The late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the immediate past Governor of Oyo State would have been a year older on Wednesday. Family and friends remembered him and are still remembering him.
Abiola Ajimobi was born on December 16, 1949 and died June 25, 2020. He was the first civilian governor to spend two terms of eight years as governor in the history of Oyo State. Abiola Ajimobi played a key role in changing the political narrative and governance in the state.
One of his aides during his time as governor, Hajia Bolatito Adebisi, who was the Senior Special Assistant on Education, penned a memoir to commemorate the 71st post humous birthday of her late boss, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the Aare of Ibadan land.
“I feel so privileged and blessed to have known you. A star, a very bright one at that, your mere presence was light.
“A glory has departed and the sun that warmed and brightened our lives has set, and we shiver in the cold and dark. Yet he would not have us feel this way. After all, that glory that we saw for all those years, that man with divine fire, changed us also, and such as we are, we have been molded in some way by him and out of that divine fire many of us also took a small spark which strengthened and made us work to some extent on the lines that he fashioned. And so, if we praise him, our words seem rather small, and if we praise him, to some extent we also praise ourselves.
“Great and eminent men have monuments in bronze and marble set up for them, but this man of fire managed in his lifetime to become enshrined in so many hearts so that all of us became somewhat of the stuff that he was made of, tough, resilient, hardworking, tenacious and envisioned. He was an astute administrator. He deserves to celebrated at all times.
“All I know is that there was a glory and that it is no more; all I know is that for the moment there is darkness, not so dark certainly, because when I look into my heart, I still find the living flame which he lighted there.
“And if those living flames exist, there will not be darkness in this land, and we all shall be able, with our effort, to continue to remember him and follow his path, to illuminate this land again, small as we are, but still with the fire of change that he instilled into us.
“He was one of the greatest symbols of Oyo State, that we could have had. His tenacity, drive and vision indeed stirred within us a great move for advancement and we would continue to carry that spark to light up the world at large. I will not let my heart sink or allow the sense of frustration set in because I know certainly that he would not love that.
“A brother indeed, Ajimobi Koseleri the great. Keep resting in the bosom of the Almighty.
“No doubt, Ajimobi’s life and times will continue to resonate in the history of Oyo State. Happy 71st post humous birthday”!
Packaged by Kunle Gazali
