In early February 2007, I was part of a research group that operated under the auspices of Alliance Française, a French cultural institution with a regional office in Ibadan. We visited The Tribune Newspapers and were warmly received by one Mr Wale Olapade, who opined that we meet with his boss at the Oyo State Press Centre in Ìyángànkú. The phone rang, and a voice quickly answered, saying, “My name is Wale Ojo-Lanre. I have issued a directive to feature your story on a full page this weekend. The coin dropped! What magnanimity from someone I had never met before and oblivious that we were even kinsmen of Ekiti extract.
Fast forward, precisely decades later, I was at the office of my brother, Prince Banji Adelusi, and, by chance, I suggested that I pay a courtesy call on the Director-General of a newly constituted Council of Arts, Culture, and Tourism. Alas! It was the same AWOL.
We exchanged banter and relived the 2007 encounter in Ibadan. ‘Omo Èyéliru Usì Ekiti wasted no time in debriefing me on the proposal to create a regulatory body as a network of creative professionals in Ekiti State. On September 16, 2019, SOECA officially inaugurated its transformation from NECA.
This piece wouldn’t have been inked at a better time, as now that AWOL is winding up his stewardship under our amiable Governor JKF as SSA, Tourism Development. I unequivocally say, Ambassador Wale Ojo-Lanre is a maverick and bridge builder who pushes boundaries for others.
The Yoruba axiom aptly put….Òwe Akálà, Ojú atunrarī, connoting “Whatever goes around, comes around”. AWOL, May honour you wherever the journey takes you. More wins!
