“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”(Abe Lincoln)This is a tribute by the UNILORIN 49+ to Professor Albert Anjorin. Prof. Anjorin was a member of the group of 49+. These were the lecturers sacked unjustly by the University of Ilorin for participating in ASUU National strike. The issues became a court case that went up to the Supreme Court for adjudication. The group of 49+ won the case and were reinstated to their jobs at the University of Ilorin.It was William Shakespeare who famously said, through Mark Anthony, in the historical play titled Julius Caesar – he said, and I quote: “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is often interred with the bones.” But let us face it, William Shakespeare was not totally right in this. The good that people do live after them, and so does the evil. Perhaps greater philosophical credit would go to the Yoruba proverbial rendition on this matter: “the king who ruled and the city prospered, his story will not be forgotten; and the king who ruled and the city perished; his story will not be forgotten either”. So let it be with Albert Anjorin, the late professor of Pathology, whose life we all gather here to celebrate.Professor Anjorin was a special gift of nature to mankind.
He was endowed in all the departments of human value. He stood like a Colossus wherever he was, tall, big, ebullient, eloquent, and extremely articulate. His demise has attracted a zillion tributes, both spoken and unspoken, both published and unpublished. Indeed Prof. Albert Anjorin touched many lives and he lives continually in their hearts.Many have spoken about Anjorin’s dedication to his chosen field of Pathology and his work as great morbid anatomist, and a great lecturer to boot. Having thus attained professional prominence, Anjorin was to be called to national duty in the field in 2013, when the late former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Comrade Professor Festus Iyayi died in a motor accident at Lokoja, in collision with the military motorcade of former governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada. Iyayi’s publicised body wounds looked very much like bullet holes, raising hot controversy that he had been murdered by state operatives and the accident was only contrived. There was considerable tension (see: https://saharareporters.com/2013/12/03/festus-iyayi-assassination-or-accident-news-africa; https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/iyayis-death-autopsy-shows-bullets-medical-source/#google_vignette), and a search for an honest pathologist who could be trusted by all sides to give an unbiased postmortem report. The person that ASUU picked for this delicate assignment, to join the medical team at the University Teaching Hospital in Benin, was no other than Professor Albert Anjorin, to all intents and purposes an honest, unbiased pathologist. His presence in the team calmed frayed nerves nationwide, as they were more willing to accept the verdict of the postmortem team.Today, as Anjorin himself lay motionless, his work as a morbid anatomist becomes a metaphor for the deep scrutiny on his life, a mimic anatomical enquiry, a scrutiny that every departing mortal must face. And how best to conduct this anatomy but to segment the body of Anjorin’s lived life, and present snippets of this to the world – as a professional, an activist for justice, and, simple as this might sound, as a good man.Professor Anjorin lived his life at the intersection of knowledge and service.
At this junction, his unexpressed motto in life was akin to that of the Chinese Medical Doctor in-training: “In white robe, serve the people, regard all beings as friends.” Despite the many adversities of life that Prof. Anjorin passed through, we are yet to identify a single enemy of this great man. Prof. Anjorin was a physician by duty, humanist and activist by choice, always eager to connect to people for the peace and progress of the community, and sociable by personality inclination.It is clear from the foregoing that Prof. Anjorin was a colossus in his discipline of Pathology. Many may not know that he was the best student in his medical set at the University of Ibadan, and was actually the valedictory speaker for the set. He was brilliant and was to become an encyclopaedia of human cells, thoroughly versed in the use of microscopes in understanding the cells in the human body and their behaviour in sickness and in health. He once told us of his stint during consultant training in the Royal Hospital in the UK, and the thousands of clinical slides he had to examine. Prof. possessed a mind of precision and curiosity. His knowledge of cells in the human body is exciting and unique. He wrote deep, thought-provoking papers marked by profundity and novelty. His publications were many and they are never short of ideas that will define the future of the profession. All of that contributed to other aspects of Anjorin’s life anatomy, turning him for example into the quintessential trainer figure that generations of students have eulogized with unabashed openness. He not only exhibited intense knowledge but also taught understanding and empathy. According to the students’ own testimonies, Anjorin taught with simplicity, honesty, and warmth. He had encouraging words for every student he trained. He was a guide and an inspiration. These students from all walks of life would become his main life support during his debilitating illness; others that he helped in significant ways in life also returned to contribute material and prayers for his well-being.In the 80s and 90s, Prof. Anjorin’s professional expertise was transmitted in live broadcasts when he was the Presenter of the weekly Television programme “Your Health”. The programme was a hit, watched by many people either at home or on neighbours’ television sets.
