By Anjorin Fehintola Stella

We often measure leadership by the institutions people build or the positions they occupy. Yet, during his visit to the Dele Momodu Leadership Centre, Professor Abiodun Adeniyi repeatedly returned to something less visible but perhaps more enduring; the responsibility of documenting one’s life and thoughts. He spoke as someone who understands, at a personal level, what is lost when experience is left unrecorded. His emphasis on documentation was not stylistic advice for writers. It was an argument about memory itself, about how societies retain or lose the wisdom of the people who pass through them.

Ideas disappear when they are undocumented because memory, at the collective level, is fragile and selective. A society does not remember everything that happens within it, it remembers what is written down, repeated, taught, or institutionalised. An undocumented thought, however brilliant, dies with the person who held it, or worse, drifts into vague anecdote, stripped of its original precision. This is why oral cultures, for all their richness, often struggle to transmit complex ideas across generations with fidelity. Professor Adeniyi’s point, then, was not simply about personal record-keeping. History remembers people largely through what they leave behind, not through what they intended to leave behind. Intention without artefact disappears.

When he spoke about travelling, it would be easy to reduce his words to a fondness for movement or exposure. But the deeper claim runs further than that. Travel disrupts familiarity. It exposes individuals to different ways of living, thinking, governing and imagining society. Professor Adeniyi suggested that travelling remains one of the simplest yet most profound forms of education because it broadens not only knowledge but perspective. A person confined to one environment mistakes the local for the universal. Movement across geographies forces a confrontation with alternative logics, alternative arrangements of power, family, and meaning, and that confrontation is often where genuine learning begins.

Perhaps the strongest advice he gave concerned the pursuit of a doctorate. When Aare Dele Momodu spoke of his desire to pursue a PhD, Professor Adeniyi’s response challenged a growing culture in which academic qualifications are sometimes pursued as symbols of prestige rather than vehicles of inquiry. A PhD earned for the title that follows a name produces a credential without a contribution. A PhD earned out of genuine curiosity produces new knowledge and, more importantly, sustains the kind of intellectual restlessness that defines a thinking life. Professor Adeniyi’s counsel was that one should choose a field that strikes them professionally and personally, something that connects to lived purpose rather than social signalling, because the value of advanced study lies in the questions it forces a person to keep asking long after the degree is conferred.

Professor Abiodun did not reserve his counsel for matters of scholarship alone. Turning to the younger staff in the room, Professor Adeniyi offered something closer to reassurance than instruction, that everything they are currently going through, the uncertainty, the striving, the sense of being far from where they hope to be, is a phase both he and Aare Dele Momodu have lived through themselves. It was a reminder that ambition rarely moves on a straight or visible timeline. The goals and dreams that feel distant now are not denied, only delayed, and what stands between the present moment and their fulfilment is simply time and dedication, applied without pause.

Underneath all these threads, travel, documentation, the meaning of scholarship, was a single, unifying idea about legacy. Legacy isn’t what people say about you. It’s what remains after you leave. This distinction matters because praise is temporary and circumstantial, shaped by mood, politics, and memory’s natural decay. What remains, however, is structural. It is the book on a shelf, the institution still running, the idea still being taught.

This is where the conversation returned, inevitably, to the Centre itself. The library. The scholars’ rooms. The conversations. The institution. Professor Adeniyi appeared genuinely moved by what he encountered, not by the scale of the buildings, but by what the buildings were designed to hold. Perhaps that is why Professor Adeniyi appeared genuinely moved by the Centre. It was never merely about architecture. It was about permanence. Buildings become legacy only when they preserve ideas.

Every visit leaves footprints. Some are physical. Others are intellectual. Professor Abiodun Adeniyi’s visit left the latter.

The Lagos State Government has appealed for calm following persistent rainfall and flash floods across many parts of the State over the past two weeks, announcing the immediate dredging of 28 additional primary drainage channels to improve flood control.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu approved the emergency dredging intervention as part of efforts to strengthen the state’s drainage network.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the recent downpours are an extreme weather event that produced an unusually large volume of rainfall within a short period, overwhelming drainage systems in some locations and causing temporary flooding in parts of Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikeja, Gbagada, Mushin, Mafoloku and other communities.

According to him, the situation was not peculiar to Lagos; several African countries and parts of North America also experienced heavy rainfall and flooding during the same period.

Wahab, however, said Lagos presents a more complex hydrological challenge because of its extensive network of lagoons, rivers, creeks and tidal water bodies, coupled with its high rainfall intensity.

He explained that the interaction between the Atlantic Ocean, Lagos Lagoon and inland waterways, especially during high tide, naturally slows the discharge of storm-water into the sea, leading to temporary flooding in low-lying areas during exceptionally heavy rainfall.

