For Afolabi Peter Akerele, A Tribute

By JK Randle

It is with immense sense of sorrow (but with gratitude to the Almighty) that I bid farewell to my childhood friend and brother Afolabi Peter Akerele. He was fondly known as “Afo Panko”!!My earliest recollection of him goes back to when we were kids. We would roam all over Lagos without a care in the world. I attended Lagos Government School, Okesuna while he attended Holy Cross School at Catholic Mission Street. During the day our lives revolved around football – mostly at the open space between Igbosere Street and Towry Street followed by more daring venturing to “Toronto” (the open field opposite King’s College which has been replaced by the decaying “Independence Building”). In the evening, we would sneak into cinemas – Royal; Kings; Rialto etc. We mastered the delicate art of sliding through the turnstiles without paying !!

Afterwards, we would order the local delicacies such as fried plantain (“dodo”); fried bean cakes (akara); and fried yam (“Ojojo”or “Dundun”) from across the street where the Akerele family House was located (123 Bamgbose Street). The food would be wrapped in old newspapers or leaves but that did not deter us from lustily devouring everything. Nothing must be left over. Most evenings, Afolabi’s numerous cousins as well as neighbours would join us in feasting. We both learnt swimming at the Dr. J.K. Randle Swimming Pool at Onikan, Lagos.

He had two brothers late Dr. Layiwola and Babatunde; and three sisters – Turrie, Susan and Funke.

When it was time to set off for secondary school. I went off to King’s College while he preferred St. Gregory’s College, Obalende. Regardless, we were very much in touch especially during school holidays. Apart from the sports competitions between King’s College and St. Gregory’s College, we would attend football matches at Onikan Stadium and Horse Racing at the Race Course (known as Tafawa Square). Shortly whereafter, the Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Charles King landed in Lagos. Afolabi quickly made friends with the Ambassador’s son Charles but always with an eye on the Ambassador’s daughter – Banke, who he subsequently married in Paris. I was one of the groomsmen and it was a really classy ceremony at the George V Hotel, Paris.

While I was in Britain, Afolabi was in the United States of America where he attended three Ivy League universities – Princeton; Yale; and Harvard. He was a great guy with an insatiable appetite for knowledge and adventure. At various times he lived in Paris, France; Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire; and Lome, Togo in his pursuit of his career in banking and financial consulting. He made friends across ethnic groups and races. He was a Catholic but some of his closest friends were moslems from Northern Nigeria and beyond.

He was particularly close to late Alhaji Isiyaku Ibrahim and late Alhaji Gidado Idris, former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Secretary to the Government of the Federation of Nigeria. Afolabi spoke French fluently and when he chose Lome as his final destination, he raised a second family. He nevertheless maintained his international network of friends including Prime Ministers, Presidents and captains of industry, commerce and banking. The Akerele household in which he grew up was a vibrant constellation. His branch of the family lived upstairs while his uncle Alaba lived downstairs along with two aunties.On his mother’s side, Afolabi’s pedigree was superlative – the Onibure Johnson family of Ita Faji, Lagos.Now that he is no longer with us, May “Afo Panko” find peace in the bosom of the Almighty and may the Lord grant his entire family the fortitude with which to bear the irreparable loss.