Prayers and forgiveness for Chief Justin Olabode Emmanuel

Death is a debt. With the demise of Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel on Saturday, January 4, 2025, the prayers that came to mind were:

“I believe in the Holy Ghost: the Holy Catholic Church. The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of Sins: The Resurrection of the Body and Life Everlasting. Amen.”

After several postponements of the funeral arrangements, the final hour was at 10 am on Friday, February 21, 2025, at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Catholic Mission Street, Lagos.

While he lay in state, he was decked out in his tuxedo with the regalia and medals that reflected his rank within the CFS (Catholic Fellowship Society).

The irony of it all was in plain sight. His darkest hour was also his finest as he bade the world farewell. The penny had dropped. Everything had been settled. Is there a life after death, or is that the end? Finito. Or is it the beginning of another cycle? In any case, the judgement had been delivered by the Almighty. I caught a last glimpse of the chief. He was resigned to his faith and his fate. Not a wince. He strode forward without a backward glance. He is not dead. We are the ones left with the deadly burden of poverty, ignorance, insurgency, inflation, darkness, etc. He was buried as a Catholic but his mother Alhaja Nusiratu Amope Shonibare was a devout moslem. She died in 1992, and her son ensured she was given a befitting burial. The grand reception afterwards was at City Hall, Catholic Mission Street, Lagos.

Also, in 2007, when Ansar-Ud-Deen College, Isolo; Ansar-Ud-Deen College, Randle Road, Surulere; and Ansar-Ud-Deen Girls College, Surulere, launched an Appeal Fund, the Chairman of the occasion was Alhaji Femi Okunnu S.A.N. The venue was Yoruba Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos. The entire hall was stunned when the highest donation of N10,000,000 (ten million naira) was announced. It was from Chief Olabode Emanuel. Alhaji Okunnu donated N7,500,000 (seven million five hundred thousand naira). The total raised was a staggering N120,000,000 (one hundred and twenty million naira).

From the avalanche of tributes paid to Chief Olabode Emanuel, it is easy to discern the recurring decimals:

· business acumen

· integrity

· generosity

· resilience.

From the “Trustees’ Friday Night” table at the Lagos Motor Boat Club, the roll call of mourners has Prince Olu Awogboro, Professor Theo Ogunbiyi, Dr. Charles Hammond, Chief Kola Jamodu, Chief Raymond Ihembe, Dr. Arinze Agbim, Chief Kehinde Smith, Chief Yomi Edu, Chief Bintan Famutimi, and Sir Steve Omojafor. We lost Deji Akintilo three years ago.

For almost two decades, we would insist on teasing Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel (ex-St. Gregory’s College, Obalende) by proposing a toast “Up Greg’s” and proceed to spend the rest of the evening slagging off St. Gregory’s College. He would insist with remarkable vigour that the real culprits for ruining Nigeria were the “KCOB’s (the old boys of King’s College, Lagos) who had been groomed for leadership but failed to grasp the nettle. The slug feast would last till well after midnight only to resume the following Friday evening.

Every now and again, His Royal Highness Oludotun Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland, who was Chief Emanuel’s brother-in-law, would show up with his entourage and sit at the table next to ours. If he felt that there was a lull in the slug feast, he would deliberately remind us that two of his children—one a doctor and the other a Chartered Accountant—attended King’s College and were pursuing very successful careers abroad. That was enough to ignite matters. We were never quite sure whether His Royal Highness was taking sides with his brother-in-law (“the Gregorian”) or King’s College (the “Floreats”).

As then Colonel ‘Dotun Gbadebo, he was the Principal Staff Officer to Major-General Tunde Idiagbon, who was Chief of General Staff at Supreme Headquarters during the Buhari/Idiagbon military regime from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985. The Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), toppled the Buhari/Idiagbon regime. The last time His Royal Highness joined us at the Motor Boat Club, Lagos, with his in-law still very much hale and hearty, he did not mince words. According to him, if the IBB coup had failed, I would have been roped in. He was not joking!! Apparently, when I, as the Chairman of Eko Hotels Limited, invited IBB to deliver the “Eko Hotel Gold Medal Lecture,” it brought him into the public limelight. That did not go down well with Buhari and Idiagbon. To further compound matters, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, Professor Jonah Elaigwu, and I were the three civilians present at the Chief of Army Staff conference held in Minna, Niger State. That was where the plans for the coup d’etat were finalised. I had no inkling that those military guys were planning a coup.

Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel was the archetypal “jolly good fellow,” but he fought epic legal battles against some of our mutual friends, such as Asiwaju Alex-Duduyemi, late Chief Bode Akindele, late Dr. Dan Awani, late Aremo Fola Awoboh-Pearce, and late Chief Layi Ajayi-Bembe.

There was no way I was ever going to be dragged into those disputes beyond pleading for an amicable settlement.