The commissioner assured residents that the government was closely monitoring drainage infrastructure, flood-prone areas and major channels across the State.

He added that emergency response agencies have been deployed to affected areas to facilitate the quick recession of floodwaters and provide necessary support to residents.

Wahab said the government would continue to invest in drainage construction, channelisation, desilting, and other flood-control infrastructure, but stressed that residents also have a responsibility to support these efforts.

He urged residents to stop dumping refuse into drains, canals and waterways, warning that blocked drainage channels and illegal reclamation of wetlands contribute significantly to flooding.

He also cautioned against building on drainage alignments and engaging in activities that could obstruct the free flow of storm-water.

The commissioner said the increasing frequency of extreme rainfall events across coastal cities is a clear indication of the impact of climate change.

“Lagos is not exempt from these realities. However, the State Government remains steadfast in its commitment to building a flood-resilient city through sustained infrastructure development, environmental enforcement and active collaboration with residents,” he said.

Wahab described flood management as a shared responsibility, urging residents to keep drainage channels free of debris and to report any activities that could obstruct storm-water flow.

He also advised motorists to avoid driving through flooded roads during heavy rainfall and urged residents, particularly those in flood-prone communities, to comply with weather advisories and safety instructions issued by relevant government agencies.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting lives and property through proactive flood management measures and called for continued public cooperation in building a cleaner, safer and more resilient Lagos.

Air Peace has completed its second humanitarian evacuation mission from South Africa, airlifting 271 stranded Nigerians back to Lagos as part of the Federal government’s emergency response to rising anti-immigrant tensions and fears of xenophobic violence in the Southern African country.

The evacuation flight, operated with the airline’s flagship Boeing 777-200 wide-body aircraft, departed Johannesburg and landed safely at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, at 10:35am on Tuesday.

The aircraft later docked at the airport’s Cargo and Hajj Terminal, where the returnees underwent immigration and other arrival formalities before being received by officials of the Federal Government.

The latest operation was coordinated by the Federal government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following growing concerns over the safety of Nigerians living in South Africa amid anti-immigrant protests and calls by campaign groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.

With the latest evacuation, Air Peace has transported a total of 533 Nigerians to safety under the ongoing South Africa evacuation programme, having earlier evacuated 262 citizens during its first humanitarian mission on June 11.

The airline said the achievement underscores its operational readiness and unwavering commitment to supporting national emergency response efforts whenever called upon.

Speaking on the successful operation, the airline’s spokesperson, Mr. Efe Osifo-Whiskey, commended the Federal Government for its swift intervention in protecting Nigerians abroad and praised the leadership of Air Peace Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Allen Onyema, for sustaining the airline’s humanitarian mission.

“Today’s successful evacuation once again reflects the power of public-private collaboration in safeguarding Nigerian lives. We commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for prioritising the welfare of Nigerians abroad and appreciate our Chairman, Dr. Allen Onyema, whose enduring patriotism and humanitarian convictions continue to position Air Peace as a dependable national asset in times of need,” Osifo-Whiskey said.

He described the successful completion of the second evacuation mission as another milestone in the airline’s growing record of humanitarian interventions across Africa and beyond.

According to him, Air Peace has carried out more than 16 humanitarian and emergency evacuation missions since it commenced operations, deploying its aircraft and personnel to assist governments and organisations in responding to conflicts, natural disasters, and other humanitarian emergencies.

He noted that the airline has consistently deployed its fleet to evacuate vulnerable populations from crisis-hit regions, reinforcing its reputation as Nigeria’s foremost humanitarian airline.

Osifo-Whiskey attributed the carrier’s humanitarian philosophy to the vision of its founder and chairman, Dr. Onyema, whose commitment to national service and African solidarity, he said, has continued to shape the airline’s operations beyond commercial aviation.

The latest evacuation comes amid heightened anti-immigrant demonstrations across South Africa, where thousands of protesters marched in major cities, including Johannesburg and Durban, demanding the removal of undocumented foreign nationals.

Although South African authorities deployed thousands of police officers, tactical units, and helicopters to maintain order and prevent violence, concerns over possible xenophobic attacks prompted several African governments, including Nigeria, to organise voluntary evacuation programmes for their citizens.

The Federal Government has also disclosed plans to seek compensation for Nigerians who were forced to abandon businesses, vehicles, and other valuable assets while fleeing the renewed anti-immigrant tensions.

Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Alexander Ajayi, said Nigerian authorities have begun documenting properties and investments left behind by returnees as part of efforts to pursue compensation claims with the South African government.

Air Peace reaffirmed its commitment to supporting government initiatives aimed at protecting Nigerian citizens, pledging to continue deploying its world-class fleet whenever required in the service of humanity, national development, and emergency response.