There’re some friends in whose presence you don’t need enemies. Such is the guy I’m profiling today.
I got to know him at Abe’gi, an expansive spot in Abeokuta where we keep up with current affairs. A newspaper distributor is at hand and for those of us who I’ll describe as staff members, we don’t need to buy the papers unless we want to take them home.
Of course, after reading papers, we start analyzing the contents. The major topics are politics and football. But the range of discussion is not limited to those two.
We eat there and also drink water. At least every bottled drink must contain some water.
The guy had been a Londoner. Indeed, he used to travel to the UK as if he was going to Lagos.
While he was making his trips, whenever he went back to Nigeria, he would always mix his Guinness stout with some bottled water.
Nigerian drinks were too strong for him then.
But when he went back to settle in Nigeria, he quickly acclimatized. An incident I would never ever forget was a particular day when we were looking for cold lager. The man made me, a teetotaler, walk about two kilometers looking for cold beer.
One thing about that day was the fact that we went on sampling lagers in up to five places. When we got to our final destination, the lager was so hot that one could make some eba with it.
One thing that stands this guy out is the fact that he’s always full of advices.
He was a staunch supporter of the Amosun government. I didn’t support the high cap man. However, in spite of our political differences, we were still able to jell.
He would have been a celibate but for the fact that he knows that I know.
Emmanuel Omotayo Gbadebo is a genuine friend!
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