Olusegun Obasanjo and former governor of Oyo State, Omololu Olunloyo were the early callers at Iyaganku residence of late Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe who died in Ibadan on Monday at age 86.
The former President after his condolences to the family of the deceased left without saying a word.
Other callers include the Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa; former Chief Medical Director, Prof Temitope Alonge, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof Kayode Oyediran, representative of Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom, Oba Victor Kiladejo, Justice Tayo Osoba and many others.
Though COVID-19 pandemic limited the influx of callers to the residence of the foremost professor of Medicine, tributes still poured in torrents.
At the entrance, Olumide Akinkugbe, one of the children of late Akinkugbe wrote on a paper advising people to adhere strictly to rules of COVID-19, noting, “Thank you very much for your condolences. Because of COVID-19 protocols, the family will not be able to receive guests. Guests can sign the condolence register.”
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In his own comments, Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa described the deceased as a teacher.
“He was a teacher of teachers. He was indeed the Dean of Faculty of Medicine and Head of Medical School from 1970 to 1974. During that time, he contributed significantly to the Ibadan Medical School, not only in his academic exploits but also in his administrative contributions. It was in recognition of these that the Clinical Sciences Building was named after him in 2015.”
Olunloyo wrote: “So goes the pride of the former days and the heart that beats high continues in praise of excellence shall now feel that pulse no more. Adieu, No 25 who transformed permanently into a number of higher than 2”.
Chief Bayo Oyero, in his tributes, said, “An academic giant, a man of immense knowledge, wisdom, and patriotism has left us”.
The President of ICOMAA Worldwide, Prof Adeniyi said, “We will greatly miss him. He meant a lot to so many people. But to us as alumni, he was a very formidable support for all our alumni across the globe.
“While we’ll miss him, we also thank God for the great life that he lived. We wish that his soul will rest eternally. His footprints are there in the association, and they cannot be washed away. So, whatever plan we have, we’ll disclose that subsequently.”
Prof. Alonge simply wrote: “Rest in perfect peace the teacher, mentor and counsellor”.
