THE ancient Greeks were firm believers in signs and omens, and a favourite saying of the philosophers of that era is: “When the student is ready, the Teacher will appear”.

I am not a believer in coincidence; I am more inclined to believe that our lives’ steps are ordered by the Infinite Intelligence that we all call God, and so in my own case, my date with Destiny took place one afternoon according to my father when a customer in the person of Pa Enoch O. Dare walked into my father’s shop in Akure to buy books, and his first encounter with my father changed the course of my life.

The student – my humble self – was ready and so, the teacher appeared. Their discussions on that propitious afternoon resulted in my father resolving that I would be enrolled in the very school where Pa Dare worked as a principal.

Soon after, my father personally supervised my preparations for the entrance exam to that highly esteemed institution and in the course of time, I passed and resumed in Aquinas College, in Akure, Ondo State as a student. For my father, the sacrifices were huge and my studentship in Aquinas did not come on a platter of gold as I can recall even now, several occasions when he came to the school to visit, monitoring my progress as a student there. Such was the love of my father.

Sound education

Indeed, my father’s love for his children and his determination to bequeath the very best legacy to them, his insight into the unrivalled truth that a sound education is key to a good life, combined with his uncanny ability to discern nobility in all whom he encountered in his sojourns as a master salesman; all of these factors interplayed on that fateful afternoon resulting in his resolution that as his son, I had to come under the tutelage of Pa E. O. Dare, who, at the time, was the President of Ondo State Chapter of ANCOPSS.

I resumed as a student in Aquinas College, Akure and the rest, as they say, is now history. Each time I look back at that era, my heart bursts with gratitude to the Providential Intelligence that guided my father into making that historic decision that fateful afternoon. As a firm believer in the Hand of Providence and how it directs the course of human lives, I now know without an iota of doubt that God was working behind the scene that afternoon.

Tonight, as I address this august gathering of young scholars turned eminent men, here in this great city of Atlanta, my joy knows no bounds. To stand before the very same man – the school principal who took me – a young, ruddy, and carefree kid, under his tutelage, to pay my tribute. As we take this time to reflect on the impact of this great man, this icon of educational instruction, this hero, the unerringly accurate words of that Lebanese-American painter, writer, poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran comes to mind; he it was who said: “The true wealth of a nation lies neither in its gold nor silver, but in its learning, its wisdom, and in the uprightness of its youth”. 

These words underscore the poignant role played by our dear father and a Rabbi and other unsung heroes in the building of our lives- by the grace of the Almighty, I am what I am today by those we passed through their hands. I make bold to say that Aquinas College, Akure nurtured and fostered the seed of Integrity in me, and in us all. I have often wondered what the missionary founders of Aquinas College had in mind when they undertook, several decades ago, the establishment of a citadel of learning and moral instruction which would have Integrity as its chief corner stone, in Nigeria.

Across the length and breadth of our land, the ancient landmarks of morality, forthrightness, virtue, honesty which all rest as you all know on the cornerstone of integrity, have been discarded and it is now a common saying that “Nigeria has gone to the dogs.” However, we have cause to be hopeful as amidst this thick darkness, we have shining lights of Integrity. It is also a thing of joy that many of these shining lights are alumni of our great college who all passed under the tutelage of our father, in whose honour we have gathered  tonight and other dedicated teachers.

Of a truth, many of these lights who hold aloft the burning torch of integrity and fight valiantly in different sectors to banish the present darkness that threatens to overrun our fatherland are indeed our brothers with whom we raced the fields and burned the midnight oil on the grounds of our alma mater- Aquinas College, Akure.

If I were to ask the audience here cast our minds back to that golden era when we were students of that illustrious institution, we all would be hard pressed to pin-point a single period in which the school had to resort to soliciting for funds and aid from alumni in order to keep afloat or to provide basic tools for smooth running of the school.

Path of depression

Today, the school is a shadow of its former self, and funds are needed for her maintenance.  It is no doubt true that recounting the woes and travails bedeviling our alma-mater and indeed, our fatherland would cast one down a path of depression and anguish; it is not my intent to weigh our minds down with nostalgia or to burden our hearts with despair.  So, instead, I would ask us all to cast our minds back to the tenet of conduct entrenched in us by our father and mentor, and to imagine with me, the healing it could bring to our land.

My dear brothers, as custodians of that most noble of values, the time has come for us to take on ourselves, the role of evangelists or missionaries like our unforgettable founders who left the shores of his home country to make a home amongst us in Nigeria, preaching the gospel.  This time, however, our gospel will not be a religious one per se; we are to give back to our alma mater and our nation at large by spreading the message of Integrity.

Olukayode Ajulo presented this keynote address at the Reunion Meeting of Alumni of Aquinas College, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria at Crown Plaza Hotel,  Atlanta, Georgia, United States.