AYODELE AWOJOBI; 40 years after: The Man, the Myth and the Mistake

By Moses Oludele Idowu

Two major deaths shook the social and political firmaments of Nigeria in the 1980’s: the death of Professor Ayodele Awojobi in 1984 and that of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1987. Rarely has a death occasioned national mourning like that of Awojobi in 1984.

Awojobi’s death particularly shook many people because he wasn’t a politician in the proper sense but an intellectual who operated within the university and had gathered numerous admirers and followers among the youths both within and outside the university and across the length and breadth of Nigeria and beyond.

The understanding that he was a social crusader and fighting for the poor and the betterment of society gave him a spot in the hearts of many people and made his death a tragic loss and national calamity.

When he died on Sunday, September 23, 1984 all the newspapers were unanimous that he was the leader of Wole Soyinka’s “wasted generation.” About a year before his untimely death he wrote an ominous letter to the National Assembly regarding the controversial death of another professor which he titled: “How NIgeria Kills Her Sons.” Alas, few months later he too would taste from Nigeria the very potion which he prophetically warned against.
Welcome to the world of Ayodele Awojobi.

Ayo – as he loved to be called by his siblings – was born on March 12, 1937 to the family of Pa Daniel Adekoya Awojobi and Madam Comfort Awojobi.

The Man

Awojobi’s father hails from Ikorodu, Lagos State but his mother, was a native of Modakeke, Ife in Osun State. The dangerous combination of Ijebu and native Oyo in his DNA explains the boldness, defiance and crusading against injustice and oppression for which Awojobi was well- known throughout his life.

To say Ayodele Awojobi was brilliant is to understate the facts. He was essentially and practically a genius. He was not just a late brain or early brain like some; he was simply a brain. That was the opinion of all the teachers who taught him from his Primary School at Faji in Lagos to University in Zaria, the opinion of classmates and colleagues and even his students – some of which I spoke to. And that is the opinion of even foreigners. He himself admitted this much in one of his interviews with a newspaper.

Asked why he chose Science as a field of specialization instead of Arts he said it was simply out of passion. That in school he was both excellent in Arts and Science. He would have the best results in the Arts and also in the Science subjects.

The story is told of how he earned the name “Macbeth’ at CMS Grammar School in the early 1950’s. Someone who was to play the lead role failed to show up due to illness. Awojobi was called to play the role and he did so excellently that the name stuck to him. He would equally have made a great dramatist and writer if he had chosen that field.

Unlike most of us in Science and Engineering who have issues with English Language and literary expressions Awojobi was simply good in the Arts. Reading his columns in the Daily Times of those days would easily convince you of this. He was familiar with Shakespeare and other poets and also History. Yet he was also firmly a prodigy in Science as a professor of Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Mechanical Vibrations.

Awojobi’s performance at the WAEC of 1955 was more than stellar, it was record breaking. He had straight A’s, distinctions in all the 8 subjects he entered for. It was a star performance.

He repeated this feat at A’ Levels at the Nigerian College of Arts and Science in Ibadan in 1958 where he also recorded distinctions in the three subjects – Physics, Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. Then the GCE was conducted and based in London. That was a feat.

It is not surprising that he was given a Federal Government scholarship on the wave of his sterling performance through which he rode to the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology now Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Again even beyond River Niger and hundreds of kilometers from home he asserted himself before the foreign lecturers there when he came out with First Class in Mechanical Engineering in 1962.

Up to this point Ayodele Awojobi was a practicing Christian and even active in the student Christian fellowship as one of his old classmates remembered. He had not ocme under the sinister influence of Agnosticism which he later embraced, much to the sorrow of his parents before their deaths. How he became an agnostic will be seen later in this narrative.

Between 1962 and 1970 Awojobi passed through a phase in life, a period when most people reassess their beliefs, ideology, opinions. The world itself was going through a turmoil at this time. That period has been described as the Roaring Sixties by historians.

It was the decade of decolonization as old structures of imperialism were tumbling down. It was the period of Youth Revolt, Cultural Revolution in the United States and a period of ideological upheaval in Europe as ancient beliefs were being questioned both in the university and by the Media.

“The God is Dead” campaign and movements were active in Europe at this time as many youths deserted the Church questioning some of the fundamental theological beliefs of Historic Christianity. Unfortunately, this was the period Ayodele Awojobi still in his late 20’s and still vulnerable to wild and dangerous ideas traveled to United Kingdom for higher degrees. He left Nigeria in 1962 straight for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Mechanical Vibrations. Then, if you had a First Class you could proceed to the PhD program directly.

It was here he came under the influence of the New Philosophy and became an agnostic. An atheist says there is no God; but an agnostic says, “I don’t have all the facts so I can’t say.”

The arrowhead of this counter- conversion was an elderly Dr. Awojobi who had been there ahead of him and who influenced him towards Agnosticism. At his death in 1984 this elderly Awojobi admitted that he was the one who influenced Awojobi towards Agnosticism.

Philosophers have said that whenever something is gained, something is also lost and vice versa. Awojobi gained higher degrees from abroad but lost his faith in a personal God.

Within record time, by 1964 Awojobi bagged his PhD and returned to Nigeria to contribute to the task of nation- building. He was only 27. The University of Lagos had been established in 1962 as one of the first- generation universities and when the Faculty of Engineering was being established in 1965 Awojobi became one of the pioneer lecturers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The University of Lagos just beginning was the kind of place that needed the gifts and charisma and intellectual energy and exuberance of Awojobi and this was the place where his academic and intellectual prowess would receive global renown. A new university with a new and brilliant scholar fresh from London. It was a right combination, a new wine in a new wineskin.

This was where he earned the nickname ‘Dead Easy’ because he had the habit of breaking complex engineering/ mathematical models into simple things that any student can understand. Two or three of his former students that we worked together in Engineering Consultancy in the early 1990’s told me this.

Awojobi was the reason and the inspiration that many of us, students of my generation, decided to study Engineering especially those of us who entered the university during the late 70’s and early 80’s. A notable example is Olugbenga Daniel who studied Mechanical Engineering under Awojobi who became the Governor of Ogun State under Obasanjo’s administration.

Then came the Western crisis of 1965, the coup and counter – coup of 1966. Then the Civil War begining in 1967 through 1970. It was this incident and the initial failure of Nigerian Army that triggered something in Awojobi. A genius that he was and a patriot too he went to work.

The result was the invention of Autonov 1 , a bi- directional Armoured vehicle that can move forward and backwards without turning. It is reported that a firm in Germany offered him money to sell the patent and design to them but being a patriot he refused.

The non- completion of Ajaokuta was one factor that stalled the full development and even production of this in his lifetime. Unfortunately, Ajaokuta is moribund, the same Nigerian factor that killed the great inventor has also killed Ajaokuta ensuring it does not take off after several billions of dollars and MOU’s with “foreign partners.” Autonov 1 is gathering dust in the Mechanical workshop of Unilag as we speak. So much for patriotism!

The Myth

Various myths have been attributed to Awojobi that are obviously not true. You might have heard about them. One of these was that one day as he traveled the car developed a fault and Awojobi shoved the driver aside, went under the car and put it back in position.

Another myth is that he sent for the architects working for a project for him and they feared to go because they thought he would have read all about Architecture and they won’t be able to answer him.

These are lies. I spoke with the architect in question and you will hear him soon in this narrative.

Many people have spoken to me about his humility and simplicity. Like all truly great men Awojobi was a simple man. I cite two examples.

Engr.Dr. Busola Awojobi is a Structural Engineer and the younger brother of Professor Awojobi. He told us during the Anniversary of his death in 2001 that when he got to UK for further studies his elder brother told him that he should simply call him by name without the usual attachment that every Yoruba son accords his elders or seniors. That he was okay with simply “Ayo.”

Mr. Sola Ogunbayo who was News Editor with the NTA told me of another encounter with Ayodele Awojobi which shows his simplicity. He said one day they were in the office when Awojobi came with a news item which he wanted the NTA to use that night. He said they were eating roasted corn when professor breezed into the office and asked them jokingly why they bought corns without sharing with him. And he took out of the corn then gave them the news item and convinced them why it should be used. Of course they used the said item that night.

That was Awojobi: high intellect but humble even to mix with people junior to him.

I spoke with the Ibadan – based architect who handled a job for him. He also confirmed that Awojobi was very simple man. He came to their office one morning in shirt and trouser with slippers and he was wondering whether this was the same famous professor of Engineering, the “Akoka giant” he had heard so much about!

Awojobi however had one good thing which most scholars today lack. He was not just confined to the anonymity of university environment, he was a social crusader and intellectual activist. As he was active in his gown as an academic he was explosive in the town rousing the public against oppression and calling their attention to the misrule of the governing powers. He was also holding the government to account.

The phrase “speaking truth to power” is now gaining currency in our day but Awojobi was ahead of his time for he was the very embodiment and personification of that phrase. Ibrahim Babangida who confessed that he learned a lot through Awojobi by reading his regular columns in the newspaper admitted that Nigeria has produced three great social critics – Ayodele Awojobi, Bala Usman and Gani Fawehinmi. He was at least right with that assessment.
How did Awojobi get all the time to do all these?

He was a spirit that pervades through Nigerian universities. He was a regular favoured speaker at Student Union fora. His famous polemic – ‘Where Our Oil Money Has Gone’- was actually a paper delivered to University of Ife Students Union and University of Benin within days of each other in 1983. Another of his paper titled, “Nigeria in Search of a Social Order” and “In Search of Political Order” were delivered to University community. This way he was a hero to most students of my generation.

He brought the weight of his prodigious intellect to bear on national affairs. For instance when the Supreme Court was to decide the puzzle of what constitutes 2/3 of 19 states after the logjam of 1979 election Awojobi gave an advise to the Court as to how to resolve the issue as an Applied Mathematician. Justice Kayode Eso in his dissenting judgement made reference to Awojobi’s contribution.

When the controversy over missing oil money erupted, when some officials of NNPC and government, some of who are still alive took N2.8b naira and exchanging it from one private account to the other to yield interest for them, Awojobi wasn’t silent. When the information was leaked to the public there was an uproar.

He then worked out using the prevailing interest rates of most British banks what N2.8b would fetch per day, week, month etc and published it. It was then Nigerians got the message and the nation erupted. A writer’s utmost assignment is to cause people to see. Awojobi often played this role without realizing it.

He was one of the intellectual pillars behind Lateef Jakande’s successful Free Education program in Lagos State and one of the brains for the Regular Reviews. The idea and planning of Lagos State University was not without his inputs.

Where did he get the time to do all these and still teach students and supervise theses as a university professor? Dr. Tai Solarin gave us an inkling of how the mind of Awojobi works like the clock. He told a story after his death of when Awojobi once visited him at Ikenne.

The night came and supper was served and each went to his room to sleep. Awojobi went inside to do some writing. At 4.00 am when Uncle Tai woke up he saw that Awojobi’s supper was still on the Dining Table untouched. He peeped into his room and saw the lights still on and Awojobi buried in his writing oblivious that someone was watching. He had not slept and had not eaten from the previous night.

He believed that Awojobi had an “over-sensitive mind” and that such a person could not live long in Nigeria. He was also a workaholic. He still maintained a weekly column for many years with Daily Times newspaper.

When he was made a professor in 1974 by the University of Lagos he was the youngest Professor of Mechanical Engineering in any Nigerian University, possibly in Africa. He was only 37.

His Inaugural Lecture which followed titled, “Beyond Resonance,” sealed his place not only as an academic of worth and value but as a genius in time and space.

Awojobi was an intellectual of a different mould. He welcomes debate and engaging discourse from anyone ready to take him up. Once Dr. Tai Solarin confessed in a conversation, “Ayo, you are too intelligent for me.” To which he replied: “Uncle Tai don’t flatter me.”

When the debate over the disparity between HND and BSc raged on and the students of Polytechnic went on strike asking for equalization with degree holders Awojobi wrote a blistering attack and publicly demonstrated in his weekly column in the Daily Times that the two are not the same and that Bachelor’s degree is superior to the Higher Diploma. Who could answer him? Being an engineer himself he should at least know.

That way too he gathered enemies to himself.
Blunt, honest and outspoken. Even with Chief Obafemi Awolowo he would argue. “Awojobi came to Park Lane to argue with the leader. He would pick on any topic and argue with Chief Awolowo as if they were colleagues,” remembers Odia Ofeimun, Political Secretary to the late chief.
That is Awojobi for you. Fearless. Passionate. He would have made a great lawyer too. He contemplated studying for Law at a point even as professor.

