When I turned 70 last Monday, 12th February 2024, many of my friends started calling me Baba 70. In fact, they started calling the name even before D-Day.
Many people have said that age is just a figure or number, and it is really what you make of it that it is. So that is how I have taken it.
A group of friends had gotten together a couple of months back and planned what they called a 4-in-One Celebration of Epa Ogie Eboigbe at 70. It was made up of a 70th Birthday party, Book Launch, Épa’s Blog 5th Anniversary and the Lecture to present the Biography & History Project.
I was to formally launch my first book and present a lecture to officially introduce our biography writing project, BHP – Biography & History Project.
The book, ‘Épa Don Come – An Odyssey With the Elder’, is a compilation of interesting articles from my blog, Épa.com.ng, which is also marking its 5th anniversary.
BHP, was the focus of the Platinum Birthday Lecture, and it was meant to draw attention to, and encourage the writing of biographies and autobiographies to promote history and legacies, especially now that History as a subject in schools, seems to have been completely sidelined. Our Guest Lecturer was Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Alaba Akinwale, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Augustine University, Ilara, Epe, a consummate current and public affairs commentator who was also the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan. There is the saying that, “A nation that forgets its past has no future”. We stand the risk of this happening if we don’t start writing our stories and history now, in biographies and autobiographies. This dream project is to encourage and assist men and women to write books about themselves, their lives and experience so that the coming generations have more to learn from the current one. Many of us keep our knowledge and experience in our heads until we cross over, and all is lost. The Platinum Birthday Lecture is expected to provide us with a road map on how to preserve our history and the role we all can play if we write our own biographies and autobiographies. Prof. Akinwale’s paper is published under another cover on the blog.
I should not forget that the day began with Thanksgiving Mass at St, Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos, with Rev. Msgr. Anthony Obanla, the Chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, as the Chief Celebrant. Msgr. Obanla celebrated my 40th birthday Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Aguda, Surulere 30 years ago! Fr. Akinwale preached the homily last Monday and there were four other priests in the sanctuary – Frs. Vincent Chukwujekwu and Emmanuel Umanhonlen of St. Agnes Parish as well as Frs. Okechukwu Martin Adinnu, OP and Frederick Obananya, OP, who represented the Chaplain of St. Thomas More Catholic Chaplaincy, Unilag, Fr. Paul Akin-Otiko. Our Lady of Apostles Sisters were also well represented.
I was blessed to have all members of my nuclear family together for the first time in a while, and it was day to remember with family, friends, well-wishers, colleagues – past and present joining us to thank God for His faithfulness.
As I told the TV reporter who asked me what it felt like to be 70, it does not really feel different, but I did tell her too, that I will like to do all the things I was doing when I was 20 and 30 years old, even in the future. That does not mean that after over-dancing like a teenager, I will not have to succumb to a vigorous rubbing of Aboniki and other strong rubbing stuff.
Well, older folks have been welcoming me to the Septuagenarian Club. I thank them all. Many are wishing me many more years on the face of the face of the earth. I thank them too. Some are saying 80, 90, 100 and so on. I have told them that while it is God that determines the number of days, it is good to be careful what you aim or wish for. As Fr. Akinwale said during the Homily, to get to 70 years in today’s Nigeria is tough and one must be grateful for getting there. I rest it there.
I thank my friend of over 30 years, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, SIA, who was chairman at the reception and piloted the book launch, and his lovely wife, Olufunso who as usual was at Mass, as she has always done when my family was celebrating any major event. SIA took the audience down memory lane of how we met and how Eghosa was born in their London home almost 27 years ago, the child he named Oluwadamilare.
Our Royal Father of the Day, Oba Olufemi Ogunleye, my old friend had sprained his ankle the previous week and could not make it to Lagos from his domain as the Towulade of Akinale, Afogunlana f’ade, Delesolu 1, Arole Olowu of Ancient Owu Kingdom of Ewekoro Local Government Area in Ogun State but he was well represented by his colleagues/Fellows of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations. Get well quick, Kabiyesi.
Of course, many of my old colleagues from UBA ‘full ground’ as we say. And so where old media friends like Soni Irabor, Boma Kalaiwo, Bimbo Oloyede, Frank Aigbogun, Regina Anajemba, Sola Omole, as well as Seyi Martins & Funke Treasure, who compered, (pardon me if I’ve missed out any name); my Unilag friends past and present led by Deputy VC Ayo Atsenuwa at Mass and at the reception by Prof. Duro Oni, with our Law, Economics and History people; and my best man Richard Ikiebe who wrote the Foreword to ‘Epa Don Come’ but ended up doubling as book reviewer when Tony Akiotu, who was to perform that role, was stuck at Abuja airport from morning until his flight out was cancelled. What do I say about my parishioners at St. Agnes Maryland, and Lectors, with the surprise appearance of my old friend, Sunmade Adegunle? Or my JM neighbours who never disappoint, including the ever-active D6? And my professional colleagues from the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks, ACAMB, including the event sponsors Access Bank, UBA, First Bank, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, as well as Beloxxi the biscuit giants. And then there were my people from ANWAB, Contemporary Architecture and ‘Awon Synergy’, members of Synergy Alliance Inc, our philanthropic club, past and present, with their spices. Indeed, it was a great day made possible by the Almighty.
With Apostolic Blessing from Pope Francis presented by Msgr. Obanla during the Mass, goodwill messages from Archbishop Adewale Martins of Lagos, St. Agnes Parish and numerous groups, individuals and friends from within and outside Nigeria, what more could one have asked for?
And the organising committee led by Kanmi da Silva deserves huge accolades for making the seemingly impossible, possible, with the Lagos Country Club venue providing a good ambience, while the food and music seemed to have satisfied all.