Anjorin’s big eyeballs and white Afro hair-cut a unique figure, and he was a master of wisecracks too, which, along with his infectious smiles, added to his popularity. Friendly to all, Anjorin was a master mass communicator and epitome of accessibility.Labour activism was an extension of Prof. Albert Anjorin’s humanism. Though a very busy person who faced his professional work squarely, he was also passionate in making life comfortable for those who are in the lecturing job. Because of this, he attended many congresses of the union and made contributions on the way forward for lecturers’ welfare.In the fateful year 2001, the great Albert Anjorin had a choice to make, in what was perhaps the greatest test of his character. Character being the heart of the anatomy of life. Our character is often tested in small and big ways, but philosophers agree that the greatest test usually comes in three moments – first, in private and solitude, what one really does when no one else is watching; second, in periods of adversity, when hardship and want put ones integrity to a litmus test; and third, in how one handles power, wealth or authority. Embedded in these moments is the persistent and perennial conflict between private and public professed moralities, between ideal and reality, and between loyalty and betrayal. These are moments that expose the authentic self – moments of truth.Prof. Anjorin was twice elected into the Governing Council of the University of Ilorin, a position of relative comfort and relative proximity to power. Except for known ideologues, the position was often seen as one through which to accumulate perks, sundry advantages and to serve as a stepping stone to greater authority. But this position often comes in conflict with the occupant’s professed love for the masses, or professed love for revolutionary ideologies. Suffice it to say that, while many would sell their very souls for a chance for more perks, more authority or for transient titles and positions, Anjorin resolved to remain on the side of the oppressed masses. He refused to betray them. “Because,” as Cathy Maxwell, a prolific writer of romance, put it, “… in the end, the measure of a well-lived life is not titles or riches. It’s not even measured by the people we please, especially at the cost of our own souls. No, the true measure of a well-lived life is how well we love… and how well we are loved in return.” But the corrupt have no compunction, nor concern for propriety or ethics. The antagonists colluded to prevent Anjorin from attending Council meetings. In his absence he was sacked, along with the 49+ others.In the group of the 49+ were many other notable professors who were preeminent in their areas, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Geology, Linguistics, Religion, and others, However, Prof. Anjorin was particularly strategic to the struggle of ASUU at the time.
As a respected voice in his Department, together with the ASUU Local and National mandate, other lecturers in his Department refused to sign the University register to break the national strike, and they were all sacked. Unknown to the perpetrators, this essentially meant that a critical department in the training and graduation of medical students had been closed down! Unfortunately, the affected medical students were taken through a needless ordeal. However, none held a grudge against Alberto; if anything, some medical students raised vocal support for the struggle.Prof. Anjorin embraced his imposed adversity with the calm equanimity of a master — he mastered adversity, turned it into an ornament. In addition to lecturing stints in other universities, he continued to be involved in mobilizing people for community development and as much as possible cater for his numerous dependents and hangers on. His house, wherever he lived, was always full of people. He was a father of many non-biological children. He was not a transactional giver — indeed, a hallmark of his goodness was that attitude of giving freely to those from whom he could never expect anything in return. He was at peace with himself, all the while watching those whose souls are taken up with chasing slavishly after one office or title or the other, calmly watching them groan under the perpetual cross of their gnawing unsatiety.The truth is that adversity did not diminish Albert Anjorin’s large-heartedness, his spirit of sacrificial giving and ecumenical spirit that extends love to people of all faiths. His laughter would fill a room and he had plenty of brilliant jokes to tell. Often when he was hailed or called, he would respond in a playful manner: Tani moṣe (“Who have I offended?”). Indeed, it was in Albert’s nature that he loved all and offended no one. Even when those who called him “brother” and “friend” stabbed him in the back, he found it in his heart to forgive them. As part of the new equilibrium, Anjorin even at a point discovered a spiritual side and explored the contents of scriptural writings.Prof. Anjorin did enjoy life and lived it to the hilt. He enjoyed good food, especially pounded yam, vegetable soup and cow tail. He enjoyed fresh fish pepper soup and often washed it down with a green bottle. But this never drowned his humanity. It is a hallmark of his genius that he managed to balance the various parts of the anatomy of life, skillfully combining his three roles as a healer/teacher, humanist activist, and socialite, making a success of them all.In concluding this brief tribute, we note that Prof. Anjorin lived the last 25 years of his life prominently as a member of the UNILORIN 49+, amongst other identities. There is so much that we can say about him, about his interaction within the group, and about the complexities involved. However, for an occasion like this, the anatomy of such a fulsome life experience as Anjorin lived must necessarily be brief. Suffice it to say for now that we are proud of Prof. Anjorin’s association with us and of his achievements and especially his legacy of integrity, courage, honesty, dependability — a man who stood to be counted when it mattered most.We thought of what would be a befitting epitaph for Anji, and we found one:
Here lies Professor Albert AnjorinA man so good …Nobody wanted him to dieFarewell, Alberto.The UNILORIN 49+Read on behalf of the group byPROF. TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU