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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The 23rd day of April, 2022 will continue to be remembered by the Bayode family of Ikere-Ekiti, Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State, and also by non family members from other places. It was the date of the one-year remembrance of late Chief Olusola Bayode, the famous educationist who was buried on April 23rd, 2021.
The deceased. described as a man who belonged to the teaching profession with pride, virtually resurrected at the official launch and first annual lecture of Olusola Bayode Foundation, with the topic – ‘Effective School Management For Sustainable Development – Lesson from the Life of Olusola Bayode.’ It was put together by his children to honour him and ensure that his memory does not fizzle out in a hurry.
The occasion which took place at Grace of God Event Centre, along Ikere road, Ado-Ekiti, had his children, family members, friends, guests, professional colleagues among others, from different strata of the society converged to demonstrate their love for a man who in their tributes was described as humane and generous to a fault. 
The late Chief Olusola Bayode, a community leader, renowned teacher, administrator and manager of men and resources, would rest comfortably in his grave because of the type of honour bestowed on him and encomiums showered on him by those who spared their tight schedules to be part of the memorable event. Teachers who were his contemporaries in his teaching days came to honour one of their own, while the students whose lives he helped mould also came in their numbers to say what their late teacher represented.
Chairman of the occasion, Professor Kunle Adegun from the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, described the late Chief Olusola Bayode as a man who produced people that have made marks in every area of human endeavour, adding that by God’s grace Bayode remained alive in the hearts of everybody.
“I want to say that daddy was a giant. A giant in all respects in life because I was close to him. He was a colossus of high repute, of high manner and of high level. And I can say he was very enigmatic, a man people didn’t understand in certain places. At the time we were very close to daddy, we knew he was a well-bred person. He was resourceful. He had interest in education and had a critical mind.”
Prof Adegun said something hidden in late Chief Bayode that people didn’t know was humility which he would even show to the younger person.
“Today is a good day for a man who had seen all in education. We have seen it in all we have heard about him even in his autobiography which he wrote. He had gone through education at all levels, in terms of administration, in terms of education policies and in terms of things that people would like and things that people would not like.”
The lecture– ‘Effective School Management For Sustainable Development:” Lesson From The Life Of Olusola Bayode, which dissected the concept of school management, challenges of school management in Nigeria and how to surmount those challenges, as well as lessons from the life of Chief Olusola Bayode was delivered by Prof. Isaac Abiodun Ajayi, from the Faculty of Education, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti. He remarked that no nation can rise above the quality of its education and urged the government to provide quality education for its citizens in order to enhance sustainable development. He stressed that quality education can only be guaranteed through effective school management that will produce useful output for the various segments of the economy.
Prof. Ajayi described the late Chief Bayode as a man who lived a life of service and a life of impact, noting that he possessed all the attributes of a good teacher.
“He was a professional teacher of repute. He impacted positively on the lives of so many students who are now giants in various professions. He provided effective leadership as founding principal at Aisegba Community Grammar School, Aisegba-Ekiti, as well as Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
“He was a school principal with vision. As pioneer principal of Aisegba Community Grammar School, from 1972 to 1984, he was able to make it self-sustaining in farm output. The legacies he left behind speak volumes.”
He recalled that Chief Bayode was a disciplinarian, which largely accounted for his success as a school administrator, and by extension was able to maintain discipline among students and teachers in the schools where he served as a principal.
Wife of the revered educationist, Mrs Morohunmubo Bayode, said: “I am proud to be the wife of the late Olusola Bayode. The shoes he left are too big for me to use. The launching of a foundation today to honour him makes me happy. He was a man that was so generous, even reaching out to the widows and other segments in the society.”
One of the sons of the deceased, a United Kingdom-based architect and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the foundation, Mr Morakinyo Bayode, said the foundation was designed around the things that were personal to his late father and the things he had passion for when he was alive.
“So, we have put together the foundation along that line to be able to make impact in those areas. And because usually when they say when somebody dies, that is the end of a lifetime, that’s the end of an era, the end of whatever it is. But we think the man had made impact in all of those areas, and he gave his all in serving in those areas.”
He maintained that those attainments would not have to end with his death, adding that the children have an obligation to sustain his legacy and even expand on it.
“That is the reason behind the foundation. Even though he is dead, he can make posthumous impact through his children, his family members, his school children, his friends and all of that and then we can make a difference in those areas like community empowerment and support to widows.”
One of the daughters, a marketing/ management consultant and president of the Foundation, Mrs Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi, stated: “Daddy chose to be a teacher; he was not a teacher by accident. He was always saying that if he should come back to this world, he would be a teacher. He was proud of his career, he didn’t see himself as an ordinary teacher, rather he was proud of it till he breathed his last.”
She said her dad was so compassionate, noting that he assisted many people. She gave an assurance that the foundation would continue to help different categories of people in the society as a way of immortalising his name.
Among those at the event were students of the deceased from Amoye Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti, Aisegba Community Grammar School and Aisegba-Ekiti, Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti. Also at the event were two former Ekiti State Commissioners for Education, Science and Technology and alumni of Christ’s School, Mr Jide Egunjobi and Mr Kehinde Ojo, Ekiti State President of All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Mr Victor Amele, National President, Aisegba Community Grammar School Alumni, Prof. Richard Akinyeye, National President, Christ’s School Alumni Association, Mr Kunle Jinadu, Chairman, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ekiti State chapter, Comrade Sola Adigun and children of the deceased (including Mrs Opeyemi Oladipupo, Mrs Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi, Morakinyo, Gboye and Babajide).
