Tunji Abayomi
I’m sad to find the courage to announce that one of the greatest humans that ever lived on earth Guy Gargiulo of Okeagbe passed into immortality last night. We cannot cry. Gargiulo was too much for our tears. We can only reflect in sober contemplation about his unusual life of sacrifice. GG winner of African Service Award. GG Our greatest elevator, director, teacher and Mentor bye in this unexpected final voyage.
Ayo Ogedengbe
This white man, who left the comfort zone of England for the fairly comfortable Igbobi College in Lagos Nigeria in 1961, and through adventure and a good heart to make bricks without straw, also left Igbobi College in 1963 for rustic and rural village of Okeagbe Akoko to head the three year old dying Ajuwa Grammar School; and resurrected and brought it back to life and limelight for 15 years, Chief Guy Gargiulo, died this evening (December 2, 2019) in England at the age of 87.
He had no wife; Ajuwa Grammar School was his wife and we his students were his children. He was a motivator and builder of men who did not spare the rod.
There are tons of volumes to write about him, but my heart is heavy and my eyes are wet now and my vision blurred. All I can say now to the ‘aje in Maths’ who drinks ‘agbo’ is to say Akowajo of Okeagbe, may your good and caring soul be blessed.
You came, you saw, you conquered and you left your indelible footprints in the sands of time and your discipline, love, care and attention in our hearts.
Rest on GG and greet your two equally great friends who have left too, Miss Steward of St. Catherine, Owo and Miss Pelly of Fiwasaye, Akure.
ADIEU!!! Whenst comest such good human beings as you again?
Tunji Light Ariyomo: Guy Gargiulo – a Tribute
This great man, Chief Guy Gargiulo, first came into my consciousness in 2015 through reverent narratives by Egbon Abayomi Tunji at the ACA set of 83 change of baton ceremony. Egbon was our special guest of honour at the event.
What I learnt about his sacrifice and impacts upon pupils who passed through him reminded me of the role played by Rev. Father Dunning whilst I was a pupil of Aquinas College Akure.
Today, I learnt that this peculiar gift to humanity has passed on at the age of 87.
I join millions to condole with his immediate family – the thousands and hundreds of thousands of pupils that passed through him at Ajuwa Grammar School and elsewhere – and the millions they in turn have impacted.
My condolences in particular go to Egbon Tunji Abayomi who was very close to him as well as Egbon Ayo Oged, a broadcast icon and journalist who also passed through this great man.
The tribe of good people is not defined by religion or skin colour. Guy Gargiulo left Europe to develop young Africans through education and produced tremendous positive results at great personal sacrifices. May his tribe continue to increase.
A great man he was. I remember him coming down to visit my dad at the Federal College of Agriculture here at Akure back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
He always had that funny smile on his face for a young me. He was the chairman of the State swimming association back then and my dad the vice chairman.
I remember him coming down one day back then with some soft and flexible lawn tennis balls and rackets, a Christmas gift for me from his visit to his native Italy. It was one gift I cherished as a kid.
A great mentor of men he was, a legend in Àkókò land. Adieu great one. You would always have a place in this heart of mine.
Tunji Babaleye Esq
GOOD NIGHT GUY GARGIULO!
I never met you but I can feel you and your legacy around me. My Parents, Uncles and Elderly ones passed through you in Ajuwa Grammar School at the rustic and backwoods village of Okeagbe.
It is not that they passed through your School that matters but what matters is that everyone of them that passed through you in secondary School has one vocation or the other aside from formal certificates and they all made it and were successful in life.
At the last count, the following: Elder Philip Olonijuya Aleriwa passed through Ajuwa, he was your Goalkeeper of the School football team and he became very prominent, he was a specialist in fish rearing as trained by you, he joined First Bank and retired as a Principal Auditor.
Elder Emmanuel Ayodele Babaleye was trained as a printer, you made him join the Nigerian Police and he retired as Deputy Commissioner though he is no more yet he named one of his sons after you to immortalise your name.
Mr. Olu Mise, Mr. Sheriff Orunkoyi of blessed memory, Professor Taye Babaleye, Mr. Jacob Rotimi Ogidigbo and Isaiah I Daisi (Ore Ofe Press now based in Dubai) all passed through you and they all had one good tale or another to say about you as you molded and shaped them in life. The mentioned names are a few I can remember, there are still many more.
All the above mentioned are the first generation of educated elite from my quarters in Akungba Akoko and the story I heard them saying about you is the best testimony of your good deeds. (Ajumobi ko kan taanu, eni Olorun ba ran sini lo un seni loore).
I have also noted and followed with keen interest what my Leader and Mentor Dr Abayomi Tunji and my brother and disciplinarian Ayo Oged do say about you on social media when celebrating you at times. They have eternally been grateful to you for the way you molded their lives and made them successful citizens of Nigeria.
The town of Okeagbe have lost a gem that God sent down directly from heaven to help its destiny. The man GG came, saw and conquered. He died a righteous man and his end shall definitely be sweet.
I call on the Government of Akoko North West to immortalise Guy Gargiulo for leaving the comfort of Germany in Europe for Africa, Nigeria and Okeagbe and made Ajuwa Grammar School the best Comprehensive Secondary School that is self sustaining and producing many items for local consumption at a time in Ondo State.
