On his sick bed, Dipo Famakinwa who died in the early hours of Friday, was still hopeful that the assignment of uniting and making Yorubaland formidable that he championed will be pursued more vigorously – even, after his demise.
“Mr. Oladipo Famakinwa, as the Director General is leading a diverse team of professionals, saddled with the mission of ensuring that the Development Agenda leads to improvement in the well-being and quality of the lives of the people of the Region.
“The Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) formally became a reality with the formal inauguration of our office, DAWN Commission in July 2013. While we do know that our vision will not be achieved overnight, we have aggressively been plugging away at it,” a statement on DAWN website stated.
Late Famakinwa and his team at DAWN were part of the organizing team for the proposed Southwest Investment Exhibition & Summit, scheduled to take place in Lagos, Nigeria between May 2nd & 3rd, 2017, which InsideOyo got invitation three days ago.
Dipo Famakinwa was due to be flown abroad for medicals when he bowed to a terminal disease he had been battling for long, at Genesis Hospital, GRA, Ikeja.
Quoting www.pmparrot.com, “He had been nursing what seemed like a terminal illness but had also been hopeful that he would ‘survive it miraculously.”
According to the medium, the deceased played important roles in the process of bringing Lagos State into the fold of Oodua Investment Company and Oodua States fully.
Until his death, he was the Director General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, Commission; a think-tank for designing and implementing blueprints for better integration and governance of the six south-western states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. He was also a member of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and Secretary of the Governing Council of the Yoruba Academy.
DF, as the international relations graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife is called, would have clocked 50 on July 7, 2017.
Also an alumnus of the Lagos Business School, the policy strategist founded Famedge Travel & Air Services Limited, CEO, Bluehall Limited (Management Consulting, Training and Leadership Development.
Many people who had encountered with him on the social media few hours before he died were shocked.
Workaholic Famakinwa, whose father is still alive had posted how he was forced to observe a rest.
His last Facebook post reads:
“The year started for my colleagues and I on a high. Everything was running at a frenzy. Then close people started telling me that I was working too hard and needed to slow down. In my opinion, it’s early in the year and not a good time for vacation.
“I kept running at high steam, and then the conspiracy started. My wife managed to recruit my friend, who is also a colleague, and my Executive Assistant into the plot. Even my daughter!
“They started making arrangements to send me away, without my knowledge. When my wife finally told me, I resisted. She put me under a lot of pressure, but I refused. My colleagues also did the same, I ignored them.
“Then my wife reported the matter to my dad. My dad called me, and in his usual manner, calmly persuaded me to yield to the pressure. I honestly didn’t have too much choice after the discussion with him. I relented. And everyone was happy.
“Earlier today, I had to do the trip. Now I’m all by myself, ensconced in one bush, also called a resort, and the design is that I’d be here, just eating, sleeping and looking into the sky. For the first time in a long time, I watched a football match without any distractions at all, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
“The truth is we all really do need these occasional get-aways.
“May we all live long enough to enjoy the fruits of our labour,” he had said.
