When the Editor of The Interview Magazine, Chinyere Fred-Adegbulugbe called me last Wednesday to ask if I had heard any news relating to the demise of the Chairman, Punch Nigeria Limited, Mr. Wale Aboderin, I almost dismissed it as the joke of the century! I told her to allow me make a few calls, and get back to her without missing the fact that her voice was shaking all through our discussion. Could this be true? No, it couldn’t, just some mix-up, I so badly wanted to believe.
The first person that came to mind was the Executive Director, Publications, Joseph Adeyeye. I dialed his number, wishing I would get a negative answer, but I did not. His painful confirmation has remained the biggest blow, after my mother’s passing 10 years ago.
My mind immediately went back to good old days at The Punch. Though the late Aboderin had only been Chairman for a few months by the time I left the company to join former Minister Olusegun Aganga at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, I’ve had a first-hand experience of his exceptional humility.
I was putting the finishing touches on the high table arrangement, when someone tapped me at the back. It was the Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited! I was short of words. Seeing that I was so surprised to see him because he did not warn me earlier, and that I did not know whether to jump or shout or cry, he hugged me and said, “You deserve it”
Of course, with the big shoes left by his highly cerebral predecessor, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, the widely celebrated no-nonsense Punch Chairman, particularly in terms of business order and profitability, a few people, especially top players in the business community, had been skeptical about the ability of the sport philanthropist to sustain the wins already recorded in the organisation.
I remember a discussion I had with a former minister, who is late now. He said he thought that it was premature for Chief Ogunshola to hand over the affairs of Punch to Aboderin, pointing out that he feared that without a concrete business background, he might not be able to pilot the affairs of the company in the same direction as his predecessor. But, right now, after eight years, if the former minister had been alive to witness the continued growth of the paper under Aboderin’s watch, he would also have crossed to the side of those who had built confidence in his capacity over time.
I’ve also had cause to see him in his element, when convincing clients to patronise the Punch Commercial Printing Limited.
When he engaged me in business conversation at the First Anniversary of Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene’s The Interview, all I saw, especially with his command of facts and figures, was a focused and results-oriented businessman, who was very much ready to build on the solid foundation laid by his late father, Chief Olu Aboderin; the late Chief Moyo Aboderin, and Chief Ogunshola.
He promised me there that he would also attend The Point’s Public Presentation and First Anniversary, which took place a month after our meeting in Abuja.
He did not forget to make me feel very good by saying that I was one of the ‘A’ products of Punch and that he would do anything in his capacity to support The Point Newspaper. Now, in this part of the world, you hardly can find this level of selflessness, more so when a former employee begins to swim in the same waters as her former employer. We may say that this is the tradition of the company I have come to tag, proudly, as my training ground, especially when I also think of the priceless support of Chief Ogunshola and the Managing Director, Mr. Ademola Osinubi.
Two weeks before The Point’s anniversary, I remembered to send an invitation letter to Mr. Aboderin as he had requested in Abuja, but, somehow, I forgot to follow up. By the time I remembered that I did not send a reminder or even call to get his confirmation of attendance, it was too late. So, I let it go, painfully. I was putting the finishing touches on the high table arrangement, when someone tapped me at the back. It was the Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited! I was short of words.
Seeing that I was so surprised to see him because he did not warn me earlier, and that I did not know whether to jump or shout or cry, he hugged me and said, “You deserve it”. On that day, in that hall, he was about the most important person to me.
In spite of the very kind remarks by globally celebrated traditional rulers from the North and South West, wife of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, honourable ministers, governors, senators, and the who-is-who in the Nigerian business community, the presence of the Chairman of the organisation, which gave the golden opportunity of making Yemi Kolapo a brand name of note in the media industry, was the greatest testimonial I could get on that day.
I thanked him privately, during and after the event. But now that he is no more, I want to thank him, again, publicly.
Mr. Aboderin had so many admirable parts rolled into one. He was a dedicated businessman, who wanted nothing but the best for his organisation; he was an exceptional sport philanthropist, who helped, in no small measure, to shape the future of many young female basketball players, taking them to victories even outside the shores of Nigeria; and he touched lives with his musical band – Rapture.
If you say these were incontestable patriotic activities during his lifetime, I would say his choice of where to bid Nigerians, and indeed the world, a final goodbye – a Nigerian hospital, was the greatest demonstration of his love for his dear country, Nigeria.
In this period of pain, my heart goes out to his wife, Mrs. Titilayo Aboderin, children and extended family; Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, Mr. Ademola Osinubi, the Board of Punch Nigeria Limited, the entire Punch family (present and past), the sport and entertainment industries, the media and business communities, and all Nigerians.
Though he has gone to rest ‘in the bosom of his Lord’, as Christians would say, Wale Aboderin’s loved ones and numerous admirers are consoled by the fact that he lived a fulfilled life.
One regret I have, however, is that, owing to existing commitments, I was unable to fulfil my own end of a business agreement with the late Punch chairman, despite his prompt execution of his. At this point, I can feel imaginations running wild, but I will only make this agreement public when I fulfil my part, even if for a short period.
Adieu Gbadebowale Wayne Aboderin
