TRIBUTE: Sun re, Ẹgbọn mi Atata: Buọda Olu
- By Rauf Aregbesola
The relationship between the Ọginni and Arẹgbẹsọla families is a familiar phenomenon among the Yoruba, yet it remains unique nonetheless. Both families are Ijẹsa from Ilesa and were neighbours in faraway Ikarẹ-Akoko, yet we are entirely unrelated by blood.
As children, we grew up discovering and knowing one another only as relatives. Just as the elders in the Arẹgbẹsọla household—Yekeen, Jimoh, Razaq, Risiquat, Wasilah, and Lateefah—are Buọda or Anti to everyone, so were Ayo, Olu, and Sunday in the Ọginni household.
We shared an amazing childhood within our expansive compounds, which sat side-by-side on Jubilee Road, opposite the extended section of Victory College, Ikarẹ-Akoko. We lacked no modern amenities: piped water, electricity, wide forecourts, huge backyards, and many rooms. Such was the life we experienced in the 1960s and 1970s in Ikarẹ-Akoko, Western Nigeria.
Buọda Olu Ọginni was an integral part of that experience—one that was idyllic, surreal, and enchanting. He was a senior elder, having already advanced to high school by the time I was starting elementary school. Whenever those seniors returned home for the holidays, we juniors had a wonderful time in their company, being pampered with candies, cartoons, and stories of life beyond our small world.
I developed a particularly close bond with two of these seniors: Buọda Jimoh Arẹgbẹsọla and Buọda Olu Ọginni. Painfully, both have now transitioned to eternity—Jimoh first, and now Olu. While Buọda Jimoh inspired my ideology, Buọda Olu inspired my social consciousness. Both played remarkable roles in shaping the person I became.
As we mourn the transition of Buọda Olu Ọginni, we pray for the repose of his soul and a reawakening to joyful activities on the other side. We also remember to pray for the strength and wellness of those of us left behind.
Sun Re Ọmọ Ọginni,
Ọginni Fin ni,
Ibọn rẹ Fin ni,
A bi ta oko,
Irun bi Alubọsa.
O di gbere.
Power is Responsibility
Ọgbẹni Rauf Arẹgbẹsọla
