By Wole Adejumo
We glanced at each other from where we sat before
the programme started. I eventually got up to greet him. He responded with a
smile and asked, “you are Wole Street Journal, right?” My reply was “no sir, my
name is Wole Adejumo. Wole Street Journal is the Publisher; that is my boss”. He
stretched out his hand and the handshake that followed marked the first
physical meeting Honourable Kehinde Ayoola and I had. It was a Singles and Youth
programme at Rhema Chapel, Oluyole around 2012 and he was invited to discuss a
certain topic with the youth. I was also on the table as a discussant.
I had wondered why the Singles Fellowship brought
a politician but before I left the programme, the former Speaker of the Oyo
State House of Assembly did not only live up to his reputation as a fortress of
ideas, he spoke eloquently and showed that he had an intimidating knowledge of
the Bible. That was when I began to notice that though he was a politician, he
was a rare breed. As a Christian in
politics, I kept asking myself if he was not in the wrong vocation. He simply
looked too straight to be a politician; that explains why he didn’t challenge
his impeachment as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. That was the kind of
person he was; he took things too simply.
Before that Rhema Chapel meeting, we had been
friends on Facebook but we had never met. We however interacted well on
Facebook. I sought his opinion and reactions for quite a number of my stories
back then and he gladly obliged. He was always willing to contribute and advise
through my inbox. He was one of the people I consulted while doing a story on
the murder of Alhaji Lateef Salako ‘Elewe Omo’. In his inbox message,
Honourable Ayoola told me that “security aides of one of the chieftains of our
party were said to have had a confrontation with some hoodlums”.
As time went on, Parrot Xtra Magazine brought us
closer. He was a regular caller at the office, being the Chairman of the
Editorial Board. Honourable Ayoola would hail me as “Tallwolleh, Basorun
Onigege Wura of Ibadanland” and my usual response was “k’ara o le sir”. Our discussions cut across all topics; sports,
politics (local and international), health and death. Yes, death!
At a certain time, Mr. Yinka Agboola, the
Publisher fell ill and Honourable Ayoola got to hear. Typical of the Publisher,
he chose to finish the production of the next edition of the magazine before
anything else. On arrival at the office, I told Honourable Ayoola to persuade
his friend to take things easy and rest. “Wole, there is nothing much about
life. If I die now, people will gather, speak big English and go”, the
Publisher said. I however maintained my stand that there was so much to live
for.
In his characteristically cool manner, Honourable
opined that it was better to stay alive because after death, the human body is
of no value. He used his first experience at a morgue at a time of bereavement
to drive home the point. He gave a vivid description of the charred remains of
an accident victim and how much damage fire could do to a human being. There
and then, we all agreed that the best thing was to live well so one’s spirit doesn’t
regret afterwards.
It was that same day he told me about a driver he
had as a member of the House of Assembly. Honourable Ayoola said in the driver’s
bid to impress him, one day, the driver carelessly said he was the one that
drove the body of a Lieutenant Colonel who died during the phantom coup saga of
the Abacha era all the way from Makurdi to Oke Ogun area of Oyo State where he
was buried in his hometown. “From that day, I was no longer comfortable with
him”, he said.
His wise counsel when I was arrested and taken to
court over an article about a former Commissioner cannot be forgotten. “Stay
calm my brother, it is one of the hazards of your profession. And don’t rule
out the possibility that you and the man could become the best of friends
someday. He might need you in the near future. That is life”, he told me.
And in the build up to the 2019 polls, we saw a
supremely confident Honourable Kehinde Ayoola. We sat down a couple of times to
analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the contenders in the governorship race
and he was incurably optimistic that Engineer Seyi Makinde would win. His assurance
was at Mount Everest level; he was so sure it was “Seyi’s time”. So when the ‘Omi
Tuntun’ era came, we all rejoiced at Parrot Xtra, knowing fully well that
Honourable Ayoola deserved something.
He was a cool politician; calm, like a sheep
among wolves. But he was a sheep even the wolves needed. Politics is not just
about votes, it involves a lot of strategy and Ayoola was a strategist – a damn
good one at that. Behind him, Lanre Olabisi, Dare Adeniran and I would discuss
how he manages to cope among more rugged and controversial politicians.
The truth remains that in his lifetime, the
Honourable Kehinde Ayoola I knew was at peace with all men. I never saw him
bitter. I never knew he would leave so soon. An Uncle had given me an
assignment to speak to the Commissioner on his behalf. I was bidding the right
moment to do so until I got a message from Toyin Adeyemi, a mutual friend on
May 11. “Please how is Hon. Kehinde Ayoola doing? Could you please find out
what is wrong with him? He has not been active on his Facebook page”.
Of course I have an idea of how much work the
Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources does in Oyo State so I told
her all was well and that I would chat with him later in the day. I couldn’t believe
it when his passage was announced three days later.
While our last conversation bordered on the
loyalty of Iku Baba Yeye, the Alaafin of Oyo to his old friends like the Esama
of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion and Aare Afe Babalola, Toyin told me
Honourable Ayoola spoke to her about serving God more. The lesson in it for me
is to stay loyal and hold on to God till the very end.
To the mutual friends we had, especially the
likes of Nike Adegoke (who sadly never met him physically), Nike Oloyede and
others who told me their minds went to me immediately they heard that
Honourable Ayoola passed away, his transition is indeed a lesson for us. Death
is an inexorable end; the fire will one day become useless to the fellow whose
pastime is eating roasted yam.
Mr. Yinka Agboola couldn’t say much when I called
him. “Wole, iku to np’ojugba eni, owe lo
npa fun ni” (death is telling you something when it takes your peers) was all
he managed to say. Uncle Tunde ‘Winter’ Oluade, his junior at Olivet Heights,
Oyo said “the lesson here is that you could see someone in the morning and by
night you will hear that he is no more”.
The biggest of the lessons however, is that we
should live right and be ready to meet our Creator when the time comes.
May his soul rest in peace
ReplyDelete