Tunde Olusunle eulogises the late Patrick Adaba, says he was a polyglot 

A former presidential assistant, Tunde Olusunle, PhD, has eulogised the late elder statesman and former deputy governor of Kogi State, Chief Patrick Adaba.

Olusunle’s tribute was consequent upon the announcement of Chief Adaba’s death by the Kogi State Government.

The Commissioner of Information and Communications, Mr Kingsley Femi Fanwo made the announcement in a statement issued on Monday.

In his swift reaction on Monday, Dr Olusunle wrote: “Chief Patrick Adaba was a very amiable, jolly good gentleman. He was SSG in the administration of former Kogi State Governor, Abubakar Audu, back in 1992.

“I was Director of Information and Public Affairs, within the same period, having been granted a leave-of-absence by my employers, the Daily Times of Nigeria PLC, to go support my state which was created only in August 1991.

“The administration took off from a colonial facility which had the offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor and SSG, under the same roof. Government officials, therefore, regularly ran into one another.

“Because of differences between Adaba and Audu, Adaba was quietly sent to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, to go cool off. He was later paired with Audu during the governorship election of December 1998, at the beginning of the Fourth Republic.

“Both men were now more mature and worked together better than their earlier experience.

“Patrick Adaba refused to be cocooned by security or protocol. He played lawn tennis very regularly at the Lokoja Club 1904, which was a meeting point for top public servants and the elite in Kogi State.

“He would typically buy everyone at least a drink on his playing days, and encouraged people to assess the administration in which he served so he could convey same to his Principal, Prince Abubakar Audu.

“Back home in his place, Okene, he regularly encountered my brother, Toba Olusunle, PhD, who was Principal of the School of Mines and Metallurgy, Kogi State Polytechnic, which was domiciled in Okene.

“He preferred to call me by my surname, Olusunle and we would banter and have good laughs. Nice elder brother, big guy.

“Chief Adaba was a polyglot. We spoke mostly in Yoruba, and he would switch seamlessly to Hausa if my brother was around. My brother was born and raised between Kano and Zaria, while Adaba schooled at the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria. A very sociable and amiable statesman.

“The demise of his elder brother, Dr Tom Adaba just about a fortnight ago, took a toll on his frail health. Both of them were quite close. Tom Adaba, a communications scholar, was on the reserved side, Patrick Adaba was more jovial and boisterous.”