The Numero Uno Ekiti Patriarch, alongside his bossom friend and compatriot, Aare Afe Babalola.
A ku odun oni Sir.
Papa, as you very well know, I can hardly be happier than I am today, having been under your unflappable wings since when my eyes were where my knees are, feeding endlessly from your extremely deep well of knowledge, fortrightness and an unwavering ability to always say it as it is, no matter whose ox is gored.
These are all traits I have tried, in my own little way, not only to emulate, but to also demonstrate in my personal life.
In Nigeria where you have served on several Federal Boards, in Western Region where you not only midwived many of the region’s unforgetably impactful corporations, as well as served as Chief Executive of some, but especially in Ekiti, a state whose very creation you championed alongside others which included, interestingly, your then young Secretary, Biodun Oyebanji, now incidentally, the state’s Executive Governor, your name will forever remain unforgetable, and absolutely imperishable.
Your name will, however, blossom the most in our Are – Afao neck of wood, where you have been, and will forever, remain the NON PAREIL.
You have been our shining light and have impacted our corner of the state far beyond what I can begin to write about here. We are all celebrating you today, as always PAPA, thanking the Almighty God for your life and for the distinct BLESSING you have been to humanity.
Happy Birthday Sir and many Happy Returns” – the columnist’s comment on Lanre Fasuan’s Face book post announcing Papa’s 93rd birthday this past week.
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Although this piece would have been more timely last Sunday, not celebrating Papa on his birthday, as has become the columnist’s wont for close on twenty years on these pages, would have been absolutely unthinkable.
However, lest I sound monotonous, what I shall be doing here today, is select from the numerous articles, the one I consider as most quintessentially representing Papa’s driving force, namely: God in his life – that one important element which has shaped his entire life.
Published at his 90th
birthday on Sunday, 3 October, 2021 and titled:’Chief Oladeji Fasuan: About The Most Storied Ekiti Personality, Past & Present’, it reads as follows:
“As he turns a glorious 90 years on on terra firma, October 1, 2021, I write to celebrate an individual who can be said to have seen it all, solely through the grace of God.
On every of his birthday, almost since this column debuted, I have written a tribute to Chief Oladeji Fasuan, the inimitable public servant, indomitable essayist and board room guru who had a hand in the establishment of several of the Awo- era industries in the Ikeja/ Ilupeju/ Apapa Industrial Estates, and a consumate Nigerian patriot to boot.
“Had the young Deji Fasuan been only half as rascally as he was in elementary school, he most probably would never have attended Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti and his entire life trajectory would certainly have been different”, wrote Chief in his 415-page Autobiography: Scaling Accidents Of Life.
“It was at a class in Are-Ekiti in 1945. I sat on the last row and, as usual, was certainly not listening to my class teacher when I impulsively answered ‘I Will Sir’.
Asked what I was affirming, I looked clueless, whereupon he told me:’like it or not, I will send your name to Dallimore for the entrance examination to Christ’s School, next month”.
I would not only subsequently write the exam but passed and got admitted”.
According to Papa, his life ambition before attending Christ’s School was as uncomplicated as just wanting to pass Standard six, become a pupil teacher and, if lucky, attend St Andrew’s College, Oyo, but God purposed by far differently for this octogenarian from Okedoba Quarters, Afao-Ekiti.
I am bringing to the public space in this piece today, glimpses of his life of ‘Divine’ Accidents, the seventh, and last of which, would see him get catapulted to the position of the Chief Executive Officer of a very important corporation in Western Region.
After a short stint in the civil service, Chief Fasuan in 1955 miraculously – since he never at any time applied for admission by himself, gained admission to Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, where he graduated with honours in Economics in 1959.
A rash of jobs later, he got employed at the Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC), where, as Liaison Officer, he represented the Regional Government on the board of many companies in the emerging Ikeja, Ilupeju and Apapa Industrial Estates. Among these were the Nigerian Textile mills, Wrought Iron Nigeria, Pepsi Cola, Ikeja Airport Hotels, WAPCO, Guinness, Nigerite, and Dunlop.
In his book ‘Scaling Accidents of Life’, the author is seen copiously quoting, with an amazing power of recall, events of the last 70-75 years, both here in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world.
In his Foreword to the book, Aare Afe Babalola, Owner and Founder of the incomparable Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti,(ABUAD) wrote: This book is a rare and robust compendium featuring a combination of the author’s humble beginning, his rich experience as an Investment Banker and Public Servant of note, and one guaranteed to be a useful and helpful companion for those who desire to learn a lesson in contentment and honesty”.
Divided into 36 chapters, seven of which are devoted to the seven ‘accidents, the book could justifiably have been titled: God In My Life.
The second ‘miracle’ – he calls them divine accidents – teaches a lesson in openness, and the essence of not being unnecessarily secretive in dealings with friends.
