Taiwo and I met each other in Primary/Grade One. I knew his name because it was written on a tag on his chest as it was the custom in the 80s for new entrants from nursery school. Ours was a public school & we got talking about interests, planes to be specific. #YesterYears

I was addressing a small group of kids who marveled at my understanding of flight and how to build models of planes. I painted a picture with my words on the kind of models that can be built with brooms, nylons and thread. To these kids it meant something.

The next day after the stimulating conversation during break, Taiwo walked up to me with a model he has built based on my lecture. We were just 6years old. Taiwo got every detail, he has just made his first WW1 Allied Aircraft model. I was impressed and we became best of friends.

Years later, Taiwo became a Quantity Surveyor working with multinationals being one of the best students in FUTA even though this didn’t reflect this in his grades. I went on to become who I’ve always wanted to be across professions beginning also with environmental sciences.

Our path crossed across fields in our life journey in music, arts and also environmental sciences. Our connection Emebet waned despite not seeing each other always. We always have a way of picking up every time we connect. We both married but couldn’t make each other’s wedding.

This didn’t change anything neither did it sink our friendship. We got closer and kept in touch. I left the country & this gentleman never stopped keeping in touch & took no offense that I didn’t get to say goodbye. Every major decision in his life & mine we both discussed.

He is one who will always rejoice with you regardless of what he’s going through. He never for once felt intimidated by me neither have I for once felt small around him despite the kind of resources he controls in his field. When he was leaving for further studies, I knew first.

We discussed it and prayed about it. When he landed in Netherlands with his family I was first to know. He’s always in my prayers and I in his. This is what true friendship is about. We don’t agree on everything but we respect each other’s position and learn from every argument.

Between us we have broken grounds on various innovations in our individual fields. It’s beginning to look like we both will spend our old age in citadels of learning impacting lives and building a new generation of transformational leaders globally. We spoke about this...

...and it is coming to pass as discussed years back. He plays the guitar like a pro just like I play the saxophone with passion. He made me understand practically that true friends are never apart regardless of distance. He’s proven to always be there.

When you find people who fight for you, include you, respect you, encourage you, choose you, accept you, delight in you, value your progress, embrace your idiosyncratic nature & stand by you, it is a sin not to reciprocate. Taiwo feels like sunlight & solid like a rock.

Don’t be the kind of people who eulogizes people when they are dead. Value and appreciate them when the are alive and can see that they are truly loved. I’m certain he won’t believe I’m doing this but he deserves to know how special he is to me. He’s inspired me for so long.

You may not know him & may never meet him. But if you have been reading from me for years, and find my thoughts a little helpful...know that Taiwo has influenced you likewise. We are inseparable at heart even though the last time we saw physically was over 12years ago.

Those who hate you because they can’t figure you out are not your friends. Anyone that takes offense unduly because they can’t change you need not be encouraged. We must complement each other & not strive to be the same. Our diversity is an advantage.

In over 30years of friendship, Taiwo has never for placed a demand on me & neither have I. He’s never felt entitled & neither do I. His family are like my family. There’s a mutual respect that keeps getting deeper. Everyone deserves a Taiwo in their life they can be a KEHINDE to.

...End of Celestial Observation...

Your discipline is proven by your devotion and consistency. Taiwo was the best in Arithmetic in primary school. He actually influenced my interest. We both became a walking Engineering Mathematics textbook in our respective higher institutions making a killing from tutorials.

Taiwo was never distracted. Regardless of what you say about him, all he’ll tell you is never to make a mistake spelling his name while spreading your falsehood. He understands who he is, why he is and whose he is. He currently lives significantly outside Nigeria.

Don’t ever allow the assessment of any lecturer make you downgrade yourself. Believe in yourself. Good grades don’t define intelligence and neither does old age signifies maturity. You are who you believe you are. You can be anything you set your mind to be. #YouAreEnough