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A Glorious Exit: Tribute To Pa Chief Victor Oluwole Odofin-Belo
Pa Oluwole Victor Odofin-Belo, the patriarch of the Odofin-Belo family was an industrious, unassuming and honest man to boot. His lifestyle and what he stood for are traits that should be emulated by every man and woman of benevolence.
While his successes in business were widely acknowledged, his accomplishments in sporting activities were undisputed as he shone like a bright diamond in international events, like commonwealth games and Olympics.
Below is a glowing tribute penned by Baba’s daughter, Mrs Victoria Abayomi Odofin-Ogunmefun.
TRIBUTE ADIEU BABA YOMI, OMO OLUDOFEN OGBOLU OGBOYE
It is a near impossible task to describe my father properly, as words fall short of capturing the true essence of this amazing human being. How do I describe my most cherished father, Pa Chief Victor Oluwole Odofin-Belo, fondly called “BABA” by his children and close relatives? How do I attempt to give the full measure of his eighty-seven years, sixty-two and a half of which I was very fortunate to have been his daughter, his first born child? A father is someone to admire, someone to learn from, someone to imitate, someone to respect, someone to be held by, someone to talk to, someone to be proud of, and someone to love and care for. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had all these lifetime emotions and moments and more with my father. To say that I treasured my father would be an understatement and to say that I will passionately miss him would be an even greater one.
My father Pa Chief Victor Oluwole was always busy, a man in perpetual motion, literally and figuratively. As a young man, he was a world-class athlete for Nigeria, racing to acclaim on both domestic and international tracks. He was a proud Olympian, participating in the 1956 World Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. Two years later shortly after I was born, he brought home two silver medals for his beloved country Nigeria from the 1958
Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, in track and field competitions. For a time, he was a member of the national football team, back when they were called the Red Devils. My father was always running, always in motion. His forward momentum often carried him away from Nigeria and back, from Lagos to Scotland, to England, to America and then to Lagos once again, to put his international education to good use at home.
Chief Victor Odofin-Belo at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, UK where he won 2 Silver medals for Nigera. I will send another old old sports photo now to you on WhatsApp.
Over the course of his meritorious professional life, my father became one of Nigeria’s major oil company top executives, and after decades of professional accomplishments, he was awarded the well deserved dealership of Unipetrol Filling Station at Marina, Lagos which was undeniably the largest and the best petrol station in Nigeria in the mid 1980s to early 2000s. Very few people including myself knew that Pa Chief Victor Oluwole had worked so hard, using his reputable network of connections in Lagos high society to assist his company – Unipetrol (now called Oando) to acquire the large piece of land along the coveted Marina strip, where the filling station was built and still stands till today. Whilst running the business, which he enjoyed so much, he helped shepherd friends and strangers alike through the infamous petrol shortages of the 1990s. Later on in the 2000s, he became the Dealer for Unipetrol Filling Station located on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos as well. Whenever I pass through Marina, I cannot but take a nostalgic glance at the petrol station there and remember the very hard work my father had put in, to establish the station decades ago.
My father knew how to be a true and loyal friend. He was humble, related with ease to anyone and collected friends at every stage of his life. He never met a person he could not convert into a friend, nor walked into a party he could not instantly become the life of. My father honoured and nurtured his friendships with an open heart and a generous soul. Pa Chief Victor Oluwole enjoyed good humour and loved to laugh. He loved to playfully tease and take his time telling a good joke or a story. He never refused a good meal or good beer. Of course, he was an avid sports lover, his favourite international football team was Arsenal F.C., aside from his first love, the Super Eagles, the national team. He had held executive positions (Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship) within the Lagos State Football Association and the Lagos State Athletics Association, in the past years.
