Bayo Adelabu at 50: A Tribute to a Philanthropist Who Takes the Heart of Others Into His Hands For Sakefeeping
By Triangle News Media
On the 28th of September, 1970, God was extremely benevolent unto mankind when he blessed us with the very magnanimous Bayo Adelabu.
Nigeria might have been portrayed in a bad light, maligned and terribly disparaged time and time again, but yet, despite those grotesquely difficult circumstances, we have a course to be optimistic. We have always said that though Nigeria has gold, coal, crude oil, limestone, bitumen and other natural endowments littered beneath the soils of this country, and yet despite the enormity of the resources beneath the soil of the country that we could pride ourselves in as a nation, the finest resources of this country remain the very people on the surface of the country – ordinary humans of extraordinary and enormous credentials. They are the ones that time and time again give credence to our sentiment that Nigeria boasts some of the finest people ever created by God.
One of such persons affirming our sentiment is Bayo Adelabu, a giant from the City of many firsts: Ibadan. An elephant trails no tethering rope; and an elephant deserves better than that we barely say we have caught a glimpse of something. When we see a tamer of the forest in a giant elephant, let us not denigrate its might, let us say in unequivocal terms, without mincing words; that we have seen a big thing and a tamer of the forest; for Bayo Adelabu is like an elephant that sends a tremble down the spine of other animals.
Scion of the legendary late Chief Adegoke Adelabu who was his grandfather; the renowned “Penkelemesi” of Ibadan, and looking again at the incredible records of his father and his landmark achievements, one would be forced to concede that an apple indeed would never fall far from its tree. Bayo Adelabu is one of those who had taken the precocious attributes and brilliance that could be easily discernible in his genealogy. And he threatened and even dares to outdo his progenitors in outstanding deeds.
Thinking of Bayo Adelabu, his many acts of conscience will quickly come to mind. One will quickly be reminded of a man who would stop at nothing to put smiles on the faces of the masses, one would remember his intellectual strength and acumen, one will be reminded of his sagacity and his objective sense of judgement, his detribalized self and one who is never blinded by religious sentiments.
His philanthropic acts towards the four-hundred-and-thirty (430) widows across the thirty-three Local Government Areas of Oyo State is just one of his many acts of conscience. His collaboration with the Seed Vest Microfinance Bank through his Bayo Adelabu Foundation (BAF) to mitigate the sufferings of thousands of households in Oyo State again is one of the many acts of his that portrays him as a philanthropist who never fails to keep the heart of others breathing in his hands for safe keeping.
Bayo Adelabu reeks of intellect and his linguistic ingenuity is second to none. He is one of the very best who could fraternize with the plebs without a shred of inhibition, because he knows that for all he his, for all the wealth God had granted him, he would have abused its essence should he not blossom the lives of others. He knows that to truly flourish, one must lend a helping hand to others and assist others to blossom. And when we let others blossom, we are inadvertently brimming our own lights too. That is why over and over again, time and time again, he never fails to help all and sundry achieve their dreams, he is ever ready, despite the incredible challenges that would be bedevilling his own life too, he’s prepared to offer himself in humble services to others because he opines that we truly achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with other.
On the occasion of Bayo Adelabu’s birthday, it behoves one to blare some of his many acts of conscience, his many humanitarian deeds that cannot be expressed with words. And we express our sincere debt of gratitude to almighty God for bequeathing such an enviable gift as Bayo Adelabu to us. It is tempting to say you are one of the finest humans that have ever threaded the surface of the earth. Happy birthday, Dr. Adelabu, an immaculate philanthropist who takes conscious efforts to keep the hearts of others in his hands for safe keeping.