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What Friends, Colleagues & His Bosses Will Miss About Him
Our whole family was saddened by the news of Abdul’s passing. We knew him as a very generous and loving in-law, highly respectful and humble. Abdul made sure to contribute and give gifts whenever the Abass family had a big event. He would greet us with a lot of warmth whenever we met at social outings.
He was also responsible for ‘bailing us out’ of a couple of sticky situations on some occasions. He gave of and with himself again and again.
We pray God Almighty console Sade and the kids as well as Tunde and the entire extended Imoyo family.
Rest in peace Abdul. We miss you dearly
Emeritus Professor Olayide Abass (OON) for the entire Abass family
Emeritus Professor Olayide Abass (OON)
Dear Abdul
It is with a heavy heart that I write this tribute. Each word confirms the fact we have been denying since we first heard the sad news. Each word confirms the fact that you are no longer with us.
Your departure has left a profound void in our Corporate Communications family that can never be filled.
Everyone in the office has a story to tell about the passion, dedication, and positive energy you brought to the office. Your absence will be keenly felt by each member of the team <present and past). The impact you made professionally and the warmth you shared personally will be deeply missed.
As we navigate this sea of grief, we are reminded of your unwavering commitment to our common goals.
Your legacy will continue to inspire us in our future endeavors.
Our deepest sympathies go out to your family during this incredibly difficult time. May God grant peace and solace to those you leave behind.
You will be sorely missed.
Amaechi Okobi
For: Corporate Communications Group
Access Corporation
Amaechi Okobi
IN LOVING MEMORY OF CHIEF IMO
It is with heavy hearts and sadness that we bid farewell to a remarkable soul, our dear Chief Imoyo. With sorrow, we reflect on the loss of not just a colleague but a cherished friend and an invaluable member of our Access family.
Chief Imo, as we popularly call him, was more than just a Media Manager; he was the heartbeat of our Marketing and Communications team, the maestro behind our successful communication strategies, and the spirit that lit up every room. His calm demeanor, gentle spirit, and decades of experience were not just professional attributes but integral elements that defined our close-knit team.
In almost three decades of service, Chief Imo became synonymous with excellence. His ability to navigate the complexities of media relations and resolve issues effortlessly within a day was nothing short of magical. His wisdom, honed by years of experience, became a guiding light for all of us fortunate enough to work alongside him.
Beyond his professional prowess, Chief Imo was a friend to all. His endearing nicknames for each team member reflected the warmth and camaraderie he brought into our lives. A true heart of the party, Abdul made every moment memorable, infusing joy and laughter into the fabric of our team.
His close bond with the management staff was a testament to his character and the respect he earned through his unwavering dedication and exemplary work. Chief Imo wasn’t just respected; he was deeply loved by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
As we mourn the loss of our dear Abdul, let us also celebrate the incredible legacy he leaves behind. His impact on the Marketing and Communications team and Access Bank as a whole is immeasurable. Let us remember the joy he brought into our lives, the wisdom he shared, and the indelible mark he left on our hearts.
May his soul find eternal peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.
With deepest condolences.
Toyin Henry-Ajayi
For: Marketing & Communications Group
Access Bank
ABDUL IMOYO PASSING: A BIG LOSS FOR ACAMB
Inalilahi Waenna Ilehi Rajiun …. (It is from Allah we came, and it is to HIM we shall return).
May Allah (SAW) grant Abdul soul, eternal rest and make Alhjanah firdaus, his eternal abode, amin.
When ExCO received the news of his death early today, we were all devastated but we needed to grant the immediate family the right to formally announce his passing as a matter of right to his memory and best practice in protocol in such circumstances.
Rasheed Bolarinwa – President, ACAMB
On behalf of your ExCO and the entire Association, I express my condolences to our late Colleague’s immediate family; the entire IMOYO Clan; Access Holdings Group & ACAMB as a body on this loss.
He would be sorely missed by ACAMB, and I urge you to please individually have the Abdul’s family in your prayers at this trying moment.
It is well!
