A day in the life of Professor A.B.O.O OyediranTO the ever pleasant and alluring city of Ibadan and the leafy ambience of Jericho Reservation penultimate Thursday for the eightieth birthday celebration of Professor Allen Bankole Oladunmoye Olukayode Oyediran, stellar physician, world-acclaimed authority on Tropical Medicine and worthy scion of the illustrious Oyediran clan from Offa in Kwara State.After the early morning rain, Ibadan wore a sombre look which added to the calm and serenity of the ancient city. As the sun crouched out of the receding clouds, this great conurbation of Yoruba people was a study in tropical magnificence. As a former denizen of the sprawling metropolis, nostalgia took over.But Ibadan is also a classic testimony to the fact that African people do not do modern cities. Even in the postcolonial phase of human existence, the pristine African psyche is too spontaneous and irrepressible for the rigid rigours and antiseptic orderliness of modern western cities. Not even the African postcolonial state with its aptitude for brutality and sheer repressive ferocity has been able to rein in the joyous anarchy and town planners nightmare.It is said that if a man is diligent in his field, he will walk before kings. Oyediran has walked before and among kings. Before last Thursday, yours sincerely had never met the man except for a brief telephone exchange a few years back on the state of the nation. It was at the instance of an Ife prince who happens to be an in-law of the esteemed professor of medicine.But in keeping with this columns established practice of seeking out for honourable mention great and exceptional Nigerians who have contributed their quota to the development of the nation, yours sincerely had to invite himself to the eightieth birthday ceremony for Professor Oyediran. If we are ever going to recuperate the essence of Nigerias lost greatness, this may well be the kind of events to turn to. In the event, it turned out to be a moveable feast of what made Nigeria so promising and exceptional as a country in the run up to independence and the early phase of independence itself.A brief detour on the way to All Saints Church at Jericho saw one exchanging early morning banters in the Oluyole Estate home of Barrister and Dr Mrs Akin Ige. Having been alerted of the imminent arrival of the man with a peculiar palate for provincial delicacies, husband and wife had managed to rustle the remaining moin-moin and Eko in the vicinity and beyond. The result was a mixed grill of contrasting flavours. Yours sincerely swiftly wolfed down the more vulnerable and was soon on his way to Jericho.How time flies, one thought as the car headed out of the compound. Twenty seven years earlier in May 1992, it was under a makeshift canopy inside the same compound that the great Cicero of Esa Oke had predicted a miserable and dismal end to military adventurism in Nigeria. It was on the occasion of Akins fortieth birthday celebration. The three Ige brothersGeorge- Akins father, Ajibola and Dele were all there to honour their beloved son and nephew.The conversation then had inevitably drifted to the great topic of the moment: the summary closure of African Concord magazine by the military junta of General Ibrahim Babangida over a landmark publication which had busted the fraudulent transition programme as a grand exercise in heartless chicanery.Snooper had anchored the incendiary outing with an opening essay famously titled The Game Is Up. One had actually titled the piece, A bridge too Far, but the intrepid and daredevil Dapo Olorunyomi changed it to make it more punchy and pungent. But not to worry. If reports from the grapevine are to be believed, it was said that an enraged MKO Abiola ordered that the oloriburuku columnist should be handed over to the police if he was heedless and footloose enough to show up anywhere near The Concord premises.These were the thoughts about the anonymity and ambiguities of sacrifice that preyed on ones mind as one finally arrived at the hallowed premises of All Saints Church to honour Professor Kayode Oyediran on this cool and rainy Thursday morning. The huge crowd spilled to the adjoining streets all in honour of a man of lofty professional distinction and unimpeachable personal conduct.The great and the good, they came from all walks of life. It was like the last snapshot of the great Ibadan medical and academic aristocracy. But it was also a deeply religious ceremony, in keeping with the professors famous mantra as a man of muscular Christianity and unflinching faith. The Awolowo clan, Oyedirans adoring in-laws, registered their full presence. In a moving tribute, one of them wrote that the professor came into Awos family life at a time of tragedy and dark foreboding and has been a treasured member ever since.After a thoughtful sermon, it was time for the anthem of Oyedirans alma mater. Having attended the famed CMS and Kings College for his secondary school and Higher School education respectively, the professor enjoys a rare dual heritage. To have attended these two iconic institutions and pride of old Nigeria without blemish and with sterling records is no mean achievement indeed.It was a moving ritual of bonding and identity renewal as the very old, the old, the not so old and the young inside the church rose and filed up to sing the anthem of the two schools, CMS first and then Kings College. In a moving testimony to the power of enlightenment and education, yours sincerely was astounded when three generations of a family, grandfather, father and son, rose right in front of him as the Kings College anthem was called out.This was human capital at its most stellar and finest, increasing exponentially as it is passed from one generation to the other, just as it happened with the Oyediran clan and their famous diplomat and educationist father, Augustus Bamidele Oyediran. No amount of primitive violence or illiterate aggression can destroy this because it is not fixed and stationary deposit or immobile assets.With the church service over, the celebration moved to reception hall just further down the church. It was tributes galore as many jostled to pay tributes to a man of huge academic accomplishments and family guru. As the eldest child and having lost his mother at a very early age, the mantle of shepherd, conciliator, provider and emotional counsellor which Oyediran would wear so well in later age was forced on him by adversity.One recurring strand in most of the tributes is the fact that Professor Oyediran is a man who sets much store by the old values of hard work, diligence, discipline, integrity, loyalty and compassion. These values would propel him to the very pinnacle of academic career: the vice-chancellorship of the countrys premier institution.The College of Medicine at Ibadan has always provided valued leadership for the larger university community at critical moments of its evolution, particularly after its severance from the University of London upon Nigerias independence. Wading through the hefty tome of tributes to Oyediran, particularly by his former colleagues, one can understand why. The College of Medicine, Ibadan has produced enough medical titans to last the whole of Africa for a generation.It is a book of amazing revelations, and it shows why these avatars may not come like this anymore. Missionary ethos combined with rigorous training in some of the worlds leading medical centres to produce a visionary blend leavened by hard labour and the urge to excel. In its earlier incarnation, the college boasted of world-acclaimed authorities in their field, paradigm-changing geniuses and candidates for Nobel laureateship such as Adeoye Lambo, Kayode Oshuntokun and the iconic Julius Odeku.Even among this constellation of medical luminaries, Oyediran shines forth in luminous brilliance and painstaking devotion to duty. He is an aristocrat by birth and by natural inclination. Many contributors to the book of tributes, including his own children, in-laws, relations, friends and associates, spoke about his lofty carriage, his imperial composure, his debonair elegance, his generosity of spirit, his kindness and the fact that he does not suffer fools gladly.Looking back, it can be said that Oyediran has paid his dues and has been amply reinbursed. In a system that works, there can be no greater personal satisfaction. If there is any major take away from this inspirational story of true heroism, it is the need to subordinate personal ego and thirst for vengeance for the greater good of the profession and the larger community. This is borne out by the following vignette taken from the book of tributes.Sometimes in the early fifties, a medical student by the name O.O Akinkugbe applied for a federal government scholarship and was duly invited for an interview by the board. The first question by a member of the panel demanded to know why Akinkugbe was applying for a scholarship when it was a well-known fact that one of his uncles was a well-known timber merchant in Lagos.No further question followed. An embarrassed and flustered Akinkugbe was quietly shown the exit door. Of course, since the whole thing was stringently means tested, there was no federal scholarship for the young man. The particular member of the board who asked the fatal question was merely doing his job. He was none other than A.B Oyediran, the father of the future professor.A decade and a few years later in 1965, the table had turned. Dr O.O Akinkugbe, a brand new consultant at UCH, overheard a group of young House Officers discussing him with awe and trepidation as the hottest physician in town who did not take medical hostages. Among them was the youthful Dr Kayode Oyediran, the son of his old tormentor. The heart warmed at the prospects of sweet revenge.But after a few attempts at wrong footing the young doctor about the most recent editorial in The lancet, an arcane, hard to come by but authoritative medical journal, innate nobility and generosity of spirit took over. Akinkugbe relented and the two bonded very well to the greater glory of country, race and profession.Nigeria is driven to perdition by the inability of its political class to sacrifice their huge, untamed egos at the altar of greater national glory. Wild egos can never build any enduring monument or institutions because building requires communal efforts and self-sacrifice.Watching the great physician from Ondo quietly depart the reception hall last Thursday without any fuss or fanfare and with the aloof, aristocratic sangfroid of the truly well-born, one cannot be in any doubt about Nigerias pressing problems. Here is wishing Professor A.B.O.O Oyediran many happy returns.
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