Nine Decades of Excellence: A Diamond Tribute to Professor Jide Ajayi at 90 – Dr Gani Adeniran

I join millions of doctors across the globe to celebrate the indomitable Jagun Aso of ijebuland, Professor Jide Ajayi as he turns 90 years today. Nothing can be more fulfilling to a man whose life has been totally dedicated to the training of Surgery specialists over the decades and watching them excel beyond himself. Professor Jide Ajayi dots the field of Medicine with intimating credentials that I am not qualified to talk about. More competent mentees of his will do that. I got to know him about forty years ago at a time I couldn’t look at his face nor tie his shoe lace.

The hospital of the late Professor Vincent Aimakhu was the meeting point for him and other like minds. I was just a graduate of Veterinary Medicine and I was running errands for Professor Aimakhu who was an Old Chief of Sigma Club, the club that I served as its Deputy in the 1985/86 season. Professor Jide Ajayi and Professor Aimakhu were special friends. It was always a delight to listen to their cheerful gist, some of which are for another day. Certainly they enjoyed life.

When Professor Aimakhu passed on, I was with Professor Ajayi and others at Ekpoma and we stayed the night together in the residence of the late Professor Sylvester Abumere. I doubt if Jagun Aso ever paid attention to me at all. But I got fascinated by his huge social appeal and camaraderie amongst his colleagues even after he had retired as UCH Chief Medical Director. Unknown to me, and to my surprise, he was also paying attention to my peripatetic socialisation, not being a medical doctor with whom he could associate with directly. When he turned 80th I was there at ijebu Ode for the celebration in the company of Professor Layi Shittu and others.

At a particular event at the Chapel of the Resurrection about ten years ago, Professor Ajayi handed his copy of the programme to me and asked me to write down my name, phone number, and bank account details! The following Monday, he sent a huge sum to my account while I was still in service and he had long retired! I reported the unusual gesture to Professor Layi Shittu who assured me that that was Professor Jide Ajayi for you!

By that singular act of unprovoked and uncommon kindness, I became even closer to him. I send him posts regularly, give him all courtesies at events, the most recent being at the wedding of the daughter of Professor Abiodun Adeoye.

At 90, Professor Jide Ajayi has run a full cicle of life, blessed with the grace of long life. When last I visited him on a February 20th like this, he ushered me to his private living room and I sat beside him on his bed gisting!