Prof. is retired but certainly not tired. When asked to give a peek into his post retirement plans, Prof’s revelation attests to the fact that you can indeed retire and not be tired.
Well, to put it bluntly, I have an appointment already to be a professor of law and founding dean of a faculty up country. I have not accepted and of course again it might cause some dislocation. I did that in my younger days leaving my wife here and going to Ado-Ekiti. I know the sacrifices she made. Even the food I was eating was from Lagos. She would cook and the driver would bring them to me and I put everything in the freezer. So 25 years ago we could do all that but now I don’t know. Just one offer to be a professor but that offer came before the recent development of earning my salary for life. So if I am going to earn my salary for life, how much does a man need? If I am going to continue to earn my salary until I die, then I might not need to go up country or anywhere else. Again my wife told me recently that whatever I resolve to do, I would still need an office because she knows with a passion that even if I don’t practice, I would need an office even if it is to read newspapers. So, we could have an office and put a shingle out “Akin Oyebode Jurisconsult.” I don’t have a wig or gown and I don’t plan to go chasing ambulances now at my age but if people feel that they want to consult I would be available.
Again I have two grand kids who are quite young so even getting to sit down with then and just spend quality time is also part of the plan. Then I might write a second edition of my book. I want to do a book on jurisprudence to document my experience. The proposed title of the book would be “Thinking About Law”. Trying to show how people have contemplated law across the ages. Then of course my children said maybe I need to do an autobiography. They wanted it during my 70th birthday celebration but I didn’t have the time. But I have promised to write at least my memoirs. If I cannot do autobiography like what you did here today, then I can just write about my experiences in Ado-Ekiti with the title “Managing Poverty: The Travails of a Vice Chancellor in Ekiti Land”, because it was tough. With regards to the Government Assignment you mentioned, one professor of medicine after the senate gave me a standing ovation came to meet me and said “Prof, please don’t go into politics o”. I said “why?” “Are you saying those in politics are not human beings?” She said she is just begging me not to go into politics that they would mess me up. So, I said thank you. So people have their ideas.
Finally and most importantly, I am very grateful to God. I was on admission in LUTH last year where I thought the end had come. In fact I actually told my sister I was prepared to meet my maker and she responded “but your maker is not prepared to meet you.” So, I survived and that to me means my time is not up so there is a lot more to do. Some say I don’t look 70 and I say to them I feel my age don’t judge a book by the cover. I live every day at a time. I cannot make long range plans. I went to the 70th birthday celebration of one of my friends some time ago and the Archbishop climbed the pulpit and the first thing he said to my friend the celebrant was; “welcome to the departure lounge”. And we said “what is that?” He said, “at 70 you have your boarding pass; you are just waiting for your flight to be announced.” It was a poignant statement because what the bible ordained is three score and ten. So, every day after 70 is a bonus so you cannot make long range plans. I told a friend that my daddy died at 75 and I plan to surpass him. He said, “yes you can plan but you are not in charge of how long you stay.” Generally, I just relax and see how things progress. My ideas are not etched in granite, they are not frozen so I will take life as it comes. If I die now, people would say a life well lived. At 70 what else do you want? I am grateful to God that he is giving me the carriage. I don’t look it, I am not tired. I lived an active life. I leave every other plan to the almighty.
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