In the outgoing 2021 year, Barr. Olayiwola Afolabi expectedly continued with his usual media comments and unique philanthropy.

Several of them dot the landscape but only few are worth mentioning because of editorial space.

Firstly, here are his media views during the year. Afolabi in May 2021 commended C P Philip Ogbadu for his effort is tackling the robberies and kidnappings at Ahor Bypass on the outskirt of Benin Metropolis. On this date, also, Aflabi paid glowing tribute to Governor Godwin Obaseki for setting up Edo Community Security Vigilante Network which significantly partnered the security agencies in the state to combat rising crime wave in early 2021.

In June 2021, Afolabi’s attention was on the unsafe Benin/Auchi Road in Edo State. He canvassed the need for surveillance digital cameras on Edo highways /forests so as to rid the Benin-Auchi Expressway in particular of criminal elements.

The energetic lawyer from Ekiti State who grew up in Lagos State now resides at Yoruba Street Benin City the capital of Edo state in July 2021 he declared his total support for the electronic transmission of election results by INEC in the 2023 General Elections to avoid electoral rigging. During the same month, he criticized the same INEC for excluding Dr. Charles Soludo, APGA’s candidate, from the list of party’s candidates in the gubernatorial election in Anambra state even when he had gone to the court of appeal to challenge a nebulous high court’s disqualification of his candidacy. Later in the July month, Afolabi boldly waded into the raging conflict between herdsmen and farmers in Edo state and without mincing words urged Edo state Government to pass the anti-open-grazing bill, immediately.

In August 2021, Afolabi openly declared his endorsement of President Buhari’s move to grant full financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Councils in Nigeria. In addition, he demanded for the stiffen enforcement of the ban on “agberos” in the state following their resurgence in the Benin Metropolis most especially. There-after, he queried the unprofessionalism of Edo Community Security Vigilante Network. He requested for their training to understand the rule of law in security management as well as basic policing knowledge; that vigilantes require backups by regular security agencies during operations. He stressed the need to handover suspected criminals to the police immediately after arrests. To the round of the month, he advised Edo state Governor to rescind his controversial executive order of NO VACCINATION, NO ENTRY TO PUBLIC PLACES.

October 1, 2021 was Independence Day for Nigeria. Again Afolabi was by his radio. While listening to the MAN AROUND TOWN Programme of Independent Radio, Benin he phoned into the programme with emotion bemoaning the poor state of Golf Road and the adjourning one leading to Government House, Benin. This was the second time in weeks that he would be calling on the state government to fix the road.

Also in the outgoing year, Afolab’s unique philanthropy poured like climate rain. In May 2021 he gave out a wig, gown and half bag of rice each to three female lawyers in support of Justice Ester Edigin Fondation. She retired as Edo Chief Judge on May 17, 2021. Afolabi says of the judge: “Her career is marked by great jurisprudence. She is a transparent, moral, ethical and God fearing judge without sentimentality. Her judgements were always upheld at the courts of appeal. On one occasion, my chamber had a case against her in her court. Yet, she gave the right verdict in my chamber’s favour and the court of appeal affirmed the decision.”

In 2021 Afolabi donated a minimum of four world-receiver transistor radios to a widow, woman, policewoman and a female nurse who first called into the PEOPLE-TALK-TO-PEOPLE interactive pidgin programme of Independent Radio, Benin which runs from 1.30pm to 3.55pm every Sunday. Afolabi’s motive for empowering women with radio sets is to eliminate the gender existing gap in information and communication conscientization in Nigeria.

Recall Prof (Mrs.) Wanggari Maathai, the late Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Prize winner, says: “The higher you go, the fewer women there are.” Indeed, there are few women who listen to radio’s serious discussions and contribute to them. So, to increase the number of radio activists, Afolabi intervened with his radio gifts on affordable terms and conditions to the selected women categories.

Apart from the radio gifts to women, Afolabi gave out in 2021 a bible and N5000 each to a policeman and a student-lawyer who fist called into the PEOPLE –TALK-TO –PEOPLE Programme of Independent Radio, Benin on September 19, 2021. A week later, he donated a carton of indomie noodles to a tailor who met his conditionalities.

Lest one forgets, Afolabi held the second edition of Afolabi Annual Legal Clinic And Coaching Lecture Series in his chambers on September 4, 2021. During the year’s event, Afolabi honoured Austin Aleghe (Esq) for his dogged fight to rid the legal profession of charlatans. Also, Afolabi honourred the Lion Bar of Edo NBA, as well as gave out wigs/gowns to young lawyers and cash gift to winners of his essay competition held annually to mark the event.
Too true, Afolabi did not disappoint his God and silent admires in 2021 in sustaining his life of philanthropy. He demonstrated the biblical statement in PROVERBS that the little of a kind, righteous man is better than all the riches of an ungenerous, wicked person.
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Michaer Odigbe Is Of Jubilee Research And Docummentation Centre Benin City.