P. O. Adewole

PATRICK OLORUNFEMI ADEWOLE (1927-2017)

By

Seye Adetunmbi, 27/9/17

When I saw "hi" on my Facebook messenger in the evening of September 26th 2017 from my bosom friend, Engineer Adekanmi Adewole, my heart skipped. Not long after I responded, he broke the news of the transition of his beloved old man to me. Having seen Baba aged gracefully last year at Ibadan during the wedding of one of his grandchildren, my immediate reaction was that the inevitable day that we always dread to come for our loved ones eventually came to pass. I felt better a bit for the brief encounter I had with him in 2016 when we held each other's hand and took photographs together.

Mr Patrick Olorunfemi Adewole was born on October 15th, 1927 in Owo. He was a product of the famous St. Andrew's College, Oyo and Fourah Bay College now University of Sierra Leone, the the oldest university in West Africa and the first western-style university built in West Africa. He came after Chief Adekunle Ajasin as the principal of Imade College. He succeeded Chief J. O. Adeoya as the 2nd school Principal of Ifaki Grammar School (IGS) in 1973.

I remember him assuming duty around the time we were taking entrance examination to Form One at Ifaki Grammar School where my beloved father was one of the founding teachers and the Senior Tutor of the school. As a matter of fact, I recall eating part of his breakfast, yam when the food was brought to him in the staff room where he was relaxing with my beloved venerable father, Chief D.O. Adetunmbi and a few other teachers in his early days at IGS.

I took special interest in him because one of his sons, Adekanmi was my classmate from Form One and amazingly looks so much like his father. We were the smallest in the class and have always been fond of each other till date to the glory of God. Baba P. O. Adewole didn't spend more than two sessions with us before he was transferred to Ise-Emure Grammar School where he succeded Chief Areola while Adekanmi relocated to Chris's School, Ado-Ekiti to complete his secondary education. Pa Adewole and my father had mutual respect for one another. They exchanged visits after he left Ifaki. Anytime my father was in Owo, he would visit him and whenever Baba P. O. was in Ekiti, he would stopover to see us at Ifaki.

It was a beautiful reunion for us at Ibadan in July 2016 when Ade's daughter got married and Baba P.O. came with Mama and some of our classmates graced the occasion and we all took memorable pictures with him. He was an easy going school administrator and the students popularly called him Imade. Pa Adewole was one of the longest serving principals of Imade College, Owo. I made sure that every time I was in Owo or passing through, I stopped over to visit him briefly. I was still hoping to visit him before his transition, alas the amiable Pa Adewole took the final bow on September 26th 2017.

Baba has gone to rest in response to the final call. The least we could do for our loved ones in their twilight years is to make every moment with them memorable, this will keep us going when the inevitable happens. May the gentle soul of the complete gentleman rest in peace, amen.

