Prince Yemisi Shyllon

  By Nehru Odeh

Prince Yemisi Shyllon not only defies description but also elicits awe and reverence. He wears many distinguished hats too. He is not only an engineer, but he is also a lawyer, and a business administrator, with degrees he earned with distinction from three of the best Universities in Nigeria – the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University and the University of Lagos respectively.

He is also a technocrat, a philanthropist par excellence and an unapologetic lover of the arts. Yet, that is not all about him. He is the largest art collector in Nigeria. At 31, he was appointed the first African Director of Marketing, within the ETEX Group of Belgium, at Nigerite Ltd.

We had planned to meet many times in his Maryland, Lagos Residence, which sculptures not only dot but also converse with humans amidst rare birds and animals who strut freely, leisurely and proudly around the expansive compound beautified by nature, flowers and lush greenery. But each time we fixed a meeting, it was always scuttled by his busy schedule.

Scuttled by his busy schedule? Sure. Here is a man who if he is not in a boardroom proffering ideas on how to improve a situation or construct and donate a building, works of art or books to institutions, is among writers, artists, students, the youths etc, giving his all to make life better for others.

Little wonder he has been awarded honorary doctorates in three Universities in Nigeria, namely the University of Port Harcourt, Pan-Atlantic University and Crescent University Abeokuta. In a few weeks’ time, the Tai Solarin University of Education will honour him with his fourth doctorate.

Yet he does not wear his heart on his sleeve or prefix his name with ‘Doctor’, a term which many proudly wear on their sleeve on these shores and determine how they relate with others.

According to him, those degrees as well as his properties do not mean anything to him. What is important is how many lives he has touched and how he has made the earth better than he found it.

Here is a man who, despite the blue blood that runs in his veins – as he is an Egba prince – spends his days thinking about how to positively impact others, regardless of status, colour or creed.

Here is a man who has travelled to virtually every part of the world,  seen the best of the world, cruised in exotic ships, disembarked on virgin islands and interacted with people of different races, colours, creeds and even with Indigenous peoples and aborigines still in the pristine stages of human development.

Here is a Renaissance man who though trained as an engineer, lawyer and business administrator (MBA) is at home in virtually all areas of human knowledge as not only is he well-read – a habit he cultivated in his childhood- he exudes knowledge, strength of character and courage of his convictions.

Here is a man who is versed in virtually all the scriptures – the Bible, Koran, Hindu and Buddhist scriptures as well as philosophies – he believes philosophy is the father of religion – and quotes verses from various scriptures off-hand with effortless ease to back up his points.

Still, that is not all about him. When we finally agreed to meet at his residence, after a journey he had planned to embark on had been postponed, Shyllon, dressed casually and wearing a face cap, cut the picture of a man who has seen all yet is simple and ready to do more for humanity. Not only does he tick all the boxes,  he can be aptly described as a man who goes about doing good.

A man who goes about doing good? Certainly. His interventions both in the private and public sectors, in the educational sector, and in the arts and culture circuit, to mention only a few, are too numerous to be reeled out here.

Still, one that still rings a bell and which indeed is a stark metaphor for his altruism, his large heart and the various sacrifices he has made for more than 50 years is when he sold his properties abroad to establish the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art in Pan-Atlantic University on the Lekki Peninsula in the east of Lagos, to which he donated more one thousand artworks.

Sold his properties abroad to establish a Museum of Art? Sure. This indeed sounds intriguing. While others were busy acquiring properties upon properties abroad, he sold the ones he had in choices places to establish a Museum of Art.

Asked what motivates his altruism, his philanthropy, his sacrifices, Shyllon hinged it on the fact that the only thing that lives for eternity after one’s demise is not the amount of money and property one has nor the kind of education one acquires but one’s good deeds while on earth.

He quoted Koran 18 vs 46 to prove his point.  “Ayah al-Kahf (The Cave) 18:46. Wealth and children are the adornment of this worldly life, but the everlasting good deeds are far better with your Lord in reward and hope.

“Wealth and children are adornments of this worldly life, but the enduring good deeds produce a greater reward from your Lord and a better hope.” He stated explicitly that words and children and other worldly things are like clothes that one wears and pulls off.

Shyllon showed brilliance and how well-versed he is in religion and philosophy again when he quoted James 1 vs 27 to prove that what matters most in life is the lives one has touched and lifted and not the number of cars, the amount of money or the number of buildings acquired. “All these things will no longer be in existence for many years to come,” he averred.

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world, ” Shyllon said, quoting the scriptures.

Asked again what faith he professes since he is very well acquainted with the scriptures of many religions, Shyllon said he does not believe in religion, as, according to him, it is what the white man exported to our continent to mislead Africans. Furthermore, to prove his point that religion is a scam, he quoted Karl Marx, the German philosopher and founding father of Communism.

“Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.”

Shyllon also echoed Ralph Waldo Emerson the American philosopher and transcendentalist, who once said future religion would be built on the ruins of churches, in the hearts of men” when he said the church building is not where God wants to be worshipped but in the heart of men, adding that that is where God resides.

“If I pick a knife and want to inflict injury on somebody, won’t a voice tell me that that is not good? If I want to do something worthwhile, won’t that same voice tell me to go ahead? That is God talking,” Shyllon maintained.

Again, Shyllon went further to quote Acts17 24- 28: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things…

As Shyllon shared his ideas, what was going on in my mind was the strange similarity he shared with two great minds, Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist and author of classics such as “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”, who later in their lives saw life as vain and empty.

However, the only difference between him and them is that he does not wear long silvery, lush beards that sparkle in the sun and does not renounce art, which he still loves and sacrifices so much for.

Asked if he has had any regrets in life, he replied in the affirmative, saying that he regrets doing so much for people who later ended up stabbing him in the back.

What are some of the things he will live to cherish? He mentioned the day he graduated from the University of Ibadan, the day he graduated as a lawyer and when he sold his properties abroad to establish the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art at the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos, to mention a few.

Come Tuesday 19 November, 2024, the statue of Sodeke, which he donated to his community will be unveiled at the Ake Palace Roundabout in Abeokuta. Asked why he donated the statue, Shyllon said it was because history has not been kind to Sodeke, the warrior who founded Abeokuta, as he is not given the recognition he deserves.

According to the philanthropist, Lisabi is given more recognition than Sodeke. “But the truth is LisabI is the Moses of the Egbas, while Sodeke is the Joshua, ” Shyllon maintained.

As I found my way out of Shyllon’s residence, the sculptures that dotted the place bidding me goodbyes and the beautiful flowers curtsying to me as they bowed to the wind, it dawned on me that this erudite prince from Egbaland who is a philanthropist par excellence deserves more recognition than he has got. Still, that is not all about the good works he has done. This is just the tip of the iceberg.