- BISI ADELEYE-FAYEMI
Eni Ogun – Warrior, leader, fearless, battle tested, survivor
Eni Ogun – Descendant of Ogun, the god of war and Iron. Hunter, innovator, adventurer, mysterious
Eni Ogun – From the land where the River Ogun flows gracefully as it waters the lands that have produced great sons and daughters from one generation to the next
Eni Ogun – One man who stands as twenty. He calls one and a hundred answer. He speaks and multitudes listen. He writes and nations pore over the meaning
Thank you, Professor Niyi Osundare
For telling us about these four different Oguns all rolled into one
I am taking your permission for granted
That I may explore these Oguns further
What do you say to the indestructible warrior
who has fought nine decades worth of battles
How do you describe the wielder of the flaming pen
the one with the innocent countenance of a gentle Uncle
who strikes fear into the hearts of many
as he suffers no fool gladly with just a raise of his eyebrows
Where do you begin to describe the breadth, depth, reach
of one of the greatest sages of all time
What do you say about the son of Mama ‘Wild Christian’
and Papa ‘Essay’
The husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle, friend
And that is not counting the legion who share no blood
Yet share tutelage, love, affection, respect, loyalty
Stretching across lifetimes, generations and oceans
Come closer and listen
You can never find enough words
Not in any dictionary in any language
So, if we cannot say
We cannot describe
We dare not begin to recount
What do we do?
We first of all say Thank You
As the indestructible Eni Ogun marks 90 years in this realm of existence
There is nothing to give he does not already have
He is richer than Croesus
His wealth is not measured by any of the mundane parameters
celebrated by those with poor minds and poorer spirits
His riches far exceed whatever number can be found
from the impossible task of counting his luxuriant white mane
Move a little closer and pay attention
After saying Thank You
We show him how grateful we are
How?
We humbly turn to what he has told us over many a season
We reverently learn from the examples he has shown
It really does not matter where you begin or end
Simply read, reflect, learn, pass on, then repeat the cycle
There is so much to choose from
If you are one of the lazy ones who always said ‘His books are too hard to read’
We will not judge you
The one-man battalion has a mind fashioned as a weapon
Do not blame him, he is the sole occupant of his barracks
His imagination has fired bullets, detonated bombs and cut all who should be concerned to size with a sword forged in the furnaces of Ogun himself.
Find one of his many, many, many, many, many, many ‘Interventions’
Surely, there should be something that can be understood
Please don’t move away, there is more
There are those who try to tell us about tomorrow
Yet, they are here with us today
How do they know?
No one knows tomorrow, right?
Yes, no one knows tomorrow
But we often get signs
So, we can prepare, for better or worse
And when we do, it does not matter where the messenger comes from,
what tongue they speak,
What colour they are
what waters flow through their village
or what can be found beneath their garments
We received messages many decades ago
From the keeper of stories told and untold
He lived it, felt it, starved because of it and shed his blood for it
He was hidden away for one score plus two months
He knew, once they come for one, they eventually come for all
He told of a time when those who we ask to lead us
Will be those who place lashes on our backs
He knew about lashes
He was the recipient of many, both seen and unseen
He warned of a season when worshippers will become the worshipped
And the gate-keepers of the imported faiths
Would guard those gates more fiercely than the original owners
How?
With leashes on our necks
Padlocks on our minds
And bonfires to cruelly erase the memory of our ancestors
He told us
That the rich, great and mighty
Will take from the poor, lowly and downtrodden
He foresaw a time when the guns would boom ceaselessly
Yet the resilience of the people would silence the deafening sound
He lamented the lustful desire to service the guns of war
Rather than swallow the bitter but necessary pills of peace
Be your brother’s keeper, he would preach
Be your sister’s wrapper he would imply
No, we would be too busy Yorubaing, Igboing, Hausaing, Fulanining, Ijawing ourselves
into a morbid frenzy of meaninglessness
Before you move away
Remember
Many men and women have died
Uncountable jewels have been lost
Yet, this man lives on
He is still here
He still speaks
He still writes
He still foretells
He still warns
Is it a coincidence that the abundant white mane reminds you of the lion?
Maybe
Maybe not
As long as the lion roars in his habitat
And the lioness does her thing
Our famous incomparable hunter will continue his journey
Armed with guns both literal and metaphorical
With regular sips from his favoured products of Bacchus
His piercing eyes seeing everything and missing nothing
Sifting prey from predator
Pointing out friend from foe
A task that has taken a lifetime
And even that will never be enough
If you ever wanted to know the true meaning of a life of impact
Look no further
Happy birthday
Thank You
We are grateful
We honour you
We adore you
Eni Ogun
𝘉𝘪𝘴𝘪 𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘦-𝘍𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘮𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘈𝘍@𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮
