OLABISI Ajala. The name may not readily
ring a bell to the younger
generation of Nigerians, but the older
generation would certainly
remember him as the happy-go-lucky
bearded globe-trotter and socialite
who put the nation on the world map, as
he traversed the globe on his
motor scooter.
Ajala explored the unexplored and charted
the hitherto uncharted areas
of the world. He wined and dined with
heads of state and leaders
including the late Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, first
Republic Prime Minister
of Nigeria; the late Paudit Nehru of India;
the late Abdel Nasser of
Egypt; the late Golda Meir of Israel; the late
Marshall Ayub Khan of
Pakistan; the late President Makarios of
Greece; the late General
Ignatuis Acheampong of Ghana and the late
Odinga Oginga, one-time
vice-president of Kenya. The list, indeed, is
endless.
But on the February 2, 1999, the man fondly
known as "Ajala travel"
died. He died in penury. The world famous
Ajala died unsung and
unrecognised. His grave in central Lagos is
no different from any other.
For more than a year, Ajala suffered. He had
a stroke which paralysed
his left limb. But his army of children were
not there to give him
succour. He only had two of them around,
Olaolu Ajala, a 20-year-old
student of Baptist Academy, Lagos, and
Bolanle Ajala, his 17-year-old
daughter who had just finished her senior
secondary education at the
Baptist High School, Bariga, Lagos.
With him also in his last hour was another
teenager, 14-year-old Wale
Anifowoshe. Wale was especially fond of
him. He kept all Ajala's
money, the little there was.
Some of his children who could not be with
him include Dante, Femi,
Lisa and Sydney all of whom are based in
Australia. They are the
children of his Australian wife, Joan.
Some of his other children are also spread
around the globe. There are
Taiwo and Kehinde in the United States as
well as Bisola in England.
But all were not around to bid their father a
final goodbye except
Olaolu and Bolanle.
Indeed, it is a sad end for a man whose
scooter is now a national
monument. None of his numerous wives
was around to bid him goodbye to
the world beyond. His first wife, Alhaja Sade,
could not find time
during the year-long sickness of her
husband until he finally died.
She lives in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos. "We
told her that he was sick
and she told us she would come, but we
never saw her," Olaolu said.
He was not sure whether she is aware that
her husband is dead. Joan,
only got in touch with him through
correspondence. There are also Mrs.
Toyin Ajala in England and Mrs. Sherifat
Ajala, mother of his last
daughter, Bolanle.
But they were not around to tend to the
man when he was battling with
his sickness.
A neighbour in Bariga who spoke on
condition of anonymity said: "He
could have survived if he had had adequate
care."
Adequate care was indeed far from the late
globe-trotter. In no other
place was this manifested than his
residence, a rented apartment in a
two-storey building on Adenira Street,
Bariga.
Climbing two flights of stairs to the top
floor, one is immediately
confronted with the way life had treated
Ajala. A passage leads into a
16-by-12 feet sitting room.
The sitting room, devoid of carpet has a
table with about five locally
made iron chairs in a corner. This, the
reporter gathered, serves as
the dining table. An old black and white
television set sits
uncomfortably in all ill-constructed shelf.
The cushion on the sofa
hurts the buttock as it has become flat. The
curtains on the windows
of the two bedroom flats show signs of old
age. It is indeed a story
of penury.
But his two children in Nigeria still hold
fond memories of their
father. They eagerly answered questions
and consulted calendars to
give precise dates which they had marked
on the calendar. The mantle
of responsibility falls on Olaolu who printed
the poster that gave the
details of his father's death.
Narrating the last days of his father, Olaolu
told {The Guardian On
Saturday} that he had a stroke on June 18,
last year. "On that day, I
had gone to school. When I came back, he
told me he fell down on the
balcony. We went to call a doctor about
three blocks away. It was the
doctor who told us that he had a stroke."
According to Olaolu, medications were
prescribed. "We bought the drugs
and we followed the doctor's instruction
that we should allow him to
rest."
The doctor, who came from a private
hospital further advised the
children to get their father a
physiotherapist. "We got one for him at
the Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital and he was
always coming home to give
him therapy. And we noticed that he was
getting better."
But the picture changed after three months
of home medication. "After
three months, we realised that he had
relapsed. He was able to walk if
he held on to someone. But this suddenly
stopped. He could no longer
walk."
That was when divine intervention came
from a family friend, Morufu
Ojikutu, who arrived from Germany. "He
advised that we should take him
to the hospital when he saw his condition.
He also gave us money for
his treatment," Olaolu said.
The reporter gathered that what really
stopped the ailing Ajala from
going to the hospital was the lack of funds.
Says Olaolu: "When he got
sick, he did not have money but later my
sisters and mum sent in some
money for his treatment. And it is this that
we spent to keep
ourselves together."
But Bolanle chipped in that at times, money
sent to their father
doesn't get to him. "Brother Femi (his
second son) sent him £500 but
he never received it and that was what he
was harping on until he
died", she said.
In spite of the lack of funds, Olaolu believes
that he died because he
did not get quick medical attention. "When
Mr. Ojikutu came, it was
already too late. I think he also knew he
was about to die and he did
not want to die at home. That was why he
insisted that he should be
taken to the hospital."
Ajala eventually ended up at the General
Hospital, Ikeja. "He was
there for 11 days. Prior to his death, his
younger sister also
deposited money with an aunt at the
hospital to take care of him,"
Olaolu said.
It was gathered that before his death, Ajala
had demanded that his
relatives should bring a more comfortable
chair, radio and orange
juice. "But when the things were taken to
him on February 2, he was
already dead," Olaolu said.
According to Wale, who was with him in
the hospital, Ajala had been
restless since the weekend before his
eventual death. "When he first
got to the hospital on January 25, he was
always playing and joking
with the people in the ward. But from
Sunday, January 30, he could not
breathe very well. He was always breathing
through the mouth until he
died on Tuesday, February 2," Olaolu said.`
`Ajala explored the unexplored and charted
the hitherto uncharted
areas of the world. He wined and dined
with heads of state and leaders
including the late Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, first
Republic Prime Minister
of Nigeria; the late Paudit Nehru of India;
the late Abdel Nasser of
Egypt; the late Golda Meir of Israel; the late
Marshall Ayub Khan of
Pakistan; the late President Makarios of
Greece; the late General
Ignatuis Acheampong of Ghana and the late
Odinga Oginga, one-time
vice-president of Kenya. The list, indeed, is
endless.`

I have heard the name many time but i dont know the person. According to my parent they said in 70s or so juju musician hail him them AJALA travel all over the world, AJALA travel all over the world. Even hiphop artist OLAMIDE aka BADO mention his name in his song title JImmys jump off. This story is after his death. The scooter who tour the world..... I wish i brake his record

There you go! There goes crashing down the history of a nation, the sense of a nation, the worth of a nation! Pity! Sheer, incredible pity! That a man like this can die in obscurity says a lot about how this nation prizes its heroes. "The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain", is a line repeatedly screamed every morning by every other nursery, primary and secondary school student. I did too. But boy, was I just singing! Are these people just merely repeating sentences that have absolutely no significance?

What is this country worth when such men as these are not even praised for their accomplishments? What in the world is this country worth? Zero history, zero achievements.

I don't think the coming generations will forgive this country for this great injustice. I don't

read about him in one of my comprehensive english textbooks in those days.
I remember one incident that happened to him in Russia...
a young child actually asked him whether folks in Africa drink black milk!!!