She was the girl in the poetic image of the Ashanti mythical golden stool which came down from heaven and is gone back to heaven. She was a girl of brain and beauty with glittering eyes and front-page tooth gap. She arrived on our shores close to 50 years ago from the Gold Coast now Ghana, in search of knowledge at the Mass Communication Department of the University of Lagos. She was a Great Akokite to the core, and she wore the Unilag brand and degree like a badge of honour—even in Ghana her motherland. She may be a Ghanaian but she was given birth to and midwifed by a Nigerian lady who named her Tokunbo “because she was born exactly nine months after her father returned from overseas, a journey he made by sea.” The name Tokunbo was the beginning of her love affair with Nigeria, a Ghanaian who loved Nigeria as much as she loved her native Ghana—if not more.
I remember Gloria Dua-Sakyi like a beautiful dream, the girl who was like a sister, me being Ghana-born and Ghana-educated up till my O-levels at Kwame Nkrumah Secondary School, Nsein, Axim. Until President Busia kicked out all aliens from Ghana which brought me home to Nigeria, my fatherland, did my Higher School Certificate at Ijebu-Jesha Grammar School and from there to the University of Lagos. Together with Gloria, we all came as freshers in the class of 1974-1977 in search of the Pierian Spring of knowledge in the field of Mass Communication. It was the poet Alexander Pope who said in his often-quoted Essay on Criticism which I read for my A-Level English Literature course that “A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring.”
“The 1974-1977 Mass Communication class was a unique set,” recalls Tunde Awobiyi, a classmate. “Gaining admission to Unilag in 1977 was like going through the eye of the needle because of the previous session’s Owosho Fake Certificate Scandal which exposed and sent hundreds of students packing from the university. Senior WAEC and university top brass took fresh 1974 intake through the most stringent screening. As a result, the 1974 set in Mass Comm was reputed to be the most competitive on record with the highest admission cut-off mark. That was why many foreign students, including South Africans and a Ghanaian like Gloria Dua-Sakyi, got ahead of Nigerians.”
Prof Adidi Uyo, one of our lecturers also went on memory lane: “It was with Fundamentals of Broadcasting Class of 74-77 that I cut my teeth on university teaching, and there was Gloria who shone among her classmates for her maturity and modesty. Always graceful, she was full of respect in class, doing her assignments diligently. Gloria had a knack for production and was dexterous at studio operations. She spoke softly, soundly and…smilingly.”
I had lost touch with Gloria since our graduation in 1977. I was eager to reach her and curious to know what progress she made in life after graduation. I saw her on Facebook and sent messages but got no reply. Next, I asked my Ghanaian friend and journalist Francis Kokutse to help me fish her out. After a week, he came with a bombshell: “Your friend is dead!”
I saw her obituary and I cried. She would have been 70 May 7, this year but died November last year. Through Kokutse, I was linked to Gloria’s younger sister, Dr. Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, a lawyer who described her late sister as “funny, witty, says it as it is, no holds barred, apologetic soon after and shows it by heaping you plenty food or sending nice messages.” Through Angela, I got to know that for about two years, Gloria suffered from a blood type cancer called multiple myeloma which she battled bravely for two years until she bowed to death. I learnt that Gloria worked as the Public Relations Manager with various organisations including Institute of Chartered Accountants and from there to Electricity Company of Ghana where she rose to the position of the first female General Manager. She retired from there nine years before she passed. She served on a Board Committee of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission of Ghana, according her sister Angela.
Gloria’s only child Nana Fredua who is now a grownup man, captures the dying moments of his mum in his tribute: “I saw you fight and how you held on tight until all your strength was gone. You couldn’t hold on any longer and you finally gave your hand to God and slipped away quietly without even saying goodbye. Although we didn’t have much, you made sure that I did not lack anything. You made sure I had the best of the best.”
GLORIA STUCK IN BUHARI COUP
In our days in Unilag, Gloria and a classmate Florence Bolokor were the best of friends. “Our friendship was made in heaven as we became drawn to each other immediately,” Florence says. Her most unforgettable Gloria Dua-Sakyi moment was when two of them were caught in the flurry and uncertainty of the December 31, 1983 Nigerian coup d’etat.
“Oh yes, Gloria was with me during the Buhari coup,” Florence remembers. “We were at the wrong place at the wrong time. As we left for my house in Ikoyi, we heard heavy gunshots and we thought that it was the Nigerian Navy ushering us to the New Year. We woke up in the morning and I tried to use the phone but to no avail, still unaware that there had been a coup. We drove to NITEL office and saw soldiers at the gate. They advised we go home to listen to our radios and TV. A Hausa man then informed us that the soldiers had taken over.
“Gloria was stuck in Nigeria for another two weeks with me. She was fearless and strong-willed and didn’t take herself seriously. She loved me just as I loved her. During my last chat with her in April last year being my birthday, she challenged me to visit her in Ghana so that she would reciprocate my love for her by introducing me to her beautiful life after retirement. However, this was not to be as I tried to call her and even sent messages without any response from her.
“Mike, you asked for her number and I informed you that I had sent messages and made calls but no response. I was devastated when you told me of her demise. Our classmate Jimi Nana is in shock as we all are. A beautiful voice and a charming personality has gone to be with the Lord. She lived life to the fullest, just as she worked hard. I miss my friend but I know that I have an angel watching over me.”
*Your columnist, Mike Awoyinfa turns 71 tomorrow July 23. To God be the glory.