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HE STARTED LATE, HE FINISHED GREAT; REQUIEMS FOR A FALLEN HERO
By Yemi Olowolabi
72 hours before the final silence, his sanguine voice echoed with a familiar thud on the phone but with an unusual speed. It was a telephone conversation bereft of the premonitions of death. It featured future plans and kind gestures.
_Excerpts_ :
Boda Segun : My honourable Commissioner!
Yemi : Yes sir, Good evening sir
Boda Segun: How are your people?
Yemi : They’re fine sir.
Boda Segun : Now tell me, when is the burial of our uncle in Alade, I mean uncle Henry Edobor? I hope it won’t clash with your mother in law’s…I think that one is November… November what again o?
Yemi: My mother in law’s burial comes up on November 13&14 while bami Henry’s is October 16&17
Boda Segun : Ok. There’s something I want to discuss with you about uncle Henry’s burial. I don’t think it speaks well of us to go to the party and be waiting for his children to serve us food and drinks. So, let’s make our own arrangements. What do you think? ….hello, hello Yemi, are you there?
Yemi : Yes sir
Boda Segun: I thought you have gone…laughs
I don’t trust you politicians
Yemi: I’m here sir
Boda Segun : You’re not saying anything, abi, you won’t attend. Better tell me now. This one that you are keeping quiet
Yemi : I didn’t want to interrupt you. But I agree with your suggestions. I will work something out.
Boda Segun: Let’s get a caterer, look for a small caterer, no be all these your expensive caterers o. You know say I be teacher o .. Na noble profession I dey o
Yemi : Don’t worry sir… I will handle it. We will also go with our drinks.
Boda Segun : I trust you, you be master planner.
Yemi . Okay sir.
Boda Segun ; The cooking will be done in house now, abi? Na you get the paraphernalia of parties … So, let’s give our uncle a befitting burial
The conversation lingered and drifted to other common family issues and his post retirement plans. Sadly, 72 hours after the jaunty chats , my dear brother and accomplished scholar, died suddenly in the wee hours of Saturday August 2, leaving us with tears and sorrow. All the beautiful plans dumped and the lofty dreams aborted. The remains of our late uncle Henry Ayodeji Edobor and that of my mother in law, Chief( Mrs) Grace Adesote are still in the morgue whereas the man who had planned to attend their funerals is being buried today. Life!
Today marks the end of an era in our family history, the end of a remarkable chapter in the monumental book co-authored by our parents; late Pa Lawrence Daboiku Olowolabi and Mrs Dorcas Oluwawemimo Olowolabi.
Indeed, Boda Segun occupied the first chapter in the elegant book, being the first fruit and our mother’s womb opener. Unarguably, his life remains an unbelievably intriguing story. It is a super story, full of strife and sorrows, feats and failures, banters and laughter. And in the end, the story teaches humanity a most profound lesson.
Those familiar with our family trajectory will attest to the fact that Segun Olowolabi’s life was complicated with many battles. Not just battles but truly titanic battles.
Born as Oluwasegunota which means God conquers the enemy, the name explains the difficulties around his birth. It also gives an insight into the legendary strengths displayed in his epic journey of life.
Though I am in the fifth chapter of our family book, I witnessed his struggles. His life epitomises what the Yoruba calls _Egbirin Ote, bi ase pakan, nikan nru_ . – a complex web of intrigues, intricacies and frustration, the more you weed out one, the more another one sprouts from the blues.
Ironically, he had a beautiful start. In those days, it was a rare privilege to be taken out of the obscurity of the village and be relocated to Lagos, the city of dreams. He enjoyed the privilege. He was Segelu of Lagos. He was also Sege ayewa and several other sobiquets known among his circle of childhood friends. In Lagos, he lived with our uncle, Abiodun Olowoniyi, a self made, brilliant bean counter and the pride of our family.