May the gentle soul of Guy Gargiulo find peace with his creator!
Tolu Babaleye Esq celebrates GG from Abuja.
Wa o. GG was also my Principal at C & S Academy, Ugbonla in Ilaje Local Government of Ondo state. He made a formidable impact both on the part of the students and the school. While at Ugbonla he established a printing press for the school. Each class had a farm that was generating money for the school.
Perhaps before finally settling in Ajuwa Grammar School, Oke-Agbe Aķoko, in the valleys of the great rocks of the semi Savannah region of Ondo State, GG was also a colossus on the marshy mangroves of its coastal territory.
He crossed Rivers Oluwa, Ofara, Italita and the legendary Oropo lagoon, to the then island town of Ugbo-Nla and its Cherubim and Seraphim Academy wherein he left the legacy of an all round quality secondary school education, spiced with skills in vocational endeavors, aquaculture, poultry and sports, particularly in swimming where the people have comparative advantage.
He was a teacher competed for by communities which sought the best of their posterity.
GG has inevitably answered to the last call of his biological attributes, he nonetheless smiles still, alive in the minds of many whose lives he has given meaning by his rather uncanny ways of life.
Our great GG is gone. He visited me at Afe Babalola University twice before I left there last December. He still had his sharp brain even at old age. I gave him a copy of my book “Principles and Practice of Public Relations”which I dedicated to him.
He was happy. He read the book…over three hundred pages all within few days and called to thank me. He said he was proud of all Ajuvians for carrying the banner and flying the flag in all walks of life where we find ourselves.
Chief Guy Gargiulo made me and many other old students of Ajuwa. My first encounter with him was in 1963, when he was led by the late Mr. Olu Mise to our house at Akungba to fetch my elder brother, Dele Babaleye who had been sent out of school for being unable to pay school fees…and the fact that Ajuwa Anglican Grammar School was being closed down by the Western Regional Government for lack of teachers and the students dispersed to different secondary schools all around Akoko, Owo and Ekiti.
GG was an enigma. Later in 1965, I went to Ajuwa with my team of actors and actresses of *Sammy Baba Concert Party* to play for Ajuwa students on the invitation of my elder brother. We acted a Yoruba play titled ” Igba Funfun.”
GG saw my talent as an actor and invited me to come to Ajuwa to establish the Dramatic Society. I told him I had no money because my parents were poor. He volunteered to sponsor me and in the following year, January 1966 I was admitted to Form ONE. I established the Drama Group and started playing all around Akoko, Owo, Akure and Ekiti secondary schools.
We made a lot of money for the school and from it he was paying my fees. That’s how I finished my secondary education and went to the University of Ife on the Federal Government Scholarship.
Today I’m a Professor of Mass Communication. But for this selfless white man, I would have wasted away in the village with my talents as an actor and academician. I can recount a lot of us Ajuvians he sponsored just like that.
Fine gentleman who lived his life for others. Serving together in the old Ondo State Ministry of Education, Akure afforded me the opportunity to know GG, a man who devoted his whole life to his work for the benefit of mankind. May God bless your soul.
May the soul of the humane builder of men be blessed. I am touched by your vivid narratives of the impact of this servant of God, GG.
@Ayo Oged You’re uniquely blessed to have so fondly remembered your teacher from other clime. Adieu GG!
Unforgettable Papa Guy Gargiulo! Met the great man in1994/95 at Oke-Agbe when I served in the Local Government. He is a study in service and sacrifice.
May God bless GG’s brilliant soul. Ayo, accept my heartfelt condolences!
GG deserves to be immortalised. The road leading to Ajuwa Grammar School should be renamed GUY GARGIULO WAY, by the Oke-Agbe Community.
We mortals must depart this world one day, one way or the other. One person said that ” I will pass this way but once, therefore any good that I can do, let me do it now for I don’t know if I will pass here again”. Adieu Chief Guy Gargiulo (My chairman when I was the secretary of OSASA)
Barrister Tolu, a prominent name is missing here and that is one of our brothers Mr. I. S. Daisi aka Ore-Ofe press. With the help of God and the effort of Guy Garguilo our brother Ore-Ofe became one of best printers in the land. Kudos to Guy Garguilo. He is celebrated even at death.
I also heard a lot about Pa GG from My late father, Chief M. A. Omogbadegun concerning his contributions to the development of Akoko land (secondary education with academics and vocational studies, his connections to his students to further their education to higher institutions).
Pa GG, your good works are following you. May your humbled, devoted, committed, reliable and your ever ready to assist soul shall continue to be joyful. The Almighty God will give his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss IJN.
Our future Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Barr Tolu Babaleye, I sincerely supported your proposed project, to immortalise Pa G. Garguilo in Akokoland.
What a Spartan life, what a sacrificial life, poured out, emptied out immeasurably for humanity. Adieu Papa GG.
They come only but once. A great and true son of Ondo State. A great patriot. A great sportsman. Be blessed in the Lord sir. Unforgettable!
Baba Ogandu, accept my heart-felt sympathy over the death of your beloved Pa GG. Pls take heart.
Eternal help grant his loving soul o God.
I heard so much about this great “son of the soil” of Okeagbe and his good works. He will be greatly remembered. Accept my heartfelt condolences.