Chief Emanuel had a great sense of humour, which was typical of the part of Lagos where both of us grew up—“H “” Ward, which straddles a swathe of Campos Square at the centre with borders stretching right up to Amuto Street, Omididun Street, Great Bridge Street, Glover Street, Tokunbo Street, Ricca Street, Igbosere Road, Bamgbose Street, Ita Faji market, Odunfa Street, Oke Popo Street, and Obadina Street.

The names of the families that occupied that space range from Agbabiaka, Akerele, Alagemo, Adu, Anibaba, Ashimi, Augusto, Abayomi, Afolabi, Akesode, and J.K. Randle to Makanjuola; Shittu; Berkerley; Coker; Okunowo; Carena; Sanwo-Olu; Oyekan; Abisogun; Oshodi; Faramobi; Smith; Reis; Soares; McGregor; Tresize; Duncan; Da Silva; Martins; Kekere-Ekun; Dawodu; Jinadu; Odumosu; Adams; Emanuel; Domingo; Oki; Danmola; Salvador; Grillo; Bickerseth; Soetan; Dabiri; Pearse; Wilson; Braithwaite; Oseni; Scott; Olukolu; Aka-Bashorun; Tinubu; Iginla; Kenku; Oshode; Gansalo; Lawrence; Lawson; Johnson; Williams; Bank-Anthony; and Ishola-Bankole.

Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel had an amazing sense of loyalty. A case in point was his friend and schoolmate at St. Gregory’s College, Chief Festus Remilekun Ayodele Marinho who was born on December 30, 1934 and died on January 18, 2021. He was considered to be the “Father of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas.”.

He was the first and only Managing Director of the defunct Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC)—the forerunner of NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation). He was the pioneer and two-time Group Managing Director of NNPC (1977 – 1980 and 1984 – 1985).

When Chief Marinho lost his job (under the military government with immediate effect), it was Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel who ensured that a man of impeccable character and his family (wife Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Oreoluwa and five children) were not humiliated and traumatised. He was caring and ever so generous to his childhood friend. Both Chief Emanuel and Chief Marinho grew up on the same street—Glover Street, Lagos. This was Chief Emanuel at his stellar best.

For some curious reasons, Chief Emanuel was very disdainful of the NESG (Nigerian Economic Summit Group). What was even stranger was that his bosom friend Chief Ernest Shonekan was the brain behind NESG. He was privy to the fact that NESG was actually my idea borne out of my experience in the United States of America, where one of our partners at KPMG had, out of patriotism, become an adviser on economic and financial matters to the President of America. His main focus was to ensure dialogue between the President of America and the captains of industry and commerce. I felt it could be replicated in Nigeria. Shortly after my return to Nigeria, I was a guest at a cocktail party hosted by the then British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Sir Mervyn Brown. I mooted the idea, and the High Commissioner immediately dragged me over to where Chief Shonekan was so we could brief him. There and then Chief Shonekan, who was then the Chairman of Nigeria’s largest conglomerate—U.A.C. of Nigeria Plc—bought the idea. The rest is history.

Chief Emanuel really had it in for old boys of King’s College, Lagos (KCOB’s). He would often remind me that when cash was being freely shared as bribes within the hallowed halls of the National Assembly, the KCOB did not refuse to participate or even protest by walking out.

Again, when on April 22, 1990, Colonel Orkar, in his ill-fated coup d’état, announced the extinction of some of the Northern States—Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Taraba, Yobe from Nigeria—he took a swing at KCOB for not protesting that King’s College had students from all over Nigeria—hence, the country must remain one. It was difficult to fathom whether he spoke in earnest or in jest—just to needle the old boys of King’s College.

Perhaps I should add that Chief Emanuel could be unpredictable. I remember when I contested the gubernatorial election of Lagos State in 2011 on the platform of SDP (Social Democratic Party) with Mrs. Gbemi Kufeji, who was his sister, as my running mate; he bluntly refused to contribute a dime to my campaign fund.

Even more amazing was that during the crisis over my chairmanship of MUSON (Musical Society of Nigeria), Chief Emanuel was very much in the opposite camp!! At the EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) of the association, he moved the motion for my removal.

It was an unforgettable experience. I simply glossed over it and made sure it did not damage our relationship.

Perhaps I should add that when I retired as Chairman and Chief Executive of KPMG in 2004 after thirty-four years in the firm, I set up my own firm—J.K. Randle & Co. Chartered Accountants. I was sure that Chief Emanuel would patronise my firm. I did not get a single introduction/recommendation to any of the thirty-odd companies where he was the chairman or director. On the contrary, he gave assignments to my detractors. It was a wake-up call for me. I had no right to claim entitlement. Fortunately, my firm and its associated companies have weathered the storms and prospered regardless of formidable challenges and unsolicited adversities. Truly, the Almighty has been faithful and steadfast.