He attended the popular Baptist Academy in the heart of Yaba, Lagos. He was doing well. Among his Baptist Academy peers, he fondly known and addressed as Champion Sege, an alias name earned on account of his brilliance in sports and sparkles in socials.
Things started falling apart in the twilight of his secondary school education, especially from 1977 when he passed out of Baptist Academy. By the time, he enrolled for his A Levels, the falcon could no longer hear the falconer. Things have fallen apart. My brother fell under the siege of juvenile delinquencies. He lost focus and became stranded in the centre of life like a boat that lost its anchor in the middle of the stormy sea.
He came back to Idanre, spotting afro hair style, fitted shirt and baggy jeans. Indeed, it was the return of a Lagos boy who became the toast of the village folks. He rocked the streets with his weird city vibes, Lagos accent and flawless English. Almighty Sege was on rampage.
Between 1977 when he finished secondary school and 1985 when he eventually gained admission to the university, Segelu of Lagos was marooned in the wilderness of life. The more he tried, the more he failed.
Indeed, those were years of locust. His efforts to further his education were overshadowed by the struggles to stay alive. Buffeted by cruel fate and strange illnesses, our mother took him to many hospitals and spiritual healing centres until God answered our prayers and delivered him from the pangs of death. My older siblings, Mrs Iyabode Ronke Ademujimi, Mrs Hellen Folasade Akinnayajo and Remi Olowolabi Esq would remember the day Boda Segun was rushed to the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Isalu Jigbokin, Idanre under the superintendence of Reverend Olumakaiye, popularly known as _Baba Ojukooko_ .
We were frozen with fear as he could neither walk nor talk. He laid motionless as we lifted him to _Ori Oke Baba Ojukooko_ amidst forlorn hopes and eerie feelings. I remember how our distraught mother ceaselessly stamped her feet on the hard rock, sulking and muttering some inaudible words of prayers.
We had given up. We thought the end had come. But not for Boda Segun. He fought his way back to life with the armour of faith and shield of divine intervention. He was a cat with nine lives. He rose from the sick bed to pursue his tall dreams.
The years of wilderness slowed him down and created a major debacle in his path, he didn’t give up. His popular line, _it’s not over until it’s over_ became a symbolic song that defined his story.
It is a story of resilience in the face of pestilences and vicissitudes. His fighting spirits eventually paid off. He started late though, he finished great. Today, nobody is talking about his struggles, we are celebrating his achievements, especially his incurable belief in the power of learning.
A first rate scholar, he had an incredible thirst for knowledge which led to his acquisition of two bachelor’s degrees: BEd (HONS) History, LLB(HONS)BL and three masters degrees: MSc Managerial Psychology, M.Ed Guidance and Counselling and LLM Law.
He crowned it all with a PhD in Guidance and Counselling.
But truth be told, this is a tough time for us in the household of Pa Lawrence Daboiku Olowolabi, the great _Father Lure_ . Our mother’s womb opener is gone. Our first chapter is closed. 21 years ago, death snatched our youngest brother and the last born of our family, Olumide Olutola Olowolabi.
Today, again, we are in tears over Segun Olowolabi, the very one who has been shepherding us since the demise of our parents. If the dead actually see, mama Dorcas Oluwawemimo will be crying in her grave now. This was not her wish for Segun. She wished him long life in good health and wealth. But alas, death has cancelled the filia prayers of a great mother.
We have lost our foremost scholar at the peak of his flourishing career in the academia. Now, it is over. Goodnight sir. Though we are consumed by sorrows now, we equally consoled by the fact that you left behind beautiful children, Taiwo, Kehinde and your tempestuous baby girl, Mosopefoluwa. Together, we shall all make you proud.
_Sun re o, Ojo b’atibo ku, elegho ra ngho re. Omo yeye e Marayola, Omo yeye e jironeke, Omo Layeyebi amusoo sunsun.
Odigbere o_
Yemi Olowolabi
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