How Abiodun Laid Father to Rest in Grand Style

GLITZ TRIBUTE

In his lifetime, Pa Emmanuel Adesanya pulsed with a lambent glow that never seemed to peter out. It brightened his world, bathing everyone that came in contact with him, in his halo. His humanity transcended tribe and religion and he never cringed when beneficiaries of his humaneness, morphed into an adoring mob. Luminous with uncommon charm, he lived to impart love with a common touch. Deceased, Pa Adesanya assumes a larger than life presence in the lives of his loved ones as family, friends, and colleagues converged on his native land, Iperu Remo, in Ogun State, to bid farewell to the man who raised several titans, including Governor Dapo Abiodun, writes Lanre Alfred

Nobody likes funerals. All those flowers decorating a tombstone and eulogies draped across the coffin, like a farewell jewel; amid the hubbub, a full life careens to a close. It is understandable, therefore, that many would gladly shirk appearances at the entombment of a friend or even a close relative.

In light of this, it was humbling to behold the creme de la creme of Nigeria’s high society as they thronged the funeral of Pa Emmanuel Abiodun.
Their presence was infinitely ennobling for Governor Abiodun, who withdrew from the furbelow of his high office in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, to honour his late father and patriarch of the Abiodun clan with a befitting burial.

Interestingly, however, the Ijebus had always been good at keeping a stiff upper lip, even in the face of monumental tragedy. At funerals, intense emotions are expressed through quiet sobs, a hand on the shoulder, and noiseless shedding of tears. But on September 9, as Pa Emmanuel Adesanya Abiodun, a native of Iperu Remo, was interred in mother earth, the Ijebu enclave trembled in grief as several friends and family of the deceased broke into tears.
Iperu Remo virtually keeled over as mourners thronged the funeral of the accomplished patriarch of the Abiodun clan and father of Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun.

Pa Adesanya could not have wished for a more perfect farewell. The sky over his native Iperu Remo was a picturesque blue and the ambiance of the town morphed into subtle gloom as if in mourning with the bereaved. Governor Abiodun, his beloved son, best friend and confidant, watched with undisguised grief as the pall bearers bore his casket to the St. James Anglican Church, in Iperu Remo, Ogun State.

Pa Adesanya’s final departure from mortal life was no doubt a spectacular affair. For a man who lived an impactful life, it was only fitting that he enjoyed the rare privilege of such a grand funeral.
At the funeral service last Thursday, many state governors including Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, industry titans, first class monarchs and academic giants, among others, were in attendance. But, best of all, the people, the ordinary people who he had thrilled, inspired, and given hope, were there en masse to say goodbye.

That was exactly how Pa Adesanya dreamed his final departure from the mortal world perhaps.
His funeral was attended by the inevitable phalanx of VIPs politicians, sportsmen, celebrities of every walk of life and hue. A lot of ordinary people were there too. In death, Pa Abiodun was accessible to everyone, just as he was in his lifetime. On the streets outside, the crowds were even greater, lined in their tens of thousands along the route of the funeral procession, as the hearse, journeyed from his home and through the neighbourhoods where he was fondly hailed and revered as Baba Teacher.

Grand Departure
The ceremony for Pa Adesanya, who died at age 89 after a brief illness on August 2, was highly unusual — in part because coronavirus restrictions meant that it had to be scaled back, but also because it attracted the creme of Nigeria’s high society, despite the stringent circumstances.
His bereaved family comprising his widow, Victoria, his children – including Governor Abiodun – children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, walked in a somber procession behind his coffin as it was driven to the chapel.

The presiding minister, the Most Rev. Olusina Fape, received his corpse and subsequently delivered a heartfelt eulogy emphasising the many ways in which Pa Abiodun impacted positively on his loved ones, friends and even his casual acquaintances.

The incidence of the coronavirus pandemic caused the funeral to be pared down with adjustments including crowd control at the church service. The deceased’s family members in attendance all wore masks and were seated six feet apart in the chapel.
But the subdued service reflected not only the reality of life in a pandemic, but also Pa Abiodun ’s larger than life persona. The ceremony was rich with symbolism and nods to the deceased’s life of service to his loved ones, hometown and Nigeria.

A Life Spent in Service
By many quantitative metrics, Pa Adesanya proved himself the quintessential educationist. By qualitative metrics, he was no less impressive. Arguably one of Nigeria’s most efficient administrators and celebrated academics, he displayed the track record of an impressive leader. He was soft-spoken yet charismatic, logical yet passionate.

Born on February 23, 1932, to Isaac and Alice Abiodun, in Itasanyin, Iperu Remo, Ogun State, Pa Adesanya attended St. James’ Anglican School, Iperu between 1948 and 1950, where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate. He then proceeded to St. Paul’s Grade III Teacher’s College, Abeokuta from 1951-1952. Soon after he commenced his teaching career as a Grade III teacher at St. Paul’s Anglican School, Odogbolu in 1953, Pa Abiodun then went to St. Luke’s Grade II Teacher Training College, Ibadan between 1955 and 1956. Three years later, he joined the Joint Provincial Grade II Teacher Training College, Sagamu as Tutor.

Baba had a stint as a teacher at Christ Apostolic Grammar School, Iperu, before returning to Joint Provincial College in 1962.
He subsequently acquired a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) English Language and Literature from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), Master of Arts in Education (M.A.ED) and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education (Guidance and Counselling), all from OAU.

In 1971, he became a lecturer at the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, where he spent the next 28 years, imparting knowledge and moulding future leaders before retiring in 1999.
At the college, he rose to become the Head, Department of English; Dean, School of Arts; Head, Department of Education Foundation and Counselling; Dean, School of Education; Director, Institute of Academic Extension Services; and Head, Department of Educational Foundation and Management.

