Joseph Oyebode Oke(OWO): Remembring my father, an irrepressible mind who lived for humanity By Jide Okeowo

It is exactly 30 years of your transition from this terrestrial abode. You quit and surrendered to death so untimely when you did. Though you are gone and off to rest eternally, your legacies still ring in our memories. The testimonies from people about your impactful lifestyle have kept a profound memory of you. You truly struggled and laboured for humanity.

Though a teen when you reigned. I struggled to capture the moment of your passing. There was calmness in the air. The people wailed and wept uncontrollably while filling pass the casket containing your remains, to pay their last respect. The huge solidarity we received during your exit assuaged our pains & consoled our feeling. We lost a giant in you, daddy. Our mood expresses how dampened it was the moment you left us.

Though young and less than 10years, that I rarely knew your sojourn through earth save for my subsequent interaction with the people who broadened my perspective of your personality and what you really stood for. I learnt you were courageous, energetic, sagacious, irrepressible, sociable, charismatic and above all development minded. You were truly a leader with an unquenchable passion for the development of your community and its people.

I learnt about your exploits in politics too. The terrain you ventured in to salvage your people from underdevelopment. I was told your political ideology was progressively rooted in humanity. You manoeuvred politics in favour of your people. The same cause you courageously and vigorously pursued before your eventual exit. I was told how you assiduously worked with the likes of Chief Adebayo Adefarati, the man who would later reign as Governor of our dear State, to bring development to your community, Akungba Akoko. Save to assert that you genuinely loved your community with passion. Little wonder your people still regard you as an unforgettable figure.

I had met with people from within and outside the Akungba community, especially your contemporaries and those who knew you. And each time I introduced myself as Jide Oke(Owo), the next question they would ask was "are you the son of late Oke from Okele" and I would proudly answered in the affirmative. To me, this is evidential to your good name. True to the notable Maxim that "perfection is never part of human creation", you were not without flaws and imperfections. But your good far outweigh the noticeable flaws.

The Arogbokun dynasty keeps missing you. The Okele enclave still waiting for another "you" to emerge. The Akungba community keeps talking about your good deeds and profound impacts in the community.

Ofcourse, your shoe is too big for any of us your children, we shall however continue to strive for excellence in dignity. I shall persist the good legacies you left behind.

You lived your life in courage, honesty and integrity. You stood for the truth and humanity. Thank you for being courageous and exhibiting the difficult-to-do but admirable profiles of irrepressibility in the face of stiff antagonism and sabotage.

We sorely miss your untimely exit! Keep resting with the angels, father Abraham.

Pa. Joseph Oyebode Oke(owo) was a retired School Headmaster, Community leader, and later Customary court member of the Ondo state Judiciary.

4th February 1930 - 18th September, 1990.