So Touching: Teju Baby Face's Tribute To Tunji Okusanya (CEO MIC)

#‎tributetoMIC 1 when i tell my driver that Tunji Okusanya of MIC is dead, I envision he will say, 'ah! man daada to ma'n fun mi l'owo yen!'

#tributetoMIC 2 (dat generous man!) I walked into his office to invite him 2 Season2 of our show in 2010. We had never met but he hugged me.

#tributetoMIC 3 He told me how he loved our show and how I would go far up the ladder of Success. I discovered that he liked to laugh a lot.

#tributetoMIC 4 on the day of recording, he came to time and when we were done, he shared money around like a politician going to the polls.

#tributetoMIC 5 and so we would become 'friends'. More like Egbon (elder sibling) and aburo (younger sibling).


#tributetoMIC 6 when my father died 2years later and we reeled in pain and confusion, his boys were there in 30mins with MIC's best hearse.

#tributetoMIC 7 without a mention of money, they took my dad to the best morgue around and immediately started making plans for the burial.

#tributetoMIC 8 in his office, he gave me my pick of the best coffins and asked me to bring any amount of money I wished

#tributetoMIC 9 'I could do it for free', he said, 'but I don't want you to bury your father in a coffin that costs you nothing'.

#tributetoMIC 10 on burial day, he personally carried my father's body all the way to our village, Ajaawa, in Oyo State. He spent the night.

#tributetoMIC 11 next morning, he danced in front of the coffin to and from the church and personally laid my dad to rest.

#tributetoMIC 12 he also stayed for the party after, 'spraying' money on us all as we all danced to Shina Peters, trying to bury our sorrow

#tributetoMIC 13 when I returned to thank him in his Lagos office, he was wearing a beautiful pair of slippers. Black and obviously costly

#tributetoMIC 14 'I like your slippers Uncle', I said. He immediately removed them and insisted I must take them there and then!

#tributetoMIC 15 I protested long but he wouldn't budge. If you see me wearing a pair of Italian leather slippers, them are the ones.

#tributetoMIC 16 He explained to me how life was just fleeting and how we should try our best to avoid unhealthy attachment(s) to anything.

#tributetoMIC 17 you see, having buried so many, rich and poor alike, he had a view to life dat was uncommon & probably wholesome in health.

#tributetoMIC 18 he also agreed to come on our show for the 2nd time setting a record as the only Special Guest to have had that honor

#tributetoMIC 19 when it was time to get married, he danced behind me on the engagement day, wearing my colors and yes, sharing money. Again

#tributetoMIC 20 Not minding age, he threw himself prostrate beside me and my friends as we 'begged' for my wife in d tradition of the land.

#tributetoMIC 21 He would call me up every now and again, always chuckling. 'Iyawo mi nko', he would ask? (how is my wife?)

#tributetoMIC 22 He was in d habit of saying to my family, 'I love you guys'. I am not sure I ever said d same to him even though I felt it.

#tributetoMIC 23 and so I woke this rainy day as even the skies mourned and shed tears thinking 'surely if good deeds meant anything...

#tributetoMIC 24 'surely if good deeds mean anything, this was a man who did not deserve to go thus. Surely not in this manner?'

#tributetoMIC 25 But what do I know? I am just another traveller on this parched tract. Your work and Legacy live after you Uncle Tunji.

#tributetoMIC 26 I love and will miss you. In the words of the yoruba people, 'O ye Olorun bi ko ye Eniyan'. (God understands all mystery)

...So touching.. the rich and the poor will surely die one day...