Billy Jones

A TRIBUTE TO MR BILLY MICHAEL JONES

                  Life is that glorious and blessed treatment we all owe to the Almighty God who created it and gave us many years to live among family, friends, neighbours and others. We will never come to know all the people who are our contemporaries because of space and time limitations. Presently we live on Spaceship Earth together with six billion human beings. Much as we all wish to be on the mental highways of these other fellow humans, chances are almost all of us are condemned to know a limited few. As the Holy Book says in the language of Jesus, many are called but a few are chosen. This theological statement about our eligibility of Divine Grace has its sociological counterpart in the limited number of people who come to our social universe.

                  We do listen to other humans on radio or television on our daily lives, but what comes to mind on moments like this one is to appreciate and celebrate the opportunities to know someone like Billy Michael Jones. He was one of the six billions living and sharing this planet with me and you. Lovingly, he was someone who allowed me to travel on his mental highway and through professional relationship at Howard University we had the opportunity to exchange ideas on a wide range of issues over the years. Truth be told, I would express my condolences to his wife, Mrs. Ibiduni Jones and all the members of his family. Over the years I have come to learn and experience the charm, the intelligence and the seriousness of purpose of Billy who affirmed not only his personality but his Sierra Leonean identity and dignity in the company of other persons from Africa or elsewhere in the world. Billy was a man of thought and action. He was quiet in his social interaction and perceptive in his analysis of the human condition. He is now gone and we remember him as a fellow traveller on the road of life.

                 Life is not only a window to this world; it is also a golden opportunity for all of us to find a partner who accompanies us through the joys and sorrows of life. Billy Michael Jones is one of the luckiest men I know who found a spouse who stayed with him through thick and thin. Now his wife is here praying jointly with us for the safe journey of her beloved into the hands of the Almighty and his angels waiting on the other side of life. I and all of you here and beyond sympathize with her mourning and pray to God to grant him the best treatment for the departed. 

             In concluding this brief tribute and obituary for Billy I seek your pardon in telling five points among many others to remember about dear Billy. The first is the success of this man from Sierra Leone who came to United States of America like most of us now called the Children of the Cold War. He too was here and he lived through the Cold War and died as a living witness at the election of a Black President in the United States. This is one of his many stories from this earth to ancestors in the afterlife. The late Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria inspired the late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana to come and study and then return to Africa laden with the Golden Fleece of Greek mythology. Billy too came and captured an American degree and lived here longer than both of these West Africans.  The second point about Billy is his willingness to share his life with his wife Ibiduni by being supportive of her involvement in NGO activities here and abroad. This is one of the social dimensions of the Jones family, and the common legacy of Billy and his wife would put him in good stead among Sierra Leoneans, Africans, Americans and others from other lands. The third point about Billy goes to his association with many of us at Howard University. Through charm, tact and social communications he made many friends and built many friendships. Whoever writes the history of Sierra Leoneans and Africans in America after the period of President John Kennedy will look joyfully to the Jones family because of their efforts and contributions to what we all do here below the sublunary world before the end of our long journey to join the ancestors in God’s mansions. The fourth point I make about Billy here relates to his concern about the state of affairs back home. Those who talked to him and exchanged ideas about these matters can testify honourably about his views and feelings. He was a man who cared and made that known to men. The fifth and last point about Billy deals with his legacy. I would say that Billy Michael Jones now belongs to that community of many men and women from Africa who settled here long enough to make a difference. His words, thoughts and deeds are now part of the American experience. I pray to the Almighty to give him rest and peace in the next life. I also pray for his wife and family so that thoughts about Billy will reverberate in the social and psychological firmaments of their lives. Amen.

 By,

Professor Sulayman S. Nyang, Howard University
P.O. Box 590113Washington D.C. 20059 .Cell: 240-498-8623,Office: 202-238-2311