For Jacob, who went to join his German ancestors

His name was Jacob Akindele. I became acquainted with him when I joined The Guardian Editorial Board in 2010. His expertise was in transport and sports, and he was a retired table tennis player. He passed on October 6, 2024, after the earthly condition took its toll on the physical form and the triumph of the ethereal.

In the late 1960s, he was a prefect of the Pane House, Kings College, Lagos. In dispensing justice as a prefect, he had always told the culprits that they got the just recompense for their violations, in other words, Karma in action.

Growing up in the plateau town of Ekuma (Anglicised as Ekpoma), I heard my forebears talk about the life cycle. It took the front seat each time they wanted to rain courses on offenders or perceived offenders. They would intone thus: “life cycle is sevenfold, and in each cycle, may you carry the burden of this deprecation.” It was a belief that our subject shared with passion. In the stream of banters at the board, he told us that in his former incarnation, he was a German.

This was in line with his religious bent, for he was a Grail Messenger and a follower of the doctrine of Abd-ru-shin, its founder whose message I first encountered in the confines of Birnin Prison, in faraway northwest of the Niger area, and had helped me resolve the boundary between that which is material and spiritual with its insight into the forms of matter. I did not ask him why he chose to reincarnate in the Niger area, given its harrowing conditions. Since he was concerned about remedying, somewhat, the conditions of our roads. Perhaps he wanted to replicate the German autobahns, famous worldwide.

His ways, in my opinion, were simple and unassuming. He was wont to acknowledge merit, and I had a generous share of his compliments. He had an inside view of the ways of government with his stint in the service of the Ogun State government. He offered generous insights into debates about actors in the affairs of men.

Back to his forte, sports and road, I should say more. In 2023, he commented on the year-long tennis season in Australia in The Guardian. In doing so, he brought words alive as won’t those of us in the world of minstrel spirit.  Jacob wrote: “The women’s title match was a battle of fire versus ice, reminiscent of McEnroe and Borg of yesteryears. Every shot hit by Aryna was with a loud grunt, as every game won was celebrated with a Murray-like growl, as the tiger tattooed on her left arm.

On the contrary, Elena never uttered a sound but remained poker-faced all through the match. It was Aryna’s power that prevailed and got her the crucial break in the seventh game of the third set. Her unrelenting attack annulled a break point, while a defensive shot elicited the Elena error for the fourth match point leading to victory in the tenth game of the third set.”

On roads, he had campaigned for institutional dedication, in the form of a road fund and highway management authority. For this reason, he was excited at the prospect of the Lagos-Atlantic Coastal superhighway that would revolutionise road transportation in Nigeria. In April, in The Guardian, the year of his exit, he waxed optimistic: “Roads”, he said, “constitute a critical national asset, being important for social integration, economic development and national security.

Better roads indicate better living. The road accounts for more than 90 per cent of the movement of people, goods and services in the country. It is the transport mode that is necessary for using others. A good road network facilitates the provision of utilities in urban areas. It is one area in which the leadership at every tier of governance is mostly assessed.”

Shortly before his painful or joyous exit, joyous since he believed in the other worldly where things are perhaps better, he would extend to me his compliments in his accustomed wise cracks. My words to him in what now turned out to be his last hours were: “Greetings, sir. Learnt that you have been ill-disposed. I pray for His healing Grace upon you.” He who has left us replied: “Genuineness lies in voluntary deeds. Thanks Prof.”

As I say goodbye, or Odigba, in the dialect of your place of incarnation, you recently left. However, I have a request to make. Come back again in the Niger area, though I am not sure if you have completed your seven cycles of incarnations. If it turns out that this fallible mortal is correct, please come back as a revolutionary.

The reason for my appeal is that the Niger area is ripe for a change, it needs an elite purge if you would like my choice of words, needs a brutal revolution. Please come back with the sceptre of change. Goodbye, my friend.
Prof Akhaine lectures at the Department of Political Science, Lagos State University.