SPAGGYYY:
He is d mentor to those trekkers and cyclist in naija now

shachris02:
never heard of the phrase.

mollytinrox:
He died a pauper

madjune:


You must be a kid then. Perhap born late 90s or so.
If you read Macmillian txtbooks of the 80s in secondary skool, you shuld know him.

Or perhaps you no read at all?

shachris02:
never heard of the phrase.

SpruceDrinks:
Ajala travel all over the world , Ajala travel all over the world, Ajala travel, Ajala travel, Ajala travel all over the world

mollytinrox:
He died a pauper

madjune:


You must be a kid then. Perhap born late 90s or so.
If you read Macmillian txtbooks of the 80s in secondary skool, you shuld know him.

Or perhaps you no read at all?

shachris02:


must have been a yoruba folklore. He's not that much of a star in the east.

Flourish700:
Wow, this is very interesting

barcanista:
Wow...87 countries on bicycle?

Ajala was a Great Man

Xeedorf:
But on the February 2, 1999, the man fondly known as "Ajala travel"
> died. He died in penury. The world famous Ajala died unsung and
> unrecognised. His grave in central Lagos is no different from any other.
>
> For more than a year, Ajala suffered. He had a stroke which paralysed
> his left limb. But his army of children were not there to give him
> succour. He only had two of them around, Olaolu Ajala, a 20-year-old
> student of Baptist Academy, Lagos, and Bolanle Ajala, his 17-year-old
> daughter who had just finished her senior secondary education at the
> Baptist High School, Bariga, Lagos.
>
> With him also in his last hour was another teenager, 14-year-old Wale
> Anifowoshe. Wale was especially fond of him. He kept all Ajala's
> money, the little there was.
>
> Some of his children who could not be with him include Dante, Femi,
> Lisa and Sydney all of whom are based in Australia. They are the
> children of his Australian wife, Joan.
>
> Some of his other children are also spread around the globe. There are
> Taiwo and Kehinde in the United States as well as Bisola in England.
> But all were not around to bid their father a final goodbye except
> Olaolu and Bolanle.
>
> Indeed, it is a sad end for a man whose scooter is now a national
> monument. None of his numerous wives was around to bid him goodbye to
> the world beyond. His first wife, Alhaja Sade, could not find time
> during the year-long sickness of her husband until he finally died.
> She lives in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos. "We told her that he was sick
> and she told us she would come, but we never saw her," Olaolu said.
>
> He was not sure whether she is aware that her husband is dead. Joan,
> only got in touch with him through correspondence. There are also Mrs.
> Toyin Ajala in England and Mrs. Sherifat Ajala, mother of his lastK
> daughter, Bolanle.
>
> But they were not around to tend to the man when he was battling with
> his sickness.
>
> A neighbour in Bariga who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "He
> could have survived if he had had adequate care."
>
> Adequate care was indeed far from the late globe-trotter. In no other
> place was this manifested than his residence, a rented apartment in a
> two-storey building on Adenira Street, Bariga.
>
> Climbing two flights of stairs to the top floor, one is immediately
> confronted with the way life had treated Ajala. A passage leads into a
> 16-by-12 feet sitting room.
>
> The sitting room, devoid of carpet has a table with about five locally
> made iron chairs in a corner. This, the reporter gathered, serves as
> the dining table. An old black and white television set sits
> uncomfortably in all ill-constructed shelf. The cushion on the sofa
> hurts the buttock as it has become flat. The curtains on the windows
> of the two bedroom flats show signs of old age. It is indeed a story
> of penury.
>
> But his two children in Nigeria still hold fond memories of their
> father. They eagerly answered questions and consulted calendars to
> give precise dates which they had marked on the calendar. The mantle
> of responsibility falls on Olaolu who printed the poster that gave the
> details of his father's death.
>
> Narrating the last days of his father, Olaolu told {The Guardian On
> Saturday} that he had a stroke on June 18, last year. "On that day, I
> had gone to school. When I came back, he told me he fell down on the
> balcony. We went to call a doctor about three blocks away. It was the
> doctor who told us that he had a stroke."
>
> According to Olaolu, medications were prescribed. "We bought the drugs
> and we followed the doctor's instruction that we should allow him to
> rest."
>
> The doctor, who came from a private hospital further advised the
> children to get their father a physiotherapist. "We got one for him at
> the Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital and he was always coming home to give
> him therapy. And we noticed that he was getting better."
>
> But the picture changed after three months of home medication. "After
> three months, we realised that he had relapsed. He was able to walk if
> he held on to someone. But this suddenly stopped. He could no longer
> walk."
>
> That was when divine intervention came from a family friend, Morufu
> Ojikutu, who arrived from Germany. "He advised that we should take him
> to the hospital when he saw his condition. He also gave us money for
> his treatment," Olaolu said.
>
> The reporter gathered that what really stopped the ailing Ajala from
> going to the hospital was the lack of funds. Says Olaolu: "When he got
> sick, he did not have money but later my sisters and mum sent in some
> money for his treatment. And it is this that we spent to keep
> ourselves together."
>
> But Bolanle chipped in that at times, money sent to their father
> doesn't get to him. "Brother Femi (his second son) sent him £500 but
> he never received it and that was what he was harping on until he
> died", she said.
>
> In spite of the lack of funds, Olaolu believes that he died because he
> did not get quick medical attention. "When Mr. Ojikutu came, it was
> already too late. I think he also knew he was about to die and he did
> not want to die at home. That was why he insisted that he should be
> taken to the hospital."
>
> Ajala eventually ended up at the General Hospital, Ikeja. "He was
> there for 11 days. Prior to his death, his younger sister also
> deposited money with an aunt at the hospital to take care of him,"
> Olaolu said.
>
> It was gathered that before his death, Ajala had demanded that his
> relatives should bring a more comfortable chair, radio and orange
> juice. "But when the things were taken to him on February 2, he was
> already dead," Olaolu said.
>
> According to Wale, who was with him in the hospital, Ajala had been
> restless since the weekend before his eventual death. "When he first
> got to the hospital on January 25, he was always playing and joking
> with the people in the ward. But from Sunday, January 30, he could not
> breathe very well. He was always breathing through the mouth until he
> died on Tuesday, February 2," Olaolu said.`
>
> `Ajala explored the unexplored and charted the hitherto uncharted
> areas of the world. He wined and dined with heads of state and leaders
> including the late Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, first Republic Prime Minister
> of Nigeria; the late Paudit Nehru of India; the late Abdel Nasser of
> Egypt; the late Golda Meir of Israel; the late Marshall Ayub Khan of
> Pakistan; the late President Makarios of Greece; the late General
> Ignatuis Acheampong of Ghana and the late Odinga Oginga, one-time
> vice-president of Kenya. The list, indeed, is endless

