Olanrewaju Adepoju Dies At 83 …Funeral  Holds In Ibadan Today…What He Said About General Abacha

Alhaji Olanrewaju Adepoju,  a popular  Yoruba poet, writer, artiste and an Islamic preacher, is dead.

Adepoju died at his Ibadan residence on Sunday at about 7 pm. He died at  83.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that his son, Adejare Adepoju, announced his passing on Sunday.

‘Baba has gone to rest. Inna lilahi Wa innaa ilaehi Roojiuuna. My Dad, Olanrewaju Adepoju, Rest in Peace’ he wrote.

‘In memory of my beloved father, Alhaji Chief Olanrewaju Adepoju (Ewi Exponent), a passionate human rights activist, accomplished author, and gifted poet. His life’s work was dedicated to making our country a more just and compassionate place. As we grieve, let’s carry forward his torch of advocacy for a brighter future. Rest in power, Dad’ he submitted in separate post.

It was also gathered that the Islamic funeral prayer (Salatul Janazah)   would be  held for him in Ibadan  today, Monday,  December 11, 2023.

‘With a heavy heart, we announce the passing of our dear Father, Chief Mas’ud Olanrewaju Adepoju. From Allah we come and unto Him we shall all return.

 Final prayers will be held for Baba tomorrow Monday, at 11 in the morning, at UMB Central Mosque, Old Ife Road, Gate , Ibadan.

May Almighty Allah grant our father the highest elevation in Paradise, Jannatu Firdaus!’ a family member also submitted

For the nation’s leaders during the military era, Olanrewaju Adepoju, who was a popular poet  and an activist  in the 70s, 80s and 90s, was a thorn in their flesh.

He however  took a break during the Late General Sani Abacha administration.

‘Abacha was a terrible officer; we knew he killed so many Nigerians and I was not prepared to die just like that’  he submitted during an interview with a national newspaper eight years ago.

The deceased poet ,  a former staff of WNTV and WNBS and a proofreader at the newspaper established by late Chief Ladoke Akintola , did not undergo ‘formal education’.

‘One thing that may sound incredible about my life is that I never went to school; I did not even go to kindergarten. But if you are endowed with a particular knowledge, nobody can take it away from you. The method of learning was very interesting for me. My cousins used to come and spend their holidays in our village, and usually while they were talking, they would suddenly switch to English language, and it pained me a lot that I did not understand the language.

So, I started saving money realized from firewood sales. One of my cousins Muyideen Oyedele (now deceased) started teaching me; he was my junior, so you can imagine how old I was when I started learning. I had already passed school age when I started learning Yoruba alphabets and it took me one week or two to finish the entire contents and start learning to read and write effectively in Yoruba Language.

It was when I moved to Ibadan that I started learning English. I have never experienced any classroom education in my life; it got a stage when I became frequent at the University of Ibadan Campus, because I had friends there, who were undergraduates, and people thought I was a student there, whereas and I was not. Even as I am talking to you now, I have no certificate from any institution’ he said-Team@orientactualmags.com
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