Odolaiye Aremu sings for Azeez Arisekola Alao

Eniti aiye banfe (When a person is beloved by the world)
Bo f’ewe dewu yi o ye e (Even if he makes for himself a dress of leaves
It will be found very befitting)
Bi ikan ba duro, ile o la (If the all-consuming termite tarries
It will be consumed by the earth)

As soon as the warm winds from London brought the shocking news of the death of the great Ibadan business mogul, entrepreneur, philanthropist extraordinary and influential broker behind the political scene, Alhaji Azeez Arisekola Alao, snooper went in search of the classic by Odolaiye Aremu, the great Ilorin musician and exponent of dadakuada music.

Snooper is not always on the same political page with Arisekola, particularly during the military inquisition and the drama that led to the annulment of the best election ever held in Nigeria and the death in malignant custody of MKO Abiola.  But this column always insists on giving a person his dues. The unprecedented outpouring of grief in Ibadan and environs shows how much beloved this man was and how positively he touched the lives of many people through his various empowerment schemes.

There are important lessons to be learnt from Arisekola’s life. First is that it is possible to lift one’s self up by the bootstraps no matter how adverse and penurious the circumstances.  The second is that having lifted himself up, one must never remove the grimy ladder from those who may be equally gifted but without the grit and determination.

A precociously bright student, the young Azeez was the finalist in the entrance examination to Christ School in 1960. In the same year, he also came third in the entrance examination to Lagelu Grammar School. But the straitened circumstances of his parents could not allow him to go to secondary school. It was the end of the road for the young fellow in terms of formal education.

But not to be cowed by fate or bullied into submission by adversity, the youth ploughed his mental gifts, eye for details and determination into the business of buying and selling. He made a roaring and extraordinary success of it. In a few years, Arisekola became a household word in the western parts of the country, particularly Ibadan and environs. Those who have been hearing his name for a very long time would be surprised that Arisekola was still under seventy when he answered the final call.

As soon as fortunes began smiling on him, Arisekola initiated a Scholarship Scheme for the poor and the talented indigent. He named it after the father who was unable to send him to school. It was an act of exceptional nobility and filial devotion.  Numerous examples abound of his kindness, courtesy and generosity. He was a patron of politicians in need of economic rehabilitation as well as a partisan of the desperately poor in search of their daily bread. This feudal munificence was in keeping with the Islamic injunction. Arisekola was a man of muscular devotion to the Islamic faith.

Despite his Croesus-like wealth and his Midas touch going forward, the late business mogul conducted and carried himself in public with amazing grace and simplicity. He wore no airs. Although not a politician in the formal sense of the word, Arisekola was the quintessential man of the people. He was the sort of person who could haul a former classmate out of a crowd and engage him in public bantering. There was always something about him of the home boy made good and an unrepentant Ibadan nationalist.

Snooper recalls a chance encounter with the late billionaire at a public event in Ibadan last year. Arisekola’s warmth and lacerating wit was a reporter’s delight any day.  The Aare Musulumi seized the High Table with his impish humour and irreverence sending yours sincerely almost toppling with laughter. May Allah receive the departed.

This piece is republished because it never made it to the internet edition of the paper.