If someone had told me I would be writing a tribute today, I would have laughed it off. At least not now, not today. Maybe in three decades from now when age had taken its time and life had given its warnings. Just not like this and not this soon.
Dr. Doyin Okupe was many things to many people; a politician, a strategist, a leader, a father figure and a boss turned friend. To me, he was all of these and more.
When we first started working together, trust was not immediate. He was cautious, observing me with the sharpness of a man who had spent decades in the corridors of power. I’ve always told people that I am not someone you meet randomly on the street. You meet me by introduction. Over time, that introduction turned into trust. He took me in, mentored me, corrected me and ultimately, he adopted me, not just as a mentee, but as a daughter.
Those endless late-night meetings at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m. It was always him, myself, and a few key others. I was the silent witness to history being made. He protected me when others sought to push me aside. that I didn’t belong in certain rooms, that I had no place in certain meetings. He shut it down every time and insisted, “It’s her job to be here. Let her stay.”
I thought I knew how power worked, how decisions were made at the highest level before I met him, but working with Dr. Doyin Okupe made me realize I was a rookie in the game. A child in the presence of giants. National politics? I knew nothing.
It was Dr. Okupe who taught me the real game, one that is brutal, unpredictable and unforgiving. He was not just a participant in politics; he was a master of it. Every step, every strategy, every move, he played the game at a level few could comprehend.
Dr. Doyin Okupe was one of the sharpest mind I have ever met. His political knowledge was unmatched. He had traveled far and wide, to Washington, D.C. and many other places to study politics firsthand. He understood the game. If you wrote a speech for him, he would take your draft, edit it with his own hand, line by line, until they became his own. In most cases, he wouldn’t even use them. He would stand before cameras, before the nation and speak from his heart, flawlessly.
The kind of brilliance he possessed cannot be taught in schools because it’s not book knowledge. It was experience. It was mastery. It was political genius. His mind was a vault of political wisdom.
Let it be known that;
When the Obidient Movement began, people screamed, “No structure! No foundation!”
Dr. Adedoyin Okupe was the structure.
Peter Obi may run for president tomorrow and in the future, but the foundation of his movement, the very structure he stands on, was built on the groundwork of Dr. Okupe.
He laid the stones and took the bullets. He was the strategist, the architect of a dream that outgrew him and history must never forget that.
People say politics is a game but for Dr. Okupe, it was war and he played it like a General. He knew which critics to respond to and which ones to ignore. He was never afraid of a fight, but he never fought foolishly. He was pragmatic, Resilient and Unshaken.
I saw him at his highest and at his lowest. When he left the Obedient movement, I saw a great man break down, not because he had done anything wrong, but because politics happened to him, within the very body he was trying to protect. He did not deserve what he went through. His only crime was trusting too much, loving too deeply and serving too faithfully.
In those moments, I asked myself, Iluoghene, this could be you one day. What will you learn from this? Well, I learned everything there’s to learn.
I had called him after the elections telling him of my intentions to write a book titled…
“How to Run and Win a Presidential Election in Nigeria.”
I said, “Sir, this book will be a bestseller, but I need your authorization to include certain information.” He laughed and said, “Pricious, (his own way of calling me Precious) “You will write it. But not now. The time will come.”
I don’t know if that time is now. I don’t know if I am ready. What I do know is that the world deserves to know the role he played in shaping Nigeria’s political landscape.
If you knew Dr. Okupe, you would know that he was a devout Christian. He loved the church, he loved Christ, and he could not fathom how I, a young woman under his wing, could be anything but a Christian. The day he discovered I wasn’t, he made it his mission to bring me into the “Jesus fold.”
We agreed on every front except on religious beliefs. I politely stood my ground.
He would shake his head and say, “Pricious, accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.” I would smile and look away.
One day, during the campaign, we had a closed door meeting with some well known G.O’s. Just the men of God, him and me. When the meeting ended, he said, “Aha, she doesn’t believe in Jesus. Pray for her.”
Before I could protest, hands were already stretched towards me in unison. A prayer session had begun, and I was the unwilling subject. They prayed, declared and decreed.
Ah! I stood there, letting the moment pass, knowing that Dr. Okupe actually meant well.
Last year, we had lunch in Abuja. Myself, Dr. Okupe, his wife and some team members. We laughed, joked, gossiped (because yes, great men gossip too). As always, we talked about politics, life and my publications which is yet to be. It was a beautiful afternoon in a cozy restaurant at Asokoro. For a moment, everything felt right in the world.
Then, of course, he turned to the table and announced, “Do you know Pricious is not a Christian?”
I rolled my eyes with a smile. “Ah! Sir, not today.”
Still, he would not let it go. “Pricious, doesn’t believe in God.”
I laughed. “Ah! Sir, I believe in God o. Just not in Jesus.”
The entire table turned to me like I had just committed a national offense. “Why?” they all asked in disbelief. Once again, I became the subject of debate.
I laughed it off, because how could I not? This was a man who cared. A father figure, in every way but blood.
I was supposed to have a one on one meeting with him three weeks ago but he never called. It was unlike him. So, I reached out to his P.A. “Try again,” he said. I did. No response. Told his PA but there was silence.
Two weeks later, I got the call about his demise.
If I had known that our lunch that day would be the last time I would see him face to face, I would have held onto every conversation longer and asked him a thousand more questions.
His last gift to me was a major recommendation, one that unlocked doors even some governors struggle to open. Over the phone he siad, “Kabiyesi, whatever you want to do with her, take my word for it, She can be trusted and she’s very reliable. However, you must also understand she’s stubborn and have a mind of her own.”
Kabiyesi was like… “I can see that already.” That was it!
That was Dr. Doyin Okupe.
A man who used his influence to lift others.
A man who never let those he believed in walk alone.
Dr. Okupe was not just a political figure. He was a force, a fighter, a man who disciplined with one hand and corrected with the other.
His loss is a personal one for me, I do not just mourn a mentor, but a father figure, a man who shaped my understanding of politics and power. Nigeria may never fully grasp what it has lost.
Nigeria may move on and see him differently. Some may rewrite his story even but those of us who knew him, who worked with him, who sat with him in the trenches of power, we know the weight of his presence. We will carry his legacy forward.
Rest well, sir. You gave us alot. You gave me even more and I will never forget.
Yours faithfully,
Fmr. Confidential Secretary, Obi-Datti Campaign Organization,
ILUO-OGHENE P. AMUKPO ESQ.
