Legends are born only when they die - The rewards of death

On my previous article, I talked about Chukwuemeka Akachi, a young brilliant Nigerian poet who took his life some time in 2019. Many people didn’t know of him until he decided to end it. And then, they decided to read more on him and discovered his 16 notes on how to end a life amidst other pieces he’d written. Earlier this year, a young Cameroonian musical sensation, Fhish, passed away and though we couldn’t be oblivious of his musical legacy, his death made him more popular. His posthumous project, SILK is getting too much attention and I love to think that it’s because he is dead. It is rumored that Michael Jackson’s posthumous releases got his family more money than most of his most famous acts. Tupac Shakur, murdered in 1996, is still very present amongst us through his music. Though it might not be true for all, most people have risen to the height of Fame and glory only when they passed. And like I quoted yesterday, nobody cares unless you are popular, rich or dead. So fame has had to come at a price — their lives. They are sung when they are gone. Praises are given to corpses.

In November of 2017, I lost my aunt and I have never been shocked and felt pain as much as I did that year. What I noticed is that the whole family gathered to bury her. They set aside their differences and came to bury her. It was a beautiful but horrible sight. There were 1001 tales of her kindness et al. True, she was kind. But her own death made her to rise above earthly dispensation — she became a legend. This evening while listening to Bob Marley, I wondered if in his days, he had the same applause we give his music today. I wondered if his marijuana lifestyle didn’t affect the opinions people must’ve had about his music. But he has been dead for long and with each day that passes, he can only become a greater legend.

But why are people almost always glorified after their deaths? Some would say that it is because we value things only when we lose them. Is that really true? Or is it just that with each death, we tend to be more careful about life? In those few days after their passing, we become more involved in making their lives or deaths some sort of legacy. Why else would dead people be more popular and acclaimed than the living? What therefore are the rewards of dying?

The first reward of dying as I would say is that you will be dead. Because, dying is a liberation from this sinful and desperately wicked world. The second, you will become a legend, if and only if you were fairly good at what you did. Thirdly, you will get a heap of bouquets and eloquent speeches and eulogies. The only reason why most of us fear death is because of the unknown — none of us have been dead before and therefore, nobody really knows how it is to be dead. There are theories though of a light at the end of a tunnel or an everlasting peaceful sleep. But whatever may be the case, it can’t be worse than living.

We should put in more effort in loving the living as much as we do with the dead. We should give these people their accolades when they are alive. We should sing their praises before they die. Legends should live before they die.

When I die, I don’t care what you do — I will already be dead.

Thanks for coming to my rant.