Pa Adesanya never set limits to possibilities of success throughout his career as an academic and administrator. He inspired every member of his faculty at the Adeyemi College of Education, in Ondo, to perform at their optimal. Many of his colleagues and subordinates attest that he was a great administrator, role model and ambassador of the academic community.
He was also a master of innovation. His ingenious approaches to scholarship and administration attest to his depth, high professionalism, and work ethic.

All through his lifetime and tenure as an academic and administrator, he remained committed to the highest standard of professional excellence. There is no gainsaying Pa Adesanya established himself as a super administrator. He relished every challenge as an opportunity to demonstrate his resourcefulness and ingenuity at resolving problems. His associates claimed that he seemed hard-wired to attack conflict and administrative problems and resolve them, even in circumstances that many would cringe and seek the safest way out.

A Quintessential Patriarch
With Pa Abiodun, no relative could ever be despondent. He was committed to the emotional and spiritual well-being of his family.

Recalling his impact on his life, Governor Abiodun said, “I learnt humility from my father because he always believed that life is transient and that we must impact positively on others.” Pa Abiodun painstakingly nurtured the bonds of filial love with his immediate and extended family members. He paid a listening ear to his children from childhood through adulthood, to the extent that they chose him as their personal confidant and mentor.

His capacity to bond with his loved ones may however be traced to his relationship with his father. Though he was born to disciplinarian parents, Pa Abiodun’s father, Isaac Abiodun, gave him adequate attention and guidance emblematic of a perfect father-son relationship.
Thus he was simply paying it forward while he devoted similar time and affection to his own children. Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, for instance, enthused that he learnt most of his leadership traits from his late father, best friend, mentor and confidant, Pa Abiodun.

A Selfless Giver
But in parsing Pa Abiodun’s legacy, his most visible role while alive was in giving large chunks of himself in building up others. He lived to please people and worked hard at it all his life: he sought to fulfill his role as an administrator and academic; he sought to impart useful knowledge and skills in his students; he sought to efficiently play his role as a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather – all these while pursuing his own personal ambitions.
Yet these demands and roles which literally consumed a large part of his time never caused him to burn out. Despite his oft busy schedule, he was approachable and easy to relate to.

It was hardly surprising, therefore, that his demise excited an unprecedented outpouring of grief by his native land. His funeral befittingly resonated somber pomp and ceremony; it was a pageant of solemn procession and visibly saddened statesmen; of effusive speeches from past and present presidents, parliamentarians and flowery messages from the public on the rousing citizenship and humanity of the deceased.

The long lines of dignitaries filing past the coffin lying in state in the hallowed sanctum of the St. James Anglican Church, in Iperu Remo further attested to his endearing citizenship of humanity while alive.
The overwhelming tone in all the tributes was genuine affection and respect, sentiments that Pa Adesanya Abiodun had invariably evoked during his lifetime.

Watching him from a distance, Governor Abiodun shouldered a gracious kind of manhood, stepping to the graveside in honour of his late father. According to him, the untimely demise of Pa Abiodun was a regrettable blow to him and other family members. He wished that the Almighty God grants the deceased sweet repose, stressing that he would never get over the absence of his beloved father, mentor, and confidant.

Hovering by his side as he was borne toward an enchanted afterlife, Governor Dapo rued the final departure of his father after a brief illness. He struggled in his grief to deal with the humbling reality that his sweet, chaste confidant had finally set out alone into eternity.

In one sense, though, Pa Emmanuel was not gone. The day before he was blessed and buried, his son made a rare, profoundly wrought surmise after days of puzzling grief, that no one who knew his father would ever forget him.

Indeed, Pa Emmanuel wasn’t alone during his final public appearance. He was joined by several dignitaries, who lined the route to his final internment. Many more gathered along roadsides to say farewell as he was borne to his final resting place. And across the globe’s 24 time zones, hundreds of millions interrupted their waking or sleeping schedules to wish Governor Abiodun’s father a peaceful eternal rest.

The pictures they received were arresting and regularly heart-breaking: the pomp, circumstance, and pageantry so characteristic of the historic solemnities staged by the best of royalty, but with a contemporary difference, both hip and humanising, that marked Pa Abiodun ‘s singular imprint on the Abiodun dynasty and on the world’s notion of humane behaviour.

Even his coffin captured this mixture of traditional royalty and the personal. Pa Abiodun’s cortege was joined along the way by the most important people in his life: his beloved family comprising close and distant relatives, friends, and associates. They walked behind his coffin, and then so did representatives from each of the families and communities whose lives he had touched as no other human had.

Indeed, at the funeral ceremony, the goodwill enjoyed by Dapo Abiodun, was brought to full display as thousands of his friends, family, political and business associates trooped out to participate in the celebration of life of his departed mother-in-law. The ceremony brought out one of the largest crowds in the country’s high society.

The funeral ceremony boasted a kaleidoscope of guests, sumptuous local and international delicacies, choice drinks and impressive eulogies to the departed soul.
But, unlike several billionaires and public servants of his class, Abiodun shied from turning his father’s funeral into an avenue by which he would flaunt his wealth and make an emphatic social statement; he didn’t turn it to a festival of wealth and testament to his clout and high office.

At the funeral of Pa Emmanuel Abiodun’, the guests, irrespective of their pedigree and class, were treated well. This has no doubt endeared the governor to majority of his kin and public commentators. Pundits commend him for setting a good example for majority of his peer that have developed a taste for turning every funeral into a vulgar shindig.
The quality of the ceremony would no doubt make Pa Emmanuel Abiodun turn in his grave noted a guest who was apparently overwhelmed by the grand procession of events at the funeral.