In the quiet shadows of old age, Dr Fajobi carries a pain that time has refused to heal. The last time he lived with his family was in 1983. What started as a story of love and genuine sacrifice became a painful story of betrayal.
The septuagenarian who also claims to be the first Nigerian to study Motor Industry Economics, first met his wife, Shade, in 1964. Then, he was her teacher at a modern school. In a video posted by Afrisaga City, Baba as he is fondly called, described her as very brilliant and from a poor home in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria.
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Captivated by her intelligence, he married her in 1968. In 1969, he left for the United Kingdom, and in 1970, he arranged for her to join him, determined to build a better life together. Their first child whom they had before getting married was left with her mother in Kano before Shade joined him abroad.
From that moment, he poured everything into his family and especially into his wife’s future. He sponsored her education relentlessly. She started with O’Levels in the UK and later earned a BSc (Hons) Second Class Upper Division in Management Sciences. Then she returned to Nigeria for NYSC.
Baba’s love extended to his children too.
Concerned about maternal mortality, because he had friends who lost their wives to childbirth in Nigeria, he ensured Shade was in the UK for her two other deliveries.
However, Baba’s greatest investment came in September 1982. While they were in Nigeria, he decided to fully sponsor her PhD in the UK, paying a staggering £11,000 every year for three years. “My life investment is in the woman,” he said with deep emotion in his cracking voice.
Fajobi then took his first son to the UK in July 1983 then took a seven-week assignment at Keele University. He was always striving to give his family stability. Then came the unimaginable.
One ordinary day in, Shade suddenly accused Baba of sexually abusing their 14-year-old daughter. Surprised and heartbroken, he vehemently denied the allegation. But the accusation did not stop there. In August 1983, she filed a court case against him in the UK, charging him with child abuse and wife abuse.
That year became the last he lived with his family. The pain of separation was profound.
Baba asked for separation, not divorce, still hoping perhaps for reconciliation. The daughter at the center of the allegation tragically passed away in 2001.
In 2012, after nearly 30 years, Shade visited Nigeria. It would be the last time he saw her. The years have taken a toll and has left Baba to reflect alone on a life of sacrifice that ended in isolation.
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