A Tribute To The Elesun Of Esun-Ekiti

“Baba O” was our conventional hailing of one another. After this alternate, we might pump our palms in a handshake. He was as agency as his handshakes and a loyal good friend to have. Our paths intersected within the paved metropolis of Abuja whereas we had been honing our abilities within the hospitality trade.

He graduated from Ondo State College, Ado-Ekiti, and served within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He began his profession as a safety guard within the Sheraton Resort and Towers (now Abuja Continental Resort), Ladi Kwali Manner, Abuja, round 1988. Regardless of the various authorities businesses within the metropolis, as a graduate, he might solely get a placement as a safety guard of a global lodge.

It was robust work that entailed lengthy hours and bodily power. However his intelligence, perseverance, and diligence paid off. In 1991, he modified departments, turning into an Outlet Cashier. By 1993, he was a Entrance Workplace Cashier. When he left Sheraton in 2001, he had risen to Income and Reservations Supervisor, a strategic place within the hospitality trade.

Sheraton afforded him the chance to obtain on-the-job coaching each in Nigeria and in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE). What was adversity, he remodeled right into a drink of triumph.

After Sheraton, he continued within the hospitality trade, working in two consulting companies. It was in considered one of these companies in Garki, Abuja, that we met in 1998. We later labored side-by-side at one other agency managing two motels in Kaduna till 2003, once we pursued separate ventures.

Our shared ardour for self-development stored us related. We enrolled for Postgraduate Diploma Programmes at Kaduna Polytechnic in 2003 – he studied Enterprise Administration, whereas I studied Advertising. In 2012, we pursued one other PGD in Hospitality Administration on the Nationwide Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, Abuja, usually attending lectures collectively and motivating one another via the challenges of balancing work and research.

We stayed shut, doing hospitality consultancy work throughout a number of cities. He was a person of ideas; exhausting work, diligence, and integrity outlined him. We by no means had disagreements over cash or ethics – we subscribed to the enterprise precept of ‘by no means to get excessive by yourself merchandise’ Oliver Stone, 1983.

He labored tirelessly, by no means hesitating to leap into an all-night bus for a enterprise appointment regardless of the risks. His dedication to his household was unwavering, and his spouse, Olori, was his confidant. Between them, you can discover they each revered their marital bond. Their unwavering self-discipline has performed a pivotal position in elevating 4 well-mannered kids who confidently maintain their place in society.

In 2015, he advised me he had answered the decision to develop into the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti. Although sudden, his large-heartedness and willingness to serve made it unsurprising. Adjusting from calling him Baba O to Kabiesi took time, however it was a privilege to see him embrace this position.

Sadly, this story takes a tragic flip. On January 29, 2024, some subspecies of humanity robbed us of him and one other Oba. A cursed occasion that turned the lives of household, buddies, and group into grief. The information broke that day: three Obas returning (satirically) from a safety assembly had been ambushed alongside the Ipao-Irele-Oke-Ako Highway. The Alara of Ara escaped, however the Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti had been brutally murdered.

Two lives had been reduce brief, leaving households and communities in anguish. For these left behind, restitution and justice appear elusive. Kidnappers, the present ‘gods’ of our society, take victims alive for a ransom. However this was an act of barbarity – an affront to humanity and the dignity of the Oba establishment.

In early February 2024, the Ekiti State Police Command apprehended a suspect, and one other was arrested in March. Each are awaiting trial, however till justice is served, the households, Esun-Ekiti, and Imojo-Ekiti stay engulfed in grief.

I contacted the household upon listening to the information (the night time of the ugly incident), and was numbed by the affirmation. The night time instantly grew to become a nightmare! Kabiesi’s absence leaves a painful wound of loss. This tragedy leaves his household and group in mourning and provides a big quantity to the dreaded corridor of the grief-stricken – a grim place and testomony to the insecurity plaguing Nigeria.