Tribute to Journalist, Culture Patron, Eddie Aderinokun (July 13, 1940-Jan 3, 2021)

REMEMBER ……
FOR EDDIE ADERINOKUN AT EIGHTY

Those songs that cease to fade They blank not

For they are written in imprint, calligraphic bold
Taking prominence of prime recall
On sober nights of fond remembrance

Mental verses scripted in stanzas
Strong in stagecraft definitions
Positioning players acting roles defined by fate

Urban drama urbanize unfold
Along din of Apapa Road

Innocent pupils dangling school bags
Schooling their prime focus
Of fertile minds in flight of fancy

Ready to soak rich tutorials

Pupils gather for dew devotion
Verses biblical in notion
Molue route defiles the quite environ
They belch fire like gods of thunder
Sango’s nostril so full of anger


Remember …..
Guns of fire
Sparking ember flames
Trails that muster
Gems of genius

Like sugar beckon anthills

And mango magnet hungry flies

Smiles of angels
Songs triumphant
Peace like heaven
Calm in comfort

We salute The Priest of Poetry

Remember …….
Beds of roses
Fine hibiscus
Spark of crimson
Brawn of winners
Life in drama

In slow progression
When rainfall washes the mountain

Fresh air fills our history

Glare of sunshine
Bless the farmland
So our harvests are proud of tubers
Cream sky white washed by rain drops
Emblazon hues of rainbow

Guts of warriors
Booming grenades
Grit of farmers
Tilling heady ridges

Sinews stretched to limit
Backs bent into arches

As in bow of arrow bent excessive

Back bones curved in anguish
For dock labor grunt at harbor
Stringent about weight of cargo
Yet reward is lean as bamboo

Thin and slender like cane of sugar


Remember ……
Mothers feeding spritely babies
Their laps, soft pillows of comfort
Succulent like dreams of lovers
Pious as prayer vows of prophets

On bent knees supplicating

Remember ……
Sango roars in thunder
Sango ignites bright lightening
Obatala supreme for rituals
At Sacred grooves and hidden grottos
Conducive most for chanting
Spiritual odes for gods on mountain

Remember …….
We are Children of chosen parentage
Born in Lagos but Owu bred and buttered
Suckled on Ogun River waters

The cradle of great endeavor
Schooled aloft rocks and satin vales
To groom siblings for top endeavors
You started Reporting for Newsreels
Papers, radio, television

And rose to peak of news hounding

Remember …..
Yejide, Matron of morals
Kayode, the Turk of business
Departed Tayo died king of Banking
Gbemi, top medical genius

We rejoice with you our brother

On this ocassion

Remember ……
Challenge Bus Stop
On Agege Motor Road

You live in room small as keyhole
Frolicking from Mushin to Island delighted
On giddy nights replete with songs and gaiety
Mushin, Noble Street provide drama podiums
Our foraging fun unending
Surulere capped peak adventure
For pilgrims poised for success
Calabash Parties last till morning
Always bubbling like no tomorrow


OGUNDE homestead raved the revue

As young turk stirred for progress
Inspiration filled the air
They’re career hunters racing to summit
As ambition fires key to success


Remember…….
Father rolls along rail lines of nation

Ever delighted and true to duty
As railways tear the distance in earnest
Linking tribes dwelling in
Savannah sperse
To planters of Cocoa, Palm Kernel and rubber
Before crude oil stole our piety
Mama Rebecca Angel of our heritage
She prayed lifelong to see us anointed
In devotion pure and holy
Wearing garments only fit for honor
For she was pride of woman of glory

Remember …….
Train rides to and fro Kano
Full of students bringing excitement

Singing songs from vast extractions
From East, West and far yonder
Bearing dreams of class promotion
To higher grades when school resumes in new year
Exuberant as their ilk in corpus

Moments of strive
Times of toil unending
But we get reward in plenty honor
For God bestows his blessings
As our verses are written in syntax

Of praises to God in heaven

Remember …….
The union that birth your children
By Biola, gem of mothers
Nurturing children through days of plenty
And days lean as bamboo branches

But we count our blessings plenty
For Olumide, Funlade, Segun plus Yewande
But we share sad memories for Bisayo gone

Her memory will linger forever

Remember ……..
Days of drudgery in newsroom
Dangerous days of spells at war front
But you returned home to warm embrace
To anxious family full of prayers

Nights of passion
Days of dancing
For Clusters thrill the halls expanded
Tunes of Haastrup rout the venues
As Laolu pounds the drums staccato
Akinrelere brothers raise chorus in novel songs
Pairing to gain high crescendo

Remember days of yore for record
When Caban Bamboo was holier Terbanacle
Where Bobby Benson spills calypso
Then raging Pino met Geraldo

As James Brown comes alive in night clubs
Those were nights of hot excitement steal innocence
When dancers loose chastity to rolls of conga

And we all forget tomorrow

Also Remember ……..
Colorful memories that promote great kinship

East or West , Nigeria was home to all
Some alive, some gone forever
However
We salute friendship that last for ages
That endure trials grim tribulations
Comrades in many fields of battles
And many temples of hero worship
In supplication to composers of lite stanzas

Remember …….
Flourish of green is time for planting
Splashes of grey shows time of harvest
Songs of Hope vibrates in the markets

For selling blaze of noon-day
For the fluid in coconut is only known to Jehovah

As evidence that God is the main controller

We trust our fate to the great Redeemer
To pilot our ships to safe destination

Couple of  words I loaned from your word bank
That I used to string this tapestry of poetry
As similes embrace metaphors
the cacophony of nouns that flow in syntax
Lyrics float on bed of rumbling gbedu drums
As Angelic chorus serenades falsetto

That’s garnished full of vibrato to hosts triumphant orchestra
We join the enchanting choir engaged for Olodumare shindig

Remember…….
Days receding, nights proceeding in Congress
Months confessing fast advancement
Years proceed in hasty cliches
Now we count our eighty years in panting
But Almighty God is still counting the numbers

Salute to the poet of sonorous verses
In the corpus of flutes and gongs enduring
Culled from Cape to Cairo saluting
And Nigeria United wax calypso
Though  it goes far beyond our reaches
To hemisphere north and south

The flavor grows from all our village

Remember …..
Our narrative must end with tempo
To give the Master poet a clear arena
To direct the best of drama unfolding
In his style of masterpieces in flourish

Poem composed by Chief Kayode Aderinokun