Family, friends and associates yesterday eulogised Nigerian Council of Physicians of Natural Medicine (NCPNM) president Prof. Magnus Atilade, who died on January 10.
His daughter, Mrs Femi Ola, said he left a big shoe for his children to wear.
They spoke at New State High School, Mushin, Lagos, during the Service of Songs and Tribute Night for the late Atilade, organised by NCPNM.
Ola said her father was a man of the people, a great accomplisher and a man of many dimensions.
“Dad was an amazing personality, he was a passionate man, a man of everybody, he was a man of many dimensions. He touched many lives, he was gentle, and he was a man of great accomplishments in academic, religion and social. He has left big shoes for us to wear. We will miss him, but we know he is in a better place,” she said.
In his exhortation, Rev Matthew Oladele of The Gospel Baptist Conference of Nigeria urged the gathering to live right, noting that everybody would die one day.
He said: “One day will come that people will celebrate you just as we are celebrating Atilade today; what will people say about you? God has blessed you to bless others, how many people have you blessed? How are you using what God has given you to benefit others? What will be said of you when you leave this world? Are you living life the way you should? All the things and positions you attain are to help others. Are you doing that?”
Deputy Director, Department of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the Federal Ministry of Health, Tile Titus, said the late Atilade had done well for Nigeria, saying he developed natural medicine in the country.
“His death to us in the ministry is a shock. I was arranging a meeting with him and the permanent secretary in the ministry that week he died. He told me to call him the next Friday. I was shocked to hear that he died the Thursday before that. He was one of those who made sure we had traditional medicine board in Nigeria. He has left a big vacuum, but God will help us to fill it. He has left a lot of legacies and has trained a lot of people who can carry on his good deeds.”
A Consultant Ophthalmologist at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL), Adefule Ositelu, described the late Atilade as humble, quiet, a man called for the job and a man that did excellently well.
“He encouraged the practice of natural medicine, he was a great practitioner, he had played his part, and he was outstanding, firm and progressive. It is a pity that he could not see this to the university level. He clamoured for it because he wanted a university for natural alternative medicine in Nigeria. We will miss him for his truth and kindness,” Ositelu said.
NCPNM Vice President Prof Titilayo Oduye described the late Atilade as a beacon of light that charted a progressive course for the profession.
“He was always prepared to uplift and upgrade the council in the interest of the profession. He was a trailblazer, the first registered chiropractor of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. He had passion for Natural and Traditional Medicine. We (NCPNM) are grateful for his unquantifiable efforts in spearheading and realising the establishment, which today has become the number one umbrella body for physicians of natural medicine in Nigeria,” she said.
National Treasurer of the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP), Dr Franca Mordi, described the late Atilade as an icon, a legend and a colossus.
She said: “He was a genuinely optimistic man and he continually broadened his horizons with daring decisions. He was a man that related to people from all walks of life. He was empathetic; he valued character and would always find good in others.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Green Land Clinic in Accra, Ghana, Dr Martin Amoo, described the late Atilade as humble, an achiever and a man that did not discriminate.”
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