His contributions to the church of Christ stand him out as one who served God with all he had
In a marathon obsequies the like of which you would go back a whole three decades to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s glorious home calling to match, the colossus, elder statesman, Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo, the Bobajiro of Ile-Ife, was laid to rest at his natal town of Iyin-Ekiti in a ceremony the like of which we have never seen in Ekiti. Yes, Col.Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, (26 June 1926 – 29 July 1966) who the general succeeded as military governor of Western Nigeria on his assassination in a military putch certainly had a glorious burial but that occasion was greatly attenuated by both his relatively tender age of 40, and the unfortunate manner of his passing, it was understandably denuded of the all pervading joy, conviviality and, indeed, camaraderie that accompanied the general home to his maker as the entire old Western Nigeria, the military, royalty, the clergy, even the ordinary Nigerian who remembered his service to Nigeria and humanity, erupted to give him a well deserved right of passage. It is worthy of mention that the crowd at the two events heralding his obsequies, the service of songs on Wednesday, 17 May, 2017 and the commendation service the following morning, both at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church, GRA, Ikeja, the building of which, according to the Lord Bishop, The Rt. Revd. Dr. James Olusola Odedeji, the departed general was the very first to make a donation of N50,000, then a very huge contribution, can only be described as massive as the events were full to the brim, almost unmatched. And I should know, this being my church. There were people from every sector of the Nigerian polity as well as a decent representation of persons from outside Nigeria. And as the Lord Bishop rightly said in his sermon at the commendation service, we are followed in after life, only by the good we did while here on earth. It was crystal clear that the general positively touched lives.
From the moment it pleased the Almighty God to call him home on 8 March, 2017 his Ikeja, GRA home in Lagos became a beehive of activities with thousands of people from all over the country and beyond–yes, no exaggeration – pouring in to join the family in an unprecedented celebration of life. For us Ekiti in Lagos, it practically became our home with not a few having their three rounds of iyan (pounded yam), morning, afternoon and evening before heading home for the day. No kidding. Papa’s home calling was one event that united us like nothing in our recent history and the large turnout at the two events, ably coordinated by the Ekiti Parapo, Lagos, under the sterling leadership of Chief Esan Ogunleye, a seasoned banker, joined by the likes of Ekiti icons: Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi, Sir Remi Omotosho, Chief Akomolede and others more than confirmed this. This would continue until he was laid to eternal rest in Iyin-Ekiti on Friday, 19 May 2017, with his remains making a historic stop at Ibadan, the old Western Region capital where he made his most momentous contributions to the socio-political history of the Yoruba people besides his long and meritorious military service, both within and outside the country.
Born at Ile-Ife in present day Osun state into the Christian home of Papa Isaiah Kayode and Victoria Ogunrounbi Adebayo, both of Iyin –Ekiti on 9 March, 1928, the late General was put in the care of some Christian gentlemen teachers at Iyin –ekiti early in life as his father who wa a Public servant, traversed the country. He subsequently followed one of these teachers to his new posting at Usi-Ekiti where he would become a classmate of the highly reputed jurist, Mr Justice Olajide Olatawura, together with who he later proceeded to the famous Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti. The young Adeyinka did not stay long at Christ’s School, having to move again with his uncle to Lagos where he enrolled at the Eko Boys High School in continuation of his secondary education in 1947.
On 12 July 1948, he joined the Royal West African Frontier Force, subsequently attended the School of Infantry, Teshie, Ghana and after a series of courses, both within and outside the country, was promoted full Lieutenant. He attended several other courses which exposed him to several facets of the military profession. These included Platoon Commanders’ Tactical Course, Westminster, 1955; Platoon Weapons Course –Hyde, 1955; Company Commanders Course, Westminster, 1959, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1960 and the famous Imperial Defence College, London, 1966. He rose rapidly through the ranks and was promoted Major General in 1971. Some of his several postings are: ADC (Aide-de-camp) to the last British Governor-General of Nigeria, Sir James Robertson who would become the God Father to his first son, His Excellency, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; served in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in the Congo where he was in charge of Intelligence; Commanding officer, Second Battalion Nigerian Army in the Congo; General Officer 1, Nigerian Army Headquarters rising to become the first Nigerian indigenous Chief of Army Staff . Between 1964-65, he served as the Chairman, OAU (Organisation of African Unity) Defence Planning Committee.
However, it was as the Military Governor of Western Region, a position to which he was appointed in 1966, that Papa touched the most lives during his time in public service. Since his passing, many stories have been told, both in the mainstream and the social media, of his many acts of kindness. Among these is the story of Bisi Oyedeji, a former University of Ibadan undergraduate as well as my good friend and classmate at Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti who, together with his roommate who on the spur of the moment, had the audacity to go and meet the Military governor to request that University students of Western region origin be granted scholarship. What first surprised them was the ease with which the governor instructed the guards to let them in. Hardly had they finished making their presentation, he said, than he approved of their request and before they got back to the campus, the news was already being broadcast on radio. There was, on Face book, the story told by another good friend of mine, the son of an Igbo woman, married to a Yoruba, who was about being forcefully removed to God knows where when Papa got wind of it. This was shortly after a Biafran plane flew into Lagos during the civil war, an act which made the soldiers become hyper active. But the governor would not hear of such an unprovoked aggression against an innocent woman. He promptly ordered her release.
Papa served his God as he served his country and humanity. As a very senior military officer during the events leading to the Nigerian civil war, he counseled against the use of force declaring, for instance, as follows: “ I need not tell you what horror, what devastation and what extreme human suffering will attend the use of force. When it is all over and the smoke and dust have lifted, and the dead are buried, we shall find, as other people have fund, that it has all been futile, entirely futile, in solving the problems we set out to solve”. It was little surprise, if any at all therefore, that at the end of the war, he was appointed by the Head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, as the chairman of the committee on the Reconciliation and Integration of Igbos back into the Nigerian fold. General Adebayo was severally honoured with chieftaincy titles literally all over the country, among them : Baba Oba of Iyin-Ekiti, the Asalu of Ijero Ekiti, the Agbaakin of Ekiti, the Bobajiro of Ife, Jagunleke of Ijebu and, Jagungbayi of Abeokuta. In the academia he had honorary degrees from the universities of Ife and the Ondo state university and at the national level he was conferred with both the Officer of the Federal Republic OFR, and Commander of the Federal Republic CFR.
His contributions to the church of Christ stand him out as one who served God with all he had. We are, therefore, more than comforted that he now rests, in perpetuity, at the bosom of his Lord and Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Adieu Papa, till we meet at the feet of Jesus, to part no more.