Dear Amaechi,
Late yesterday evening I learned of the sad death of Abdul. Even in the language of Shakespear words are not enough to adequately express my regrets at the loss of someone I embraced as a personal and professional friend and admired as ‘a quintessential corporate media manager, journalist and counsel.’
Working with him over the last 12 years and more has made me feel a very small part of the Access family and in that capacity, I hope you will accept my condolences and add them to the list of those in Access and our profession as communicators who will miss him on earth.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Peter L Walker FCIPR. FNIPR – Chartered Practitioner
PIELLE Consulting Group
TN 40 IEE
UK
+447836223513; +44 1424219181
PIELLE Consulting Group
Abdullmoyo – The Saddest News
SO MANY DEATHS AROUND US
The tragic and sudden death of Abdul Imoyo, the media relations manager of Access Corporation, the holding company of Access Bank, last week was yet again a painful addition to the long list of people well known to me who have passed away in recent months. Abdul was a fine PR professional, versatile business journalist and a decent human being. His friends and colleagues in Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) have been particularly inconsolable. I extend my condolences to them and the Access Bank family. I knew Abdul over 22 years ago when I worked as the head of corporate communications in a bank, and he was a business correspondent at Vanguard newspaper.
He was a deeply knowledgeable, smart, and nifty reporter. Among his colleagues, Abdul stood out in his comportment and a good sense of personal integrity. I always looked forward to his visits to my 16th floor office on Marina, Lagos.
By ETIMETIM
economically vulnerable ones, consider it the most affordable and potent. In native treatment, one medicine cures everything, from gonorrhea to premature ejaculation, low sperm count, fibroid, and baldness.
At street corners and markets, the efficacy of these “medicines” is openly advertised, and local folks are falling victims largely because they consider the hospitals extremely expensive and cumbersome. Even where a patient has visited the hospital, some relatives may advise him to go native as “this is beyond hospital”. The unrelenting fight of native doctors for the people’s minds and money is one of the major causes of deaths in the population. It is curious that while hospitals are not allowed to advertise, native doctors can tout their efficacies in the most audacious manner.
Two weeks ago, I turned to a good friend, Dr. Ita Udosen, the chief medical director of Alma Clinic & Hospital, and asked him why deaths seem to be so common these days. With over 35 years’ experience in medical practice both in Nigeria and the US, Dr. Udosen has a good sense of earthy humor. He told me: “My experience is that a Nigerian will eagerly spend huge sums of money to repair or overhaul his car, but he is very reluctant to spend on his health. If you suggest to our people to do a comprehensive medical examination, he will tell you ‘Doctor, there is no money’. But the following day, he will be at his mechanic’s workshop, instructing the mechanic, ‘drop the engine of this car’. How did he get the money to take care of the car, but none to take care of his health”? Dr. Udosen notes that government has stepped in by providing National Health Insurance Scheme managed by National Health Insurance Authority. Nigerians, he said, should embrace this by taking out Health Insurance for their families.
With so many people living under so much severe and stressful conditions, preventive medicine has a lot to do to prevent sudden deaths. But how do we cope when incomes are hardly enough to take care of the family? How can our governments step in?
I remember also other friends like Akanimo Edet, Efremfon Bassey and Ata Etuk who recently passed away. My heart goes out to the families they left behind and may their souls rest in peace.
God is all knowing.
May Abdul’s family, friends and the ACAMB family be comforted and strengthened by God. May His soul be granted eternal rest.
Heartfelt condolences to us all.
Dr. (Mrs.) Yinka Daramola
I had been denying it since thinking that it would not be true. I feel a terrible loss.
The Lord rest his soul. God will give his family and all his friends the fortitude to bear the loss. It’s painful.
Lanre Alabi
A painful loss of a good soul. A reliable friend and gentleman who radiates warmth and positive energy at all times. Such a big loss for all of us. God knows best to call him early for the inevitable end that awaits us all. RIP Abdul.
Ndunechu Ezurike
Imoyo is a man of candor. He will be sorely missed! May God receive his soul in eternity and comfort his family. So hard to say goodbye!
