By Banji Ayoola
A rain of tears and tributes accompanied the late Head of Mass Communication Department of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, AAUA, Prof Ifedayo William Daramola, as his earthly remains were buried on Saturday in his Ajipowo, Akure, Ondo State residence.
His Olofinlade Close premises of the interment venue, where a short service had earlier held, spilled over with sympathisers including his numerous colleagues, students, former students, relatives, friends, neighbours and other well wishers, who had come in their hundreds to pay their last respects.
The graveside rites, conducted by CAC clerics, were interspersed with, and later drenched in tears by the sympathisers who had formed thick rings round the casket and the grave, when the silver colour casket, with gold handles, bearing his remains, was being lowered deep into the earth.
Cars, buses conveying his colleagues, students and numerous other sympathisers, parked bumper to bumper and on every space for a stretch of about five hundred metres on the street leading to the close, such that vehicular movement even in snail speed, was difficult at the end of the graveside rites; while sympathisers who came on foot, numbered hundreds.
Survived by a widow, Bolatito, and three children, the late erudite Journalism scholar died on May 19 aged 60, during some illness.
About five hundred metres away from his residence, venue of the interment, a funeral and thanksgiving service held at St. Williams Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Iyanu Igbala, Ajipowo DDC VI, Akure, during which the Chairman ADCC VI, Pastor (Dr) W. O. Falae (JP), admonished the living to always take things easy, saying: “we are living in an unpredictable world” where anything can happen to anybody any time.
In the sermon, entitled: \”Take it easy,\” the cleric said that it is impossible for any earthman or woman to predict what will happen to him any time, describing death as inevitable for all, which could occur any time without prior notice.
Appreciating the LORD for permitting the deceased live a fulfilled life, he described him as a hardworking and committed Christian who spent his life serving GOD and humanity without looking back.
Noting that “Dr. Daramola was a go-getter, and when he was alive he took things easy; he touched many lives positively”, the cleric charged the living to move closer to the LORD and take things easy no matter their wealth and riches, stressing that nobody knows what will happen to him or her tomorrow.
In his own tribute, a colleague in the Mass Communication Department, AAUA, Dr. Gbenga Abimbola, extolled Daramola as an author with many titles to his credit, who had also made an indelible mark in Mass Communication and Journalism.
Abimbola said that the departed still lives on because of his numerous scholarly works in the last 21 years, during which the late Daramola had been writing for students and scholars of Polytechnics, Mono-technics and Universities in Journalism and Mass Communication.
According to him: “More than that, he was an accomplished teacher, not just a lecturer, he was a teacher of repute, teacher of note and he was a lover of his colleagues and students; very lively and humorous. That is why his students gave him “Para” as an appellation because his class is always lively.
“We will miss him, we will miss him too much but I pray that God will grant his family and our department the fortitude to bear the loss because he was one of the greatest hands we have in our department at Adekunle Ajasin University.”
Also, the President of the National Association of Mass Communication Students (NAMACOS), AAUA, Adeyemi Adeola, testified that the late Daramola was not just a teacher, but a mentor, father and a motivator to both graduated and undergraduate students in the department.
On his own, the first son of the deceased, Babatunde, an engineer, described his father as his irreplaceable backbone, a very exceptional man who knew how to handle situations and deal with people of different characters and nature.
In her own words, his widow and Special Projects Manager of Owens Press Limited, publishers of The Hope newspapers, Bolatito, said that only the LORD could in His Mercy fill the big vacuum left by her super and exemplary husband.
She said: “My husband lived a fulfilled and successful life, though too short and very painful. He was able to touch all lives that came across him. We really bless the Name of the LORD for his life. He left good legacies for us and we pray that GOD will help us to continue with his good legacies”,
Noting that a life without her husband would be difficult and terrible, Bolatito said however that: “I stand on the rock of ages, Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords to sustain my life. Without my husband, it would look very difficult and terrible, but I believe with God all things are possible. So, I believe God will see us through.”
