Mr. Nkanu Egbe, a colleague from the Innovative Media Partners Cooperative Multicultural Society, spoke on behalf of the organisation, recalling one of Oladipo’s final projects: building a united body for media professionals aimed at securing their welfare, retirement planning, and general protection.
He remembered Oladipo’s urgency in pushing the initiative forward, an urgency whose reason became painfully clear only in hindsight, since an inaugural committee meeting planned for late August never got to hold before Oladipo’s sudden passing.
He closed by inviting media professionals in attendance to join the cooperative and carry its work forward in Oladipo’s stead.
A neighbour and close family friend described Oladipo as a steady, generous presence next door, someone who helped her get settled when she first moved into the neighborhood, assisted with practical matters like utility connections, and treated her family as an extension of his own.
She spoke of him as a devoted husband and father, recalling his morning walks with his wife and closeness with his daughters.
She added that the household had never known him to raise a serious quarrel with anyone in all their years as neighbors.
Jide Johnson, a member of Oladipo’s church and cell group, introduced as a professor, spoke to his humility and quiet generosity.
He recalled Oladipo and his wife, Taiwo, as inseparable and devoted to each other.
He equally remembered evenings when Oladipo would wait patiently in the car with the children while cell group meetings ran long, buying things to keep the kids occupied without complaint.
Professionally, he described Oladipo’s support for students sent to him for internships, often quietly covering part of their fees himself and instructing staff to request from students only what they could not otherwise pay.
The most personal moment of the service came when Oladipo’s three daughters — Ewaoluwa, Eniola, and Fikayo — stood together to deliver a joint tribute to their father.
They remembered a man who was endlessly patient and involved, who never grew too busy to help with their daily tasks even as they grew older, and whose playfulness and warmth shaped their earliest memories.
They described him as intelligent, funny, and deeply devoted to his faith, a man who built something meant to outlast him and who taught them, by example, to be strong and unafraid.
Above all, they spoke of a father who protected, guided, and consistently showed up for them, and who they will now carry with them through his kindness, his laughter, and his faith, even as they grieve the ordinary, everyday moments they will no longer share.
The service also included a message built around the biblical account of Lazarus and the rich man — two men who, the preacher noted, both died and both stepped into eternity, but only one of whom had lived with any regard for the person suffering at his gate.
Drawing on Matthew 25, he reminded the congregation that every human being carries God’s image, and that how people are treated — the sick neglected, the powerless oppressed, the vulnerable dispossessed — is ultimately how God Himself is treated.
The core of the message was a challenge to the living: that life, as James 4:14 puts it, is a vapor, brief, uncontrollable, and never guaranteed, regardless of status or anointing.
A man’s life, the preacher said, is measured not by its duration but by its donation, not how long it lasts, but how much good it leaves behind.
From there he offered four practical charges to everyone present: factor God into every decision, whether in business, family, government, or ministry; value humanity, since the quality of service given to others reveals what they’re truly worth to you; remember that your days here are numbered, however many they turn out to be, so that undone kindnesses and unspoken words don’t stay undone; and identify and pursue your specific assignment on earth rather than measuring yourself against anyone else’s.
He closed the message with a direct word to the family — Taiwo and the children — assuring them that they were not forsaken, that grief would come in waves and that was allowed, and that guilt over what might have been done differently had no place in their mourning.
He extended an altar call inviting anyone without a personal relationship with Christ to make that decision in that moment, before moving into an extended prayer over those who responded and, afterward, over the family directly for comfort, provision, protection from untimely affliction, and restored joy in their home.
The service closed with acknowledgments of other dignitaries and organisations present to honor Oladipo, including Lanre Arogundade, a Nigerian journalist, media advocate, and Director of the International Press Centre (IPC); representatives of media and public relations circles, including Earth Communication and Media Relations at Renaissance Africa Energy Limited; and Maureen Chigbo, a former president of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).
As the message and the tributes both returned to again and again, true life is measured not by its length but by its legacy.
Oladipo’s internment followed the service, bringing his funeral rites to a close.
