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My Thoughts on the Death of Rev. David Azzaman
By: Deji Yesufu
I did not know him at all. I never heard of his name, but it appeared that a lot of people on my social media feed knew him quite well. David Azzaman was a Christian minister who led ministry in Kaduna. Accounts following his death say that he was bold in his enunciation and defense of the gospel. He was also into apologetics; often defending the faith in the face of Islam. If you lead a Christian ministry in northern Nigeria, you cannot avoid the question of Islam. Azzaman died from injuries he sustained from a motor accident on Saturday 24th May 2025, as he returned from an outreach to Benue State. When you look at his Facebook wall, you will see pictures from the very outreach he had carried out in Benue State. Korede Olawoyin mentions that Azzaman was billed to partake in their forthcoming apologetics conference. His death is a great loss to Christian witnesses in Nigeria, and as someone in ministry myself, I cannot but rue it. But the more I see social media messages on the death of this man, the more I think it is important that I share my thoughts again on the question of death. I hope that at the close of this essay, Christians can remember the hope we have in Christ, and those who do not know the Lord might have an opportunity to hear the gospel preached. This way, Azzaman’s death will bring with it some positives.
The first thing that I think is worth mentioning around this subject of Azaman’s death is to remind ourselves of some basic road safety rules. In his book, “You Must Set Forth at Dawn”, Prof. Wole Soyinka explains that one of the things that informed the setting up of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) is the sheer number of needless deaths that occur on Nigerian roads through motor accidents because our people ignore basic safety rules when driving. I think that God, the maker of the heavens and the earth, has been extremely kind to the people of this country. Going by the sheer number of bad driving and bad drivers we have on our roads, it is a pure miracle that we do not have a lot more deaths through accidents than we have today. Let us remind ourselves that an average car weighs about 1.5 tones. When you realize that impulse, which is the measure of impact on any object, is the product of the weight in kilograms and the velocity of the vehicle, you will understand why driving at merely sixty kilometres per hour is putting the car at dangerous levels of impact. But Nigerian drivers will drive at no less than a hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. Any disruption of that vehicle at that speed is sure death. Second, I do not understand why the use of seat belts is completely foreign to the Nigerian psyche. I got a clear understanding of how effective seat belts were when Princess Diana died. The driver and the bodyguard seated in front of the car, lived, while Diana and her boyfriend at the back died. What saved the two men in front was seat belts. I do not know what exactly the situation was with Azaman and those in the car with him, but one will not be surprised that his death could be traced to a simple lack of observing basic road safety rules.
Another point that needs to be emphasized is that Christians need to be reminded that they are mortal beings: Christians can die from accidents too. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that some believers have that they cannot die in accidents. Some Christians think Christ died and rose again to keep them safe from road accidents. That is a pure lie. I read a Facebook post that recalls that Azzaman was told that he could be involved in a motor accident, and he replied he would never die from an accident. Now, it is this attitude that usually makes believers not pay attention to basic safety rules. If you think you can never die from a motor accident, you will not do the things that could immune you from an accident. I have lived long enough to see many young, strong and vibrant believers die in vehicular accidents. I have stopped asking God why this thing happens. I now know that if I would not die in an accident, I should do things to avoid it. First, by all means, avoid long road trips. Travel only when it is necessary. Stay at home. Use a plane if you can afford it. Where you cannot, ensure you wear your seat belt when you travel. The Bible makes it very clear that the body of the Christian is mortal. It means our bodies can die just as the body of the unbelievers. We must be responsible for keeping our bodies alive and well.
A third thought on Azzaman’s death is a response to Muslims. I hear that some Muslims are rejoicing that David Azzaman died in an accident. I hear that Azzaman never took prisoners when it came to debating Muslims. Well, perhaps, we should tell our Muslim friends that David Azzaman is in heaven and has gone to be with the Lord his served all his days. The reason why Azzaman used a good part of his ministry to debate Muslims is so that he could show them that it is only in Jesus Christ that any man may find hope in the afterlife. My earlier appeal in this essay has been to believers to be responsible with the use of their vessels on earth. But whether they are responsible or not, the believer who sleeps in death opens his eyes to heaven in the life to come. There is no eternal hope in Islam. The only way to God’s kingdom is through the gospel message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You must repent of your sins, and believe the gospel if you will be saved. This, I am confident, is what David Azzaman wishes for all Muslims in this world to know, and it is just fitting that on the occasion of his death, we can again remind ourselves of the gospel message he so faithfully preached throughout his life.
A few days ago, I reached out to a few of my associates in Christian ministry and told them that in case I die suddenly, they could access some vital information about the church I lead and the numerous Christian ministries I am involved in via a certain channel. My mentality about life is this: I am not the owner of this body. Jesus Christ gave me this body and I have used it for forty-eight years now. He can very well come at any time and demand for his property back. When I slammed my head to the pavement last year in April, I was supposed to have returned this body to him; but he gave me a second chance by ensuring that I was wearing a helmet that day. It is extremely presumptuous of any of us to think that we deserve a day extra. We don’t. We are sinners, who have been saved by the grace of God. But the reason why men die is because we still possess a body of sin, that God has covenanted must die – because of the sin of Adam our forefather. Therefore, the wise person is a person that is ready to die, daily. Jesus Christ does not owe you another day; he does not owe you another hour. We will do well to follow the admonition of James to always accentuate every plan we have with “if the Lord wills” (James 4:13-15). What that means is that if God permits us to see more days, it is his grace and mercy to us, and we should endeavour to make the best of the remaining days we have.
For the Christian, death is a bad thing. It brings an end to relationships on earth. It turns a wife into a widow and renders children fatherless. It makes a congregation lack a pastor and a solid witness for the defense of the gospel is silent. In the same breadth, for the Christian, death is a good thing. It is the pathway to see the face of our Lord. It is an opportunity to hear “well done, good and faithful servant”. It is the pathway to the kingdom of God. It is an opportunity to join the chorus of glorified saints. Paul said that to live is Christ, and to die is even better. David Azzaman has taken the better part – however untimely it might seem to you and me. His death can be a reminder to the church to pay attention to basic road safety; it can be an opportunity to remind ourselves of our mortality; it should be an opportunity to share the gospel with the unbelieving; and it should be an opportunity to talk about how the gospel renders the sting of death powerless.
Amen.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at [email protected]
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