Photo credit: vectezy
How can I celebrate the Salah without Kola Adewuyi?
I got to know him in 1984 when I was posted to Saint Stephen’s Commercial High School, Ado Odo, in Ogun State.
When I got to the city, I easily made friends. Ade, as I used to call him, was my closest paddy.
He was a dutiful physics teacher in that school. He warmly welcomed me. After the introduction, I discovered he was from Owu, Egba.
Though I’m also from Owu, I used to be an Egba abroad. That is those who knew they were from Abeokuta but had never visited or
visited sparingly.
I belonged to the latter category. Before University, I think I visited only twice. While in the university, I visited about thrice mainly for bursary.
When I was searching for job, I visited twice again.
Ade would always spend his weekends in the ancient city of Abeokuta. While there, he would attend one social function or the other.
As a result of his going to Abeokuta frequently, I too started following suit. That was how I got used to Abeokuta.
In Ado Odo itself, Ade made sure I got used to the social life of the ancient city.
We started from what some of my friends Christianed, ‘Emu borehole’. That’s the palm wine that’s in a bore hole.
There was this palm wine tapper on Ere Road in Ado that devised a means of making his palm wine cold. He dug a hole and put a big earthen ware pot in the hole.
Whenever he brought the wine, he poured it into the pot. The customers could then drink cold palm wine whenever they patronized him.
He introduced me into buying foodstuff at the Agunloye market in Ado.
He introduced me into other ways of seeking pleasure in the quiet town.
And pleasure we found!
Ade was a warm guy, he was truthful.
He later married a lady from Ado.
He got a job in an engineering company in Abuja before setting up his own business.
About the Ileya, in most cases, he would invite us, his friends, every Salah. He would have arranged a lot of meat and drinks for us. He never discriminated. His friends were his friends.
It’s so sad we have lost him to the grimy hands of the ultimate reaper.
I pray for the repose of his gentle soul!
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