Donald Fajuyi, the 76-year-old eldest son of late Lt-Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, former military governor of the Western Region, has accused his wife, Mrs. Lanre Fajuyi, of attempting to take over his father’s properties.
In a chat with our reporter in Ado-Ekiti, Fajuyi revealed that his wife believes she is entitled to his properties simply because she is his wife and he is the only surviving child of the late military administrator.
He denied demolishing the late military administrator’s house located at Fajuyi Lane in Ado-Ekiti and rebuilt by President Bola Tinubu, explaining the house that was demolished is a different property, which was inherited by him after the family shared his late father’s properties in 2014.
He said, “Adekunle Fajuyi’s house is the family home, which was rebuilt courtesy of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. This is where my late father lived, and it is not demolished or sold. The one that was demolished is the house that my late father bought the land for, which was still at foundation level when the coup of January 1966 occurred, and he had to rush down to Lagos in response to the coup.
“Subsequently, he became Governor of the Old Western Region. Upon assuming office, he instructed that the construction going on at his house along Textile Road, Ado-Ekiti, be stopped. My father said that as a public officer, he doesn’t want people to say that he was using public funds to finance his private building.
“So, the house which was at that foundation level stopped. After his death six months later, we made arrangements within the family, and the funds allocated to that building were spent, and the house was built up to decking level. At that decking level from 1968, thereabout, until 1998 when I became a Commissioner in the just-created Ekiti State, I used that opportunity to complete the top part of the building and moved in.
“But even then, it was still family property because we had not shared the property among my siblings until 2014, when my father’s property was shared among my siblings. And that house, because I had already moved in, was now shared to me. That’s how it became my property. The family shared it to me with a formal document, and Ewi of Ado-Ekiti shared it to me.
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“It was mischief makers, primarily my wife, who wanted public opinion to be against me and wanted to turn public hatred against me. She deceived the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti for a very long time that I wanted to sell Fajuyi’s house, and everybody will think it’s the one at Fajuyi Lane, not until I explained to them and showed them pictures.”
He went further to state that the famous Fajuyi house was registered under a foundation to preserve the legacies of the late military administrator and serve as a meeting point for the Afenifere group.
“I cannot be so ungrateful and insensitive to think of selling Fajuyi’s house or destroying it for whatever reason. Soon after it was rebuilt, we went and registered it under a foundation we launched – the Adekunle Fajuyi Foundation for Peace and Social Justice.
“We have registered the building at Fajuyi Lane, Ado-Ekiti, as the property of that foundation, and the implication is that no individual can sell this property. So, I have not sold or destroyed Fajuyi’s house. It was the one that I inherited that I sold and demolished.
“As long as we want to propagate the ideals of Fajuyi, what he stood for as a man and as a soldier, it is with great pride that, at least during my lifetime, I followed my mother to occupy the building at Fajuyi Lane, Ado-Ekiti. The building is divided into two sections: a hall and living quarters. What I was meant to understand when they wanted to rebuild Fajuyi’s house was to cater for my mother primarily and also to create a meeting place for Afenifere.
“All the remnants of my late father that I could lay my hands on were already in possession of the Ministry of Tourism in Ondo State, those days now the Ekiti State Ministry of Tourism. The whole concept of an enduring legacy of Fajuyi is already on the ground, but without government support, there is very little we can do. We would preserve and maintain this Fajuyi house.”
The lawyer equally accused his wife of creating discord between him and his children, decrying that her attempts to pauperise him led to sudden health implications and psychological trauma.
“This, my wife believes, she is entitled to take over my properties simply because she is my wife and simply because I am the only child of my parents. She knows that whatever I inherited is solely mine. Psychologically, she has made me have an ulcer and high blood pressure and has made all attempts to pauperise me.
“I couldn’t go into that house, and that is where I started my legal practice. According to her counts, we were with the Kabiyesi on this matter over 47 times, and because it is husband and wife, people do not want to treat it with the brevity that it deserves. They didn’t see the damage she was doing.
“I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where I spent two days in the Emergency Ward. When I was stabilised, I spent another 8 days in the General Ward, and I was diagnosed with a swollen heart from prolonged high blood pressure. One of my ventricles was bad and damaged.
“It was after this that I sought Kabiyesi’s assistance in getting her consent for me to sell that house, and that’s why I went and bulldozed the house. She took me to the Police command headquarters in Ekiti State, and they told her that it is my property. She also took me to the AIG of Police office in Akure, Ondo State, even though she added attempted murder to make it very serious, but the Police investigated and said I should go.
“I filed a divorce petition, and I am waiting for the court to grant us so that I can be free from her. She has turned all four children against me. I loved my children, took care of them, slaved for them, and educated them. I know that God is the ultimate judge on this matter”, he added.