Tag: PUNCH Chairman

Like every other bad news, this one too came like thunderbolt: “have you heard that The Punch chairman is dead?” This looked straightforward enough, except that often, so many things run across one’s mind when confronted with such statement. Even when I thought I had pulled myself together, what came out of my mouth was yet another rhetorical question: “Which Punch chairman”? (As if The Punch has more than one chairman). Then there was silence at the other end; which compounded my consternation. Then came the confirmation; “Mr Gbadebowale Aboderin.” Again, I asked: what killed him? The person said he died after a heart surgery at First Cardiology Consultants, Ikoyi, Lagos.

I was in Ilesa, Osun State, when the news was broken to me. I had only called this newspaper’s Legal Admin and Personnel Manager (LAPM), Folake Adeoye, who we jocularly refer to as ‘LAMP’ at about 13.35 p.m.to find out one or two things about the office, since I knew I would not be able to get there again on Thursday, when she dropped the bombshell. I left Lagos very early for Ilesa, so, I had not seen any of the papers then. It was one bad news too many. I had problem digesting it; to tell my wife who was only a few metres away when I got the news was equally not easy; and understandably so.

She is also an ex-Puncher (a former member of the staff of The Punch). Indeed, she was secretary to Salewa, one of Wale Aboderin’s siblings in the company. As I commiserated with Salewa on Friday on phone, things appeared normal. But when I handed over the phone to my wife, Salewa could no longer control her emotions. I can understand; the relationship between the duo in those good old days was far beyond that of master and servant. Such was their closeness that my wife still calls her ‘auntie’, even till today. So, my wife knew fairly well the man who, until his death at about 6.05 a.m. on Wednesday was Chairman of Punch Nigeria Ltd. After I managed to get a few details about how and where he died, the first question my wife asked was why he was not taken abroad for treatment. Naturally, that is the kind of question one asks when you know money is not the issue for the person in need of medical attention. Germane as that point might be, that is neither here nor there. In spite of the fact that many of our public hospitals have since become mere consulting clinics, we still have some good hospitals in the country, particularly the private ones. But, as I said earlier, there is no hospital where patients don’t die.

My wife’s concern about the choice of hospital should be the concern of everybody who knew the departed chairman because money could not have been the reason Wale Aboderin was not flown abroad for medical attention. True, hardly would anyone pass through The Punch without knowing Wale . He was such a quiet, easy-going man that could hardly hurt a fly. He could disarm just anyone with his infectious smiles. I think I met him about four times in the last eight years or so. The first time was when The Punch Place, the company’s new ultra-modern head office complex was commissioned in Magboro, Ogun State, on June 29, 2010. I also met him when Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, the immediate past Chairman of Punch Nigeria Ltd. turned 70. The third occasion was in late 2016 at the first anniversary of The Point Newspaper here in Lagos. We also met at one of the media award ceremonies also in Lagos here a few years back. On all occasions, you never missed his humility. My wife too testified that at the social functions of the Aboderins that she attended, Wale  would talk to you respectfully where other empty vessels would bark out orders.

A chief correspondent with The Punch, Gbenga Adeniji, succinctly captured this humility and simplicity personified: “The other day I saw the chairman just coming out of his car, walking towards his office; I offered to carry a bag he was carrying. He politely declined the offer. When I pressed further, he said he would only do so on the condition that I too would allow him to help me carry the papers I was holding.” When has it become, that such a thing would happen? The reporter who must have been speechless added: “I could not thoroughly enjoy the laughter that ensued because I had to dash into the newsroom, leaving him to face the lift with his bag”.

But Wale Aboderin was not only meek and simple; he was also compassionate to a fault. His compassionate mien was captured by yet another Punch employee in a chance meeting that seemed to have been divinely arranged, with the (then) vice chairman of The Punch, on July 12, 2010. According to Dayo Oketola, “I remember feeling disoriented and dazed after my car had somersaulted and landed on its roof with the four tyres rolling upside-down. I had struggled to disentangle myself from the seat belt that had kept me safe; I had also wriggled my way out of the wrecked car. Shivering and lost, I had to quickly crawl out of the car because I feared it might catch fire. On seeing the wreckage of the car, I painfully muttered to myself, ‘I’m finished’. Then there came a voice from behind me: ‘If you survive this kind of an accident, then you are not finished’.

That was Wale Aboderin speaking. He just happened to be at the scene at that time; he did not even know the accident victim was one of the employees of The Punch at the time he stopped to help. Many people would simply zoom off rather than help the victim. He helped him to salvage what could be saved from the car, phoned the company’s managing director (after Oketola had told him he was an employee of The Punch) to confirm, and thereafter drove Oketola home in his own personal car!

What manner of man is this? I did not meet his father, Chief James Olu Aboderin, the founding chairman of Punch Nigeria Ltd when I joined The Punch as a sub-editor in 1985. He died in February 1984. But from all the accounts I heard about him, Wale Aboderin was just a chip off the old block in terms of his compassion, simplicity and generosity. I learnt Chief Aboderin demonstrated all these and even more. Without doubt, Wale would be missed by the so many people whose lives he had touched one way or the other. Although a pilot, he was also into entertainment, including music, fashion, film, visual arts, literature and all. His favourite in this area is his Rapture Band whose leader, Isaac Otokpa, found it difficult to believe that the man who had been taking good care of the band was no more.

Born on April 17, 1958, Wale Aboderin was also a sport enthusiast, just like his father. As far back as 1997, he founded the first privately owned women’s club in the country, the Dolphins Basketball Club which he also nurtured to the top and is now a shining example to similar clubs in the country and beyond. His tenure as Chairman, Lagos State Basketball Association saw the emergence of future stars through his various grassroots initiatives.

His philanthropy included his massive support for the Word of Life Rehabilitation Centre, a ministry formed to cater to the rehabilitation of drug addicts and substance abusers.

It is to his eternal credit though that he proved critics who thought he could not sustain the gains made by Chief Ogunshola, the one I like to refer to as the ‘Father of Modern Punch’ (does that sound political?), wrong. But that is the truth. Wale Aboderin kept the newspaper’s flag flying since his take-over of the chairmanship more than seven years ago, precisely on May 1, 2011, following Chief Ogunshola’s retirement on April 30, 2011, after 24 years of meritorious and dedicated service. Perhaps what the critics did not realise was that he had been under Ogunshola’s tutelage, as it were, since May 21, 1984 when he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors and ultimately became vice-chairman of the company on July 2, 2010. He left the company in the hands of the professionals.

At 60, Wale Aboderin was too young to die. But then, the question is not necessarily how long but how well. He came, he saw, he conquered and alighted when he got to his bus stop. It is also noteworthy that his end was far better than his beginning. It is painful though that he also could not live long to enjoy the fruits of his and his father’s labour.

May his soul rest in peace.