We have been engrossed on the university mentees debate for so long that another mentor story that is of immeasurable significance to me is being inadvertently buried under the deluge.
That is the passing away of my mentor and father in more senses that one: Pa Adebayo Faleti.
As a broadcaster it was Pa Faleti who opened the gates for me into the world of broadcasting. It was Pa Faleti who inaugurated me into the rituals of full grown adult independent men.
Pa Faleti it was who became my muse into translation studies as I indicated to faculty at the graduate school in the United States. He was the role model who graduated with a honors degree in English but chose to go into creative writing mostly in his native tongue: Yoruba.
He wrote plays for the stage such as the powerful drama Basorun Gaa which together with Akinwunmi Isolas Efunsetan Aniwura kept viewers glued to their television sets for decades.
Pa Faleti's penchant for defying the odds saw him functioning as both intellectual, member of the literati and civil servant simultaneously. Many times he would convert a foyer in Ile Akede to a theatre rehearsal stage making do not with a theatre dept students cast but home grown theatre practitioners. Ile-Akede was conveniently located at Orita Basorun (Basorun Crossroads) perhaps by the divine guidance of the Principality at the Crossroads. It was little wonder he grafuated into film making on early retirement.
Pa Faleti was also a renown novelist and poet.
A translation of his work has been published by a forumite Pamela Olubunmi Smith
Pa Faleti was the guiding spirit behind the legions of radio and television jingles that raised self awareness in Oyo State.
Together with Bayo Sanda Pa Faleti was the soul of Yoruba broadcasting in all the Yoruba states.
I urge forumites to please join me in recognising the passing of a titan
May Èşù-Ęlęgbára receive this celebrant and Orunmila incarnate onto her fecund bosom.
Àşę
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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