Tag: Adebayo

General Robert Adeyinka Adebayo who died recently, a day before his 89th birthday no doubt during his life time impacted positively to the socio-political development of the country especially among the Yoruba. General Adebayo came to the political limelight in August 1966 when he was appointed as the military Governor of the then Western State by General Yakubu Gowon , the then new Head of State after the brutal second coup of July 1966.

General Adebayo who was a Colonel at that time, succeeded Lt. Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi who was killed  in a gruesome manner in Ibadan together with his guest, General Aguiyi  Ironsi who was the Head of State before the coup. Prior to his appointment, General Adebayo was the first indigenous Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army between 1964 and 1965. Despite his high rank in the military, he was made the military governor and his appointment was facilitated by Egbe Omo Olofin then led by Dr. Koye Majekodunmi. Subsequent events showed that the Yoruba people were lucky to have somebody with the personality of Adebayo as their leader during those turbulent days.

General Adebayo came to Ibadan and met a very divided and bitter Yoruba people who were at war with each other because of debilitating and acute political differences. Many people believed rightly or wrongly that the destructive political crisis in the West in the early sixties precipitated the coup of 1966. The first task of General Adebayo in Western State was to make efforts to unite the badly divided people of the state. He brought into his cabinet the opposing political tendencies in the state. In the cabinet, he had people like Dauda Adegbenro, Bola Ige. Michael Omisade, Olabisi Onabanjo, and  Joel Babatola who were  staunch supporters of Chief Obafemi Awolowo  who had just then been released from prison by General Gowon. The other political spectrum in the state was represented by Victor Olunloyo, Alade Lamuye and Kola Balogun who had sympathy for Chief S. L. Akintola, the last premier of the region.

In order to further bring the people together, he started regular meetings of those he dubbed as ‘Leaders of Thought’ which were made up of Yoruba academicians, leading Yoruba leaders in business and religion and other notable groups in the state. He used his uncanny amiable personality and love for social life to douse tensions among various groups in the state. His efforts brought peace to warring Yoruba academicians at the University of Ibadan over the issue of the appointment of vice chancellor of that institution. He also helped to douse the tension generated in the appointment of non-indigene as the Bishop of Ibadan diocese of Anglican Communion. Despite his spirited efforts to bring peace and unite the Yoruba people during the turbulent period of Nigerian history, many people felt that he was not even-handed especially after he made sure that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the titanic political leader of that time was made the Leader of the Yoruba People. General Adebayo faced many political problems during his tenure and the notable of these were the farmers’ revolt popularly referred to as the Agbekoya crisis of 1968-1969 and the seemingly intractable problem of appointing a new Alafin of Oyo to succeed Oba Ladigbolu. He faced up to these problems and his decisions on these two issues alienated him from the then political giants in the state, but he stood his ground and history had proved that he made the right decisions in solving the two problems.

In addition to his peace efforts, his tenure could be credited with laudable achievements.  General Adebayo’s regime did everything possible for the take-off of the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. His government provided huge sum of money for the university to move to his permanent site at Ile Ife. Unfortunately for inexplicable reason, the university did not honour the late General for his efforts and foresight on the university in his life time. General Adebayo will be remembered for the introduction of ‘cottage hospitals’ which brought medical facilities to rural communities. New water works were established in many parts of the state during his tenure. His government established Western State Court of Appeal. New working hours for the civil servants which is now being used throughout the country was introduced by him in Western State. Armed robbery menace was curbed during his time with the promulgation of the Robbery (Summary Trial and Punishment Edict of 1967) which stipulated life sentence for armed robbers. This life sentence was later changed to death penalty as a result of Federal decree. To ensure safety on the road, his government established the Road Safety Corps. To promote agricultural research, his government established the Institute of Agricultural Research at Moor Plantation

One of the unforgettable legacies of General Adebayo in Yorubaland was the massive recruitment of the Yoruba into the military and Police during his time. Hitherto, the Yoruba people had been poorly represented in these forces and this had serious implication on the security of the people. This large recruitment made the Yoruba to contribute meaningfully to war to keep Nigeria one and helped the race from being derided by others as cowards and lovers of easy life.

The tenure of General Adeyinka Adebayo in Western State came to an end on April 2, 1971 having served for five tumultuous years (1966-1971). After his stint as the Military Governor of Western State, he was appointed as Commandant of Nigerian Defence Academy between 1971 and 1972. He ended his military career in July 1972 after serving in ceremonial military duties between 1972 and 1975. All in all he served the military for 27 years.

After his military career, General Adebayo threw his hat into political arena. He was one of the founders of National Party of Nigeria and was one of the vice chairmen of the party until the military took over power in December 1983. Many people felt that the General’s participation in politics was unedifying. Later in 2011 with age on his side, he joined the late Venerable Alayande to form Yoruba Council of Elders which was supposed to be an umbrella organization for all Yoruba persons irrespective of political leaning. This was to counter the Afenifere group which was known to have political preference.

General Adebayo would be remembered throughout the country for the role he played as a voice of reason during the bloody crisis that engulfed the country between 1966 and 1970. In the old Western State, he would be remembered as somebody who united the Yoruba people to have one voice during the perilous period of Nigerian history between 1966 and 1970.  In governing the Yoruba people, Adebayo used his warm personality and jollity to douse tensions among the people. He related to people very well and attended many social functions, although some of his detractors criticized him for over-doing this and gave him the nick name of ‘ O wa nbe’. Nobody is perfect. General Adebayo had his weaknesses and he made some mistakes like any leader but the General loved the Yoruba people  and did his best to lift up the morale of the people after debacle and bitterness of the early sixties. It can be said that on any rational scale, only Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Ladoke Akintola could take precedence over General Adebayo in the contribution to the development of Yoruba race. It is a pity that political intrigues and to some extent minor personal flaw prevented him from being accorded his deserved honour to be crowned as the leader of the Yoruba, a position he deserved after the demise of Chief Awolowo.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

• Prof Lucas, a retired don, writes from University of Ibadan.