He was always first, always ahead, a pace- setter for others. When he received the Doctor of Science degree of Imperial College of the University of London in 1974 at 37 it marks the zenith of human educational attainment and the crowning of his extraordinary intellect and mental capacity. Uncle Tai Solarin told us exactly what happened during the Convocation in London. Doctor of Science degree did not come easy, it was then awarded to young promising academics only.

There were only four awarded that year and Awojobi was the only black and, wait for this, the youngest at 37. When his citation was read he moved forward for a handshake with the Queen mother (mother of Queen Elizabeth II) the hall erupted in roaring applause and ovation. It was the only time when a largely white audience was mesmerized by the credentials of a black man.

I should say something about his family. I know at least three of his younger brothers. It is significant that they all followed their elder brother into Science and Engineering. Busola Awojobi is a structural engineer and holds a doctor of philosophy degree too. Oluyombo Awojobi was a medical doctor, a surgeon who established a thriving practice at Eruwa. He died recently in 2015.

Then they have a younger brother who works with Lagos State Ministry of Education. I also know that Awojobi has a sister, wife of the late Professor Ozoro whose death prompted the letter to the National Assembly.

Awojobi has several children. I know at least two of them, one became a medical doctor with Lagos State and the eldest of them a lady who left Nigeria years ago. I am aware that one or two of his children were studying Engineering in the 1980’s. I am relying on memory of events of more than 40 years ago so some of the details about his family may not be hundred percent accurate.

The Error and the Penalty of Error

“In all your way acknowledge him and he shall direct your path.”

That was Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. How it would have been if Awojobi had heeded this counsel?

This is the difficult part of the story and most painful thing for me to write. But I must write it to make this story true and authentic as a record for the future generations.

So far we have seen Ayodele Awojobi the genius, the intellectual activist and social crusader, the friend and defender of the needy and powerless. If his story had ended like this it would have been better but it did not.
How?
Pay attention.
The year 1974 was possibly the most fruitful year of Awojobi’s life and the most rewarding and crowning of his intellectual career. It was the year he was made a professor by the University of Lagos and also the year he was awarded the Doctor of Science degree.
But it was also that same year he made a mistake, a very terrible one.

It was that same year of 1974 that Awojobi made all these exploits in both academic and intellectual careers that he made one of his biggest blunders in life. It was the year he publicly renounced his belief in the existence of God and made it public with the same vigour, extraordinary logic and intellect for which he was so endowed.

On October 14, 1974 Nigerians woke up to see on the pages of Daily Sketch an article titled “Sermon of Disbelief in God” under the pen name of Ayodele Awojobi. In those days Sketch newspaper used to be a tabloid like spread sheets much like the New York Times of today. Possibly other newspapers published it but I read the one in defunct Sketch newspaper.

Awojobi took several columns of the paper to argue, question the existence of God using both the Bible and the Koran but especially the Bible. He applied his brilliant mind and logic using the stories of the Bible itself to argue and question the existence of the One Who made him. It was a new Ayodele Awojobi. Awojobi’s other name is Oluwatumininu meaning “the Lord has comforted me.” Somehow it didn’t occur to him that by renouncing Faith in God he is also renouncing his name and himself. It was a contradiction. What came over you Prof?

This incident shook a lot of people and caused a reverberations in many places including his own parents. It was a shock to many in the university environment and even old classmates at Zaria.

The NIgeria of the 1970’s was far different and far better than the failing Nigeria of today. It was a “typographic society,” much like what Neil Postman, Professor of Communication was referring to in his book “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” It was a world where print had a lot of power than screen. There was no Internet or the multitudinal diversions of Social Media. Even few houses had television. Remember that the Udoji Award had not yet been implemented then.

But virtually everyone who could read bought newspapers then to get their information. It was a world where people read more than watch. Thus a printed item had a wider circulation than any product of electronic medium. Thus the effect of Awojobi’s ‘Sermon of Disbelief’ against God was serious.

Nonetheless, different people, intellectuals from the same academic community rose to the occasion to meet Awojobi and repudiate his arguments. One of these was the then Dr. Tam David West who responded with an article, “Come Off it Prof” and reminded Awojobi that even before the arrival of the white man our native tribes had the concept of God firmly embedded in their psyches. Reminding Awojobi that contrary to the claims that Europeans have jettisoned the beliefs in God that even in United Kingdom where he trained Parliament still began their deliberations with prayer. God bless you Tam David West.

That was the NIgeria of the 1970’s. How I wish we could return to that period and era!

