Olusegun Fafore
on Monday, October 27, 2025, people of influence, power, and conscience from across the globe gathered at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, in Lagos, to bid Dr. Christopher Olusola Kolade the final farewell.
Everyone at the wake-keep looked heavenward and prayed that God should return Kolade’s soul to the fold of mankind and allow him to continue his great and good deeds, because he was a type of man that should not die, even at the ripe age of 92.
In their entreaties, many recounted their experiences and dealings with Kolade, just to let God know how valuable and impactful his life was to mankind. They persuaded that divine harvest of his exceptionally beautiful soul was a great loss to humanity.
Perhaps, God would have sniggered at man’s desire to keep an angel on earth, and pleasingly nodded at Kolade’s exhibition of virtues that enthralled mankind so much that they sought eternity for him amongst them.
Without them knowing, the totality of their opinions, which said “Iru eniyan bi Alagba Christopher Olusola Kolade so won lo ri le aye nitoripe akanda eyan ni won” is a telling sign of his being. He was not ordinary even though he hid his uniqueness in simplicity.
Humans failed in their appeal to God. Christopher Kolade could not inhabit the earth eternally. God wanted mankind to have a sense of loss that would cause self-reflection. Among Nigerians of various ethnic and age groups, Kolade’s life has become a mirror we stand before to see a reflection of ourselves.
Christopher Kolade did not get eternity on earth, but he got immortality. His life, and values have become the standards, to which every decent human would want to hold themselves. Unarguably, he has become the mascot of personal integrity and values on the African continent.
God adorned his life with so much grace that everything about him was exemplary and inspiring. His ascension was magnificent. A pair of large wings flapped vigorously to propel him heavenwardly on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
The sight was a beauty to behold. As one of the best of men returned home, humans had the privilege of witnessing earthly testimonies to a life of integrity. Christopher Olusola Kolade completed his mission on earth and returned to his creator.
With Christopher Kolade’s life, the notion that angels live amongst men stopped being a myth. He was an unusual experience, so surreal and cherubic in his interactions. His ways and words were not only unusual, but desired by everyone. Only that the discipline, selflessness, and restraints that sustained him were too much of a sacrifice for most people, who would have loved to be like him.
The struggle against self and hedonism was more than a battle. It’s a war Christopher Kolade gallantly won. He lived for a purpose that was more than materialism, which was clearly deific. Simple, impactful, and inspiring were some of the epithets that described his life because he contributed the quality of humankind with his knowledge and talent.
In describing encounters with the great man of character – Dr. Christopher Olusola Kolade, people from different walks of life and across continents glowingly told a story of empathetic leadership, uncommon brilliance, human decency, and candour.
Even though the underlining theme of the various accounts of people’s encounters and interactions with Christopher Kolade was good-naturedness, there was an evident complexity in the attempts to weave the life of a colossus into a single narrative.
Every fine thread, colourful and refined, creatively knitted to create an attire that gave a sense of Kolade’s life, returned with the same complication as a blind man’s attempt at describing an elephant.
While every word and sentence captured individual’s experience of Kolade, the wholeness of the life and times of one of Africa’s most decent and exemplary human beings is limited to individual experience of him, which is like a blind man’s description of an elephant – the tusks, the ears, the legs, and the trunk – as big!
Let’s contemplate what would have been his description if he had seen the elephant in its completeness? That exactly will be our depiction of Christopher Kolade’s life, which he started as a human before transforming into a seraph.
In human manifestation, Christopher Kolade, who was born on December 28, 1932, in Erin Oke, Osun State, to an Anglican priest father, started his career, which spanned education, broadcasting, diplomacy, and the academia in 1955.
The highly revered teacher in the boardroom began his journey to greatness at Emmanuel Primary School from 1939 to 1943 and Christ’s School from 1944 to1945 both in Ado Ekiti. He later attended Government College, Ibadan from 1946 to 1951.
When university education was not a compelling requirement for survival, Dr. Kolade who had had a vision of being more than the ordinary earned a Bachelor of Arts from West Africa’s most influential and notable higher institution in that era, Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone in 1954, and a Diploma in Education in 1955.
Forged in profound morals like a steel in fire and armed with solid education like a military-grade weapon on the battlefield, Christopher Kolade stepped into the world, ready to serve God through services to mankind. He was first an Education Officer in pre-independent Nigeria, contributing significantly to the growth of education in Nigeria and development of solid manpower for the country.
Subsequently, he joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), which today is called the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and retired as Director General. To his eternal credit and that of Ambassador Segun Olusola is the foundation of modern radio and television operations in Nigeria.
Kolade had an eventful career in broadcasting before his foray into the business world. With almost twenty years of ethical journalism and professionalism, joining Cadbury Nigeria Plc in 1978 as Administration Director was a seamless transition to exemplary leadership that would contribute to shaping the outlook of corporate Nigeria.
The impact of his transformational leadership on Cadbury Nigeria Plc was so evident in the company’s growth across major indices that he was appointed its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, and later as Chairman, to incise soul into the business.
His regal perch as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman at Cadbury Nigeria Plc was remarkably impressive. The twinkles of the era of his reign continue to reflect on the image of Cadbury Nigeria and serve as the foundation for the distinct positioning of the brand over the decades.
Christopher Kolade’s role as an emissary of the people on the boards of several companies was a story of success told in diligence, humility, and dedication because his name inspired trust and confidence. Those years of service to shareholders, and era leadership to colleagues almost overshadowed the glorious days of his appointment as Nigeria’s eyes in the United Kingdom.
As Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2007, Kolade did not only exhibit the best of Nigeria, but also demonstrated Nigerians capacity for excellent leadership and outstanding managerial acumen. He was a diplomat on a different level.
For Christopher Kolade, life about doing your best and impacting others. His career as a teacher did not stop when he transited from being an Education Officer to a Broadcaster. He was a teacher all through because every appointment and opportunity he had was a platform to improve institutional processes and build human capital.
Unsurprisingly, he went to back to academics and departed this world as a teacher of note and repute. He was so exemplary and selfless that everyone could not ignore his uncommon values.
Christopher Kolade’s stand on issues was never ambiguous. So steadfast he was, that if God had asked him that “Christopher, will you want to go back to the earth because of the pleas of your people for you to return?”. His response would have been “My God and creator, since You have said that “every soul shall taste death, Thy word is supreme”.
Fafore is Snr. Advisor, Strategy and Communication at ReputationPlus Inc., Ontario, Canada and Lagos, Nigeria.
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