People will always start tributes with “the news of the passing of Mr Lagbaja has come to me as a rude shock.” The statement used to intrigue me. Rude shock, never used to see the connection. However, the news of the passing of legendary Yisa Sofoluwe did not come to me as any rude shock but came to me as a thought-provoking and humble experience.
Coming from the passing of my wife and mother within six months, I have stopped seeing death as any rude shock but with the inevitability and resignation of the power of the Most High as it is meant to be. When you say rude shock means that you have done all you needed to do to stop it and it came as a shock to you that despite your efforts, this still happened.
The arrogance of that statement can be annoying. Yisa was humble, a patriot and a major figure during the golden years of our football history. I had the rare privilege of playing against him during a charity match I had organized while at BGL and he came with other football greats including Samson Siasia and Etim Esin to play. He carried himself with humility and refused to be carried away with is stardom. He will surely be missed, and this was not a rude shock. It has come with the resignation to the Almighty because he knows all. Rest well, bro.
