TRIBUTE TO MY VERY BOSOM, ALLY, BROTHER, GREAT PARTNER AND FRIEND- ENGR. FOLU OLUSANYA. SURREAL!! It is with heavy pains that I pencilled this tribute to one of my closest buddies on Earth. FOLUSMO! FOLUSMO!! FOLUSMO!!! So it happened? These cruel hands of the devil stung my great ally. God, you knew why you allowed this to happen, as you are very much unquestionable. This occurrence has left an indelible void in me. That Folu is dead is a news my body refuses to process. I was completely shattered and devastated when this sad news was broken to me by SEGUN OLUSANYA on Wednesday, the 3rd of March, 2021 at about 11.47a.m. What a World we all live in. My day’s activities were all completely in disarray. All activities were halted as I moved straight to my house for the day, thinking about the goriness of this news. It was a terrible sad day. Folu and I, started our relationship from the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria in 1976. I was a year ahead of him in a different Faculty. Whilst Folu was in Engineering, I was in Environmental Design. We really gravitated to each other and bonded very well till the very end before the ugly death snatched him away from us. Folu was my besto and confidant. We grew up to share too numerous things that I could not enumerate. We were just too, too close to each other. We were all in the Built Environment Industry. Folu handled all the Services components of all my Design Works. I moved and always pulled him along all my projects. Even when confronted by fellow friends and his colleagues in the same field, my answers had always been, I had no choice but to give the Service component parts of the works to Celmeng And Associates- Folu’s Trademark. We both were like ‘5 and 6’ but this hopeless cruel hands of death has now separated us. What a terrible separation? Folu was a fine Electrical Engineer personified. He gave me the confidence on any matter that was Electrical Engineering in nature as I knew that surely, he would resolve any issue whatsoever that arose from it. The Built Environment that you belonged to in Nigeria has lost a rare gem. Project deliveries were both accomplished by our Team for which he played usually a leading role. We traversed together all over Nigeria in executing too many numerous projects. Where UNIQUE ARCHITECTS- my Architectural practice is, you must surely find Celmeng and Associates- Folu’s Engineering Practice. We were always comforting ourselves during hard times. This, I will surely forever miss. Why? Folu was a family man, full of humour. We shared jokes and kept ourselves intact. We embarked on several Overseas trips in search of Factory Inspections all over the World. The last of this we did together was the LG Factory in Busan and Seoul, South Korea. We were side by side from Lagos, all through return on this journey. We held our hands together in times of difficulties. It is too painful an exit at this time. Folu as a family man triumphed in life and exhibited his responsibility traits to his household members. He excelled all through. He was steadfast on this achievement. He was a real man on this planet that he sojourned. He gave his best to the Children. We never hid our goals in training our children from each other as we had very common characteristics- EDUCATION. FOLU, you did well. Folu was a Godly man. He combined his hectic schedules with the pastoral work. He did very well in the Christendom works. He served God diligently. For sure, Heaven is assured. He stood by me in every aspect of refining my well being in Prayers. He was always there for me at all times. Projects commissioning, birthday events, naming ceremonies et al. Who will I find to replace all of these? Death, you have applied your sting, albeit wrongly. To my amiable Sister, DOLAPO, so it happened like a flash. When I visited you at your house in Lagos, the severity of the sicknesses did not catch my attention as I was cracking my usual jokes with my brother, Folu. As usual, you offered me my usual food (Amala Lafun) that evening but my main business was to check on my brother who kept on telling me he was at home, he went to the hospital, he was a bit ill and the likes. I was determined to see him this day and when eventually I saw him, we chatted as usual as if it was just a common malaise. I said to him, Folu, you have now been forced to rest your body from your busy body schedules. This was during the COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos. We had a ver good evening together and I left for my house, that was close to his. DOLAPO, the pains are still inherent in me and I know that, the God we serve, will heal our wounds in Jesus name. Amen. You are an adorable wife. You stood solidly behind your husband till the end. God will reward you openly for your good supports. The various times discussed on the phone and chatted whilst Folu was in the United Kingdom, reassuring me that my brother was doing great were soothing moments for me. At a time, I thought Folu had gone back to Lagos as I thought that it was just a general debility of the body that required Folu’s compulsive rest and breakaway from his ever busy schedules. I said to myself, Folu would not leave England without me knowing of it. It was a moment that I was unable to reach him. I had wanted to see him in Birmingham as he commanded me to come to Birmingham for a visit which I quickly responded that surely i will. The several lockdowns upon lockdowns in the United Kingdom as a result of this pandemic COVID-19 restrictions did not allow me to take this visit to Birmingham. To my Children, Akin, Sayo, SEGUN and Ope, my deep heartfelt CONDOLENCES. I am in grief as yo all are. This is a void that no one can fill. It has been a lot of agonies on me to process. To Segun, the person who God chose me to be his first appointed driver on Earth, thank you for the breaking news. God will comfort us all and heal our indelible wounds. From the Debo-Aina’s, my wife and Children were all shocked with this horrible sad news. They expressed their sympathy on the loss of their dear Uncle Folu. To other associates, workmen who knew us together, they were all in awe, dumbfounded with this sad news. They shared in this grief and mourn in this grief with us. Folu, my great brother and associates, surely, God loved you more. Continue to rest in His bosom. Amen. Till we meet again to part no more. You will be sorely missed. ARC, DEBO AINA.