By Ogbonnaya C. Agbafo, Esq.,
Life is full of the interplay of contraries! Thus, the menial manger would be the birth house of the Saviour of the world and shinning gold would hide deep down the bowels of dark earth!
It is therefore no surprise that Ayodeji Oladipo Sasegbon, S.A.N., would be born on the 1st day of April – the fool’s day, when even the wise may drop their guard or may be fooled by the pranks of the not so wise!
Born on April fool’s day, but there was nothing but wisdom, tact, seriousness and raw energy in your life and work.
You were tall, dark and stately as the Oak tree but you moved with the nimbleness of gazelles, supported by a mind that was deep, reflective, ponderous and yet quick. You were the thinker, the conceptualist, the designer and the man of learning, but you were also a practical businessman, a hard negotiator and financial affairs man.
I remember our spirited fights with the lender sharks who dreamt of seizure and takeovers but found the access wellguarded and proofed by fair dealing, promises kept and obligations always met.
The legal landscape would have been the better had you stayed. Ten years for you would have been enough time to create more, innovate more and inspire more.
You would have been at the forefront of the beneficial use of AI in legal problem solving just as you blazed the trail in the use of computer in legal practice and publishing.
But all is well! I recall with great satisfaction, that at your valedictory service, one gentleman who never made your acquaintance, gave you credit for his work project at the school of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of Lagos; in the field of winding up in Company Law. There must be many more like him. And we are still here – whose lives you have touched.
I celebrate you today–my brother in many layers–I greet you and I wish you well, my man of many contraries!
May your memory ever continue to inspire and illumine the way.
