My column this week is dedicated to the late Towulade of Akinale,Oba (Dr) Olufemi Adewunmi Ogunleye, who joined his ancestors on Wednesday June 19,2024.
He was a mentor, motivator and an Uncommon Monarch whose humane nature combined with his infectious charisma and love for breaking new grounds stood him out among peers.
He would have marked his 80th Birthday on September 23.
Before then,he would also have bagged his Doctor of Philosophy,PHD degree in Law with specialisation in Conflict Resolution from Backcock University,in Ilisan on July 13,2024.
But all that was not to be as he answered the home call to join his ancestors Wednesday June 19,2024 barely three months to his birthday.
By the time he answered the divine home call, he had spent 21 years on the throne of his forefathers who settled in a part of Owu kingdom around 1840.
What a life and what a struggle!
After battling the vagaries of early survival through infant mortality fought by his late parents, he finally had a chance to live on September 23,1944 as the eleventh child of his parents, ten of whom had earlier died in infancy or in the womb.
The life and times of the late Oba Olufemi Ogunleye was full of struggles, achievements and outstanding roles which fate and nature conferred on him.
As the only surviving son of his mother, he struggled through life’s vagaries and after secondary school education,he travelled far to the Northern part of the country where he took up journalism practice, first with New Nigerian Newspapers and later as a Correspondent with Daily Times, where he cut his teeth and proved his mettle.
Since the price of performance and recognition is more work, he earned for himself, the first Nigerian to be deported right inside his own country.
He was deported by the government of the late North Central Governor, Audu Bako for an offensive story published in Daily Times.
As fate would have it, his recall to Lagos headquarters of the publishing house marked the beginning of a glorious career which in 1976 saw him into the defunct Nigeria Airways as the Public Relations Officer of the national carrier.
He not only seized the opportunity to improve his education at the University of Lagos, he also cut his teeth as a public relations officer of note both among his colleagues and in the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, NIPR.
His stint as Head of the Nigeria Airways Public Relations Department marked a significant turning point for the national carrier .
The journalism in him ,his amiable nature blended so well with the warmth in Public relations practice that with the passage of time, he strode between journalism and Public Relations.
He did so well, he earned a name in reputation building and management of the national carrier.
Before a short break in 1989 for business ventures, he floated Africa Air- a journal on Aviation which later evolved into Flight Africa quarterly journal.
He also published Flight Express, a weekly tabloid in Aviation.
Everywhere he went, he left an indelible mark.
Still not satisfied,the Oba, over the years, developed a close rapport with the elite and traditional institution, became unwillingly enmeshed in the politics of his Owu homestead and consolidated his father’s influence.
Though,he returned to the Nigeria Airways as Director in 1999, he retired four years later before the disbandment of the National Carrier.
Before he called it quits, he, in 1986, established the Village News-A rural newspaper circulating in his native Ogun state .
While the Village News lasted under his watch, it was read and courted by the masses, rural folks, the political elite and traditional institution .
But along the line,the journalist in him was unknowingly deepening his closeness to royalty. The journey to royalty began for him in 1995 when he was installed Ekerin Apagun of Egbaland.
Yes,he was indeed a warrior….a warrior who survived boardroom politics of the then Nigeria Airways.
He honed his skill as an author as he published and launched a book on Nigeria Airways and Aviation in 2013.
The 1995 installation as Ekerin Apagun of Egbaland was to kick-start a journey to inherit the throne left by his late Father in 1981.
He was installed Baale of Akinale that year and using his fast,wide connection In both the Corporate World and Egba traditional Institution,a relatively small Owu Community of Akinale was lifted up with an Obaship status which he elevated by his warmth, charisma and experience to a first Class Egba Monarch within years.
Not done with life as a Journalist,Public Relations guru and traditional ruler,the uncommon Monarch enrolled as a Law student at the Crescent University,Abeokuta where he subsequently got a Diploma,First Degree in Law and was called to the Bar after a successful stint at the Nigeria Law School,Lagos.
He graduated with honours in his late 60s.
Yet,not done with schorlarship,Oba Ogunleye as a Conflict resolution expert, enrolled for and got a Masters degree in Law at the Babcock University.
Oba Ogunleye honed his deep knowledge of Law within a short period of his practice that he became an Adviser to Egba traditional Council in reconciliation and legal matters.
Oba Ogunleye enrolled for and completed and successfully defended his Doctor of Philosophy,PHD thesis at the same Babcock University in April this year.
And that was when the illness that eventually resulted in death struck to take him to his ancestors barely three months to his 80th birthday thus preventing him to use his vast knowledge to further the development of his Akinale community.
That Akinale ,a hitherto rural area but which gained prominence with the enduring image, legacy of service and drive for youths carved by this Uncommon Monarch is instructive.
Until his death’,he was a member of Lagos Country Club, one of the promoters of Abeokuta Golf Club, himself a golfer of note .
For Kabiyesi Oba Olufemi Adewunmi Ogunleye,the Towulade of Akinale,it wasn’t life that mattered but the courage, unquenchable quest for knowledge, character and glamour that he brought into the Obaship Institution.
He remains an everlasting legacy very difficult to surpass by both his successors and contemporaries.
Adieu Kabiyesi Adewunmi Ogunleye.
Yes, your passage was painful but the fact remains that you never left the Worldstage the same way you met it.
Adieu….. an Uncommon Monarch.