By Tunde Abatan
That I woke up early on Sunday March 7,to behold and thank God for another year of Gods favour and faithfulness is not new to me since I have His divine encounter.
But I never knew that fate and God had another strange surprise as exactly that hour when I rose to give Him praises and adoration,death the five letter word had sneaked in to take away my Uncle, cousin, benefactor and mentor who nurtured me in the tumultuous second decade of my earthly sojourn.
As for me and several others fortunate enough to dwell under his strict guidance,counselling and nurturing,he was a father figure who devoted his time, energy,talent,resources during his active years such that at a time,attention to his young family was almost secondary.
Throughout the last two years of my primary school education to the end of my secondary schooling,his devotion to his role as a mentor, guardian,father and disciplinarian is second to none such that those of us fortunate enough to live under his tutelage easily found it easy to wade through life’s later challenges in our respective callings.
A prince from the Paseda family of Lagbedu Ruling. House of Owu ,Abeokuta, his passion for his Owu lineage is unequal.
In his approach to life ,his motto was “God’s Time Is the Best”. A virtue which he adopted as his business name and he exuded this in his spartan discipline,devotion to his work,God and his Family commitment which is second to none.As for him,be you moslem ,Christian, others you are welcome in his bode of love and deep affection. Discipline,Industry and absolute devotion to God remains his abiding principle till he breath his last.
Our then place of abode between the late 60s and up to early 80s was a place of refuge to family members from far and near who also found absolute confidence in trusting their children to him for guidance both as a mentor and disciplinarian who never for once neither spared the rod or diminish his capacity for meting out appropriate punishment for wayward, lazy and spoilt brats that came to live under his roof.
Marking my birthday March 7 was never contemplated to be a moment for sober reflection as It later happened when news of the passage of this selfless man got to me.But then,who are we to question God,the author and finisher of our faith. Since nobody could add a cubic to his life, I totally surrendered to his demise.
As a pillar of my maternal extended family and as an unequalled family bridge builder. The void he has left, would be very difficult to fill. Difficult especially, at this period of increasing collective guilt where extended family values, beliefs and togetherness have been virtually eroded by strange and unfamiliar norms bordering on religion and economic descent. This twin import into our culture has arrested and imparted negatively on our cherished values of extended family bonding…the real pillar of Yoruba strength.
Let me reserve the rest for my Memoirs!
May your soul rest in peace dear great Uncle!
