Felicitating Dr. Badirudeen Adewale Apaokagi; By Yusuf Mutiu Olaitan

And it was time to look at individuals whose teams shall be named after at Play With Kwara Youths 4.0 as it was our practice, someone —not me— suggested him, I immediately agreed to it. We now had to look for a contact with him, we knew he’s a big fish, it might be difficult to bring him on board, for non of us had ever had any relationship with him. We decided to give it a try, after all Play With Kwara Youths is a platform everyone wants to be a part of!

I reached out to a brother from our community who I believed had a form of relationship with him (Dr. Badirudeen), the person told me he had his contact, I told him why I needed his contact and asked him if he could speak to him on behalf of Play With Kwara Youths, the person told me he doesn’t share such relationship with him, that they seldom speak, but he promised to send his contact which he did immediately.

He, however, told me to message him and assured me that I would get a response, he stressed that the response I would get will be positive. I held on to that very dearly!

I messaged him, gave him a brief introduction of myself, explained what Play With Kwara Youths was all about, and I was hoping to get a response, it took about 5hrs, which I deemed very short, but of course, I had been assured he would react positively!

He sent his tesleem, demanded for more information about Play With Kwara Youths, I quickly provided it, and from there, I knew we have someone who’s ready to be a committed member of Play With Kwara Youths. After carefully studying the news around Play With Kwara Youths for about a week or two, he invited us over and gave assured of his full commitment!

All of these happened without any lobbying, he didn’t look down on a random text, he was all about the vision of Play With Kwara Youths and the impact he can make through the organization.

In its truest form, Dr. Badiru Apaokagi is a staunch lover and supporter of the Youths constituency. He’s demonstrated one of the most accommodating traits of anyone I’ve met.

Simple, professional, thorough, lively and intelligent, these are words that are best defined Dr. Badiru.

I had always been a keen admirer, his immense contributions to Adewole community without seeking validations or praises from anyone had made him a beloved to the people of our community, a silent impact maker.

His impact transcends the Youths constituency, he’d be surprised how I found out his numerous scholarship to Ilorin indigent, his numerous support to people of our community!

On this day, I wish you are blessed with everything good thing of this world and beyond.

Happy birthday to an astute Banker, an intelligent and productive administrator.

Yusuf Mutiu Olaitan is Convener Play With Kwara Youths and an Adewole indigent.