ON Saturday, 1st August, 2026, in the afternoon, the widespread news of the demise of one of the most loved sons of the brown-roof city echoed sadly.

The Abese Olubadan of Ibadanland, Chief Lekan Alabi, bid farewell to the global hemisphere but left behind a legacy that cannot be forgotten.

As a veteran journalist, public analyst and cultural advocate, he had lived an unforgettable life and some memories still revive as new leaves.

Far back in 2014, the voice of Oloye Lekan Alabi on one of my favourite programmes, Jenwitemi, where news update with objective analysis are broadcast live on Space 90.1FM, I could recall that I went the extra mile to ensure that I didn’t miss the daily episode of the show, just to listen to his view on the nation’s discourse.

My love for baba’s intellectual analysis of stories with facts knew no bounds and keeps growing, even while he had left. Baba is respected more for his portraiture of professionalism in his approaches, unveiling the date, venue and actors in stories is a retentive feature which cannot be compromised.

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Baba Lekan Alabi, an ace broadcaster who unites most media houses, particularly broadcast firms who would visit and schedule appointments featuring baba at different levels of their on-air or recorded programmes.

A particular show aired every Sunday on Agidigbo 88.7 FM, Ibadan, between 8:00 am – 10:00 am had featured him several times, where he had jokingly expressed that he would visit his mother and eat food cooked by her, which he does till death beckons.

I hereby call on traditional leaders, journalists and public analysts, human rights activists, young and old broadcasters to learn from baba’s life and impact the world for a Yoruba word of the sage says: “O n taa ba gb’aye se ni yi o maa tan gege bi itanna ti ko nii tan ni igba ti a ba tan.”  Meaning, whatever impact we make when we still breathe shall continue to live even after our demise.

•AbdulBasit Dosumu is a student of the Department of Mass Communication, Adecom College of Business and Management Studies, Ibadan.