Rejected at 2 hospitals, sad end of lecturer who died day he was to get Ph.D

Completing his Ph.D programme must surely have been a satisfying venture for Abdul Hafeez Adedimeji, being an academic himself, but dying on the day he was supposed to be conferred with honours for his academic achievement was a sad event for his family members. BIOLA AZEEZ and OLUWOLE IGE report on the final hours of the late academic.

When Abdul Hafeez Adedimeji, a lecturer at Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State ,started his Ph.D programme at University of Ilorin, he must have been looking forward to the day he would finish up and be proudly decorated with his degree having been found worth of it “in character and learning.”

He must have travelled dozens of times, shuttling between Osogbo and Ilorin as he pursued his academic honours with determination, going to see his supervisor and putting finishing touches to his thesis, especially as the programme began to wind down.

Unfortunately this was not to be as though he actually finished the programme, but was not able to partake in the ceremony of being conferred with honours. He gave up the ghost the very day he was supposed to be conferred with his Ph.D. degree.

News of his death threw the entire staff and management of the Fountain University into mourning and confusion. He was until his demise, the Head of General Studies Department of the institution, as well as the Chief Imam of the institution’s mosque.

Sunday Tribune gathered that before his death on the 22nd of October, Adedimeji, an indigene of Iwo, Osun State, had earlier had a surgery on a tumour, which grew on his thigh. He was said to have developed complications.

According to a source close to his family, “the deceased’s wife and a few others rushed him to Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osogbo, but he was not admitted at the hospital. He was later taken to another private medical facility, where he was rejected.

“By the time we rushed him to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Hospital, Jaleyemi, Osogbo, he was pronounced dead by the doctor. It was a terrible experience. There was nothing we could have done to save him,” the source remarked.

Some of his colleagues who spoke to our correspondents described the deceased as a nice and easygoing person who was always willing to help anybody who came his way.

Reacting to the demise of Adedimeji, the management of Fountain University, Osogbo, in a press statement signed by the institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ms Adebisi Fadilat, expressed sadness over the development. The statement said: “the management and staff of Fountain University, Osogbo formally announce the death of Dr. Abdul Hafeez Adeniyi Adedimeji.

“Dr. Abdul Hafeez Adedimeji,  who was due to bag a doctorate degree at the University of Ilorin,  Kwara State, on the 22nd of October, 2016 died the same day at about few hours before the convocation ceremony,  during  a brief illness.

“Dr. Adedimeji obtained his Diploma, B.A and M.A certificates in Arabic Studies and Arabic Rhetoric at the Islamic University, Medina in Saudi Arabia. His doctorate degree was also in Arabic Language with interest in English-Arabic translation from the Department of Arabic Studies, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.”

“The Islamic scholar was the Head of General Studies at Fountain University, Osogbo,  and the Grand Imam of the school till his death. A one-time lecturer at Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, and a  part-time lecturer at Osun State University.

“He was the Secretary General of the Centre for Arabic Research in Nigeria (NCAR), member of National Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies; Member of Bamako-based Union of African Muslim Scholars (U.A.M.S); Member, Jordan-based international Forum for Moderation (I.F.M)”

Sunday Tribune was also at the University of Ilorin where he studied for his Ph.D programme, to speak  to those who worked closely with him at the Department of Arabic Studies, but his supervisor could not be reached.

However, the Dean, Postgraduate School, University of Ilorin, Professor Badmas Yusuf, spoke on the late scholar. According to him: “As Dean of Post Graduate School, I present students, after they have been found worthy from their various departments. So, I will not have close relationship with them as such. So it’s difficult for me to say much about him. However, from what I gathered, he was a dutiful and Godfearing fellow.

“The death came as a sudden event. And it also came as a lesson for all of us that death is an ultimate end. It has no timetable to know when it’s one’s turn. That’s all I can say. I wish that his soul rest in peace.”