The author’s friend, one Mr Joseph Adeniyi, used his knowledge of the details of his friend’s school certificate result to respond, on his behalf, to an advert for admission into Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone. That was an advert Papa would never have seen, at all, as he was visiting home in far away Ekiti when it appeared in newspapers. As it turned out, his letter of admission arrived weeks before that of the friend who applied for him and who had, indeed, began to think that he probably wasn’t admitted.
The third accident was much more fortuitous. Cash strapped most of the time at the University, how he was going to spend his December holidays in 1955 was clearly beyond him as he could neither pay his passage back to Nigeria nor afford to pay the University for his accommodation and feeding during the 4-week vacation.
He was still ruminating over this when, on the Saturday preceding commencement of the vacation, mother luck took him to the CMS Bookshop in town.
While glued to the section on biographies, he got a gentle tap on the back. Turning, he was face to face with the Archbishop of West Africa, Anglican Communion, who was based in Lagos, but made a brief stopover in Freetown on his way to England. On enquiries, His Lordship not only got to know that he is a Nigerian, but that he was from Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti. “Ooh, you must be a good boy”, said the Archbishop, who promptly introduced him to the local Priest. The literally stranded young man would be the priest’s guest, not only on that occasion, but on many more. This was nothing but the hand of God.
The fourth also revolved around money, this time, his fees, failure to pay which would have seen him ‘sent down the hill’ – that is, drop out.
His fees before now were being paid from his personal savings as well as all manner of hardly sufficient fund raisers by relations. The inadequacy led him to the Ekiti Teachers’ Training College, Ikere Ekiti, with which he signed an agreement to teach for two years for every year of his sponsorship on graduation.
By the time the second tranche was due, the school headship had changed and the new Principal, to continue at all, had added some disagreeable conditions which he , in turn, promptly rejected though he knew not how he was going to pay his fees in order to continue his studies.
This was when another miracle happened. The College Bursar, totally out of the blues, inadvertently sent the money to the University thus saving his brushes.
The fifth happened in far away United States of America.
On his way to attend a World Bank Project Analysis course in the spring of ’72, he had a brief stopover in London where, at the African Continental Bank branch, he changed his pound sterling traveller’s cheques to dollars but inexplainably forgot to collect them from the Manager, Mr C.B Akintola. He did not discover this until his plane landed at the Foster Dulles Airport in Washington. Expectedly, he looked completely lost as he went through airport formalities. That was the point at which a total stranger forcibly tucked a five dollar bill in his pocket and advised he took a train, rather than a cab, to his hotel. Entering his hotel room, he met an envelope, addressed to him, containing 25 dollars, intended to cover his preliminary expenses. The A C B Manager later forwarded his traveller’s cheque to him.
The sixth accident had to do with a plot in his office which
collapsed completely, and redounded to his advantage. He was unjustly transferred to the Industrial department which they considered a ‘Siberia’ with the intention of hampering his progress, only for him to have much faster rise than the plotters.
As it would happen, the incumbent Acting Head of Department had to be transferred because he did not possess adequate qualifications and Papa was promptly made to head the department.
The seventh, and final accident, happened when his name was number one on the list of those to be compulsorily retired, shortly after he had just been promoted as Director of Investment supervision.
That was during the general civil service purge but upon further enquiries by then governor, General David Jemibewon, the Secretary to the state government wrote an opinion, describing Chief Fasuan in superlative terms. The situation drew the ire of the governor who promptly ordered the immediate removal of his boss and appointed him in his stead.
Many more instances will qualify as divine accidents in the life of the unabashed, straight talking Chief Oladeji Fasuan; a man in whom there is no guile and who has, with enormous justification, earned the reputation of one who always says it as it is”.
No matter how much I do not wish to sound monotonous, no article on Chief Fasuan would be complete without a mention, no matter how little, about the leading role he played in the struggle for the creation of Ekiti state; a struggle which amongst other challenges, saw many of today’s Ekiti titans, atimes, sleeping on the Abuja – Ekiti road, whenever it was they started their return journey back home to Ekiti late on the then quite treacherous 397.8 kilometre road, which took no less than about 7 hours.
To be fully, and properly educated on that intense struggle, I recommend a reading of Chief Fasuan’s magnum opus:’Creation of Ekiti State: The Epic Struggle of a People.
Chief Fasuan was the Vanguard of a struggle that saw to the coming together of our respected Obas and Chiefs, illustrious captains of Industry, intellectuals and sundry professionals, all putting heads together in the Committee For The Creation of Ekiti State on which Papa served as Chairman, with each member tapping into his/her contacts; all eventuating in the creation of an Ekiti state, at a time when big names in Nigerian politics, commerce and the professions, in many other parts of the country, did not sniff theirs.
Happy birthday, Papa.
Many Happy returns.
