Professor (Dr.) Olanrewaju Smith

On l'appelait Ola

Pendant 08 ans (1989-1997), il a travaillé à titre de Spécialiste de Programme Principale dans la Division Environnement et Ressources Naturelles du Bureau régional du CRDI à Dakar au Sénégal.
Nous gardons un excellent souvenir du Gentleman digne fils du Nigéria. Humble, serein et respectueux il "marchait presque sur l'eau" . Repose en paix Ola à côté de ton épouse que nous appelions affectueusement Francka. Nous ne vous oublierons jamais.
Que la Miséricorde du Seigneur se répande sur vous. Amen

Moussa Dramé
ancien Gestionnaire de l'information du BRACO (1984.2012)

Dear Ola, may you rest well now that you have left us too early. I look back with pleasure to the times that you were leading GFAR and I had the pleasure to benefit from your good moods, optimism and friendship. All the best...

Lanre Smith as he was known in my family was a good friend of my late husband and members of his family were very close to us. We lived close to each other when we were in Senegal. Our children interacted well with each other. Many years later, we regained contact when my late husband passed on last year and he played a major role at the Zoom Service in July 2020. Little did I know that he will go so soon. He was so nice that since the departure of my friend, he would call to ask how I was doing. In fact, I still called him when he was in the hospital. I am believing God that the good children God gave him will live to continue to go the way their father has shown them. I am writing this little note on behalf of my family who are also grieving the loss of our good friend and uncle.

My father, Olanrewaju Smith, had many feathers in his cap, though he was too humble to say so. It was a saying I always assumed was used in relation to obtaining a professional distinction or achievement. The many lovely tributes that have been sent in from his colleagues speak to the full plume in his metaphorical cap. My time reading the tributes and reflecting on my father’s life has shown me that my understanding of the idiom was too narrow and he had feathers from every aspect of his life; as a scientist, an international development professional, a friend, a family relative, a husband and specific to me - a father.

My Father: The Teacher, Mentor & Life Coach
My father provided me an incredible childhood growing up. Both him and Mom made every effort to take my sister and I on family trips to “open our eyes” and “see the world”. Dad took particular joy in pointing out interesting facts about the locations we visited, often throwing in a joke much to the pleasure of my mother. He would comment on who funded the road we were driving on between Niamey and Ouaga, tell me about birds in Australia that dive down and peck the heads of unsuspecting tourists, or point out that the rhinoceros we were watching from a distance could easily tip over our vehicle and followed it up with a hearty laugh. Other times he would simply say phrases as we walked or drove by a location that I thought were unnecessarily obvious at the time. In hindsight his live commentary served to engrain those wonderful memories in my consciousness forever. “Rome by night!” “Mercato Africano” “Lagos traffic!”

With all his international responsibilities and globetrotting he always had time to help me with my work. I still vividly remember doing one of my first reading assignments and coming across the word “OK”. I didn’t know what it meant so I went to Dad’s room to ask. In the usual manner of helping me come to the conclusion myself he covered the letter K with his finger and said “What is this letter” and then repeated the question covering the letter “O”. No further words were required from Dad as I grinned to myself and returned to my room. This continued all the way into high school (secondary school) with both Mom and Dad being the reviewers of nearly all the work I produced. Communication Seyi, communication! The words still sound in my head today whenever I’m writing a piece, presenting a topic, or simply talking among friends. Years of having two parents, with their PhDs, and especially my father drill me on the importance of explaining myself, defending my positions, and respecting the scientific method still ring true.

On top of a healthy skepticism and appreciation of analysis, my father shared with us all his love for music. Our piano lessons may have ended in adolescence but his music lessons still continued until the end. “Can you hear the melody and counter-melody?” “Do you hear the bass line? “Which instrument is playing now?” Classical, Jazz, Pop, West-African music... whatever it was you could guarantee he would be playing music at some point during the day, everyday. Sundays and during the Christmas season there would be very few minutes in the house without music playing. I may have grumbled about Dad overplaying Handel’s Messiah or his loud singing at the time; but I now remember fondly the Christmas song/hymn evenings we would attend as a family in the early years and Handel’s Messiah is now a staple in my own house during the Christmas holiday.

My Father: The Steadfast Supporter
My Father travelled very frequently for work. Every year, and multiple times a year he was away at a conference or workshop. When I was younger he would always bring back gifts for all of us from his travels and this continued well into adulthood for my sister and me. One year on a trip back from Nairobi he brought back some black Out of Africa tea. Everyone in the family absolutely loved this tea! I loved it so much that I would pack 30 or so tea bags into my suitcase whenever I would visit my parents. Being the loving father he was, he managed to always pick up more and more of the tea on subsequent visits to Kenya to the point it might as well have been a tea exporting outfit exclusively for the Smith family.