This renunciation of the Faith in which he once believed caused great panic to many of his admirers, former classmates and great consternation even to his parents.

Dr. Oloruntoba, the founder of the famous Ola- Olu Group of Hospitals in Ilorin was a classmate of Professor Awojobi in Zaria.

They both belonged to the same Fellowship of Christian Students in the University. They often invited speakers from outside to address them but most often students themselves would be asked to speak. It was Awojobi’s turn once to speak to the other students. He gave a lecture which he titled “Sermon of Belief in God.” Dr. Oloruntoba admitted that throughout his stay in Zaria he never had a more powerful argument and lecture or sermon about God as the one given by Awojobi to other students. One thing with Awojobi was that he was a powerful speaker. He had the ability to carry himself into his speech with the same forcefulness and energy of his prodigious intellect.

Thus it was a shocked Oloruntoba reading his old friend and classmate renouncing belief in God with the same passion.
According to authentic report and sources Professor Awojobi’s father wasn’t happy with his renunciation of God and was reported to have ordered, “Get the devil out of my son.” To the old man Agnosticism is nothing but devil.
Awojobi’s renunciation of the Faith of his father and mother, the Faith of his early years was a mistake – a very fatal one, now viewed in retrospect. However he never again publicly reclaim his belief in God until probably on his death bed. In his condolence to the family Awo said that he knew him as an agnostic; meaning that to his death he remained so.

The Second Republic was a period when Awojobi became politically exposed. Although he wasn’t officially a member of any party it was obvious his sympathies were with the Unity Party of Nigeria and the Progressive People’s Alliance led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was a thorn in the flesh of the ruling National Party of Nigeria. He used the vehicle of litigation to the limit and even beyond the limit. His mistake was to think that he could change Nigeria simply by using the courts or even intellectual power.

The evil powers and spirits that assail Nigeria are too much amd so deadly and ruthless to be bothered by intellectual power or sound logic. But he was also marked by the party in power as an enemy. His own was particularly dangerous as an enemy because being an intellectual operating from the security of the university he could do much havoc to the party in power.

Violence was characteristic of the Second Republic especially towards the end. At a party in Modakeke in 1982 NPN thugs shot dead 8 stalwarts of the ruling UPN in the state in broad daylight without any arrest. This was the prelude to the massively rigged 1983 election and the collapse of the Second Republic.

It was here Awojobi began to notice that forces were aiming his life. He was quoted once in the paper, “My Life in Danger.” He recounted how he was to give a lecture in Benin and decided to go by a different means sending the driver ahead without him. The car had a fatal accident on the way. That was the period Chief Bola Ige, invited him as a guest to stay with him for some months.

Awojobi had also gathered not a few enemies even among fellow academics. He once exposed the corruption in the university administration leading to the sack of an administration. You can’t have the kind of brain of Awojobi and not be hated or envied by others. However, as his enemies increased what did Awojobi do to fortify himself against them?

The only One Above Who could save him from all enemies seen and unseen he had renounced publicly. So it was only a matter of time before those seeking his life would get at him.
One other mistake he made is that he took NIgeria too seriously. How I wished he was alive today to read my piece “NIgeria is a Game.”

But it was the massive rigging of the 1983 election by the ruling NPN that troubled him the most and the collusion of the courts in giving questionable verdicts supporting the heist. He watched as his friend, Bola Ige was robbed out of office in Oyo State and Ambrose Alli was similarly robbed in Benin.

The worst was the presidential election of 1983 as NPN gave a new meaning to rigging announcing the results around 3.00 am when people had slept. Verdict 83 would never be forgotten by even children of my generation. All these affected Awojobi deeply. He knew that if the 1983 election was rigged he might not see a democratic dispensation in his lifetime again. He himself said it in the last interview he had with Daily Times after the military takeover that Nigeria would not be ready for democracy for another decade to come. He was right.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo observed that the last time he saw Awojobi it was obvious he was psychologically and emotionally disturbed by the heist perpetrated in the election. And he never recovered from it.

At a Press Conference called by Olabisi Onabanjo, governor of Ogun State in 1983 Awojobi lost his mood, his dignified composure when he interrupted the governor to lambast NPN and the colluding press. His emotion gave way. That was not the Awojobi we knew. NIgeria and the problem of Nigeria had changed him. He had invested so much on Nigeria and nothing in return. He took Nigeria too seriously. It was his undoing.

