Yesterday, I attended Chief Adesina's burial ceremony in Ibadan. Riding with colleagues from Lagos to and fro, it was mostly a good trip - until the part where I read through the Tributes. They were very touching, and that was a sobering moment.
It never matters how old the person was when they passed away. It is always painful to lose a loved one. And as we have no control over the inevitability of death in this plane, we can only trust in and look forward to eternity with God - where there will be no death or dying.
I never met Chief Adesina face to face, but his life touched mine in more ways than I probably even know now. For one, his totally awesome son - Deji Adesina - easily became my hero and father-figure as a young undergraduate in OAU. (I was in Part One, Mechanical Engineering; and he was in Part Five, Agricultural Engineering). Also, his reputation as a caring grandfather was legendary, and I can hardly look forward to raising my own children and grand-children without thinking about him.
It's also there in the seemingly mundane things. I wear my wrist-watch on my right hand because Deji Adesina wears his on his right hand, and he does so because his father - Chief Adesina of blessed memory - did so.
Rest in peace, Grandpa. You live on in all of our lives.
*****
I think all sorts of thoughts about the Nigerian Clergy, but I've always been too busy to coherently articulate my thoughts in a long essay. I plan to do this on my next Vacation, but in the interim I'd like to recommend Yemisi Ogbe's essay - aptly named "Nigeria's Superstar Men of God". She has asked some of the questions I've always asked in this piece, and while we haven't arrived at entirely the same answers - I totally recommend her piece as a good read.
A few excerpts below:
Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world. Every Sunday, millions of Nigerians fill innumerable churches. Every Friday, half of the country shuts down in observance of the Muslim Sabbath. Nigeria is also number two on Transparency International’s list of most corrupt countries.
In 2004, a member of Oyakhilome’s 10 000-member church, a cashier with the Ikeja Sheraton Hotels and Towers, donated millions of naira to the church – perhaps an everyday event in the context of a Nigerian church, until it was suggested that the church was under no obligation to query the members of its congregation on the sources of suspicious money. It was also suggested that even if there was a possibility that it was stolen money, the church was under no obligation to return the money to its rightful owner.
Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy, one of the most popular Pentecostal church leaders in Nigeria, renowned for huge televised crusades and miracle services and probably a more plausible candidate for the Nigerian presidency, spent the better part of 2001 in a media battle with Reverend Okotie. The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria unsuccessfully attempted to make peace between the two, or at least to get them off the media. Christians and non-Christians expressed disgust at publicly aired arguments between the two leaders. Many Christians felt that neither of the parties accurately represented the Christian. Many non-Christians felt both parties very accurately represented the Christian, especially leaders of Nigerian Pentecostal churches.Enough of excerpts. Go here to read the full essay.
*****
I re-discovered this really nice song from 2003, Into You, by Fabolous and Tamia (where are they now sef?)...
*music*
I really like what you’ve done to me
I can’t really explain it
I’m so into you
*drops mic and strolls off*
Cheers to the weekend!
Koye.
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