I was thinking of the story we read on TILB yesterday, about the widow who's dead husband was still having sex with her two years after he died, and I began to wonder about the mysteries in this life.

It made me travel down to memory lane, to NYSC years when my neighbour in the small village I served told me a story about her late father. She said when the man died in their hometown in Kogi state, they did not know (they lived in Ondo), but the same evening he died, he came to their house in Ondo. When they saw him, they were surprised.

They asked him "Daddy, what are you doing here? Why did you travel down without telling us?"

The old man simply smiled, told them to allow him rest and entered his room. Not up to five minutes, they received a call which informed them that their father was dead. Thinking it was a sick joke, they rushed to his room but behold, it was empty.

Another person i know on a very personal basis told me of her encounter. She had a favourite teacher in secondary school then, and the woman was loved by all. One day, during the Christmas break, the girl and her mother were driving to market for their Christmas shopping when they saw the woman walking down the road. She was dressed in cream Iro and Buba. The girl's mother stopped to exchange pleasantries with the woman, and afterwards, they offered her a ride. The lady graciously declined, telling them that she was not going their direction. After saying their goodbyes, they left the woman on the road, but not after the woman had exhorted my friend to be serious in her studies.

During school resumption in the January of the following year, when they got to school it was to their utmost shock when they discovered that the said woman was dead. Upon enquiry, they discovered that the woman had died a four days before their encounter on the roadside.

My friend said her mother collapsed into a senseless heap and had to be revived with cold water.

This phenomenon, known as 'Akudaya' or 'walking dead' has been a subject of debate for as long as i can remember.

While some feel that according to biblical injunction, once a man dies, that is it. If he is seen moving around after death, in the physical, then it is a familiar spirit or a demon that has stolen his likeness. Others disagree, arguing that some mysteries just can't be explained.

Dear, TILB readers, what are views on this mystery called 'Akudaya?'