Dr. Olusegun George: Good night Dr. LOVE "Igi t'o to ki i pe n'igbo"  The Yorubas in their unparalleled wisdom and rare sense of vivid description make it obvious that a straight and most beneficial tree is usually the first choice of loggers in a forest.  Such is the case of my benefactor, big brother, confidant, friend and boss like no other; the news of whose untimely death hit the airwaves like a fairy tale in the early hours of Tuesday, the 19th May 2020! It shook me and indeed humanity to its very foundation! Dr. George, as he was popularly known was too good to die! A complete gentleman with an infectious smile, generous to a fault, was too painstaking to die just like that! Why would such a man with a large heart who was always exuding and radiating love be allowed to die? Why him and why now? are some of the questions on everyone's lips! I'm just coming to terms with the reality of the demise of the man with whom I cut my professional teeth and started family life!  Our first encounter was rather casual and I want to believe was divinely prearranged.  Sometime in the last quarter of 1987, a youth corper, I went in search of a locum when I just noticed a busy practice along Pedro road. I sought to see the MD who welcomed me as if we were old school mates. What should have been a recruitment interview turned out to be a friendly chat. We did not even discuss remuneration but I was made comfortable beyond my wildest expectation. I could only pray to be hired on a permanent basis.  This became a reality after  my youth service and my surgical apprenticeship at Awojobi Clinic, Eruwa. A painstaking GP like none else, Dr. George would pass for a psychotherapist for his mode of consultation which endeared him to his teeming crowd of patients. He was never in a hurry to know their complaints, no matter how long it takes and the waiting crowd nothwithstanding, until they pour out their psychosocial problems which may actually be the root of their complaints; an uncommon practice, especially in Lagos where everyone is pathologically in a haste! Dr. George and his amiable wife, Mrs. Jumoke George,  a caring nursing practitioner in her own right, prepared me for a lucrative private practice and indeed for my royal assignment. I had a wonderful time as a resident doctor in their ever busy facility! I was allowed to make honest mistakes that were corrected with much love and no fuss! I occupied the first and bigger consulting room which after sometime gave some of our patients the impression that the facility was mine! An elderly patient could not hide his surprise when he discovered that I was just a resident doctor and exclaimed " a se iwin l'oga". So, Iwin, as he(the elderly patient) got used to calling me, had a boss! But like a friendly and caring brother, Dr. George would call from time to time to check on me, my welfare and practice. That , he did till the very end. Ever trusting, he was always comfortable to put me in charge of his practice during his sorties to UK. Bayuu, he would call, 'please take charge, I'm off again'. Little did I realise that his esteemed presence at my coronation on the 23rd of January, still dashing around with the agility of a teen, would be our last meeting! Our ward rounds together, were usually conducted in the most convivial atmosphere where we would compete to crack jokes some of which could be medically vulgar but most relaxing to our patients. A bundle of humour and cheer, there was never a dull moment with him and would do anything to cheer even the most depressed.  Dr. George demonstrated uncommon love and humility! He had with him a large crowd of his nuclear and a wide extended family members in the front three-bedroom flat atop Jaiyeola clinic while I, with my retinue of friends, all trying to find our footings occupied the back flat. He never saw us as a threat to his growing beautiful daughters and nieces but as younger brothers, often sharing experiences  and exchanging banters with us. He was our confidant with whom we shared some of our exploits and escapdes. Those experiences can never be forgotten in any way! One of my friends of those days, recently reminded me of his desire to write a book in which he owes Dr. George a chapter! When in December 1990, I decided to get married, I got all the support, that a father could give, from my boss! Apart from his major sponsorship and participation with all the members of his family, Dr. George, it was who sponsored our most memorable honeymoon. We had the exciting and wonderful experience of my boss being "the most expensive chaffeur" to and fro the prestigious Gateway Hotel, Ota! Most remarkable was his encouragement that I should be financially wise. I asked for a loan that I was not expecting him to grant, as I was just six month in his employment. Learning that I needed the loan to acquire a plot of land, he gave me double the amount so that I could acquire two plots as a gift.  Dr. George exemplified the popular adage "charity begins at home". How else can one show love except with tolerance for every one in his extended family! His was love beyond human comprehension! My friends and I were always wondering where the space, for accommodating his teeming relations, was in his ever bubling flat! It was difficult for anyone to actually identify his nuclear family members from the large crowd. From Dr. and Mrs. George I was able to get the definition of Love as rooted in tolerance or vice versa! His was a life lived for others. Mother Theresa, had she been of this generation, would have found a match in Dr George! I can testify to his giving, which he did cheerfully too. He invested heavily in bringing up uncountable children very few of whom were his own and all of whom are doing pretty well here and abroad, to the glory of God. But now that it is the ripe tlme for him to sit back and reap the fruit of his earthly labour of love, he was called to the great beyound, to eternal glory, I believe. In a few hours from now, the mother earth will be receiving the body of a good man, a kind man, a great physician, a caring father of nations,  a courageous man with a large heart, a people's person with large voice and keen intellect, whom I want to aptly describe as Dr. Love, snatched by the cold hands of death through the devastating complications of Covid-19. Much as I would have loved to throw the pandemic into the dustbin of history, it has left a terrible taste in the mouth and and ugly scar and dent on our psyche and memory to be forgotten.  May the almighty God grant him etenal rest and his family,  friends, colleagues and multitude of patients the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss! The healthcare horizon of Shomolu/Bariga will never be the same again! We will all sorely miss him. Good night Dr. Love! HRM, Oba (Dr.) Olubayo Adesola Windapo, Oyelade-Abidogun 1, Alara of Ara Kingdom.