By AKINPELU DADA

If tributes are a fair reflection of how deceased persons lived and a barometer of how their afterlife will be, then Chief John Olulope Ajayi is surely resting in the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tributes have continued to pour in since his passage into eternity on December 10, 2025, and not a single negative thing has been said or written about the Asiwaju of Ijan-Ekiti, not because we don’t speak ill of the dead, but because the founder and CEO of Marketing Edge was a good man who impacted many individuals, groups and corporate organisations positively.

Watching the Night of Tributes organised in his honour on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, and listening to friends and colleagues pouring encomiums on him and recounting how he influenced them made me teary once again. Indeed, Chief John Ajayi was a great man. This much was echoed by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta, Most Rev. Dr. Peter Olukayode Odetoyinbo, at the Requiem Mass for the deceased at the Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Arepo, Ogun State, on Monday, January 12, 2026.

The turnout of priests, lay faithful, friends and colleagues at the Mass was not surprising. Chief Ajayi was a pillar of the church albeit a quiet and unassuming one. He was a willing instrument for the propagation of the faith and he deployed resources at his disposal in the service of God and humanity. Little wonder that the church showed uncommon respect to him even in death by taking the unprecedented step of cancelling the Christmas carol and Festival of Nine Lessons due to his and another parishioner’s untimely demise.

I am not in a position to fully capture Ajayi’s contributions to the Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Arepo, as I only joined the parish in 2021; what I am certain about is that the Parish Priest, Very Rev. Fr. Michael Ogbitebu, has lost a dependable ally. Chief Ajayi was a rallying point anytime the church had a project to do. He would organise meetings and follow up with parishioners individually to galvanise them to execute the project.

Oga John was a great inspiration to me in selfless service to God and humanity. When I moved to Ogun State in 2021 to be closer to my place of work and discovered the CCTA and adopted it as my family’s parish, Chief Ajayi drew me out of my shell. “Mr. Dada, you can’t be only a Sunday Sunday Catholic; you need to be fully involved in the activities of the church; you’re an asset to the church and a lamp that cannot be hidden under a bushel.” So began my small-scale involvement.

That pep talk became a motivation for me to the extent that I became the Secretary of the Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CAMPAN), Abeokuta Diocese chapter, while Oga John served as the President from 2022 till he answered the final call. Just like in every other thing he was involved in, Chief Ajayi brought dynamism, organisation and commitment to the activities of CAMPAN. He never shied away from putting his personal and corporate resources at the disposal of the association. I recall his large heart when the association was still struggling to get a foothold in the diocese unlike in some other dioceses in the country, Ajayi and the Director of Social Communications for the diocese, Rev. Fr. Gregory Fadele, took it upon themselves to revive the sleeping giant.

Fr. Fadele made countless trips to Arepo from his Abeokuta base with a mandate from the bishop to get CAMPAN functioning along at full throttle by making Arepo the secretariat of the association because it has the largest concentration of journalists anywhere in the country through the Journalists’ Estate established by the Lagos Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, while Ajayi personally reached out to media professionals to join. At each meeting, he would generously provide snacks and drinks in abundance for all members and their families waiting to go back home at the end of the Sunday Mass!
His efforts led to CAMPAN and the Directorate of Social Communications of the diocese hosting the grand finale of the World Communications Day on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Adatan, Abeokuta. Ajayi used his extensive connection in the media and corporate Nigeria to bring together who is who in the media and communication industry to discuss the theme: ‘Listening with the ear of the heart.’

By the following year, the initial enthusiasm shown by members had waned a bit, but Asiwaju took it upon himself to ensure that the dream did not die. He committed time and resources to organise the World Communications Day symposium in 2023 and the event was equally well attended and became a reference point for other chapters of the association. The 2024 and 2025 editions equally bore testimony to his exemplary leadership. Alas, the 2026 edition of the programme will miss the drive and astuteness of John Olulope Ajayi! It is left for other members not to let this dream die.

I am a living testimony to the goodness, large heartedness, simplicity and humility of Chief John Olulope Ajayi. Our paths crossed almost two decades ago and the relationship blossomed to the extent that I became a junior brother to him. I first got to know him through his writing on advertising and marketing in the ThisDay Newspaper and fate would later bring us together as I began cutting my own teeth in journalism. When he took the courageous step to leave paid employment and established Marketing Edge, he saw a vision that not many at that time shared. The success he made of it and the platinum standard Marketing Edge Awards bear testimony to his vision and passion.

At the community level, Ajayi brought innovation and vigour to the leadership of the Journalists’ Estate Residents Association (JERDA). He and other notable media executives were able to attract unprecedented development to Arepo and environs from successive administrations in Ogun State to the extent that the once swampy area has become one of the fastest growing and choice real estate zones in Nigeria. Ajayi constantly initiated stories in the media to draw attention to the many infrastructural challenges in Arepo. He did this without ever seeking to take the glory!

When he turned 60 on June 12, 2023, family, friends, associates, clients and well wishers gathered to celebrate a man who demonstrated courage and determination to succeed in life. From a very humble beginning, the life of Ajayi is that of a benevolent God saying amen to the yearnings and aspirations of a determined and focussed man who put humanity at the centre of his life.

Recounting his very humble beginning, he once narrated to me how it was just by stroke of luck that he got educated. He was meant to till the ground like his father and ancestors, but the young John refused to accept this ‘fate’ and took his destiny firmly in his hands even though he did not how things would work out. Fortune favours the brave – the rest is history!

As the remains of Asiwaju John Olulope Ajayi are interred on Friday, I cannot forget his generosity, his impact on my past, present and future; his willingness to render assistance without counting the cost and his service to God and humanity. He knew and fully supported my plans and made his house and office available to my family. On November 2, 2025, we spoke about his health challenges and he assured me that he was recovering well and had decided to take a two-month vacation from work, a decision I commended. Little did I know that life was ebbing out of my leader, brother and benefactor!

I can only pray to God to forgive John Olulope Ajayi’s sins and grant his soul eternal repose. May the Father of Perpetual Light be with the wife, the children, family members, all at Marketing Edge, fellow parishioners, the Ijan-Ekiti community, friends and associates, and give them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

Saints of God, come to John Olulope Ajayi’s aid! Hasten to meet him, angels of the Lord!
Receive his soul and present him to God the Most High.
May Christ, who called him, take him to himself; and may angels lead him to the bosom of Abraham.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

– Akinpelu Dada, a journalist and communications professional wrote via [email protected]