Ahmeduana:

IS NOT ON BICYCLE, HE DID THE TRAVELING ON SCOOTER AND I LEARNT THAT THE SCOOTER IS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM.

browneyes7:
He is ma grandpa's brother (maternal side) he ddnt finish writn his book b4 he died

nerodenero:
To a say he travelled to 87 countries mostly on his bicycle is astonishing.I first heard about Ajala from Obey's song. The lyrics goes thus:
You have traveled allover the world
Ajala traveled allover the world
Ajala traveled, Ajala traveled
Ajala traveled allover the world

shadrach77:


Such an informative piece. I guess he squandered his money because he was a socialite. I remember Obey singing about "Alhaja Shade"

Xeedorf:
But on the February 2, 1999, the man fondly known as "Ajala travel"
> died. He died in penury. The world famous Ajala died unsung and
> unrecognised. His grave in central Lagos is no different from any other.
>
> For more than a year, Ajala suffered. He had a stroke which paralysed
> his left limb. But his army of children were not there to give him
> succour. He only had two of them around, Olaolu Ajala, a 20-year-old
> student of Baptist Academy, Lagos, and Bolanle Ajala, his 17-year-old
> daughter who had just finished her senior secondary education at the
> Baptist High School, Bariga, Lagos.
>
> With him also in his last hour was another teenager, 14-year-old Wale
> Anifowoshe. Wale was especially fond of him. He kept all Ajala's
> money, the little there was.
>
> Some of his children who could not be with him include Dante, Femi,
> Lisa and Sydney all of whom are based in Australia. They are the
> children of his Australian wife, Joan.
>
> Some of his other children are also spread around the globe. There are
> Taiwo and Kehinde in the United States as well as Bisola in England.
> But all were not around to bid their father a final goodbye except
> Olaolu and Bolanle.
>
> Indeed, it is a sad end for a man whose scooter is now a national
> monument. None of his numerous wives was around to bid him goodbye to
> the world beyond. His first wife, Alhaja Sade, could not find time
> during the year-long sickness of her husband until he finally died.
> She lives in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos. "We told her that he was sick
> and she told us she would come, but we never saw her," Olaolu said.
>
> He was not sure whether she is aware that her husband is dead. Joan,
> only got in touch with him through correspondence. There are also Mrs.
> Toyin Ajala in England and Mrs. Sherifat Ajala, mother of his last
> daughter, Bolanle.
>
> But they were not around to tend to the man when he was battling with
> his sickness.
>
> A neighbour in Bariga who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "He
> could have survived if he had had adequate care."
>
> Adequate care was indeed far from the late globe-trotter. In no other
> place was this manifested than his residence, a rented apartment in a
> two-storey building on Adenira Street, Bariga.
>
> Climbing two flights of stairs to the top floor, one is immediately
> confronted with the way life had treated Ajala. A passage leads into a
> 16-by-12 feet sitting room.
>
> The sitting room, devoid of carpet has a table with about five locally
> made iron chairs in a corner. This, the reporter gathered, serves as
> the dining table. An old black and white television set sits
> uncomfortably in all ill-constructed shelf. The cushion on the sofa
> hurts the buttock as it has become flat. The curtains on the windows
> of the two bedroom flats show signs of old age. It is indeed a story
> of penury.
>
> But his two children in Nigeria still hold fond memories of their
> father. They eagerly answered questions and consulted calendars to
> give precise dates which they had marked on the calendar. The mantle
> of responsibility falls on Olaolu who printed the poster that gave the
> details of his father's death.
>
