I met Emmanuel in 1987 while working at the same company. He called me Josh. A coworker that had attended the training school with Emmanuel and subsequently was posted to my department told me about him upon knowing that I was also from Nigeria. Eventually Emmanuel and I met at a company luncheon and as they say “the rest is history.” He lived close to the office while I lived farther away, so we would usually go to his apartment for lunch.
Fast forward, I left the company and as the fate would have it, my new office wasn’t too far away. So, on every Friday, Emmanuel and I would meet at a Chinese restaurant midway between us for lunch. Gradually, our lunch time became business discussion sessions. We would bounce around different business ideas. It was during the advent of the PCs, so one of those discussions ended up with us starting our own brand of PC assembly and sales in the mold of companies like IBM. In order to actualize this plan, we enrolled and attended a PC assembly and building class at a local Junior College on weekends. We complemented this by taking classes in the relevant PC software in order to enhance our knowledge of the PC. We started building PCs and selling to friends and associates. We couldn’t transition into fulltime business because it would mean one of us would have to quit his job and neither could afford to do so.
We also dabbled into real estate. To kickstart this, we purchased a 5-acre piece of land at a predominantly farmland and rural area far east of Plano from an owner who financed it short term for us. The plan was to use it as a launching pad that could potentially get us into real estate investment. We were to hold it for about 5 – 10 years and then sell it. Unfortunately, we were forced to sell after holding it for about 2 years due to circumstances beyond our control.
The above were just glimpses of my association and relationship with Emmanuel over the years. In the last 2 years, I spent a lot of time with Emmanuel and Dorothy. At first, at their business location and later, at their residence when he could no longer be physically present at the business. I visited them about 2 days a week, approximately 5-6 hours each day. They were some of the best and most memorable periods of my life. We spent most of our time watching TV, mostly game shows and sports after having our lunch. Even though I’d known Emmanuel for years, but not at such a personal and granular level as I did in the last 2 years. I learnt about his family back home especially his 90-year-old surviving mother and a lot about the village where he came from. You could see his eyes light up whenever he started to talk about his village in Nigeria.
He donated soccer uniforms and boots for the village youths and organized soccer tournaments for them annually. The year that he didn’t organize tournaments, he gave each child money to buy school supplies. He empowered all the village widows by giving them money to start their businesses. He would also give each family in his village money to celebrate Christmas. Celebration of his mother’s birthday was always a festive period for the villagers because he would feed and distribute food supplies to each family.
Emmanuel shared with me how he facilitated the conceptual and architectural design of a multimillion-dollar University and Medical Complex at his home state capital in Nigeria for a group of investors. He showed me the video of the unveiling of the design by the students and staff of Texas A&M School of Architecture. He also showed me the video of the ground breaking ceremony of the complex at Uyo in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the project did not go beyond the ground breaking due to the demise of the key financier of the project.
He was the CEO of a group of investors, all from his home state. The group had just started construction of a huge pig farming complex on a 3- or 5-acre piece of land at his village. Up until his last day, I watched him constantly on the phone getting updates on the project and giving directives to the people working at the project site. I pray and hope the group will continue with the project and complete it as a memorial in his name. His philanthropic activities at the village were endless. In my opinion, outside of his family, the impact of Emmanuel’s passing will be most greatly felt by the villagers.
Emmanuel was a very multi-talented and gifted person. His life reminds me of the biblical “Parable of the Talents” in the book of Matthew. He used the talents that God gave him to the fullest and his returns were beyond measure to the extent that God will welcome him with open hands and say to him, “well done, good and faithful servant.” He was very cerebral and intelligent. If that’s not the case, how else could you explain how someone with a degree in an architecture-related field and no computer background could quickly and easily master computer systems and languages, and then advance in the corporate world as he did? Emmanuel was a very straightforward, upright and highly principled person. His honesty and integrity were never in question. His favorite words were collaboration and synergy which I believe he must have picked up during is PhD and PMP certification classes. He treated every task at hand, no matter how small, as a project that must have a begin and end dates with deliverables in between. He was a detribalized man. He dealt with people as they were and didn’t matter to him what color, nationality or part of Nigeria the person came from. Emmanuel’s passing is a reminder that this life is not permanent. It is a loan from God. We are alive and breathing today only because God is not done with us and our time hasn’t come yet. When He is ready to take us home, He will do so at the time of His choosing without consulting anyone.
To Dorothy and the children, I say to you, do not be afraid and dismayed for God will strengthen you and uphold you with His righteous right hand. He will make a way for you where there seems to be no way. The heavens wanted his presence in eternity and he has gone home to finally rest in peace from the trials and tribulations of this world.
Finally, to my friend, Emmanuel. Your strife is over and your battle is won. You have become the son of the tiger that dared death and has now conquered it. Death no longer has hold on you and can no longer harm you. Enjoy your rest in the bosom of the Lord.
Adieu my dear friend Emmanuel.
Joshua (Josh) Olorunnisomo.