Our last conversation was on Monday, 24 March, 2025. At 6:32 am, you sent me a WhatsApp message, asking that I should come up with a condolence letter to the Board Chairman of Oniroyin Support Initiative, Mrs. Olufunke Adedayo Fadugba, who just lost her mother. You followed up by requesting that I draft another condolence letter for the late Segun Alani Adeleye family too. I promised to do as directed.
The following day, rumour filtered in that you have passed away. A senior colleague ringed me on phone, trying to confirm the authenticity of the spreading story. I informed the fellow that you still chatted me the previous day and that the news of death couldn't be true. Another senior colleague also called and I repeated my earlier response. By the morning of Wednesday, 26 March, the news had further gained traction.
However, I was relieved when Kenny, your PA, refuted the death rumour and confirmed she spoke with your daughter who was with you on sick bed. I learnt you had become stable and was responding to treatment. Since then, I was hoping for the best. I prayed you would recuperate fast and come back on your feet. But alas! I got the shocking, devastating news last night that you eventually succumbed to the cold hands of death. Oh death, where is thy sting?
CATO, your demise was very painful. It's one death too many. Coming especially after we lost egbon Segun Alani Adeleye, whom you bitterly mourned several days earlier. You even contributed financially to the dedicated bank account for his burial expenses, though you confessed Segun's death was "psychologically depressing" for you.
I could understand why this was so. Mr. Segun Alani Adeleye had few weeks earlier donated handsomely to a humanitarian cause you believed in – Oniroyin Support Initiative. You said it was "hard to believe" someone who generously sent you money could die in such mysterious circumstances. CATO, your passing is a sad reminder of the inevitability of death. No one will leave this global village alive. You were a good man, kind, generous and passionate.
When you came up with an idea of establishing a non-governmental organisation dedicated to providing financial support for the families of deceased journalists and you asked me to help drive the initiative, I didn't know you were indirectly saying goodbye. You saddled me with the responsibility of being the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Oniroyin Support Initiative, believing that as a former Chairman of Correspondents' Chapel and two-time Vice Chairman of Ogun NUJ, I would deploy my experience, expertise and organisational prowess to advance the objectives of the NGO, which were noble, of course.
From September 2024 that you broached the idea till February 2025 when it was formally launched in Abeokuta, you exuded courage and determination to bequeath a worthy legacy and touch lives. I knew you to be a man of many parts –seasoned media professional, pro-democracy activist, advocate, community leader, politician, etc. But on this Oniroyin Support Initiative, you felt you should give back to your primary constituency – journalism! You put your all into it. You donated the seed money to kick-start the non-governmental organisation, piloted the registration and legal processes, and facilitated several donations towards actualising the mission of the organisation. You gave us, members of the BOT, a free hand to run the Oniroyin Support Initiative, to contribute our ideas and to determine the direction of its activities. You were contented with only being addressed as the Convener. Nothing more! Most of our meetings were conducted online; only one was held physically at your modest office in Abeokuta.
Eventually, on Thursday, 27 February, 2025, your idea crystallised and concretised with the groundbreaking empowerment programme for journalists held at the Basic Trust International, Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta. The event, where a minute-silence was observed in honour of departed journalists in Ogun State, witnessed the presentation of fifty thousand naira cheque to each of the select families of deceased journalists. Additionally, the beneficiaries and others that attended the event enjoyed free medical screenings, medications and consultations courtesy of the free medical outreach carried out in partnership with the Ogun State Ministry of Health. I could still vividly recollect your speech on that occasion which borders on the essence of promoting the welfare of journalists and raising awareness about the plight of families of the deceased ones.
"Whatever I am today is ascribed to journalism and if I come to this world again, I will want to be a journalist." These were your exact words on that day! I never knew you were gradually bidding the world goodbye. You left the venue of the programme on that day and travelled to London. I never knew it was the last time i would see you. You were indeed impressed by the success of the empowerment programme, especially as a result of the selfless efforts we put into it. In an appreciation message that you shared, you praised the Board members for helping to nurture and deliver your baby.
"I am not surprised and neither am I disappointed in you. God will reward you abundantly." This was the personal message you dropped in my own DM. I can't really fathom how and why you're no more. I was looking forward to your return from London where you went "for a much deserved holiday" and informed me about it. But all that has come to nought.
Comrade Abduraheem Tunde Oladunjoye (CATO), you came, you saw and you impacted. At times, your approach could be controversial but no one can deny the fact that you always throw your body and soul into any cause you believed in.
From all of us at the Oniroyin Support Initiative, we will miss you dearly. We had lofty dream together for the not-for-profit, humanitarian organisation. It's my fervent prayer that the dream shall not die but grow beyond human comprehension.
I don't know if this is my tribute to you but I just wanted to attest to your very good side. You were an extraordinary individual who embodied compassion, resilience and a fierce commitment to creating maximum impact. CATO, you played your part, and bequeathed a lasting legacy with Oniroyin Support Initiative.
Adieu, Olatunde Ayinde Oladunjoye the Onigegewura of Ijebuland!
Adekunle Olayeni
Secretary, Board of Trustees
Oniroyin Support Initiative
05/04/25