A Professor’s Painful Death

What a heart-renting way to die! A collapsed wall crushing a Professor to death? Just like that? Why, God? Why?

Alloysius Aghaji, famous Professor of Urology, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus-Nigeria, met his tragic death in the night of Sunday, August 9, from a collapsed wall in his Aghaji Crescent, GRA residence, Enugu. (Pictures show Professor Aghaji & the collapsed wall that killed him)

A specialist teacher in Prostrate Cancer and Urinary Diseases at the Surgery Department, Aghaji was, until his death, Dean of the university’s College of Medicine before his demise.

The tragedy occurred when Professor Aghaji came out of his one storey-building residence (which, also, served as his private clinic), during a rainfall, to check out something near the wall. The pillars (of the wall) suddenly caved in and stapled the cerebral Professor to the hard earth. He died instantly!

It is pathetically recalled that Aghaji’s dog was similarly killed by the same that collapsed earlier. And the Professor had just finished the rebuilding of the collapsed wall when it (the wall), in turn, crushed him to death.

KlinReports dare say, the most tear-evoking aspect of this tragedy is the realization that Professor Aghaji’s death was preventable, as the collapse of the wall was caused by flood from the nearby Coal City Gardens Estate built by Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC). Is it not revolting enough that there is no proper drainage system in this estate which shares the fence with Aghaji’s home? An estate which comprises over 100,000 housing units, a Presidential lodge, and a shopping mall!

It, therefore, stands to reason that Aghaji died from negligence on the part of the Housing Corporation, and this is very, very painful! Painful that such a man who had contributed enormously to mankind would just die from the carelessness of some irresponsible government agencies.

Aghaji was a man of no mean discoveries. One of his rare feats was a discovery that accidental injury to the bladder is not uncommon, and that open gynecological procedures are the commonest cause in females, while blunt trauma is the commonest in males. This discovery largely derived from a research on 'Accidental Injuries To Urinary Bladder: Enugu Experience' which Aghaji co-authored with Fred Ugwumba in 2003.

KlinReports joins millions of Nigerians in condoling with the family, relations and friends of Professor Alloysius Aghaji over this painful and irreparable loss. May His Soul Rest in Perfect Peace!