He was dependable and supportive to all members of the family regardless of the inconvenience it may have placed him in. This included taking up room in his suitcase to bring everyone’s favourite tea back home, or standing for hours filming my athletic events on hot days, or standing next to an outdoor skating rink on a cold day while I learnt how to skate, or taking me outside to teach me how to control a soccer ball on a weekday evening. Everyone in the family knew if something was important to us, Dad would be present and supportive.

My Father: The Yardstick
“Be your own yardstick!” This is a phrase my mother repeated when she felt my sister or I were being negatively influenced by others. While the core message of the statement still rings true for negative influences, I’ve found that referring to Olanrewaju Smith while still being your own yardstick is a nice modification. Dad had a strong moral compass and was clear with what he believed was right versus wrong. His relationships with his friends, relatives and family were strong. Many of the messages the family has received recount trips abroad with Lanre or invitations they received to be hosted in Lanre’s home. His involvement in the community was admirable given all his other commitments. He chaired the music committee of his church in Ottawa as well as volunteered as an usher. He lived a good, well balanced life - worthy of being someone’s yardstick.

During the early 1990s my parents wanted to build a home for the family in the Smith ancestral home of Abeokuta in Nigeria. During a visit to Abeokuta our whole family was inspecting the construction site and Dad threw a tissue into the half built foundation of what would have been our future home. He said “let’s see who remembers this tissue when we come back” Like many things my father did and said, it was seared into my memory; and much to the anger of my sister, I would bring this anecdote up every year to test who in the family remembered the forgotten tissue. As I aged I stopped trying to catch the family in their forgetfulness and to appreciate reminiscing the moment - quintessential Lanre Smith. Similarly, I encourage all who knew Olanrewaju Smith, via words or action to remember him in their own way. Our family will remember the teacher, the steadfast supporter and our yardstick.

It is with great sadness that I learnt of the sudden passing of Prof. O. B. Smith. I met Prof. Smith just once and that unexpected meeting was a home run that left unforgettable memories with me to this day. It was on a quiet Saturday morning in 1993 at the ILCA headquarters in Addis Ababa ( now ILRI), Ethiopia. His former student, great friend and mentee, Yemi Akinbamijo, then a graduate student at Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands brought Prof. Smith in the good company of Dr. Kwesi Atta- Krah to my tukur residence in ILCA. As a new post-doctoral fellow from the University of Ibadan, I was so delighted to meet Prof. Smith as Yemi sang his praises to me for a long time. Prof. Smith was very calm, listened mostly throughout the hour long conversations and upon their time to leave, offered me an advise, which was "do the best you can while you are here". That was the last time I saw him. With a thankful heart, I have carried his wise counsel with me throughout my academic sojourn. The International Agricultural development community to which space Prof. Smith contributed so much will miss him a greatly. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.

We just learned with great sadness the passing of dear Lanre. He and Francisca and indeed the whole family were wonderful friends in Dakar. They will be missed and will remain in our thoughts. Sending our love Thetis Tsitidou, Dale Ethan and Erin Huntington

Nki and Seyi, I am sadned to learn the passing of your father. He was my mentor and a great freind. I was very fortunate to have known both your parents. I will greatly miss him. May he rest in peace!

It's been a while that I contacted Dr. Ola Smith. I sent him an email and it was unusual I did not get a response. I just assumed he doesn't get on his email due to age and would catch sometime. Nothing came and I searched on the internet today 29-Jul-2022, only to discover he transitioned to glory on 8 April 2021. May his gentle soul rest in peace.
Daddy Ola was a kind, gentle, loving , soft spoken gentleman. Always smiling and an epitome of humility. Thank you for being a good Father, Brother and Friend. May your soul rest in peace. Nki and Seyi, you are in our thoughts and prayers. May the Holy Spirit comfort and help you.
Surely the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
(Seyi, please contact me if you read this message dayo_fagbenro@hotmail.com)

If I would need to talk about Professor Ola Smith...my right ups would end up becoming a thesis ....

Unfortunately I got to know about his demise on the 17th ,of October, 2022, because I have lost being in contact with him for a long time.. I last saw him when he finally relocated from Dakar,Senegal to Ottawa in Canada , a loving father who had to resign from his position as IDRC regional head in order to allow him monitor his children who had be in school then.. As an International Agricultural expert in Global Agricultural development, I have a good working relationship with him, a love gentleman who loves to serve God at the international baptist church of Dakar in Senegal then.. My Joy today is that he has left a good legacy behind ...
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace...adieu Mon Frere.... Bonnuit