Tribute to Pastor Taiwo Odukoya (1956-2023)

Tribute to Pastor Taiwo Odukoya

Writing this piece made the plight of the Israelites of old more real to me. Held captive in Babylon, their slave masters demanded that they sing one of the famous Psalms of Israel to entertain them.

But the slaves probably still writhing from the pains of the day’s labour by the river of Babylon sang a dirge instead, where they voiced their dilemma, asking how they could ‘sing the Lord’s song in a strange land’. (Psalm 137)

This is exactly how I feel typing this. I never thought I would have to write a tribute for my Pastor so soon, at least, not for some score years.

As one who writes by inspiration,

Words came to me, but they lacked elocution.

I wanted to write a tribute with fluid prose,

But my muse did not distil those.

I thought maybe I could express my thoughts using the veil of poetry,

But I do not know if I can do justice to poetic symmetry.

Should I turn to pun?

This is no time for fun.

Perhaps the brevity of rhythm would help,

But I fear I might end up giving a yelp,

Rather than glowing tributes,

In honour of one with such good repute.

I cannot stop the disruptive flow of the whys,

That later can only be answered by the Wise.

So until we meet again,

In a place where there is no rain,

All I can muster for now is a salute to a distinguished God’s General,

Whose fight and race of faith accrued sterling medals.

Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, a quintessential gentleman, husband, father, Pastor, mentor, teacher and many more,

Whose life and impacts will forever be mentioned in sweet folklore.

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