SYMBOLICALLY, it was while participating in a media leaders’ summit in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital last May that I received the news of the transition of Retired Bishop Jacob Olabode Kehinde Olowokure. It was in the rocky ancient city that his fascinating earthly journey as an identical twin brother of Professor Taiwo Olowokure began.
Symbolic too was the fact that my family was part of that unique breaking news in 1929 for it was the young Samuel Odeyemi Agbola, my paternal grandmother’s elder brother, then an apprentice ‘Osomaalo’ under their father, who was dispatched to perform the journalistic function of breaking the news to family folks at Ijebu-Jesa.
The other dimension of what became a tripartite family bond was the fact that the old Olowokure family house was located opposite that of my maternal grandfather, the late High Chief Saba Yekoni Ayoade, in the Odo-Ese quarters of the town, close to the Agbola compound.
I got into the picture in 1979 while seeking admission to the Federal School of Arts and Science, Ondo (FSASON). My mother, Layoonu (nee Ayoade) urged me to enlist the support of yet another ‘egbon’ (brother) of hers who was then a Venerable and Archdeacon of All Saints Anglican Church, Ogbonkowo-Ondo. I teased Layoonu that I thought I had known all her Uncles and Aunties who, nightmarishly, she would insist I prostrate for on the streets of Ijebu-Jesa.
Ven. Olowokure promptly accompanied me to FSASON to inquire from the principal why my admission was delayed despite the good result. Soon after, I was admitted to study Economics, Geography and Religious Studies. Before long I became a weekend regular at the Archdeaconry where I found the Venerable and his wife – interestingly also a twin and a Kehinde – extremely accommodating and generous. The biological and non-biological children under their roof equally radiated warmth and love such that I transformed from being the Venerable’s ‘cousin’ to being a ‘son’.
To confess, there was a culinary dimension to the weekend odysseys. The Sunday afternoon pounded yam with varieties of soup and protein was gastronomically irresistible. I would joyously participate in the Sunday services knowing that a pounded yam feast would follow. The picture of pounded yam in my head did not however obscure the fact that Ven. Olowokure’s sermons were knowledge-based and intellectually rooted. Punctuated with humour and anecdotes, his perceptive messages were always well received. It couldn’t have been otherwise. An educationist, he was once the school principal of Ado Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti. Following the emerging tradition in the Anglican communion to promote qualified scholars into higher positions, he was consecrated as the founding Bishop of the Ikare-Akoko Diocese where he excelled as a courageous pulpit-activist.
My plan was to spend two full academic sessions at FSASON, for my ‘A’ level before seeking university admission, but Daddy Olowokure encouraged me to sit for JAMB again in 1980. Even when I missed the cut-off mark of Economics, my first choice, he insisted I should embrace Psychology, the second choice, wondering if I wanted to study in the university at old age. It was actually an order as I encountered his tougher side. However, it was all congratulatory smiles when I returned with the news of my admission into the University of Ife. As a radical who spoke truth to power from the pulpit, he also welcomed my involvement in student unionism and indeed nicknamed me ‘Lanrewaju Idiagbon’ when as NANS president, I led Nigerian students to confront the Buhari-Idiagbon’s military regime over its attempt to commercialise tertiary education in 1984. Post-NANS he and his wife switched to calling me Olola-Olanrewaju!
Long story short, to borrow the phrase I fell in love with through Wale Bakare, Daddy Olowokure positively impacted my life. His household was a faculty of learning, which I was privileged to pass through. Always showering my family with love and prayers, he was happiest whenever we stayed under his roof at Ijebu-Jesa. He would express disquiet if the option was our own family house. Still, he would insist we had meals with him; either at his place or that of his twin brother as they normally eat interchangeably in each other’s residence located within the same premises. Their telepathic communication, bond and banters are of legendary stuff. In lighter moments, the Prof would call the Bishop, Baba Ijebu; while the Bishop would call the Prof, Baba JABU, since the latter taught at the Joseph Ayo Babalola University after a long stint at the University of Maiduguri. They would sometimes don the same apparel without prior communication. Mistaken identity, especially in their younger days, was a common phenomenon even by one of their spouses.
Daddy Olowokure once hinted that he would like his memoir to be written and entitled: ‘From the classroom to the pulpit’. Though apt, I feel it might not capture the full essence of his life that was full of grace, humanism and philanthropy. So, as his burial comes up on Friday October 18, 2024, here is my epitaph: Here lies a humble man of grace, born in tough circumstances in a rocky city, survived early life vicissitudes but by dint of hard work got well educated, molded lives as a teacher and spiritually uplifted souls as a Bishop”.
- Lanre Arogundade is a journalist and Executive Director of International Press Centre (IPC)
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