Doug and I belong to a club named Scorpio at the university of Ibadan where he did his first degree. Scorpio is a club established for the purpose of having fun on Campus so we organize parties, picnic just for the purpose letting out steam when the academic duties get us to a point of no return. As they say all work and no play make Jack a dull boy so that is the blend of our work and play. When we partied, we party hard, none of the serious stuff just music, food, girls and so on. So a bunch of Nigerian dudes having a great time and then you look closely you will see this white dude who you wouldn't know he is not a Nigerian except for his skin colour until he tells you he is a Canadian. Doug blended in so perfectly even to the point of speaking some Nigerian languages. After he graduated from UI, he got a job at the University of Ilorin and fortunately for me I was posted to Ilorin for a 3month Industrial Training program and I stayed with Doug and his wife Anne-Marie in Ilorin. Fast forward 1988 I had the opportunity to relocate to Canada where I am now and guess who I first looked for Doug and Anne-Marie of course and we have been in contact again in Canada since then. I was able to visit him in Vancouver in December 2023 after COVID, Doug took me hiking which by now everybody probably knows he is an avid outdoors man. Anyway I enjoyed it so much that I promised him that I will take up hiking as part of my activities and I bought hiking shoes and so on but I am yet to start. May be now that we are both retiring, I will have more time to hang around him and learn hiking.
Doug, the retirement is a milestone, you have earned it with all your hard work plus the fact that you are reaching the seventh floor this year is another great achievement, please enjoy it. Also let me on behalf of Scorpio thank you for your friendship and that we all appreciate you for who you are and guys are looking forward to seeing you in September, in London, UK to celebrate you even more.