At his exit, fades chapters of a world that had turned his life into part of its own projected biography, but while the world mourns the demise of Sir Molade Okoya-Thomas, his children accord him a grand and enchanting funeral rite. Okoya-Thomas could not witness his funeral; nobody ever does. And if, somehow, he earned a sneak peek, no one could know what he thought of it. All those flowers and all those wishes; the pageant train and wreath of sorrows unhesitatingly cast for a full life coming to a close. The wistful wishes and pomp of homage probably elicited from his soul, the hapless tribute of a sigh and perhaps a gleeful tear.
But whatever feelings his funeral ceremony evoked in his heart, Molade would no doubt find little or nothing to fault about the farewell rite given him by children, Jumoke, Tosin , Deji and Yinka, who endeavoured to accord their father, a glorious funeral in celebration of his life and commemoration of his exit from the mortal world.
As the rays of dawn streaked through the Lagos skyline, it was evident to all and sundry that today, Friday, 6th March, was going to be a clear departure from the drudgery of everyday life in the centre of excellence. The lying-in-state of Sir Okoya-Thomas was at his residence and Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos. The late socialite was later buried after a funeral mass /rites at theHoly Cross Cathedral, Lagos.
And in testament to the gravity of loss his demise foisted on his family, friends and the State, he was escorted to his final resting place at Vaults & Gardens in an enviable and very colourful ceremony.
His final ceremonial progression through the streets of Lagos evoked lingering memories of his life among family, friends, business and political associates. The reminiscences and tears of recollection encapsulate the desolation of a mournful world that learnt to love and trust the soul of a father, grandfather, husband, statesman and great-grandfather. And through the agony of recollection, no one dared shed a hypocritical tear nor could anyone easily let go the luminous reminiscences of Sir Molade, particularly his daughter, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas.
Jumoke regretted the final departure of her father, struggling through her grief to receive her guests and well wishers while dealing on the other hand, with the humbling and unnerving reality that her honourable, virtuous father had finally set out alone into eternity.
In one sense though, Sir Molade was not gone. The day before he was blessed and buried, his daughter made a rare, profoundly wrought surmise after days of puzzling grief, that no one who knew her father will ever forget him. Jumokei averred that many others who never met him, but felt they knew him, will remember him.
Nor, in a similar way, was Molade alone during his final public appearance. He was escorted by over a thousand people in Lagos who lined the route of his funeral procession besides the hundreds of mourners who had been invited to attend his funeral service. Many more gathered along roadsides to bid farewell as he was borne to his final resting place. And across Nigeria, hordes of mourners and well wishers interrupted their waking or sleeping schedules to wish the patriarch of the Okoya-Thomas family eternal rest.
The pictures they received were arresting and regularly heartbreaking: the pomp, circumstance and spectacle so characteristic of the historic solemnities staged by the best of royalty but with a contemporary difference that was both hip and humanizing, thus symbolizing Sir Molade’s extraordinary imprint on his household and on the world’s notion of sterling citizenship and humanity.
Sir Molade’s cortege was joined along the way by the most important people in his life: his children; his grandkids and great-grand children. They walked behind his coffin, and then so did representatives from each of the families and communities whose lives he had touched like no other human had but they were Molade’s people, put more precisely, they constituted his family.
So did the magnificent array of guests milling about his residence, waiting to get in. The spectators looking on, many of whom had arrived early, quietly applauded the industry titans, political juggernauts, socialites and several other celebrities they spotted; as they equally arrived to pay their last respects to a man whose life impacted meaningfully and very positively on their lives while he was alive.
He deceased was born in Lagos on June 8, 1935 to late Hussam Okoya- Thomas (the first Baba Adinni of Furabay Mosque, Olowogbowo, Lagos), and late Alhaja Suwebat Okoya-Thomas (nee Gbajabiamila, Otun Iya Adinni of Idita Mosque).
He attended several schools including the Princess School, Lagos, 1946; Balham and Tooting College of Commerce, London, 1956-1959; Columbia University, New York, US, 1981. Okoya-Thomas was appointed Director Transcap Nigeria Limited; Director, Niger Motors Industries Limited; Chairman, Studio Press Nigeria Limited and Chairman, CFAO.He was a member, Lagos City Council from 1971- 1975, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation; Chairman, Board of Trustees Glover Memorial Hall and Tom Jones Hall. The deceased was conferred with the prestigious French national honour, Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur. The Federal Government of Nigeria conferred on him the national honour, Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) and Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). He also held the titles of Asoju Oba of Lagos, Babasuwa of Ijebu Remo and Odofin of Ife. He was an active sportsman in his youth.
For instance, he was a Joint All Nigeria Record Holder of 4×220 yards relay race while at Baptist Academy, Lagos. He also sponsored the annual Asoju-Oba Table Tennis Championships for over four decades, thereby setting a record as the only Nigerian to have consistently sponsored a competition spanning over four decade, single-handed. His philanthropy knew no bounds. He served among others as the Chairman, 3rd All Africa Games Appeal Fund. He built and donated a Modern Sports Hall to students and staff of LASU in 2009. He was a member of the fund-raising committee for the construction of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
