Happy birthday Otunba
There are a lot of things people see in you and that’s why even those who are older than you call you “Chairman” to your surprise. There are a lot of characteristics and leadership traits that you exhibit, as young as you are “Mr Chiarman”, you are deep in knowledge, quick in finding solutions and more than a politician, “a lot of man” and a book to be read.
Let me tell you a short story, and, this story describes who Olobatoke Ola Olaiya Michael Olobatoke is:
Seven blind men who had heard about how enormous an elephant is craved to have a feel of that mountainous creature someday. They prayed fervently and God sent a rich man whose fantasy is to keep elephants in his compound and take care of them just as if they are domestic animals. He overheard that certain blind men in town wish to have the feel of an elephant so that they can satisfy their agelong curiosity about how big this animal is and what it looked like.
So, he extended an invitation to them, to come and satisfy their inquisitiveness and a date was set for that purpose. On the day, the seven men were brought before this rich man who in turn opened the gate of the garden where he kept the elephants to them so that they can have a feel.
Do not forget that they were all blind. So, they moved into the garden and started filling the only elephant left in the garden of that rich man at that time. One of them touched the elephant at the tusk, while another touched it at the tail, and another touched it at the side where its tummy is. One of them touched the misty eye of the elephant while some touched the legs.
They all had a feel of the elephant at different parts of its body and they seem satisfied. Interested to know what their findings were, the rich man then invited them into his house to have a repast with him. He then asks them what their experiences were and also asks that they give him a description of what they felt.
The one who touched the elephant at the tusk said, that an elephant is hard, long and smooth and that against the saying that it is big, an elephant is not that big. The one who touched it by the stomach at the side shouted him down saying “you are saying rubbish, an elephant is not smooth, it is big, rough and hard”. The one who touched it at the tail said although, the elephant is long, but it is not smooth and it is not big. But, the one who touched the eye challenged them and said ” you don’t know the elephant, the elephant has a moist and soft body”. Those who touched it at the leg sighed and touched themselves, saying “it seems our fellow blind colleagues learnt nothing because the elephant we know is long, rough, big and balanced.
The rich man then thanked them, to their surprise, he said they were all correct but that whatever description they make of the elephant comes from the angle that they touched or feel it from. He then noted that your description of a person or situation is from the angle you see the person or situation from. You may see a person from the empathy angle just because he is your benefactor while another sees the same person from the proficiency angle. In all, and whatever angle you see the person, you might be correct and fittingly describing the same person.
Olaiya Michael Olobatoke suits the mythological story of this elephant and the seven blind men. He is brilliant, sharp, accessible, kind, agile, smart and a complete package roll in one. Definitely, he is the most qualified for the task of representing Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu HOR come 2023.
You were first my brother now my boss, my experiences with you are memorable, God bless the womb that bore you.
Happy birthday oko Ibijoke Olobatoke, God bless the man of the people.
“Ejeh Oga mi”
