A great miss, but the Lord will comfort the family during this time of grief. Leye, we miss you. I cannot imagine it is now about twenty years when we first met at El Jardin. All the Chicagos talks and about your interest to move there and you did. All the chat times and hanging out in the "Eko Lane" with Kunle(your Krazy brother, with his oppressor high tower hair cuts), Shola(actor, small man, forever young looking), Kunbi(our aburo, at that time did not know what guys like to talk about, she is a beautiful self), Bose(your sister, whom you always refer to as Anty Bose, though under my breath am like what you mean), and krazy Maxine (fights everybody) and you settling fights and quarrels of all). Nice man, tall, lanky you got Chief Sode face, we can spot you guys from a far, you all look alike. Strong genes, eh.
Can you believe that, you already living forever. You got Christ, you made sure you told all that spoke with you as you were getting ready to transit that they should accept Christ. What a gift, you were giving! We mourn because you left and we do not know when we will see again; but we receive comfort because according to Romans 10:9 (you confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead) you are with the Lord

I do remember a time in 1992 , i was coming from a club with my brother leye, i was driving and we got pulled over by a police officer . The police officer came towards the car and asked me for my DL , i told him i didn't have it, he asked me if it was suspended , i told him yes . He told me to step out of the car and he asked me for my social security number and i gave it to him , he went to his car came back and then asked brother leye for his and for some reason brother leye asked him if he could talk to him . the police officer said ok step out of the car sir , he stepped out and walked closer to the police officer . I do not know what he spoke to the officer about all i know was they spoke for like 5 minutes , the  officer told him to get in the driver side and i in the passanger side .....hun... a man with no papers and DL get in the drivers seat and drive the  car? till today i do not know what he told that officer that day but one thing i know is, it can only be the power of the words he spoke to that officer to let him get in the driver's side of the car and drove us home....oh and i did not get any ticket that night .

 I can't believe Anti Bose found this picture. This picture made my day. It brought back so many good memories I had about my childhood. I remember being my happiest when my aunts and uncles were around--- especially Uncle Leye. This picture in particular makes me laugh because it captures a moment in time that probably was very common with me (and still is), where Uncle Leye must have been thinking: "this little girl is something else". LOL.

As an artist (or left hemisphered thinker) I was always asking myself what is art? why art? as a limited human that I am, I assumed that is because of love... and love is even harder to define.
Leye has been a definition of love: the unconditional tolerance and the unconditional love towards humanity, "let the man have his fun" he used to tell me, whenever I hurt someone with my tongue.
Through artwork of Leye, the mothers, the sons, the men, the women, the angels and the peace, I discovered his mastered technique: THE ART OF LOVE. there are individuals who lean towards the love of art, and only a few realize that the art of love is greater.

 

I remember back then I was probably between 10 or 12 years old at that time and Maami used to sell drinks and sometimes when she's out she always ask me to keep an eye on her stocks.On this particular day Bro Leye came in and asked me to get something for him upstairs cos the shop was down stairs in the factory as we called it back then I'm sure fellow broadwarians would remember factory........... anyway I got upstairs did what he wanted me to do and came back downstairs as quickly as I could cos I knew he was up to something and he didnt expected me back so soon and alas there he was drinking Coca cola from what I was supposed to be watching.......... hmmmm interesting I didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity to have my own pound of flesh back and let him know I am going to tell on him when Maami gets back that he's the one that nicked coca cola  while she was out so he can be reprimanded to my own amusement too afterall he's the one that always deal with my own case too so its pay back time.......he just smiled and said 'WAOW this drink is very cold do you want one as well and without thinking twice I said yes I want one, go on and have one nobody is going to know as long as you dont tell anybody and foolishly I had one and while drinking it he quickly added,you know you can't tell maami we had drinks because you had one too we will both be in trouble together and that was how he got me invloved involuntarily  and this remains our little secret till this day,there are so much more to tell that even this space will not be enough to share them.Now I cherish those memories and  you are always going to be remembered by your loved ones which means you are not really dead but just moved on to a better place and we are really going to miss you.So long Longman RIP

Leye would go out of his ways to help others and make sure those individuals are comfortable even at the expense of his discomfort. That is the kind of human being he was created; he doesn't know how to say no instead he will tell you no problem.  Leye is a man of impeachable characters. I recall to mind the good old days we shared together at Broadway house in Ebute-Metta  one of which was sharing and fighting over (eja iya kisun) and the Sundays that we watched "Soul Trains" together  at aunty Funke's room while him and Kunle would pretends as if they have attended church service and he would instruct me to cover for them whenever mami ask whether I saw them going towards church. He would tell you how it is never hide in disguise to deceive anyone. His gentle soul will surely respect in peace.

couple of years ago when my heart was troubled i called him and told him what was bothering me all he said was dont worry it will happen,and when any one do me wrong he is the only one i tell all he will say is (ma da eni yen lohun) dont pay any mind to the person  instead of him to get angry he will not and try to change the topicand right away i will feel better he really change something in me which i will forever cherish,

he thought me how not to be angry and accept everyone the way they are,he never want to hear me complaining of anything and he always wish he can solve any problem that i have

