 |
| Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi |
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has
joined other Nigerians and members of the culture community to pay
glowing tribute to former Minister of National Planning, writer and art
aficionado, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, who passed on at the age of 72 on
Wednesday.
In a statement made available to our correspondent on Thursday, Soyinka, who has co-chaired the
Lagos@50 Planning Committee alongside Gbadamosi, until the latter’s
demise, described the deceased as a very committed patron of the arts
and a writer who had shown great promise from the beginning.
He said, “In the LAGOS@50 monthly series
in which we celebrate the five Lagos divisions known as I-B-I-L-E, this
December was to have been the turn of Ikorodu, third in line and
Rasheed’s early play, ‘Echoes from the Lagoon’, was already scheduled.
In the process of re-acquainting myself with his works, I was reminded
of his early creative promise. I wrote him, lamenting that the artistic
world had lost him to business. It is impossible to quantify the
personal consolation I derive from having sent him that note just a
fortnight, or so, before he took his leave of us.
“In strict terms, of course, the
artistic world never lost Rasheed. That was where his soul was and he
manifested it in the commitment that made him turn his estate into a
vast exhibition gallery of Nigerian painters, to which many flock till
today. Rasheed – let this be stressed as a public challenge – put his
money where his heart beat! Both young and old generation artists will
testify to this in abundance.”
Director-General, National Gallery of
Art, Abdullahi Muku, regretted that the late industrialist, who he also
described as a pillar of the art industry in Nigeria, died at a time the
visual art sub-sector is being prepared to play a crucial role in
diversifying the Nigerian economy.
“Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi was undoubtedly
a foremost art collector and promoter extraordinaire; notable
industrialist and eminent politician. He would be greatly missed. Our
prayer is that others will carry on from where he stopped,” he said.
Also, a seasoned artist, Kolade
Oshinowo, said that the news of Gbadamosi’s sudden departure had come as
a shock to members of the culture community.
He said, “It is a huge shock to us
because it is happening when we have not fully recovered from the demise
of Mr. Olagbaju. It is painful that we are losing those who have
supported the arts.
“Gbadamosi was involved in performance,
music, visual, literary and other aspects of the arts. I don’t think
many people will forget his contributions to the industry.”
Foremost art patron and philantropist, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, also described Gbadamosi’s passage as very painful.
Noting that Gbadamosi had touched the
lives of many people and institutions, he said, “I will miss him. We
will all miss him. He was a very kind man. He was humble and friendly to
all. Notwithstanding that he was a scion of a notable industrialist
family, he would go out of his way to please people.
“His family and I were very close.
Indeed, I was his confidant. In business and in personal relationships,
Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi held humanity in high esteem.”
Source: Punch Newspapers
No comments:
Post a Comment