life journey, and I determined never to turn back. Then I felt a compelling urge to know God more. So, I got a bible and arbitrarily opened it. My eyes went straight to:
2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. I quickly wrote it down, closed and opened again. My eyes fell on:
Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”. The third time around, the bible opened to:
1 John 5:9 -12 - “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
This last passage clearly explained what it means to regain the life of God that human beings were meant to enjoy before Adam and Eve sinned.
I realized that I had just made the most important decision in life by handing over my life to God, and I was determined never to go back. I immediately wrote a letter to my mother asking why she never told me that I needed to be born again. Soon after that, Bisi and many junior and senior girls gave their lives to the Lord and a great revival started in the whole school and the adjacent Government College, Ibadan. With renewed lives, and kindred minds, the Scripture Union fellowship started. Thankfully, almost every one of us when gave our lives to the Lord back then are still walking in Christ until now.
I wish I had met Bisi sooner, when our families attended All Saints’ Church, Yaba, Lagos. We must have attended Sunday School together on Sundays; perhaps played some role in the Easter or Christmas plays. Bisi frequently visited her uncle’s house in Railway Compound when we also lived there until my father retired from the Nigerian Railways Corporation. Our paths never crossed because we moved to Surulere in 1962. Now I think I know why God keeps the best relationship for the appointed time. He wanted Bisi to be mentioned every time I recount my salvation story, just like the Apostle Paul repeatedly mentioned Ananias whenever he recounted his salvation story.
Finally, I am sure that Bisi completed her work on earth gallantly and so, she slept in Christ. She would not have it any other way. Thank you, Lord, for giving Olabisi to us. Thank you, Lord, that You chose to take her to Yourself and in Your own way, you will comfort every one of us who miss Bisi, and particularly give her family the peace that passes all understanding. Amen. Adieu, my darling sister and friend, Olabisi Folamole Egejuru.