Baba, you are going nowhere. Baba, by the grace of God, you will live longer. We cannot afford your going now. You have been my father over the years, but, now that my biological father has gone to meet with the saints, you have to step up now to be my father.”
With the above words, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State requested that former President Olusegun Obasanjo should henceforth take charge as his father, since his biological father is no more. Since the former president did not decline the request, it can be safely assumed to have been approved with immediate effect. The governor has thus successfully ‘ported’ to the Obasanjo family, from his natural Abiodun lineage.
Please join me in congratulating former President Obasanjo over the arrival of the new bouncing baby man. The latest addition to the Obasanjo family came to the world on Sunday, August 15, 2021. Until then, His Excellency was known and addressed simply as Dapo Abiodun. All that has changed, with Baba’s condolence visit to him at the latter’s family house at Iperu-Remo in the state. Obviously Chief Obasanjo did not know that he would return to his Abeokuta home with a new bundle of joy. His mission was simply to commiserate with the governor whose father, Pa Emmanuel Abiodun passed on on August 2.
We do not need anyone to tell us that Pa Abiodun died well. First, he lived long enough. At 89, no one could accuse the evil ones of having done their worst. To live that long in this era of despondency in a country that God gave a beautiful cap but no head to wear it on, is a feat.
Please forgive my digression.
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I had promised not to talk about bad governance in Nigeria, at least not in this piece designed for relaxation. It has been a recurring decimal in our country where successive governments have always left us worse than they met us. It would be another Miracle of Dammam for the Buhari regime to break this jinx. But, if indeed, morning shows the day, and if experience is the best teacher, we would have known by now that that is seemingly an impossible mission. It is not within the ken of the present administration at the centre to break the jinx. Its contradictory policies and ethnocentricity would never permit that to happen.
As I was saying, Pa Abiodun has not only lived well, he died well as well. Otherwise, he would have died before his son became governor or after he has left the office. In Nigeria, it is a good thing for one to die when one’s child is a public figure. Everyone that matters would be struggling to register their impressions in the condolence register in the event of death, or their physical presence at the event proper if the person is celebrating one thing or the other. Everybody, including those who did not know the celebrator (whether dead or living) would have some kind words about him or her.
The former president was at his sermonising best during the visit. As we all know, only the poor share their grief all alone. Hear what Chief Obasanjo said about the governor’s late father: “The lesson from this is that one day we will be no more. It does not matter how long we live, but how we lived. What will people say about you? Baba lived a life of service to his community, God and his family.
“I have come to share in the grief of missing a loved one. It does not matter how old, we still miss them. Baba has done his best and has gone to be with his Creator.
“On behalf of myself and my wife, we really want to share with you, the grief of the demise of your father. May his soul rest in perfect peace. From what we have heard and what we know of Baba, we can testify that Baba gave his life to serve. He gave his life for service of his family, his community, his country and to God.”
