It is to our Father in heaven, that we owe the eventful and glorious run of Eddy Omolehinwa, soon retiring as Professor of Public Accounting and Business Administration, at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Long after quitting his duty post at Unilag, he will continue to be celebrated as an eminent academic of international repute. That’s as it should be, given his scholarly papers and books he contributed to the body of knowledge, fruits of an enterprising, creative and fertile mind.
It is a matter of great relief that he intends to nourish his record of informal and ad-hoc consultancy support to policy formulation and implementation, at all levels. That will ensure growth of his large tribe of students and mentees, who hold or had functioned in frontline positions in the private and public sectors, not to talk of countless others currently in key assignments of responsibility, in top Management landscape across the globe.
Today, our family gladly claims every Omolehinwa as a blood relation, a kinship that was developed and greatly elevated by his charming and “ever-caring” wife of fragrant memory, Mrs Femi Omolehinwa. There was no way I would ever have imagined that, that a desperate official meeting with this lecturer, a complete stranger at the time, and his subsequent counselling and remedial tutorials for one of my children, was apparently divinely arranged. May the Lord reward Eddy for his benevolence and sacrifice.
To pack-in 44 years into the service of a single university and Unilag for that matter, an institution that occasionally converts as an interesting theatre of highwire politics, without any issues about his private and personal life, more than qualifies as a feat. It speaks volumes for dedication and staying power, especially as Eddy stoutly dodged the tidal wave of remarkably juicy offers, of high visibility. It is quite possible that on the terminal day 20th April 2021, he will DV have been one of the longest-serving staff of that great institution, aka “the university of first choice.”
I am happy Eddy is blessed with brilliant successful children, themselves already hoisting heritage flags of sterling performance, in their various endeavours. I pray he lives really long, to offer the appreciative “eager-to-please Daddy” youngsters, the opportunity to spoil him further, even as they continue to manage issues of emotional blues, arising from the rather sudden exit of his late wife, Mama Korede. May God rest her soul.
God willing, we shall raise glasses in toast of Eddy’s 70th birthday, as soon as COVID anxieties and statutory social distancing protocols, are over. In the meantime, and as often as we are privileged to do so, we shall continue to uphold him and the family to God’s Grace and Mercy, plus HIS Peace. Eddy is truly a great man. An uncommon bundle of talent.
Mac Ovbiagele