By Sunday Afolayan
It was a festival of tears and sorrow yesterday at Ilogbo Ekiti, Ido-Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State as the remains of the late Head of Department of Languages and Chairman, Research and Technical Journal Committee (R&TJC), Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), Dr Kayode Samuel Ariyo was laid to rest.
Sympathisers – mainly relations, friends and colleagues, who thronged the sprawling town from far and wide to give him their last respect, could not hide their emotions as they cried profusely, mourning the demise of the 53-year old chief lecturer, who died in his farm about three weeks ago.
During the funeral service at Ilogbo High School, where he graduated from in 1984, the officiating minister, Pastor H. O. Adeyemo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Ekiti Province 1, admonished his family to take solace in the fact that the late poet, who was an Assistant Pastor in the ministry, lived like a faithful, committed and unrelenting soldier of Christ with quality service in God’s vineyard.
Hinging his sermon on John 14:1-7 and 1Thesalonians 4:13-18, Adeyomo explained that as a true believer, Ariyo did not die but only “answered the call to greater honour”.
He charged mourners to be of good conduct here on earth, stressing that “only those who rest in the Lord has the assurance of a peaceful repose in eternity.
In a heart rendering dirge by the Rector of the polytechnic, Mr Gani Adebola Ogundahunsi, read on his behalf by the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication Studies (FSCS), Dr (Mrs) V. O. Ayodele, late Ariyo was described as a visionary, exceptional strategic thinker, who contributed immensely to the development of the institution in several ways.
The rector, who described the writer’s death as one of his “greatest personal losses”, reiterated that his life , while in active service, radiated humility, brilliance and high intellectual capacity worthy of emulation.
During the interment, the Dean, FSCS, Dr (Mrs) Ayodele lamented in her tribute that Ariyo’s death brought rude shock and devastation to the faculty and almost swept his admirers off balance.
Harping on his “ebullient character, faultless commitment to duty and excellent contribution to knowledge”, Ayodele further described him as “a man with pleasant disposition, who had a way of driving his gentle personality into people’s hearts”.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Head of Department of Mass Communication, Mrs Iyadunni Adedowole, stated that the late multimodal discourse scholar was “a man of infantile simplicity, a genial person with the heart of gold and reservoir of Godly wisdom and thoughtfulness”.
According to her, though the writer lived for just a short while, his good work and those lives he touched positively in various places and at different times would continue to speak for him.
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