Matthew Obiazikwor
24 hours after, and it still seems like a dream that Abdul is really no more with us. But what can one say? Sometimes it feels like life is so cruel but .. when a writer is short of words, know that ‘dis one pass am plenty plenty’. Rest in peace, my dear friend.
Ogie Eboigbe
Abdul Imoyo: I have not been able to comment.
May your memory remain a blessing. May God comfort your family. May the Almighty preserve the pillars in every family. Amen
Oswald Chukwunyeremugo
I am yet to come to terms with this sad, shocking reality. May God make passage easy for him and may his soul rest in peace.
Jude Nwauzor
A VOYAGE TO NOTHINGNESS: A TRIBUTE TO ABDUL IMOYO
From childhood, precisely from my elementary school days, I had developed an incredible fascination for opposing phenomena. This mysterious fondness for examining the abstract but extant lines between anti-thetical concepts, started for me, albeit unconsciously, when I was in Primary 3, shortly after Mr. Adesola (may God rest his soul) taught us about words and opposites, for the first time.
This manifested grossly in my mental interpretation of events in antithetical manner, with a nonpareil imaginative fecundity. Occurrences ranging from the mundane to the surreal; the terrestrial to the celestial. This quest for meaning was further enriched by my introduction to Quantum Physics, particularly the Wave-Particle Duality theorem, while in the High School. My comprehension of Karl Marx’s struggle of opposites in his Historical Materialism, as well as Wilfred Hegel’s.
By: Olatunji Oke
Dialectical materialism, further sharpened my philosophical antenna for the purpose of this intellectual interrogation.
Ingrained in my subconscious was the desire to explore the interconnectedness between sickness and health; joy and sadness; poverty and wealth; peace and war, amongst many opposing phenomena. Of all these, the most thought-provoking for me had to do with the contrasting elements of life and death.
In the bid to satisfy this curiosity of mine, I ran into the postulations of the existentialists. Men like Soren Aabye Kierkegaard, Albert Camus, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Paul Tillich, Jean-Paul Sartre and others who were preoccupied with examining the role of man in the quest for meaning, in his journey from the womb to the tomb. A voyage that takes him from something to nothing.
J.P. Sartre described it as an expedition from being to Nothingness. Martin Heidegger opined that as long as a child is born, he is old enough to die. Some others posited that as soon as conception takes place, a child is old enough to die. This line of thought ascribes primacy of place to conception, not parturition, as the starting point of this race. There are as diverse opinions on this trajectory as there are platforms for expression.
Going by the thoughts of Heidegger, it can be deduced that the credibility of life has nothing to do with its longevity. To add to it, nothing confers legitimacy on being as purpose. The substance of the time between the womb and the tomb resides in its purpose. Fulfilling it lends credence to existence. Talking of purpose, Abdul was an angel in human form for many. A pathfinder for many with his willingness to assist in any way he could.
Abdul Imoyo’s passing is a tragedy of immense proportion that will surely take a while for me to process.
He was an aggregate of generosity, gentlemanliness, readiness to help and a host of other great qualities.
He was my go-to person and together, we managed a lot of crises noiselessly. His humility and accommodating spirit spoke volumes. My very first advanced Thesaurus was a gift from him around 1992/93, thereabouts. He encouraged me to hone my writing skills. Though a modest person, he was never short of ambition. He paid his dues through hard work, social capital, and unquestionable integrity.
I sobbed like a baby putting up’ his picture on my status because I experienced a stream of memories I had not in a long while. I remember how we shared the same bed, some 3 decades ago. I’ll never forget how the military junta kept us all at home and we’d play the game of scrabble, all day back then, along side Adewuyi Olushola Michael, Awwal Liman, Segun Rufus, Bunmi Ogunji and Bolaji Wasiu Badru.
Indeed, I have lost a brother. I lost a confidant. I lost a friend.
However, in all, Abdul Imoyo fulfilled his Creator’s purpose. He allowed his light shine on the paths of many, in a very selfless manner. He exemplified for me, the Biblical injunction that: “ … A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses” (Luke 12:15).
Until his passing, he was an editorial member of both The Lagos Indicator and the Nigeria Indicator. Fare thee well, my brother, my teacher, my confidant.
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