MKO

CHIEF M.K.O. ABIOLA (1937-1998) By,  Seye Adetunmbi, first written in 2009

Seeing my octogenarian mother so engrossed, and struggling with her emotions while reading the feature story in the newspaper of June 12, 2009 on how Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) died, I was equally moved to tears in the manner I did on July 7, 1998 when I saw the breaking news of his death in the television. There is nothing new anyone wants to write about June 12 of 1993 still I couldn't help it to put what had agitated my mind all these years at rest by writing under the above caption. Delay notwithstanding, one is still hopeful that reward of the unequaled injustice those annulled June 12 election did to Nigeria which also made MKO to pay the supreme price will surely come one day. My grouse with June 12 was the sheer waste of the man, the first truly elected President of Nigeria, Chief MKO Abiola. Also if there is anything I have against against Baba Obj it was his "Messiah" comment on MKO and lack of courage to redeem himself on the matter while in office for 8 years as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Likewise, for not being able to find the killers of the finest Yoruba politician I admired most after Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, in person of Chief Bola Ige. Chief M.K.O. Abiola was born on August 24, 1937 in Abeokuta. He was a product of Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta and University of Glasgow where he bagged 1st class in accountancy. As a qualified accountant, he worked with Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Pfizer and ITT Corporation where he rose to become the Vice-President, Africa and Middle-East. He made most of his money in the United States while retaining the post of chairman of the ITT's Nigerian subsidiary. Chief Abiola established Abiola Farms, Abiola Bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Wonder Bakeries, Concord Press, Concord Airlines, Summit Oil International Ltd, Africa Ocean Lines, Habib Bank, Decca W.A. Limited, and Abiola football club. The business guru was also onetime President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange. He held 197 chieftaincy titles from 68 different communities in Nigeria, the highest of which was the Areonakakanfo of Yoruba nation. The 14th Areonakakanfo provided financial assistance in the construction of 63 secondary schools, 121 mosques and churches, 41 libraries, 21 water projects in 24 states of Nigeria, and he was grand patron to 149 societies or associations in Nigeria. On June 12 1993, Nigerians gave him their mandate to be president when he contested under SDP  in an unprecedented free and fair election in the history of Nigeria. Except for Jesus Christ on a spiritual note, who died so that all may be saved; yet I'm afraid if the world indeed earned it. When one sees unparalleled deceits in the Christian folds today, how people steal, maim and kill to have their way; some of them are even Church leaders and yet go back to seek God's face in attempts to bribe God. Haba! Heart of man is desperately evil indeed. How else can one explain it that it is people of the same Islamic faith that often pray close the Chief Iman that were behind the death of MKO, a distinguished benefactor to the faithfuls in the sect in his lifetime. Allahubar! Albeit, I'm yet to be convinced if there is any cause worth dying for in this life and not to talk of to die for Nigeria in particular. It reminds me what my mother used to tell me whenever I was endangering my life as a restless little boy "eni to ku, ti e lo gbe" (the person who dies, loses everything). Thus, I've always been a subscriber to conducting ones's affairs in a manner that one needs not to lose his/her soul. This is why I often say in applicable circumstance when I grew older, why be in a hurry to die, after all death is inevitable. Abiola's family knows better and can tell their story. Their major loss is the gain of the pack of ingrates, election riggers and all shades of criminals and opportunists who dominated our political landscape post-June 12 1993. The children of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola became orphans on the struggle. Likewise the families of Pa Rewane, Dele Giwa, Ken Sarowiwa etc know what it means to lose loved ones unjustly while pursuing a just cause. It is more painful, when you see the culpable devilish people flourishing and having their way. Thus, opting for an approach that would not make people to loose their dear lives in fighting a cause may be torturous yet it still remains the best in my humble opinion. However, "this God sef, ni suuru gan an ni o" (very patient God). I love God through Christ so much and I don't want to write too much in a critical manner about my Christian faith. All the same, "Baba God" should please help believers to sustain our faith in the midst of daunting national disasters and adversities caused by very few dubious self serving cliques. Let me rest it here until the day the grand-master and and other evil geniuses in our midst pay for their sins on our beloved Nigeria. What else can mere mortals do on matters like this than to wait patiently for all those remotely connected to the annulment of the election of June 12, 1993 and those responsible for the death of MKO to pay for their sins one after the other. This is also in the belief and hope that Nigeria is worth living for after all.

Madiba

MANDELA - 100 Years Ago Today 18/7/18
WORLD STATESMAN OF ALL AGES: NELSON MANDELA

Tribute by Seye Adetunmbi, first written to mark 90th birthday anniversary of Madiba on 18/7/08

Not very many people sacrificed their private life and youth for the masses and earned the status of a role model for humanity. It was like an impossibility to unite the resentfully divided people of South Africa after centuries of governance characterised by apartheid and racial discrimination. Yet within five years, May 5th 1994 – June 1999 as the first democratically elected President of South Africa after a long walk to freedom, he was able to do what could be classified to be without a solution. No other mortal matched his record dead or alive. In a class of his own, the man I call Okanlomo agbaye (one in a trillion in the world). The man whose name is his resume because it says it all. Indeed, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela a.k.a. Madiba the honorary title given to him by the elders of his clan was the enigmatic man of destiny. Certainly his sojourn in life has a divine hand for God to have seen him through his amazing lifetime struggle to liberate his people after 27 years in prison and marked 90th anniversary and many years more in good health.