I remember growing up back then in Broadwayand being the youngest person in the house whenever I got into any mischief or I did something naughty maami would always say to me (o digba to Leye ba de) meaning wait till Leye gets back that was all I needed to hear to set me straight cos I know when he actually gets back I'm in big trouble and I would secretly start hoping he doesnt get back from wherever he went till its late so that everybody is already asleep and that would be my prayer point for the rest of the day and funny enough my prayer sometimes get answered and but in most cases I dont always get lucky cos he hardly go out for long and once he gets back I know what that meant for me (egba mefa) 6 strokes or lashes or whatever you want to call it for misbehaving and that helps set me straight for the next couple of days or weeks till we are back again to the status quo...the interesting thing about this is when he left Nigeria for the US I was the happiest person in Broadway cos I knew my that was a ticket to loads of mischiefs for me without any consequence so I bought a bottle of coca cola from 'Iya Ade' to celebrate in my own way but unfortunately for me by the time he left I grew up and became the man of the house and I discovered that I am now the man of the house and I had to meet up with the standard he left and I needed to set myself straight...This is a really great loss to me personally because we grew very close back home and he had a huge impact on my growing up, you can hardly find a fault in him and he rarely gets annoyed but when he does be sure to get about dozen people to hold him because he is very strong..I know you are in a peaceful and better place and your pain and sufferings are over..sleep well my brother and one day we shall meet again.RIP SAMUEL OLALEYE AYOOLA SODE

I remembered the first day Sam(Leye) came to the overnight shift @ the "House of Blues Hotel." I had already been there for a couple of years, and was glad to see another brother come to the late night shift. There was only about 7 of us to run the entire Hotel. 1-Engineer(me), 1-Security officer(Sam), 1-Manager, 1-front desk agent, 1-bellman, 1-houskeeper, and 1-room service agent. We all grew close. Me and Sam grew closer because we both discovered the love for Christ that the other had. We spent many nights just talking. Sharing family, experiences, and our testimonies of how God had moved in our lives. Like the time he shared with me that Malaria came over him while he was back in the U.S.A. from his trip to Nigeria. And how God had spared his life. It was only recently that his wife had gave me the account in greater detail as we talked after his homegoing. Sam would tell me about his culture in great detail. I came to know his family thru his chronicles. His niece was getting Married soon, and Sam said...."KC, why don't you and your wife come to the wedding?" I replied, "Sam, they don't know me." He said, "You will meet them. You're like family to me. I insist that you come!" I couldn't resist. He explained to me how I will experience a wedding..."Nigerian Style." The day of the Wedding arrived. From the church thru the reception, Sam explained every detail of the tradition and ceremony. Me and my wife had a wonderful time. As we sat and ate, family members would come by to greet Sam and also my wife and I. Sam would point out some family members that he had mentioned to me in some past conversation we had. "That's my niece I told you about." Or, "that's the sister that I told you about." It was an experience that I cherish. We talked about that Wedding for months after it was over. I only regret that I didn't have more time with my brother to share more. He even told me that more than likely my ancestors came from Nigeria. That he could see it in me. I couldn't tell you whether that is true or not. But, I can say that from the first day we met, it was like we had known one another for a lifetime. RIP Sam. I love you brother. 

Many many years ago when we left the shores of UK to Naija the first place we  stayed was at "Broadway". I can remember the first night, no light, mosquitoes, the heat and so many different people - Uncles, Aunts, and so many cousins and of course Mama Broadway (Granny as me and Leye would call her). The first time I met Leye was later that week, we had gone out and on our return, I went to my bedroom and saw someone sitting on my bed reading all my comics. Naturally, I was really annoyed and ready to box him down (how dare this person read my prized comics without asking me!). Before I could even do anything this person who was as tall as me stood up and warmly embraced me and said "You must be Tunde, I am your cousin Leye, come let me show you something". Layeee (as I called him - with my English accent) had a pile of comics to rival mine....Thor, Spiderman, Hulk, the list was endless. That Saturday he took me off to somewhere called Onipanu to buy more comics and introduced me to his seller as "This is my brother from UK and you must always give him the lastest editions".  Apart from the comics, we spent many a time outside the Broadway front just jisting about things and walking down the road to buy "Knockout" and sneaking out in the evening to the Ebute Metta cinema and the one at Sabo to watch Kung Fu films. I can recollect a particular time that me and Layeee sneaked into Grannies shop and thought it would be a great idea to be men and drink some beer (yes, that was Layeees idea not mine LOL!). He was the lookout, unfortunately, he decided to join me drinking the beer and Granny turned up and caught us with a bottle in our hand. Don't ask me what Granny said (it was all in Yoruba) but Layeee told her it was all his fault and took the punishment thus to protect me. That was Layeee down to a T, always there to protect me. Layeee was a cracking artist way back then, always drawing pictures of a Superhero, fantasy characters and caricatures of people in Broadway including myself (Kunle, Uncle Shandu - none of you where spared from Layeees drawings). Oh we had fun, Layeee was playful and mischievous and would always be cracking jokes mostly I never found funny but his laugh…. "he, he, he, he" was funnier than the joke! What a Joker!

Gentle is your middle name. Rest in perfect peace my brother and baba oko.