Back from a visit to Ibogun, the ancestral home of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan recalls how his people celebrated their iconic son at 80.
Former President Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo recently turned 80. To celebrate him, the people of Ibogun-Olaogun, the rustic village where he hails from, tucked somewhere in the rural basin of Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, decided to host a reception in his honour. The event, which witnessed a lot of wining and dining, according to sources, was financed through a contribution by indigenes of the village.
The people of the village, on the fateful day, put behind them, the obvious lack and what is clearly written all over the place, and trooped out to celebrate Obasanjo, a man many of them describe as the “emblem” of their birth place. To them, Obasanjo’s ancestral link with Ibogun-Olaogun is a blessing in many ways than one.
“What we did on Tuesday for Baba Obasanjo has never happened in Ibogun before. In all the 36 villages that make up Ibogun land, there has never been a time when the whole town decided to celebrate the birthday of an individual. What is usually celebrated collectively like that is the passage of a king or a great man amongst us.
“But we had to do this for Obasanjo because he is the real face of Ibogun. We call him the emblem of Ibogun land because anywhere you go and you say you are from Ibogun, people will call you ‘Obasanjo’s child’. And we are proud of that. It is an emblem that has opened many doors and also closed many doors.
“Even if you commit an offence and soldiers or policemen wanted to deal with you ruthlessly, once you mention Ibogun, they will soft pedal before doing anything to you. That is how important Obasanjo is to us here. So, it should not surprise you that we chose to celebrate his 80th birthday in grand style as a community,” a family source at the former President’s Bankole compound in the village told The Nation.
But another source, an octogenarian who was introduced to The Nation as a cousin of the former president, said she did not take part in the celebration because Obasanjo does not know her. The aged woman, speaking to our correspondent in front of a building said to have been rebuilt by Obasanjo few years back after the original mud structure collapsed due to age, added that it is those Obasanjo helped with his position who organised the party.
“I didn’t know they did anything here. I was not there and I did not contribute anything to it, though I heard that Obasanjo is celebrating 80 years birthday. I know him as my younger brother but he doesn’t know me. I am a daughter of Bankole, his grandfather. He doesn’t know me as such. But he used to come here and greet me very well.
“When he was here as a boy, we knew ourselves and used to be friends. But you know he later went to Congo. He forgot us. We didn’t forget him. But if he comes here to greet me, I greet him too. See his house there, I don’t go there but he comes here if he is around. But the many people he has helped did the party for him,” she said.
Ibogun as popular as Obasanjo
But speaking to The Nation about the former president, another cousin of his, who is also the Oluwo of Ibogun, High Chief Fayinka Adeoye, insisted that the party was organised in honour of Obasanjo by the entire town. According to him, no son or daughter of Ibogun would say Obasanjo is not important to the town.
However, Adeoye, who lives next door to Obasanjo’s mansion in the rustic village, was quick to add that the decision of the people to celebrate the former president on his birthday was not because the town has benefited greatly from him in terms of development and infrastructure, but because Obasanjo, with his rise in national and international politics, put the name of Ibogun on the world map.
“Ibogun is as popular as Obasanjo. That is why we decided to celebrate our illustrious son. Without Obasanjo, who will even hear of Ibogun, not to talk of knowing our village here? Many personalities have been here. Jonathan was here a few days ago. It is because God gave us a man like Obasanjo.”
The Chief Priest of Ibogun however added subtly that the popularity Obasanjo brought to Ibogun did not come with commensurate infrastructural development. He lamented what he called the “sorry state of a town that has produced a man like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,” saying it is sad that his place of birth is yet to feel any meaningful government presence.
“To celebrate him, we contributed N2,000 each here in Ibogun. It was our decision to do that for him. But what we are celebrating is more of the popularity he has brought to the town than the development he brought. Obasanjo, though older than me, is my cousin. People do tell me we look alike. He is a grandson of Bankole, who is also my own grandfather.
“Bankole it was who gave birth to his father and my father. Ibogun is known, but not developed. You can see things for yourself. Imagine the road you drove on while coming in here. That road has been like that for years while we continue to beg successive government to attend to it. And our son has been president thrice since 1976.
“It is my candid opinion that with Obasanjo’s status, it is very bad that the Coker/Ibogun road from Ifo down here is in that sorry state. Many governors, from Osoba to Daniel and even Amosun, have been promising to fix that road as a mark of honour to Baba.
“If it were to be another person, that road
would have been done into multiple lanes since. But because our son is a man called Obasanjo who cannot use his influence to force people to do something for his people, the governors have been ignoring Ibogun, his ancestral home. I can only beg Governor Amosun to write his name in history for good by respecting and honouring Baba Obasanjo with that road. Baba deserves that from him,” he stated.
Adeoye opined that unlike other towns that have produced leaders for the country, Ibogun is nothing to write home about. “We have read about Otuoke and Oghara. We have heard of what Daniel and even Amosun did in their towns. Ibogun has not been that lucky at all. And it has to do with the type of person our baba, Obasanjo, is,” he said.
