Opinion: Chief Emiola Adesina: The Passing of a Social Landscape Architect, By Adewale Ajadi
Very recently, a great man passed who the world should know and honour. Chief Emiola Adesina was a founding educator, incredible sports administrator and unusual authority who represented some of the best times in my life, along with my parents.
Chief Adesina was like my father’s older brother when I was a child. The two men, in their late 20s and early 30s, were pioneers of the large community behind what was then called American Quarters, as well as the Yidi both in Agodi. Chief Adesina, or Baale, as he was called by my father had built the first house in that side of American Quarters. Aside from my father, he was the next person with unquestioned authority over me.
Chief Adesina built the institutions of sports, as well as well as that of the Boy Scouts with this same eclectic deliberation, patience and discipline. He helped to turn Liberty Stadium into a continental if not a global symbol. One of my earliest memories was of attending a James Brown concert in that stadium, in my freshly minted conductor suit. That was a major, major event. James Brown was the biggest star in the world then. Liberty Stadium, was a magnet for spectaculars under him.
Chief Adesina also led institutions that extended modern middle-class life to others. He was co-founder and co-proprietor, with his wife, of the Subuola Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan. They educated and developed generations of children into resilient adulthood. One of them is the Oni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi. I distinctly remember when my father died and Chief Adesina offered to pay the school fees of my siblings who were still in school.
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