   What else can one say about the Nobel Peace Prize winner who recorded so many firsts and perhaps one man that the whole world had written about for over the past 40 years more than any other person. The great Madiba scored another unique world status by being the first living person to witness the unveiling of his live statue in the Parliament Square and the first African to be so honoured among Europeans heroes of all ages in the likes of Churchill, Cromwell, Roosevelt and ironically the Afrikaner leader of early 20th century, Jan Smuts.

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Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela a.k.a. Madiba, Nobel Laureate & the 1st Black President of South Africa

Baba Madiba; the world’s Statesman & Mbeki; Mandela & wife Graca Makel

My tour of Soweto in 2006 brought me closer to get a feel of the history of the long journey to freedom by South Africans from 1886 and appreciate more and better the sacrifice made by Nelson Mandela and his colleagues in the dignifying struggle. Soweto is part of Johannesburg yet at the peak of apartheid and racial segregation, black natives/residents traveled by train to the main city and worked on contract; and on expiration they came back to their black enclave.

The high point of my adventure was on the famous Vilakazi Street where two great Nobel peace laureates Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu lived. Visiting Mandela Museum, the house in which he was arrested and jailed in 1962 the year I was born, was poignant. It was really satisfying for me touching his old shoes and clothes and took photograph in the bedroom where he was living before his long journey to freedom. While driving through the distinctive park in honor of students who lost their lives in demonstration against the racist government to reduce medium of teaching in the black community to Afrikana language, the memory of 1972 massacre in Soweto remained indelible. Stopover at Kliptown where multitude of South Africans gathered on June 26, 1955 to write their constitution under the auspices of African National Congress (ANC) also brought roles of Nelson Mandela into perspective. Madiba was said to be in the crowd that day, he was shielded from police arrest.

An imposing dome housing various inscriptions of the masses stating how they wished to be governed stood in the center of Kliptown Square in Soweto. People's constitution cast in stone include: There shall be equal human rights and security; All shall be equal before the law etc, it was an astonishing encounter for me. I had a flashback to Mr Stephe, a master degree holder in his late 50s or early 60s who was one of my father's colleagues at Ifaki Grammar School in the late 1960s. He was one of the native elites who had to leave South Africa for safety in Nigeria at the peak of the struggle. Regrettably, Baba Stephe like a host of others might not have seen the end of the long road to liberty after all. Recounting what he told my father when he saw him somewhere in Benin around 1976, several years after he had left Ifaki-Ekiti. When my father expressed his anxiety because of the state he found him on the need to slow down, he said by the time he dropped dead, there would be enough on him to bury him.

   God remains awesome and unquestionable. For allowing such magnitude of cruelty of man to man in that part of Africa; the ways of almighty God will remain a mystery. Nevertheless, one thing is certain, without those experiences, of course the whole world would not have any cause to celebrate Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela even till after his transition.

 

Pa Mandela & Mama Queen at Buckingham Palace on 25/6/08

    Pa Mandela the epitome of selflessness, the mortal symbol of love and the pinnacle of astuteness that humanity had been endowed with in the contemporary history, earned my admiration long time ago. Having inspired me so much, one way I opted to register my deep respect for the uncommon humble giant, a towering figure of strength, a colossus of history, the indisputable world’s statesman and perhaps the zenith of sage humanity had be blessed with relatively, was to name my first son after him. A man who through his verifiable unequaled deeds and utterances had been admitted by the whole world as courage, struggle, hope, peace, dignity, warmth, reconciliation, forgiveness and humility personified in modern history.

Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 to the royal family of Thembu and his father was Henry Mgadia Mandela the chief councilor to Thembu land’s acting paramount Chief David Dalindyebo. Madiba helped founded African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in 1944 and was the Secretary of ANC in 1948, ANCYL President in 1950, ANC Transvaal President in 1952, Deputy National President in 1952 and National President of ANC in 1991. He attended Methodist Boarding School and Forte Hare for bachelor of arts degree before he was expelled along with Oliver Tambo in 1940 for participating in students’ strike. He completed his degree by correspondence from Johannesburg, did article clerkship and enrolled for LLB at the University of Witwatersrand. In 1952 he was elected national volunteer-in-chief of the 1952 defiance campaign traversing the country organising resistance to discriminatory legislation which earned him suspended sentence and shortly after a banning order confining him to Johannesburg for six months. He and Tambo opened in South Africa the first black legal firm in 1952. The Supreme Court refused petition of Transvaal Law Society to strike out Mandela from the roll of attorneys.

