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Anofi & Grace Guobadia and their
loyal friends By Taiwo Obe
Sun Dec 11,2011
IT'S called faithfulness: “consistently trustworthy and loyal,
especially to a person, promise or duty.”They have been there at
most (if not all) of the outings.
The Very Rev Sope Johnson (full name: Samuel Hugh Akinsope
Johnson), once upon the Provost of the Cathedral Church of
Christ (Anglican Communion), Marina. Jaiyeola Aduke Alakija,
Nigeria’s ambassador to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland,
from 1984-1987. Omorodion Solomon Uwaifo, founder, Benin Moat
Foundation, electrical engineer, award-winning novelist, social
commentator and retired staff of the (old) Electricity
Corporation of Nigeria. Mr Tunji Hafner, former managing
director of NET. There are some others, but let’s focus on
those, for now.
If you had been a regular at the annual scholarship awards’
presentation of the Anofi & Grace Guobadia Foundation (AGGF),
held, faithfully, at the Metropolitan Club, Kofo Abayomi Street,
Victoria Island, Lagos, then you won’t have missed them.
Usually, the retired cleric would say the opening prayers, and
Ambassador Alakija and Uwaifo, the engineer, would present
awards to either the beneficiaries or their representatives. On
Monday, December 5, when this year’s awards were presented, the
90-year-old grand dame played a different role: the chairperson
of the occasion; in the absence of the regular chairman, Mr
Hafner.
What kind of relationships do these folk have with Chief Anofi
Salawu Guobadia, engineer and industrialist, and his late wife,
Dr Grace Adaria Guobadia, Nigeria’s first female dental surgeon,
that have made them year in year out, being ever present at the
awards’ presentations, punctual, playing regular roles and
staying till the end?
When, in 1962, the Guobadias relocated to Lagos from Ibadan,
where the man was then on the employ of Rediffusion Nigeria —
which had a partnership with Western Regional Government to
provide broadcasting services — they chose to worship at the
Cathedral Church of Christ (Anglican Communication). Rev Johnson
would become the provost of the Cathedral on April 25 , 1970,
till June 1995. Dr Grace Guobadia, who was a horticulturist,
also took it upon herself to decorate the church with flowers,
especially during special events such as harvest thanksgiving,
birthdays, and anniversaries, from pulpit to the altar, apart
from on certain dates special to her: her wedding anniversary
(September 7), husband’s birthday (August 24 ), her own birthday
(March 15), the birthday of their son, Omorogbe (November 31 )
and his own wedding anniversary (September 22). Priest and
couple bonded.
Dr Grace Guobadia and Ambassador Aduke Alakija became pals in
the late 1960s, when they became involved in the activities of
the Nigeria Society of the Blind. The former was the first Life
President while the retired ambassador is the Life President.
Today, she is a willing and committed donour to the Anofi &
Grace Guobadia Foundation.
Hafner, 92, and Uwaifo, 79, both engineers, are Chief Guobadia’s
personal friends. Hafner and the chief had been friends since
1968 or thereabouts. In the case of Uwaifo, he is also, like
Guobadia, a native of Benin, Edo State.
It is being faithful to her cause that, a year after his beloved
companion of 50 years died, Chief Guobadia launched the Anofi &
Grace Guobadia Foundation, to continue the humanitarian work
begun by her in 2000, when she awarded scholarships to two
students of Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos, her alma mater. The
AGGF, primarily, awards scholarships to bright but indigent
females students in secondary and institutions of higher
learning. As at Monday, December 5, when 39 new students were
inducted into the league of AGGF Scholars, 176 girls have
benefitted.
Who, or what, are you faithful to? Seeing as Dr Grace Adaria
Guobadia’s memory remains alive, for her faithfulness to her
friends and family and good causes, perhaps it is a good reason
to sow a seed in faithfulness – today.
Taiwo Obe’s article
was culled from The Guardian on Sunday
Th
This is the document referred to in the Witness
Statement on Oath of Clifford O. Kokogho as
“Exhibit
COK.2”
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