There’s no time that death can be said to be appropriate no matter how long a human lives. On this note, death is a tragedy of inverse proportions for various categories of people. The bard had noted that death is a necessary end that will come when it will come. On this,the yoruba prayer that we shall not die the death of our traducer ( a o ni fi ojo olojo lo) is a misnomer. Everyone will die the death of their lives willy nilly. Paradoxically however, death comes across as a solution rather than disease or affliction. Iku kii sota wa,arun lota wa. There’s hardly any other sphere that the irony and mystique of life manifest more than in the concept of life and death. Death inflicts pain not on the deceased but on the survivors and the living. Again and again,the Yoruba get beguiled here again where the expression,ba a ku,ara eni la a dun ( that is,the deceased suffer more the pains and fangs of death) hardly makes sense at the literal level. But, sincerely, from whichever angle one looks at it, death of a commoner is a big loss let alone the death of a prodigious personality in the hue of Alh Ibrash ( as he’s fondly called). Alhaj Ibrahim Ashiru made many people and built many bridges across Nigeria. He was well known to Nigerian leaders across the Niger and this assisted a lot in the making of so many individuals both in Oke Ogun,his immediate constituency and Lagos,the base of his business empire. I have often fulminated about lack of business co operation and sustainable business partnership among the Yoruba of South Western Nigeria. Alh Ibrash was an exception, a classical example was the flourishing dealership in electrical materials and appliances which he bequeathed to his now demised sister. Through that business,the equally humane Alhaja was able to make so many men and women in the Oke Dio neighborhood. I and several of our friends who are still alive are beneficiaries of that largesse through Dauda Ashiru ( aka Dragula). Such was the fabulousness of the business that as youths,we never knew what was plenty could be exhausted. The same business established by Alhaj Ibrahim Ashiru for this virtuous Alhaja accounted for the high heeled education enjoyed by the like of Alhaj Nafiu Ashiru ( now late), Taiwo and Kehinde Mustapha and the other well educated members of the family. In short,Alh Ibrash established,funded and sustained the Abayawo Dynasty. This is aside his gargantuan leverage to the making of very many of his in-laws,friends and acquaintances.
Alh Ibrash was a very quiet and highly taciturn individual.Wise people hardly talk no matter the volume of their contributions to humanity. The two most popular religions of the world talk of the virtue of being reserved. For this reason,Alh Ibrash lived a quiet but eventful life. He assisted to push forward the frontier of human intellect through his publication behemoth,Ibrash Publications Nig. Ltd. He ventured into so many other very successful ventures and this culminated in his being named Onilegogoro,( the owner of a high rise building) in the high brow area of Oke Dio. In Lagos where he lived a major part of his life,he was a force and voice of reckoning. As a pious and dedicated Muslim,he devoted the latter part of his life to Islamic dawah and quiet worship. He was instrumental to establishing Alhaja Tahibat Ashiru Islamic Center in Saki hosting a central mosque and as Arabic School having built a befitting worship center in front of his palatial and sprawling estate at Oke Dio,Saki. Adieu a great humanist, philanthropist,savvy businessman,pious individual,a bridge builder and community leader. Warahu warayanu wajanatu nahimi.
Short Tributes for Alhaji Ibrahim Ashiru Onilegogoro
Crafted by Y. Y. Muslim.