   In the 1950s he analysed Bantustan policy as political swindle and predicted mass removals, political persecutions and police terror. Was one of the accused in Treason Trial. After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he was detained in 1961 until he went underground to lead a campaign for new national convention and Umkkhonto we Sizwe (MK) the military wing of ANC emerged. In 1962 he went for military training in Algeria and arranged for other MK members. He was arrested on arrival for incitement and conducted his own defense. First jailed 5 years in November 1962 and later sentenced to live imprisonment in the Rivonia trial when charged with sabotage. In prison he ever compromised his political principles; refused remission of sentence offer in the 1970s and Botha’s offer freedom in 1980s. Significantly, shortly after his release on Sunday 11/2/90 Mandela and his delegation agreed to suspend armed struggle. He retired from public life in June 1999 and resided in his home town Qunu Transkei. This is a special salute to “Baba” Nelson Mandela, the pride of mankind.

Delayed Gratification

VIRTUE OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION By Seye Adetunmbi, first written in 2008 and published in MINDSET in 2012

Was still contemplating on the theme of the message to share with the distinguished members of Ekitipanupo village square, an indigenous intellectual roundtable which marked 3 years anniversary on the cyberspace on March 6, 2008 when I recalled one of the observations of Dr Dotun Sulaiman that caught my attention deeply while reading his interview in the Guardian newspaper of February 29th 2008. He was onetime the CEO of ACCENTURE (formerly Arthur Anderson). Though I have known him through a number of my friends who passed through his mentoring in Accenture where he worked for 28 years, my most recent encounter with him was when we met again at the at the instance of the CEO of a financial newspaper who wanted to constitute an editorial advisory board. Naturally I like listening to him because of his rich thoughts and in-depth knowledge of contemporary issues. Thus my curiosity arose to explore more issues surrounding ‘delayed gratification’ which he mentioned among many other matters he discussed in the published interview. I try to relate it to my thoughts on the imperatives of delayed gratification briefly here.   What readily crossed my mind on the need to inculcate ‘delayed gratification’ in our individual endeavours and national polity is the impact of a system that is almost institutionalizing inappropriate "instant gratification" or what I call "upfront benefit/gain" in virtually all our human endeavors which had eroded our value system. It is the same syndrome that is responsible for people to sell votes, rigging of elections with impunity, lie against fellow kinsmen and childhood friends for transient political power, desecrating communal values for momentary personal political gains, avoidable family disputes, elected officers lining their pockets before giving the electorate or their constituency any consideration, company executives engaging fraudulent tactics to short-change shareholders, custodians of public and corporate policies concocting strategies that will benefit few rather than the masses, eligible bachelors and spinsters with challenges of getting suitors as a result of misplaced priorities, governors and federal ministers who are EFCC guests, disgraced government officials forced to resign their appointments etc.    This reminds me of two quarters in Ilorin called Olorunsogo (instant miracle) and Surulere (virtue in patience), the words which people often use in lighter moods. If you dare preach anything contrary to the person whose expectation is instant miracle, you are on your own. Like Baba Awolowo as a philosopher observed on ego as being responsible for people’s actions. This is what makes few elements manipulating prices of moribund stocks to the detriment of unsuspecting innocent investors on one hand and co-travelers in greed on the other hand. When negative influence controls one’s ego, it does not matter whose ox is gored and how terrible the act is; the desperate misguided element will do things that will gratify him at that point in time. It is the same endemic indiscretion that makes supposed decent people dine with the devil or take appointment from thieving anomalous governments. We have several cases of people who could not delay their gratification and lost all they have laboured for over the years for an ephemeral ill-gotten gain.    Albeit this is not about dwelling on a relatively common dismaying phenomenon; but to rub it more on the collective consciousness of everybody on the essence of imbibing the lasting culture of delayed gratification. More people need to invest in enduring values. This I will liken to what Waziri a younger relation of mine recently said they call value investing in his American business school when we were exchanging notes on Warren Buffet, the oracle of wealth creation. Value investing is a topic for another day. Since what I tag "delayed gratification culture" can not be legislated, perhaps talking about it and bringing out the lasting benefits of it would encourage the youth to imbibe it for their own good and that of the society at large. Also celebrating people who represent this laudable virtue may encourage others too. More importantly any leadership that does not subscribe to delayed gratification culture would be lacking in the stewardship leadership principle. This is my charge to all Ekitipanupo chieftains as the watch word and an integral part of the creed for the eminent aboriginal intellectual roundtable. As a body we must practice it in a manner that would in turn influence every member who finds himself or herself in a place of authority and power to serve as a worthy example to others.    I must state here that due to anxieties resulting from the political reality in Ekiti State at present and Nigerian situation in general, so much is being expected from Ekitipanupo. However, it is important that people understand the fundamental nature of the native intellectual roundtable, what it stands for and capable of doing as an entity. The first hurdle we crossed was the creation of a melting point irrespective of political leanings or varied interest. All the local governments and over 100 main towns are villages have a son or daughter on board. The e-interactive platform which has over 1000 subscribers is a medium to exchange ideas and advance individual knowledge on contemporary issues coupled with ability to facilitate socioeconomic and political interest initiatives. Individuals may express highly volatile political statement, for as long as no communique is issued by the executive council such opinions should not be attributed to Ekitipanupo official position.    On April 7, 2007 we held a successful debut public lecture at Ado-Ekiti and Dr Joshua Ayo Ajayi (JAA), onetime Managing Director of UACN PLC was the Guest Speaker. Also the maiden Ekitipanupo magazine was launched on the same day. With every sense of responsibility, members must accept the fact that Ekitipanupo is not the solution to all the challenges facing Ekiti State. The elitist think-tank initiative is a means to an end as an entity and it is the responsibility of everyone on board to ensure that our collective goals are met. Hosting of the official Ekitipanupo website for 2 years and the domain name for over 5 years was facilitated and the website was improved upon in order to serve the forum better. My prayer is that we will all live to celebrate more anniversaries and Ekiti State will attain greater heights in its affairs and occupy its rightful place in the scheme of things in Nigeria.    May I also use this opportunity to wish Dr Ayo Ajayi one of the leading lights of Ekitipanupo initiative happy 60th birthday. What a refreshing coincidence, Ekitipanupo also marked three years old on the same day, 6/3/08. On this note I dedicate this article to oga (JAA) because his 35 years career without blemish symbolizes the virtue of delayed gratification, what it stands for and the essence of value investing and the accompanying benefits to those with enduring principles. This among others makes him to be among the very few who stand out in the contemporary Nigerian corporate world. May more Nigerian indigenes do us proud.

