Ojubanire Family Stages 30 Year Remembrance Party For Late Patriach

 Saturday, 13th January 2024, would linger for a long time to come in the memories of sons and daughters of the popular Ojubanire family from Abeokuta, Ogun State. And that is because it was the day they all gathered in their numbers, from far and near, to stage an elaborate 30-year remembrance party for the late Patriarch of the family, Alhaji (Chief) Salisu Ajala Ojubanire.

 

For outsiders from the family who may not immediately reckon with how big the late Chief Salisu Ojubanire was in his lifetime, he was a wealthy businessman and socialite from the Ibarapa area of Abeokuta but was based in Ilupeju, Palmgrove, Lagos, from where he grew his butchery business into huge success, and thereafter left a legacy of good name for generations of his family that would be coming long after him.

 

It would be pertinent to add that, Chief Salisu Ojubanire single-handedly popularised his family name more when Apala music legend, Ayinla Omoruwa, waxed a special number for him circa 1980, in an album titled: "Panshaga". The album was released after Chief Salisu Ojubanire celebrated his Chieftaincy Title installation as Balogun of Ibarapa Land, together with the house-warming party of an eye-popping edifice he put up in his hometown (Kugba, Abeokuta) where Ayinla performed live, back then.

 

So, the whole extended Ojubanire family members had no choice but to remember and celebrate the good memory of such a patriarch who made them proud to answer to their higly philosophical surname, OJUBANIRE, anywhere they are, around the world. Led by Alhaji Sulaiman Ojubanire, the firstborn of Chief Salisu Ojubanire, all the direct children of the late Pariach from Nigeria, and outside the country, made sure they were physically present for the party.

 

Earlier in the week, which was Thursday, 11th January, a special Firdau Prayer was organised for Chief Salisu Ojubanire, at one of his houses located at 14, Ibiteye Street, Ilupeju, Lagos. Two days after, the remembrance party proper took place at Fountain Gardens, Ilupeju Industrial Estate, Lagos State, where there was more than enough to eat and drink, not only for the family members but also for the multitude of guests they invited to celebrate with them. Everyone was decked beautifully in the Ankara aso-ebi chosen for the event.

 

The highest point of the well-organised event was when the DJ at the party played the song which has the special number Ayinla Omowura composed for Chief Salisu Ojubanire, as every member of the family sang the song with Ayinla Omowura, line by line, and danced energetically, while the song lasted. And what also made the moment more special was the display of a piece of the customised fabric bearing a bold picture of Chief Salisu Ojubanire that was used for the party where Ayinla Omowura performed for the late Patriarch about 44 years ago.

 

The piece of clothing was, indeed, a memorabilia a good number of the members of the family passed round to take pictures with while the party lasted. And by the time they all began to leave for their respective homes, there was no doubt that they had all had a party to remember for a long time to come.

 

Saheed Ojubanire.