Prof. Oye Ibidapo – Obe: Exit of a Phenomenon

My path first crossed that of Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe in 1982 during the formative period of our club- ‘klub Supremo’. He was one of the founding members of the club. He was then a young, dashing, vibrant and energetic lecturer at the university of Lagos who made available his office as venue for our Pre-inaugural meetings. He also assisted in printing out the minutes of our initial meetings since he was already a computer guru in an era when most of us in the civil service were using typewriters.

At our first meeting, it was not difficult for me to notice this amiable, ebullient, down-to-earth, cerebral and up-and-coming intellectual brimming with ideas. When the Interim Executive Committee was constituted, I became the Interim Chairman and Oye was the Vice-Chairman. We worked together in synergy with other members of the interim Executive Committee to lay a good foundation for the take-off of the club. Oye, along with other members, played a major role in drafting the aims objectives and the Constitution of the club. We were subsequently elected and returned as the founding Chairman and Vice-chairman respectively for a two year tenure, in line with the constitution of the new club.

It was at this level of responsibility that Oye’s ingenuity and leadership qualities shone like a star. He was full of innovative ideas which contributed to making the Klub more attractive as to grow its membership, that reflected federal character in composition, to about fifty members – the highest in the history of the Klub.

At the end of our tenure, Oye succeeded me as Chairman and his performance raised the stake. The race for all the executive positions, especially the Chairman and Vice-chairman, became very competitive and were keenly contested.

In the course of our serving the Klub, Oye and I developed a warm and good personal relationship that was mutually beneficial. I was in the Federal Ministry of Industries in early 80s when he ventured into Consultancy Services and we had a very good collaborative effort. When I was at the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (Presidency) under the chairmanship of General T.Y Danjuma (rtd), we had the privilege of inviting Prof. Ibidapo-Obe and some other experts from various disciplines, including our own Prof. Babajide Alo, to some of our seminars. The objective of the seminars was to benefit from their multiple store of knowledge in such a way that would enable the commission live up to its constitutional billings. It was at these seminars that the all-round scholarstic attributes of Prof.Oye Ibidapo-Obe became apparent. He had great ideas on how to solve the myriad of socio-economic and political challenges besetting the nation.

His talent and resourcefulness was noticed by the Federal Government and was appointed as the Chairman of the committee that was set up to investigate and proffer solutions to the malaise of brain drain that was becoming prevalent then. He was later appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos and founding Vice-Chancellor of the newly established federal university in Ebonyi state. No doubt, his demise is a great loss to Nigeria.

During Oye’s tenure as the pioneer Director of UNILAG CONSULT, I intimated him of my decision to apply for admission to the five years UNILAG Evening Law programme. Despite the competitive nature of the admission process, He assured me of his assistance especially since I already had a second class upper division in sociology from the university of Ibadan. Though the admission did not scale through that year due to some unforeseen circumstances, he ensured I was offered admission the following year. I remain grateful to him for this and other kind gestures which he extended to me and my family.

One can not end this tributes without remembering Oye’s exceptional social skills. He made friends easily, and sustained the friendship. He established network of friends and belonged to many institutions, corporate bodies, clubs and groups. I still wonder how he was able to cope with his multi-various activities.

He will be sorely missed by his amiable wife and soul mate-Sola, his children, family members, friends, institutions and the various groups to which he belonged during his lifetime. May the Almighty God grant his wife, children, family members and those of us he left behind the fortitude to bear this shocking, monumental and irreplaceable loss. I pray that the good Lord will, by His grace,count him worthy of eternal rest in His bosom. Good night Oye , but your good legacy lives on.

A tribute by Henry Femi Osobu.

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