Wine Tasting in Cape Town

An Integrated Encounter in Capetown

Approaching Cape Town international airport around 10.30am on November 5, 2007 is the vastest sprawling terrain of manicured green land I had ever seen when the aero plane was descending in preparation for landing. I wondered what it could be because it’s a complete departure from the bird’s eye view of all the cultivated lands which I have been seeing so far! Few hours later after settling down at EHL Guest house owned and managed by an enterprising Nigerian lady where we lodged, the picture was clearer to me when we embarked on wine tasting binge at Spier and Neethlingshof Wine Estates situated in the inspiring wine fields of Cape Town! Agreed no two cities can ever be the same, yet in terms of building structures, city layout, new cities may be built to take after one another. However, the uniqueness of the natural land-forms, sheltered valley of rolling hills, foresight of the early Dutch settlers and subsequent colonialists to incorporate the natural contours and features in the planning of Cape Town and the suburbs have certainly made this unique part of the earth one of the many wondrous creations of God beautified by man in the contemporary world.

Index Asset Management Limited (Index Asset) a derivative wealth management firm from the ongoing reforms in the Nigerian financial market and First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) at the instance of NOVARE of South Africa were invited to a closed conference in Cape Town. Index Asset established in 2006 is registered with Securities & Exchange Commission poised to creatively grow wealth of clients while FGPL is one of the 23 licensed pension fund administrators in Nigeria. The main thrust of the 2-day meeting was to jointly review likely areas of collaboration and this exposed the Nigerian delegation to some tourism attractions in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Success of the encounter is owned to the sincerity of all the parties involved and more importantly Professor Vesper Owei (a native of Bayelsa-State in Nigeria) of Cape Town University of Technology who initiated and anchored the tripartite financial institutions. It is one outing that confirms increasing interest of first economies in the Nigerian financial market.

