By Toyin Falola

dele jegede

Son of colors,

Keeper of lines that speak,

You became an artist:

not just to paint

But to question

to laugh

to remember

and to awaken.

The pen sketched before the brush

Stories that cut into the conscience of our nation.

With cartoons honed by a keen intellect

You skewered leaders and corruption,

hypocrisy and power.

Where silence became the weapon of others

You crafted satire into a sword of light.

Student of memory,

Historian with vision,

You traversed the museums of Africa

gathering bits and pieces of our stories,

pulling voices from under a layer of dust,

turning hopes

into visualizations

that colonialism had once tried to forget.

Today,

I stand before a painting.

Not just any painting,

but a gift.

A gift that is not boxed

or weighed by gold.

But a gift wrought from creativity,

friendship,

and that sacred trust between artist and historian.

You gave me one of your creations

And in that moment, colors spoke to me.

The painting became dialogue,

brushstrokes turned into sentences,

images into memory.

What historian does not dream

of wrapping memory in vibrant colors?

What writer does not pause

when sentences take on new life in the paintings?

You gave me more than a painting.

You gave me a tool for meditation,

a partner for reflection,

a quiet teacher hanging on my wall

that speaks every day.

Each time I look at it,

I discover new meanings.

Each time I see it,

Another story is revealed.

The painting will never be static.

It takes me on a journey

through time

as our work as historians often does.

Staring at your painting,

I now see how our professions meet:

you with brushes,

me with words;

you with canvas,

me with pages.

You and I,

story seekers,

preservers of memory.

Your gift has taught me

that friendship is also a gift.

Sketches become lines,

slowly filling a page.

Patience adds the shades.

Time colors our laughs

and deep respect shines through.

So, my friend,

I thank you for this.

Thank you for more than just a painting.

Thank you for the love behind it.

Thank you for the kindness that created it.

Thank you for the thought that put mind into matter.

Thank you for this token of your friendship.

May your brushes continue to paint masterpieces.

May your eyes stay keen and bright.

May your art keep turning walls into history

and moments into memories.

And when they speak of dele jegede tomorrow

They will say not only does his artwork adorns homes

Or that his cartoons defined an era

or that he was Africa’s great art historian,

But they will also say

He was a friend

who gave extraordinary gifts

bountiful with beauty,

knowledge, and love.

With appreciation,

admiration, and the fondest of friendships,

For dele jegede,

The artist who painted history

and the friend who made art

a blessing to unwrap.