1 Copyright © 2020 Society of Young Nigerian Writers E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 08072673852 Published 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical including photocopy, recording or by any information storage and retrieved system without the written permission of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW). Printed By: SYNW Publishers A division of Infortude Consult No 13, Queen Elizabeth Road, Mokola, Ibadan. 08072673852 Email: [email protected] 2 COORDINATOR’S NOTE The need to publish an anthology of poems, articles, essays and tributes in honour of the Late Senator Abiola Ajimobi came a week after his death. To different Oyo State citizens, Senator Abiola Ajimobi meant different things. Senator Abiola Ajimobi came, he saw and he conquered. I personally came in physical contact with the Late Senator Abiola Ajimobi two days to the 2011 Oyo Governorship election. I was with Comrade Laoye Sanda, a bosom friend of Senator Abiola Ajimobi who then was the Chairman of the Coalition for A New Nigeria (CNN). The Coalition was put in place to wrestle power from the People‟s Democratic Party (PDP) under the administration of Otuba Alao Akala. I was the state secretary of the Coalition. Comrade Laoye Sanda and I were in the house of Senator Abiola Ajimobi at Oluyole to brief him about the decision of the Coalition concerning the 2011 Oyo governorship elections. The rest, like they say, is now history. My second time of meeting Senator Ajimobi was when I was elected as the foundation secretary of the Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC) in Oyo State. The national arm of the Council took us to him to present us to him, and he received us well. The political administration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi was historically phenomenon as he remains till date the first and only governor to be elected twice in the history of the state. This anthology therefore, gives account about his life and times as experienced and written by different authors who submitted their works for the anthology. May Senator Abiola Ajimobi‟s soul continue to rest in perfect peace. Amen. Wole Adedoyin IBC Coordinator 13/11/2020 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF LATE LEAVE YET LIVE SENATOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI Ibrahim Sofiyullaha Olaitan POEMS THE LIGHT THAT NEVER DIES Iyaro Oluwatosin Daniel AT A TIME LIKE THIS! Oladele Babajamu WHAT A PRODUCTIVE LIFE! Ahmad Balarabe Ibrahim A LEADER Chukwumalu Emmanuel Chidiebere THE SOIL HAS SWALLOWED OUR GOLD DEATH IS INEVITABLE Abdulrasheed Ibraheem Akande Salako Adeyemi Moses VOICE OF THE SUCCESSORS SMILES SHATTERED Chisimdi George Usama Abdullahi Adam THE DIRGE OF THE LATE SENATOR TWILIGHT ISIAKA ABIOLA AJIMOBI Muhammed Hussaini Kehinde Adesina Adebayo GONE THAT CAP Omike Ifeanyi Kolade Omotoso A LIFE WELL SPENT GOOD NIGHT NOBLE PRINCE Olayinka Abdurrazaq 'THE DEFEATED VANQUISHER OF OYO' HEROIC LIFE OF AJIMOBI Samuel Chidinma Ademola Oluwabukola Christianah AN ODE TO THE ICON THE FALLEN GIANT Faniyi Oluwatomiwa Elijah Johnson Shorunke LET ME BID YOU GOODBYE WITH A CALL TO HAIL, NOT TO MOURN MY POETRY Adeniyi Segun Daniel Singfuri Yohanna WE STILL CAN TALK LOUDLY YOU HAVE MADE A LANDMARK Oji Kester Chukwunalu Ajani David Temitope STANDING LEGS APART THE PROFILE OF GRIEF Augusta Molokwu Emmanuel Chika Prince ODE TO A FALLEN HERO AJIMOBI AND I Ashiru S. Adedamola Auwal Abdu Dankano HERO TO THE HISTORY 4 Daniella Agwa Olasupo Oluwaseyi Isaac ONLY FROM THE MEDIA ODE TO AJIMOBI Bernice Adebimpe Oyeleke Rafiu Azees Opeyemi GREETING TO THE LIFE AND IKU DORO DEATH OF AJIMOBI Jimoh Abiodun Oluwasegun Ademola Ayomide Miracle I KNOW OF A MAN A PHENOMINAL ACHIEVEMENT: Anyadike Chinwendu Deborah NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS Omopo Olusola Rachael AJIMOBI, A TRAILBLAZER Odedele Covenant Oluwafemi ERIN WÓÓ Lawal Sodiq ,KOSELERI Kayode Awojobi 18 THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ABIOLA AJIMOBI AJIMOBI, AN EPITOME OF TOLERANCE 11 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW Oluwafemi Olatokun ABOUT LATE AJIMOBI By Samuel Oamen DEATH! BE NOT EXULTED Adekeye Oluwasegun Lukman 14 INTIMATE THINGS MRS AJIMOBI SAYS ABOUT HER HUSBAND ARCHIPELAGO By Nehru Odeh Enitan Abdultawab ESSAYS OUR REVERED CONSTITUTED AUTHORITY Alayande Lukman Olawale A RADICAL TRANSFORMER: ABIOLA AJIMOBI THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE Yetunde Abimbola Ugboduma Olugbuyiro Success ABIOLA AJIMOBI DEATH IS INEVITABLE Adebayo Iwalola Marcus Ovie Ugboduma A GREAT LEADER FAREWELL, ABIOLA ADEYEMI Abdul Waasi Muh’awwal Opeyemi AJIMOBI Oloyede Ibrahim Olawale AT SEVENTY Sakinah Yusuf AJIMOBI 1949-2020 THE LIVING DEAD Shola Balogun Johnson Shorunke OUR HERO 5 LESSONS LEARNT FROM ABIOLA FLASHBACK: MY MOTHER AJIMOBI PREDICTED I WOULD BE Ogunsola Ayooluwa Folakunmi GOVERNOR, SAYS AJIMOBI OBG TALKS TO ABIOLA AJIMOBI, 'KI OYO LEE DA'A, AJUMOSE GOVERNOR OF OYO STATE GBOGBO WA NII' Abosede, Oyinlola Samson FLASH BACK: LIFE AS GOV. ABIOLA AJIMOBI’S ONLY SON FLASHBACK: GARLANDS FOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI AT 70 FLORENCE AJIMOBI: EARLY LIFE By Festus Adedayo THE MORAL WINDOW IN AJIMOBI’S BLUNTNESS FLORENCE AJIMOBI @ 60: 15 HOW I BENEFITED FROM THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW AJIMOBI’S ‘STUBBORNNESS’ ABOUT HER By Festus Adedayo By Sayo Aluko AJIMOBI: LAST SUPPER WITH A MY HUSBAND MADE HEAVEN, AT SANMONRI, CONSTITUTED INTO PEACE WITH GOD — FLORENCE AUTHORITY BY FESTUS ADEDAYO AJIMOBI AJIMOBI: I NEVER PERSECUTED FLURRY TRIBUTES FOR ABIOLA ANYBODY AJIMOBI INTERVIEWS 6 EARLY LIFE 7 SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF LATE SENATOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI Abiola Ajimobi was born on 16 December 1949 to the Ajimobi of Ibadan at Oja-Oba, Ibadan. It was a political family. His grandfather was Sobaloju of Ibadan Land (a chief in the royal court of Ibadan). His uncle, Hon. N.A. Ajimobi was minister of works and transport in the Western Region. His father, Pa Ajimobi, was also an Honourable member of the House of Assembly in the Old Western region. He started his education at Saint Patricks Primary School, Oke-Padre in Ibadan. He completed his primary education at Ibadan City Council Primary School, Aperin. His secondary education was at Lagelu Grammar School. As a high school student he was active in athletics, table tennis, and football including serving as the school‟s games prefect. Ajumobi university education was in the United States of America, where he studied Business Administration and Finance at the State University of New York, in Buffalo, New York graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. His MBA was in Operations Research and Marketing with a concentration in Finance at Governors State University, University Park, Illinois. As a result of his academic credentials and excellent performance at the New York 8 Insurance examinations, he was engaged in Buffalo, New York as a state certified underwriter, by Equitable Life Assurance Corporation, which was then the 2nd largest Insurance Company in America. PROFESSIONAL CAREER Ajimobi returned to Nigeria in 1977 and joined Management and Industrial Consulting firm as a Senior Consultant. Ajimobi thereafter worked briefly with Modulor Group (an architectural firm) as the Finance and Admin Controller, before joining Nestle Foods PLC. as the Operations Controller and later as Marketing Controller. In 1979, he joined National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company as the Consumer Products Manager. Ajimobi was the youngest Manager to occupy such a sensitive position. His performance quickly earned him promotion to the level of Divisional Manager within one and a half years. Thus becoming the youngest Divisional Manager to be thus appointed. 9 Ajimobi was later promoted to head a newly created Corporate Credit division reporting directly to the Managing director. As a top flyer in the company and based on his problem solving ability he was deployed to Ibadan Business District as the Area Manager to ensure the repositioning of the company‟s entire activities in the area. The Company and the district experienced landmark achievements in its modern retail network resulting. In 1987, he built the company‟s first 3 in 1 and the largest petrol station retail outlet in Nigeria. The district office built during his tenure still stands out today in Jericho, Ibadan. In 1987, based on a worldwide international strategic positioning of the lubricants business desired by Shell International Oil Company, he was appointed the Lubricants Manager. Ajimobi successfully built a new Lubricant division which became the most profitable business of the company and the largest contributor to the corporate profit. Having completed the strategic repositioning of the Lubricants department, he was moved to manage another troubled business arm- the aviation department. By 1993, he had acquired broad exposure in virtually all the marketing arms of the company. As part of the grooming programme he was posted on an international assignment to Shell International storage company of Togo, serving the whole of West Africa as Chief Executive. He also was the Operations Director of Shell Marketing Company in Togo covering some West African countries. Ajimobi returned to Nigeria in 1995 and was appointed in 1996 as Oil Sales Manager. In 1998, he was appointed to the board of the company as Executive director- Marketing, a position he held before his appointment on February 2001, as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company. As Managing Director he 10 substantially improved the profitability of the company and the shareholders fortune. In 2003, he voluntarily retired after 26 years of service in the Oil industry. In his successful professional career spanning a period of over three decades, Abiola Ajimobi was quick witted and positively impacted on the businesses and people he interacted with. 11 POLITICAL CAREER In 2003, he became a Senator of the Republic of Nigeria. He was a principal officer in the Senate, serving as the Deputy Minority leader of the Senate. During his senate days, in 2005, he established the first and the largest FREE VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTER, in Oyo State.