L-R: Seye Adetunmbi Chief Executive Officer of Index Asset Management Ltd; Johan Henn, Chief Executive Officer of NOVARE; Tshakalisa Matiwaza of Mvelaphanda Group Limited; Derrick Roper, Director of NOVARE

NOVARE, founded in 2000 is a Cape Town based actuaries and Consultants, the biggest and the best investment consulting firm in South Africa. NOVARE depicts the meaning of its name “Let it be New”. This name reflects the nature and spirit of the business whose focus is to engineer and implement innovative liability-driven investment solutions that enable their wide range of clients to meet specific investment objectives. NOVARE currently has 19 institutional clients which include South African Local Authorities Pension Fund, Soweto Pension Fund, government of Botswana etc. with R13billion worth of assets under advice and R3billion investments out of which R1.6billion are in alternative assets.

Wine Tasting is better experienced than imagined; this is my take on my encounter in this regard! Partaking in this major pastime characterised with tourism in Cape Town and being my first time it was a major new discovery for me. One now appreciates better the state-of-the-art winery having savored the best of world-class wines in a uniquely beautiful environment. Panoramic view of Table Mountains and Devil’s Peak which had University of Cape Town at the base of the hill leaves one with a lasting memory. Neethlingshof is the South Africa wine producer of the year an award earned in the 2002 at the London international wine & spirit competition. The best wines produced in any year are bottled under the signature Lord Neethlingshof label, the limited edition reserve wines representing the crème de la crème of the prestigious Neethlingshof range. I could not resist the urge to buy some of the vintage wines of the brand with arresting flavors as take-away to Nigeria to mark the memorable encounter.

Eti Health and Leisure (EHL) is the indisputable “home away from home” for Nigerians and other West Africans the target market of the remarkable entrepreneurial initiative of Mrs Ngozi Owei a.k.a. Ziggy. EHL was founded in August 2006 to meet the need of Medical Evacuations from Nigeria and native meals of guests. The business has earned 4-star graded guest house in Cape Town by the South African Tourism Council. The personal touch Ziggy a Cape Town Business School MBA graduate puts into the business makes her hospitality venture to standout. I was able to eat my regular native Iyan, eba, amala with ogbolo/draw assorted-meat soup during my stay in the guest house.

Package of EHL includes airport shuttle and everything is done professionally while insisting to personally chauffer drive her guest house guests from the airport. It is certainly a must visit for West African elites who visit Cape Town as evident in the visitor’s book of EHL. Having a steak in the evening of my first day in Cape Town at the ever busy Nelson Eye’s restaurant at the base of Table Mountains is an experience to behold! The restaurant was named after Lord Horatio Nelson, British greatest sailor who won several wars (1775-1783) and lost his right eye in the process. The background history of a restaurant that had outlived the founder was quite fascinating to me. Likewise having Dinner at MOYO restaurant hosted by NOVARE inside the Spier Wine Estate is tourists’ delight. Guests are welcomed with water to wash their hands and face painting thereafter!

Seye flanked by his hosts in Cape Town. Dinner at MOYO Restaurant in Spier Wine Estate is surely tourists’ delight

Cape Town’s location in the valley and viewing the surrounding hills under a unique weather situation is an experience most tourists may not forget in a hurry. The city is characterised with mild weather year-round, Mediterranean climate with little rain and over 11 hour sunshine per day. Like any other society that is not perfect, Cape Town has its low points too! Langa, the black township revealed the shanties of the sprawling city. Though apartheid is dead and gone, the scar of the wound is apparent everywhere! This is evident in the transport system that favours only those with personal cars among other realities. Cape Town was not structured to cater for this cadre of the society; at the peak of apartheid, blacks were required to vacate Cape Town by 6 pm after the day’s job. The city remains predominantly a white and colored community. The Mayor of Cape Town is a lady who won her election under Democratic Alliance and ANC has fewer seats in the parliament.

