While many went abroad and stayed silent, Hon. Chief Segun Ajibulu Festus went abroad and fought.
In the early 1990s, when Nigeria was bleeding under military rule, SAF was thousands of miles away in the United States but his heart never left home.
He coordinated Diaspora support for Olu Falae’s presidential campaign, rallying Nigerians abroad to believe in democracy at a time when many had given up. He didn’t stop there. He went on to found and co-found multiple organisations dedicated to restoring Nigeria’s democratic future including the Nigerian Patriotic Association, the Nigerian Democratic Awareness Committee, and the Nigerian Democratic Movement. These were not paper organisations. They were platforms of resistance, built by a man who believed Nigeria deserved better.
Back in the Ekiti community abroad, SAF rose to lead. He became the inaugural Vice President of Ekiti Kete International Association the umbrella body uniting every Ekiti association and individual across the Diaspora. He also served as President of Ekiti Parapo of North Carolina for several years, keeping Ekiti culture, unity, and identity alive far from home.
He attended Yoruba association gatherings in Washington, D.C. He co-founded Egbe Omo Yoruba in North America. Wherever Ekiti or Yoruba people gathered, SAF was present and often leading.
Here is what that tells you:
A man who leads in the Diaspora will lead at home.
A man who fights for his people from abroad will fight even harder when he is standing right beside them.
SAF is not coming to learn how to serve.
He has been serving all along.