With his late younger Brother Lawyer Chief Remi Odofin (former Odofin of Lagos) – White dot is from the scanner, touch it up, if using it. And
I still vividly remember my father wearing the official white on white uniform of the FESTAC 1977 Officiating Team, running around the field of the National Sports Stadium located in Surulere, Lagos, supervising some team members and monitoring the Track and Field competitions with the scores charts (and the records broken), regarding the many participating athletes from several African countries. Pa Chief Victor Oluwole often traveled overseas and within Africa, with the national talent-scouting team to look for and sign contracts with talented Nigerian athletes/sportsmen and women living in those countries, so they could come and represent their motherland Nigeria in various international sporting competitions. In 1982 and during Nigeria’s ex-President Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s administration, my father was honourably recognized along with some other national heroes, by the Federal Government for his tremendous contributions since his youth, in the area of Athletics, through a Sports Award, which was humbly appreciated by my father and the Odofin Family.
With his daughter and granddaughter at Yoruba Tennis Club,
Pa Chief Victor Oluwole was a Merit Awardee of Igbobi College Old Boys Association, for “Service to the School”, as he had excelled both academically and especially in sporting competitions, to the glory of his Alma Mater, Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria whilst he attended the great Secondary School several decades ago. He also served in the past as the Association’s Social Secretary. He was a Lagos socialite in his heydays, an active member of the famed Yoruba Tennis Club and the former Social Secretary of the prestigious Island Club. He was a past Chairman of the Center Club and also a well-regarded member and later a Patron of the famed Waka Club, both located on Lagos Island. As my father had spent his early childhood/youth years living with his parents and siblings in Ishagbemi, Isale-Eko area of Lagos State, he immersed himself in the culture and lifestyle of the indigene Lagosians and became popular in their social circles, to the extent that many people did not realize that he actually hailed from Idoani, in Ondo State. For many, my father will always be the “Victor Odofin-Belo, Olola” immortalized in the famous Highlife/Juju song recorded by Chief Ebenezer Obey. For me, he was the awesome man behind the myth, the truth behind the legend.
Pa Chief Victor Oluwole was a good father, and an adorable role model to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was a doting husband to the wives he married and a devoted brother, uncle and cousin to many relatives he left behind. He made great efforts to impact all our lives for the better, in various ways. He functioned effectively and admirably as the Patriarch of the Odofin Family of Idoani. He strived hard to make his children and relatives always feel loved, needed and appreciated by him. My father would often wink at me and smile, to let me know he appreciated my presence with him at any time and I would wink back at him and smile too. This was an unspoken gesture of deep affection between us since my childhood. My father was not perfect, but he always strived towards it and pushed us to do the same. He was very kind and stubborn, generous and impatient, supportive and demanding, gregarious and pensive, critical and loving. He was a contradiction in terms, the great sum of differing parts, as brilliantly and impossibly human as could be. He was the man who loved me and encouraged me to strive for excellence in life, who insisted that I should never sell myself short or be satisfied with the mediocre, who taught me to be a good daughter, mother and grandmother. All that I am, all that I hope, all that I dream is rooted in the great lessons my father taught me and the indelible example he set for me.
My father is gone and my sorrow is immense. But even in that sadness, there is a glimmer of happiness, because my father lived a long life, full of thrilling adventures and happiness, full of friendship, laughter and love. But on the other hand, he experienced some misadventures and sadness, and as a devoted Christian soldier, he realized that in this world we shall have tribulations, but we must remain cheerful, faithful and trusting in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who knows best, to comfort and strengthen us through these life’s challenges. Pa Chief Victor Oluwole dedicated his life to serving God and humanity, he was a lifetime member of St. Peter’s Church (Faji), an Anglican Church on Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria. He proudly belonged to YMCA and Christian Companions societies and was also a good Patron to some other societies there. Now my beloved father has gloriously crossed over to a well deserved peace, an eternal rest of the soul for a vibrant man who lived every day like he was running the final leg of a relay race – determined, at full speed and triumphant. When I remember him as he was, I cannot help but smile through my grief.
To live on in the hearts of those you loved and who loved you, is never to die. Goodnight Baba mi, we shall see and hug each other again at Jesus feet. Until then, you will always live on in my heart.
Chief (Mrs.) Victoria Abayomi Odofin-Ogunmefun, Esq.
Daughter
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