On a wet Friday morning, one that was going to be memorable for years to come. I could hear the frantic voice of my father on the phone as he tries to calm down a very irate and embattled underwriter involved in a feud with an insurance broker.

The plea and consolation ended with my father conceding to an idea that would change the history of the Insurance brokerage business in Nigeria. The issue was that this was not the first time, but one of the many occasions that brokers and underwriters disagreed and it has become the norm in the industry.

I remember my late dad, Prince Dr. Patricks Adefila Aladegbaiye, popularly known as Prince, Dr. P.A Aladegbaiye, the novel prince that abjured his royal oaths in Akure, Ondo State for the common life in Ibadan. A Nobel Kingsman, who never absconds in the face of injustice to his fellows, a pure liberal, in his word and action, he lived the African dream to the fullest weight.

At an early age, it was worrisome to see a well-established man pleading on the phone with another man, I didn’t like it or it didn’t seem right. It didn’t really spark any idea or deep consent in my mind but as I grew older, I had begun to realise that we all get categorised in our circle as either a trouble maker or a peacemaker.

The many conflicts in business, associations, and religious circles have drawn me to the very acts that were at the core of my father’s existence, finding solutions to ways in which people can co-existence in peace for the greater cause of humanity.  I too like him, have become very involved in humanitarian work, spending several hours daily on the improvement of the lives of fellow humans.

Thinking through the years and experience, I realised that all the actions I witnessed were the seeds that have grown in my heart and the very foundation of what I found acceptable and unacceptable in society today. This is why, our words are not as important as our actions, as words are momentarily but actions are a lifetime reflection for future representations.

So, it is important that we take the necessary time to access our actions than words, by doing so, we consider our influence on future generations and representation in the future.

In remembrance of the contributions of Dr. PA Aladegbaiye, the infamous Femi Johnson, Alhaji LOB Etti, and many more to Nigeria’s brokerage industry.

Late Dr Prince Adefila Aladegbaiye Patricks. Omo Edundun, Alade Igba, Omo Owa, Omo Ekun. Heir to the Alade throne of Akure. Custodian of the Africanist movement in Nigeria. Orator for the Ajakale people of Ondo. The pioneer of the now Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and Longest-serving President of Rotary Club Ibadan.

Dr PA Aladegbaiye was one of the pioneering members of the pre-eminent Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) western area chapter, Ibadan that created unique relations ideas that have been converted to the now brokers evening in Lagos. Acquisition of asset to building the broker’s landmark centre in Ibadan that was abolished, a centre that was envisaged to be the hub for developing young and upcoming professionals in the industry.

He, like many of the members that have faded from the history of the council they pioneered in the late ’90s, is part of the history of the council that needs to be written. Their relentless efforts and ideas to finding an amicable way to establish relationships with underwriters in the insurance industry should never be forgotten.

The unwritten rebellion, the infighting that led to the advancement and appreciation of the brokers in West Africa, from an undermined sales boy to professionals, and the sabotage that was bent on re-writing some of the histories.