Wine tasting at Neethlingshof Wine Estate founded 1692, Seye inside the wine Cellar of Neethlingshof. Seye signed guests’ register at Spier Wine Estate in Cape Town in 2007

The climax and most touching part of my encounters in Cape Town was when I got to the highest part of the city on the Table Mountain where I was able to behold Robin Island where “Madiba” the world’s living greatest statesman was imprisoned for 28 years and the expansive Cape Town and appreciate better how the city got the name. Robin Island is now a Museum and it is about 45 minutes’ drive from the foot of the mountain. Also driving some meters down in the direction of the road leading to Cape of Hope, the lowest part of Africa was quite exciting! In all as a geographer, it was yet another consummated touring experience indeed within a resourceful sojourn in Cape Town.

Seye in the bedroom where Nelson Mandela lived before his arrest, now Nelson Mandela Museum in Soweto

a) Inside the ‘Freedom Dome’ in Kliptown, Soweto where people’s constitution was written in the apartheid days. A

b) Seye stood by the statue of Madiba at the Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton city in 2011

Chief Bola Ige

REMEMBERING THE LAST AWOIST 

By 
Seye Adetunmbi 27/12/06, a tribute in memory of Chief Bola Ige who was murdered on the 23rd of December, 2001.

Apart from the ground breaking milestones recorded by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, one cross his government in perspective may have to carry for eternity is the unresolved several cases of killings and political murders during the two term tenure. It is disheartening to this writer having appreciated the value the second coming of OBJ added to entrenching good governance in Nigeria. It is infamy that five years after the cold blooded murder of Chief James Ajibola Ige, no justice has been done.

Cicero of Esa-Oke

This unfathomable incident must have contributed to the transition of his wife, Justice Mrs Atinuke Ige few years after! Thus, one can only hope that the President would do everything possible to redeem the image of his administration in this regard before the end of the tenure in May 2007. On a similar note, the murder of MKO Abiola, the then Head of Government would also carry the burden of leaving Nigerians to speculation until they can get to the bottom of who was behind the dastardly act. 

 When the news of the abrupt termination of Chief Bola Ige's life by a number of apparently sponsored misguided miscreants came, it was like a fiction. I wanted to convince myself that it was a decoy to make the noxious perpetrators feel terrible about their dastardly act and that he will come alive again to our hopes and aspirations of the multitude of his followers. It later dawned on everyone painful, that the millennium news of his assassination was for real. What an irreparable loss. This was certainly another fatal and grievous fall-out from long years of misrule of this poor nation. We have witnessed several manifestations of misrule hangover in our midst in the recent past. Of course, the action of the past military dictators that refused to honour invitation to Oputa Panel remains an incident and example that the nation cannot forget in a hurry. Memories of yet to be resolved murder of MKO Abiola, Pa Rewane, Kudirat Abiola, Dele Giwa, Omotehinwa, Elegbede etc. are also still very fresh in our minds.

Chief Ige with Alexander Atanassov

   Certainly, those people suffering from the hang over of long years of misrule of this country must have been responsible for passing death sentence like mafia dons, on Chief Ige. Those crops of politicians that created a scenario for the evildoers to perpetrate this crime are essentially products of misrule hangover. A lot of these circumstantial politicians found their way to governance due to the expediency of the time and they gave themselves away through their uncultured attitudes, utterances, priorities and political dispositions. It would have been more tolerable if only these people could waste men of their ilk and leave our respected statesmen out of their madness. It is high time more honorable men and women came out to give political opportunists a run for their money. If men and women who are tested upright professionals and technocrats do not come out to participate in the political governance of their locality or state, mediocres will continue to take charge. Well meaning people need to be more involved in what happens around them at every stage.

First Oyo State Annual Conference at Rex Cinema in
December 1978

   Going through for instance, the profiles of some past elites that were involved in political dispensation in Ekiti where I grew up, they were men who have either worked as teachers, school principals or civil servants of several years standing. But these days most of the councilors, legislators, governors and their likes do not have history, no resume to write home about and any remarkable past or worthy antecedent. There were a lot of serving school principals in those days who were councilors in their respective communities while few represented their kinsmen at senatorial levels and after their respective tenures they went back to their full-time jobs. Unfortunately, these days people now venture into politics because, they are either out of job or they are traditional government contractors by vocation. The implication of this is in the fact that, like hungry lions, all they are looking for is what to devour. How many of these politicians can serve their people in gratis?

