It was Alex MacLean that said: “memories of those we love don’t go away; they walk beside us every day.” This popular quote best summed the mood of the entire Tinubu clan of Lagos. Last Saturday 28 October marked exactly 20 years that the patriarch of Tinubu family, late Alhaji Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu, transited to glory. On that day, the late super cop and lawyer was remembered by his immediate family, friends as well as well-wishers who once again poured emotional tributes on him. While alive, K.O Tinubu, to his adorable wife and Iyalode of Lagos, Bintu Tinubu, was a dependable rock and pillar. To his children, he was a hero and to the society at large, he was a great man and tower of strength whose contribution would never be forgotten.
One of the prominent scions of the Tinubu’s clan, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also sent a powerful tribute to the man he described as finest gentleman and selfless. “Baba was the finest of men. He was an honourable man; he was noble. He believed in defending the weak against the strong and standing for what is just, even at the cost of personal liberty. He was my fortress in the dark days of oppression. He was my rock. Baba was selfless. He never stopped giving himself; his fortune, and everything for the betterment of others,” the President said in his tribute. Aside from the annual memorial Ramadan lecture instituted by his immediate family to bring together conscious Muslims in and outside Lagos State to be fed with spiritual diets, the family commemorated the 20th anniversary of their patriarch’s passing with prayers and re-echoing of his legacy that is larger than life.