“Father, I Never Met You But I Carry Your Legacy”  –  Olusegun Awolowo

(Segun Awolowo pays an emotional tribute to his beloved late father – 60 Years On)

“With a heavy heart and tear-stained words, I offer this tribute, an emotional symphony born from a son’s longing. Though we never met, your absence, paradoxically, forged a profound presence within my soul. I carry your legacy as a torch, illuminating the path ahead, striving to be the man you would have wanted me to be, all the while being judged by a surname that is more valuable than gold.”

In the quiet depths of my soul, where echoes of the past reverberate, there resides a cherished figure I never had the privilege to meet—a father who left this earthly realm before my arrival, yet whose presence lingers in the strands of my being. Though time may have masked the pain, the void his absence created remains eternally profound.

From stories whispered by distant voices and sepia-toned photographs, pristinely preserved by those who love you, I glimpse the essence of a man who, in his brevity of life, imprinted indelible marks upon those he touched.

Your spirit, dear father, permeates my every breath, interwoven within the tapestry of my existence.

As I stand upon life’s threshold, the various aspects of who you were, resonates within my veins. The echoes of your virtues guide me through the labyrinth of this world. Though fate may have severed our earthly connection before we had the chance to physically meet, your love transcends time, steadfast and unwavering.

With a heavy heart and tear-stained words, I offer this tribute, an emotional symphony born from a son’s longing. Though we never met, your absence, paradoxically, forged a profound presence within my soul. I carry your legacy as a torch, illuminating the path ahead, striving to be the man you would have wanted me to be, all the while being judged by a surname that is more valuable than gold.

Six decades have passed since you departed, yet your absence reverberates through the corridors of my heart, forever etching your memory into the fabric of my being.

Continue to rest in perfect peace dear father, may your spirit find solace in the heavens, as mine finds solace in the love you left behind.

Let me pen off with the words of your own father, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, upon hearing the news of your fatal car crash that took your precious life on 10 July, 1963.

The tragic news of your death was delivered to him in prison after his conviction of treason, and this is what he had to say,

“…I did not sorrow, because I have been taught that there is no death as such. In the fullness of our individual time, every one of us will be translated from this terrestrial sphere into the celestial realm. There will be what we call joy in the latter realm at the happening of this event. There will certainly be joy at least for the reason that the Soul of the translated will be freed from the shackles of the body and will merge with the Over-Soul which is the Mind and Consciousness of God. Man is a living Soul; and his body is only the instrument through which the Soul seeks to evolve its personality. At transition, the body returns to the dust from which it was formed, and the Soul, which is the essence of God in our being, returns to its Source from which it has never parted. Transition is a great, mystic, and mysterious happening at which the Hierarchy of Heavenly Hosts ineffably rejoice. Why then should we sorrow here? To put it in common parlance, the departed is not dead as it seems to us, he is only born into a new life. Here we miss him in flesh; there they welcome him in spirit.” Obafemi Awolowo , My March Through Prison

Fondly remembered by your children, grandchildren, and great grandchild.

Barrister Olusegun Omotunde Awolowo is a grandson of the late revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo. His  late father was the sage’s first son