1984 was a memorable year in Nigeria. It was the year Nigerians woke up to a new military junta led by Muhammadu Buhari that led many Nigerians to their deaths. The Second Republic had collapsed.

It was also the title of George Orwell’s novel about the era of totalitarianism that is coming. But it was the year of reckoning for Ayodele Awojobi. It was ten years after his infamous declaration of disbelief in God. Obviously God waited and gave him time to renounce his error and correct himself for ten years but he did not.

It was that year his enemies struck at him. I won’t go into the details of his death here as a mark of respect for his children and family. According to Chief T.O.S Benson another extended family member of the Awojobis from Ikorodu, Awojobi’s death was not unconnected with the same enemies he had offended during the Second Republic. His elder brother, the agnostic Dr. Awojobi earlier mentioned also corroborated this. We should leave it at that. He died on September 23, 1984, exactly 40 years today. He died exactly 10 years less few days after his infamous Sermon of Disbelief in God.

However, it is the opinion of this writer that he would have triumphed over his enemies if he had not jettisoned his once robust Faith in God. Awo was a good example. He never renounced Faith in God or the religion of his father and he triumphed over his enemies. Somehow these admirers of Awo didn’t follow his own example in this regard.

In essence God did not destroy Awojobi, his enemies did. God merely stood aside and withdrew his protection from him. And justly so. Why would you continue to protect someone who never believes in your existence or even benevolence?

However, at his death his last prayer according to the Sunday Times of September 30, 1984 was, “Oh God have mercy on my soul.” It was a sad ending. Let us hope that God heard that prayer, for if He didn’t, then too bad. Awojobi was too good a person and a genius to be eternally separated from God.

Betrand Russell another Mathematician and social crusader who would have been compared to him lived to be 97. Awojobi was only 47 when he died. That, according to Tai Solarin, was the difference between Nigeria and Britain. Solarin, himself an atheist rejected the idea that Awojobi was killed by anyone but that he was killed by his “oversensitive mind.” Whatever that means.

This is the story of that man Ayodele Awojobi, writer, author, engineer, scholar, genius, inventor, social crusader and intellectual activist
If he were alive today he would have been 87.

Conclusion

In another way Awojobi’s early death was a blessing. His early departure even saved him from witnessing the tragedy that Nigeria has become in the hands of his homegrown military mercenaries, political buccaneers, financial pirates, wasters and misrulers.

How would Awojobi have received the annulment of June 12 election? How would he have reacted to Abacha’s rule with his explosive and combustible nature and temperament in the face of evil? How would he have reacted to the sorry state of the university today? Then much more how would he have been patient seen his beloved Lagos State under the spell of one man from Osun State calling the shots in his state? How would he have been quiet as one man collects 10% (or is it 15%) of the revenue of his beloved Lagos State under whatever subterfuge? Knowing what I know of Awojobi he would have brought fire down on Lagos State and on that government. How would he have felt seeing his old comrades now part of the same ruiners of Nigeria; seeing his native town of Ikorodu taken over by ritual murderers and yahoo- boys?

He would have suffered more in his old age seeing all these happening. So in essence his early death was a blessing in another dimension. It is a curse to see certain things with your eyes. Old age too could be a curse. Some people would have lost all respects of even admirers before they die. Others with ignominy. Awojobi’s death attracted national mourning and his burial was with grandeur and honour with Youth Corps members paying him homage. That is honour even in death.

I am aware that a bust has been made to honour him at Onike, Yaba by the same party and government that have made life a hell for Nigerians and priced education beyond the reach of the children of common man. Awojobi would have regarded that as an insult to his person if he were alive today. He won’t have seen much difference between Buhari’s APC and Shehu Shagari’s NPN which he fought with every fiber of his being anyway. I know him that much.

This is the story of that man Ayodele Oluwatumininu Awojobi, genius inter pares, scholar par excellence, patriot and nationalist, also known as Akoka Giant.

[ This story is written for the benefits of the young generation who had not been born in the 1970’s and 1980’s or too young during these periods to know Professor Awojobi in person. You may share this story on the condition that you do not alter anything or remove the name of the author on it. Be warned or you could be charged for copyright infringement.
Publish as it is or leave it alone. ]

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September 23, 2024
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