Chief Presented Staff of Office to Ooni Sijuade on 6-12-80

    Political parties in the new dispensation should work hard enough in conjunction with the federal government to evolve a structure that will make people that will truly and sincerely serve their kinsmen to contest elective positions. Politics of "Jeun Jeun" (chop & chop) or come and eat syndrome must stop. The Federal Government, using the appropriate legislative mechanism, should review the remuneration of all the elective positions. Legislators should be entitled to basic allowances only, a sum of money that would be sufficient to make them perform their duties. Every society has its own peculiarities and as such requires appropriate strategies.

   Until the situation changes for better in our society, governance in Nigeria should be made unattractive to those people who are only representing their people because of their personal ego trip and financial gains for their immediate families and constituencies. To a great extent this may bring some sanity to the political class in this country. If some people are not honourable, the system should not allow them to continue in their chosen path of dishonour at the detriment of the larger populace or the masses. Although the professional murderers in our midst had their way again, but everyone of us who is aggrieved and angered by Chief Ige's assassination will take solace in the fact that no one will stop the truth from prevailing. It may only take some time.

Chief Ige & Professor Wole Soyinka

    People attain prominence through various means. The Cicero earned his distinction through dint of consistency as manifested in his political sagacity, doggedness, hard work and by pitching his camp with honorable issues. After all, like many other people, I never met him on one-on-one yet I admired him so much, particularly his virtues and dispositions, most of which I learnt through his writings and multi-various pronouncements.

   I used to read Sunday Tribune, which I bought weekly because of another role model of blessed memory, Dr. Tai Solarin and this interest, continued when Uncle Bola's Column was introduced until he stopped. The closest contact I was privileged to have with him was when he acknowledged one of my letters to him on a matter of common interest in his Tribune column.

   Perhaps his Yoruba colleagues that are left behind will use this opportunity to restrategize and close ranks. His last speech at the funeral of Pa Onasanya pondered a lot on issues for Afenifere to consider critically in order sustaining their common political course. It was an indeed a valedictory speech. There is no doubt; the evil perpetrators murdered sleep. Yoruba politics and national political terrain was never the same again with this sudden exit of the arole of Awolowo political dynasty, the man I call the last true devout Awoist. Chief Ige was a unique personality by every standard. His mastery of the contemporary Nigerian politics and several victories over multi-various intrigues within Yoruba polity is a monumental study that will be remembered as "Igeism" and a school of thought.

    How can I conclude this write-up without bringing to bear what would have been the reaction of this eminent politician to the predicament of Yoruba mainstream politics, succession of OBJ, peculiarities of the emerging political parties in Nigeria, political alliances, fall out from the primary elections among the political parties, impeachment saga across the country, militants in the oil producing areas and multi-faceted socio-economic policies? Actions and dispositions of tested principled tested politicians and a democrat of note like Chief Ige are quite predictable to a great extent. Thus, those who knew this man may agree with me that he would never be a party to any shade of imposition of party candidates at any level or any form of rigging; He would never have condoned any disloyal vice-president or Deputy Governor to the political party and superior elected officer; Chief Ige would have distanced himself from charades of impeachments we had witnessed in the past; He would have frown at any political party fielding a discredited person on corruption as the party flag bearer at any level; Of course the Cicero of Esa-Oke would not support short-changing any sect of the nation particularly the oil producing areas. Also the collapsed ICON building on broad street posing a threat to life remaining unattended to for many months would sadden him deeply. What became of AD, Afenifere and the succeeding political parties would have shocked him to the marrow. The El-Rufai, Professor Charles Soludo and Ribadu of this world would have been in his good book.

   Sleep on the great teacher, philosopher, the doyen of Awoism, epitome of integrity and frankness, legal luminary, political mentor, advocate of good thoughts, and apostle of adherence to honorable principles, which were tenaciously carried with strong conviction.