> Narrating the last days of his father, Olaolu told {The Guardian On
> Saturday} that he had a stroke on June 18, last year. "On that day, I
> had gone to school. When I came back, he told me he fell down on the
> balcony. We went to call a doctor about three blocks away. It was the
> doctor who told us that he had a stroke."
>
> According to Olaolu, medications were prescribed. "We bought the drugs
> and we followed the doctor's instruction that we should allow him to
> rest."
>
> The doctor, who came from a private hospital further advised the
> children to get their father a physiotherapist. "We got one for him at
> the Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital and he was always coming home to give
> him therapy. And we noticed that he was getting better."
>
> But the picture changed after three months of home medication. "After
> three months, we realised that he had relapsed. He was able to walk if
> he held on to someone. But this suddenly stopped. He could no longer
> walk."
>
> That was when divine intervention came from a family friend, Morufu
> Ojikutu, who arrived from Germany. "He advised that we should take him
> to the hospital when he saw his condition. He also gave us money for
> his treatment," Olaolu said.
>
> The reporter gathered that what really stopped the ailing Ajala from
> going to the hospital was the lack of funds. Says Olaolu: "When he got
> sick, he did not have money but later my sisters and mum sent in some
> money for his treatment. And it is this that we spent to keep
> ourselves together."
>
> But Bolanle chipped in that at times, money sent to their father
> doesn't get to him. "Brother Femi (his second son) sent him £500 but
> he never received it and that was what he was harping on until he
> died", she said.
>
> In spite of the lack of funds, Olaolu believes that he died because he
> did not get quick medical attention. "When Mr. Ojikutu came, it was
> already too late. I think he also knew he was about to die and he did
> not want to die at home. That was why he insisted that he should be
> taken to the hospital."
>
> Ajala eventually ended up at the General Hospital, Ikeja. "He was
> there for 11 days. Prior to his death, his younger sister also
> deposited money with an aunt at the hospital to take care of him,"
> Olaolu said.
>
> It was gathered that before his death, Ajala had demanded that his
> relatives should bring a more comfortable chair, radio and orange
> juice. "But when the things were taken to him on February 2, he was
> already dead," Olaolu said.
>
> According to Wale, who was with him in the hospital, Ajala had been
> restless since the weekend before his eventual death. "When he first
> got to the hospital on January 25, he was always playing and joking
> with the people in the ward. But from Sunday, January 30, he could not
> breathe very well. He was always breathing through the mouth until he
> died on Tuesday, February 2," Olaolu said.`
>
> `Ajala explored the unexplored and charted the hitherto uncharted
> areas of the world. He wined and dined with heads of state and leaders
> including the late Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, first Republic Prime Minister
> of Nigeria; the late Paudit Nehru of India; the late Abdel Nasser of
> Egypt; the late Golda Meir of Israel; the late Marshall Ayub Khan of
> Pakistan; the late President Makarios of Greece; the late General
> Ignatuis Acheampong of Ghana and the late Odinga Oginga, one-time
> vice-president of Kenya. The list, indeed, is endless

barcanista:
Are you serious?

browneyes7:
He is ma grandpa's brother (maternal side) he ddnt finish writn his book b4 he died

Ahmeduana:

YES, I ONCE RED IN A NEWSPAPER (vanguard newspaper) WHERE HE WAS INTERVIEWED, AND IS HIM, HIMSELF THAT REVEAL THAT THE SCOOTER IS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM, AND AS AT THEN HE STAYED IN BARIGA PART OF LAGOS