OBJ in the eyes of his people
“If I am to describe baba, I will mince no word in telling you that he is a very nice person. He is extremely nice and good natured. I have never seen a big man who is as nice and good natured as Obasanjo. He has no air around him. His approach to life and living is exceptionally nice. You can hardly fault him in that regard.
“Whenever he is here, you will find him among his people, moving from house to house and relating with us like we are his equals. His gate is always opened for all to come in and see him. When he is eating, it is always a feast for all. He regards the people of Ibogun as his flesh and blood and we see him in the same light.
“You must not be surprised if you find Obasanjo sharing sugarcane or roasted plantain (booli) with a farm hand here in Ibogun. I recall an incident. One of these Igede boys helping us to clear our farmlands was eating roasted plantain one day along the road. He didn’t know Baba was coming behind him. Baba suddenly snatched the plantain from him and ate it.
“The boy was ecstatic. He went about the whole village telling everybody Obasanjo ate his plantain. It was as if something miraculous touched his life. He nearly refused to use that hand to do anything for weeks. Those are the kind of behaviours that endear Baba to us here. Whenever he is in Ibogun, he feels at home among his people,” Oluwo Adeoye said.
Babalola Akinside, a youth leader, also attested to Obasanjo’s nice nature. He recalled several instances when the octogenarian former president had given school children lifts in his car from Ibogun junction to their various homes before departing to his own house. “He is a nice person no doubt,” he said.
“I have witnessed him giving school children and other people lift in his cars on occasions. I observed that he would drop them all at their homes before departing for his own house or wherever he was going. He is not the usual aloof and segregated person people take him for, whenever he is here in Ibogun.
“He is also a listening person. We have had the opportunity of being hosted and listened to by him in his house as youths of Ibogun. He would hear you all out no matter the length of time it takes for you all to speak. He would then take his time to answer all your questions, one after the other.” Akinside added.
Just as the people are unanimous in their perception of OBJ as a nice person, it appears they also share the belief that the former president is not much of a giver. The Nation learnt from indigenes of the town that aside the fact that Obasanjo has not attracted much development to his birth place, it is rare to see or hear of him doling out cash as gifts.
“When it comes to money, I cannot say much about Baba. I have not heard of him giving out money. I am yet to ask him for financial help though, so I cannot say whether he is stingy or not. But I am aware that it is a common saying here that if you ask Baba for money for anything, either as an individual or as a group, he will not give you,” Akinside said.
Funny experiences
Oluwo Adeoye also regretted that giving is not one of his older cousin’s virtues. According to the herbalist, “Obasanjo cannot give you money; and he cannot allow you to get money from anybody through him. I think it is a personal principle.”
Adeoye recalled an incident that happened during the recent visit of another former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to Obasanjo in Ibogun.
“You will recall that Baba played host to Jonathan and his people here that day. Our people were so happy to have the two men among us. We all went there to join Baba in welcoming his guests. As it is his usual practice, he received us all very well and went ahead to introduce us to Jonathan one by one.
“When it got to my turn, he told Jonathan that I am the Chief Priest of the town who usually offers supplication and prays for the people and himself at all times. Jonathan was impressed and he asked for his bag. As he dipped his hand into the bag and made to give me some money, Baba just grabbed his hand and shook his head.
“Many people were surprised but I was not. That is how Obasanjo is. It is a matter of principle for him and those of us who are his blood relatives have come to accept him as he is. I think he believes if you must have money, you have to work for it and not expect him or anybody to just dash you free money.”
Asked if he was not angered by the former president’s action on that day, Adeoye said he wasn’t in any way angry. “If you know him, you will understand why I wasn’t angered by his action. We are used to him that way. Everything is not about money. He is useful for us in many other ways. He doesn’t give out money. But that is not to say he is stingy.”
Asked if he could recall any act of philanthropy by Obasanjo, Adeoye narrated how without being asked or prompted, rebuilt about ten collapsed mud houses in the town some years back and handed them back to the original owners without demanding anything.
“The original mud houses collapsed due to old age and the owners couldn’t rebuild them. Baba came and saw them in that state and decided to do something about them. Nobody asked him for help, he just did it,” he recalled.
The name Obasanjo
The Nation also learnt that the former president is the only person in the town bearing the name “Obasanjo” as a surname. It was gathered also that Obasanjo is the only male child of his mother who survived into adulthood. His half-brothers by his father’s other wives are not bearing Obasanjo, but Bankole or Adebayo as the case may be.
“Baba is the only one bearing Obasanjo here. The name is his father’s name. The full pronunciation is ‘Obaluayesanjo’. His own full name is Sangosegun. His half brothers are not bearing their father’s name as surname. They stuck to their grandfather or great-grandfather’s names, Bankole and Adebayo.
“Obasanjo has always been a special person right from childhood. So we heard. He is older than me and he even left Ibogun for Congo before we grew up. So all we know about him are the things we heard from our own fathers and mothers who knew him as a child and young man. His decision to choose the name Obasanjo can only be explained by him alone.
“As we celebrate him today, we are asking him to use the latter part of his life more for the glory of God and the development of his hometown. He is a wonderful person and God placed him among us for specific reasons. He must allow God to use him for us and our ancestral home,” Oluwo Adeoye added.
