“He still owes me a visit” – Wole Soyinka recalls encounters with late Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi
Tributes continue to pour in for late Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi who died late Wednesday, and former associate, Wole Soyinka has expressed his regrets at the loss by penning a glowing tribute to the Lagos industrialist.
Soyinka recalled his encounters with the renowned economist, particularly when they had to work together during the ‘Lagos @50’ celebration.
“He still owes me a visit,” Soyinka began, revealing the late Chief had designed a rug which had a lion emblazoned on it and decided it was his (Soyinka) to own.
Upon finding a perfect spot for the rug to lie in his “studio room downstairs in my Ijegba home, which I named IGBALE AGBA,” an excited Soyinka vowed he would not formally declare the room open until Chief Gbadamosi paid him a visit.
“We fixed a date, then another, and now, there are no new dates to negotiate,” the renowned playwright regrettably wrote.
Soyinka also revealed he had reservations about Chief Gbadamosi’s participation in the ‘Lagos @50’ celebration, citing his concerns for the former minister’s health as a reason.
“At the start of our collaboration, I confess I had been skeptical over his stamina. He looked frail, so I protested to him and his minders – Tell him to take it easy. He needn’t come to this or that meeting or whatever event,” Soyinka expressed.
But Chief Gbadamosi’s determination at getting things done changed the Nobel Laurette winner’s mind.
“So I changed gears. I had recognised a fighter, and I found it challenging.”
On their most recent encounter, Soyinka revealed they had a ‘last supper’ few weeks ago, enjoying “lunch together – a working lunch, drawing up new options for an often frustrating exercise. On that unsuspecting day, I watched him undergoing his physiotherapy session before we proceeded to lunch, prepared by his deceptively light framed but courageous wife.”
In his piece, Soyinka also hailed Chief Gbadamosi’s ‘artistic soul’, even if he had thought the artistic world lost the industrious businessman to business.
“In strict terms of course, the artistic world never lost Rasheed. That was where his soul was, and he manifested it in the commitment that made him turn his estate into a vast exhibition gallery of Nigerian painters, to which many flock till today,” he wrote admittedly.
Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi’s remains was buried today, November 17. He was aged 72.
