End of An Era; Fare Thee Well, Erudite Bolasodun Ajibola, By Segun Showunmi

 

For some time now our baba had been out of public view, certainly, it was a result of the infirmity of old age, so it was not surprising that Abdul Jabar Bola Ajibola has gone the way of all mortals, His creator has called him and his earthly sojourn has ended! 

Shall we mourn his loss or shall we be thankful to God for an impactful life of service with numerous landmark achievements, a world-class jurist, a devoted and knowledgeable moslem man of faith, a promoter of education cum morals with his Islamic-influenced university, a man of deep tradition of Owu royalty, an administrator and respected international arbiter. 

We must do both, we mourn the passing of a man whose impact will live after him for a few generations In Sha Allah, we will be thankful that it pleased his creator to birth him within us granting us the time we shared. 

I remember having him in The Lion's Den, a no holes barred interview session I had with him, he was honest and straight talking, I asked him about Bakassi and why we should lose our land, I challenged him that he did not go far enough especially as I thought he failed to bring up the exchange between Germany and France that gave room for that part of the partitioning, I asked him why our Egbaland should lose Bakatari to Ibadan, it was a mutually respecting encounter and we kept the respect till age prevented him from more engaging conversations. 

We have lost an easy to talk to elder, one of our iroko has fallen, Omo Oba, Omo Olowu, Omo Amolese bi alari, Omo Asukun Gbade, Omo Afi Isu fo Igba Epo. Sun re o. Fair thee well Bola Ajibola. 

-Otunba Segun Showunmi