I had paid him a visit late December, the previous year, at Bogobiri where he was recuperating. We both agreed the worse was over. I even teased him that a musical work was waiting for him at the studios and we can’t wait to have him back. Of course, he replied in the affirmative.
Few days to this fateful day, 5 February 2024, he called just to check on me. I noticed his voice was frail and faint but he assured me he would be alright, though he confessed he had never been so ill in his life. So, l promised to pay him a visit at Ipara at my earliest convenience. A visit that never happened.
His passage to the great beyond remains a bitter pill to swallow. Sir (Uncle) Jimi Solanke (Knight of Charles Wesley), the creative octopus; master storyteller, composer, culture ambassador, painter, sculptor, the total artist created a void hard to fill.
One year after, he remains an unending story.
Eyin t’aye kan e s’aye ‘re.
Sir Badejo(KCW)
