Ayo Olukotun: Loss, memory, and legacy

Part 1: When We Walked Together

We walked as brothers down corridors of knowledge,

Bound by ink, bound by idea, bound by years.

Laughter, jokes, into silences between our words,

And ideas flashed like sparks from a shared fire.

We drank deeply from the chalice of understanding,

Raising our voices for justice, for knowledge, for truth.

Under moonlit discussion and sunlit argument,

Imagine a world where reason reigned.

You, keeper of history’s whispers,

I, the keeper of timeless tales—

We fought side by side for a nation’s fate,

Two hearts beating as one, one whole heart.

Part II:  The Vacant Seat

Then silence fell, sudden and huge,

As if a candle was extinguished before dawn.

The pen on your final words grew dry,

Compelling us to read wisdom mute.

Ayo, brother, the legend man-made,

You’ve left us in memory’s dust,

Your place at our round table empty forever,

Your loss a chasm too deep to cross.

Who now will warn the country’s weary heart?

Who will sustain our trembling hopes?

The wind carries still the remembrance of your name,

But the hand that wrote it has stiffened.

And yet, I know—

In every mind you stirred, in every heart you brought to life,

You live still, a spark, a flame, an irrepressible ember

In the hearts of those who loved you.

Part III: A Visit Beyond

Through the mist of time, I wandered,

Seeking the path where humans do not tread.

Beyond the stars and the quietude of centuries,

I came upon you, in the court of the wise.

“Ayo,” I cried, and the heavens trembled.

You turned, winked, shrouded in wisdom.

Your laughter, the incantation of distant rivers,

Rolling over the fields of the heavens.

“Toyin,” you said, “weep not for me,

For here, where there are no bounds to knowledge,

I write on—on the tablets of gold of time,

Recording lessons to unknown worlds.

And I wept, not for loss, but for love,

Because of the beauty of your voice, still ringing, still alive.

Turning to leave, you whispered to me,

“Say to them—truth does not die, but goes on.”

And so, I returned, with your wisdom,

This is not just a remembrance,

A message from beyond time.

Please join us for the inaugural memorial lecture in honour of Professor Olukotun at Lead City University on Tuesday, 18th March 2025, at 10:30 AM.

ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE