Late Prof. Ademola Shim Oluwole Adesina was a rare personage. He was a ‘Moses’ who did the unthinkable in his generation. He coruscated and shone in his philosophical robe.The relationship between prof. and wickedness was that of light and darkness.
As a known maverick, he was never a party to any sordid and odious bargain that was/ is contrary to humanity. Supermodel, but not supercilious, and devoid of servile service.
Life is first within and then without.The Nobel Prize novelist and author of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez asserted that “all human beings have three lives: public, private and secret.” It is the public that unmasks the private. Whatever doesn’t work privately cannot be manoeuvred to the public, no matter how hard one tries. From their children to their legacies, public servants are disrobeb of their private. For Prof, his public reflects his private, especially through his son, Dapo who hasn’t only taken after him professionally, but also pragmatically.
The Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler wrote that “it is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.” Dapo Ademola-Adesina, popularly known as DAPOOZA hasn’t stopped fighting for and keeping the principles bequeathed to him; he has been living up to them in practical terms in Igbajo community.
He is a man who caps a good heart with a young mind. D.H Lawrence in his poem, “The Snake” refers to heart as a place where there is a constant tug of war between evil and good. Evil wanes in him while the good reigns. Expatiating what a young mind is, former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama while addressing 2009 graduating students of Arizona University said, “young mind is in the context of good approach to life, quality of mind, and not the date of birth.”
Arc. Dapo is an accomplished professional you catch, not only at Christmas; every genuine and progressive call is a Christmas for him, regardless of your region and ethnic. He doesn’t need to know you from Adam before he gives you a generous gaze. Reasons for the establishment of Professor Ademola Adesina Memorial Foundation.
Through the organization, Dapo, as a debonair liberal thinker has hugely impacted Igbajo by giving handouts to the less privileged, empowerment to the youth and has paid school fees of students he has never met or ‘ll probably not meet in life, at Igbajo polythecnic and beyond. When he called me to work with him, his emphasis was on giving encouragement to intellectual, creative, innovative young people.Till now, he hasn’t compromised.
When the visitor of Igbajopolytechnic, Oba Engr. Olufemi Fashade, Owa of Igbajoland hinted that his name has been included among the Board of Trustees of Igbajo polytechnic and that, the inauguration would hold on Friday, September 25, 2020, heaven smiled but I was not flabbergasted; I saw Prof., declaring: ‘this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased’.
Having a higher institution in Igbajo was one of his dreams. But, that never happened in his lifetime.
This seat of honour was earned by Dapo’s bank of love. It was Calvin Coolidge who said, “No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” Unlike Ahaz who left the precepts of his fathers in Jerusalem, Dapo is sustaining the habitues of his dynasty. His breath is not the flames of ganja, neither a false grandeur, but a breath of love for his community and humanity. No wonder this seat of honour: a member, Board of Trustees, Igbajo Polytechnic.
For Dapo and other members of the board, it is a time for service. Talking about the law of timing, king Solomon declared, “To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” I pray they all succeed in their service to the community.
