The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Remembering

  • Remembering and empowering youth

    Let us think and act INTERGENERATIONALLY.

    Always. Planning always to include the youth. We shall digress this week from our planned discourse on nation and nationhood, to engage Professor Wole Soyinka’s positive and needed call for an economic conference of experts, consumers, as well as qualified and concerned citizens. Many have rightly pointed out that this was a necessary move that I also support if it will take our country out of our seeming economic and perhaps political quagmire. It is heartening that in this new political dispensation, voices of relevant and concerned people are noted and given a response. My contribution is to remind us to include the youth: invite their representatives and consult the youth widely as we also listen to them without condescension or bullying. We hope that in this new democracy of change, we shall avoid the culture of bullying our citizens as they are not subjects of their ruling class. The political class should always remember that they are servants of the citizens who have been put in place to do what is best for the citizenry as well as recognize that they are not a master class but a servant one if we are following the tenets of democracy that we claim to be practicing. This caveat applies also to the adult citizens, not only youth. No bullying of citizens.

    Whom do we consider the youth? I would think we mean young people of 40 years and under. It would not be a new event in our experience as Africans to include such ages in our social and public organizations of our society if we look back into our past and our indigenous traditions. Including youth would not be only an idea from the West or the United Nations for African societies always had a place for youth in many ways. Not only in war but in life-supporting human activities such as farming, building and clearing roads, helping to administer justice, organizing in social events and celebrations that help to define the community and provide sheer pleasure. They often had their own chieftaincies too conferred by and respected in the larger society. In my father’s town, they were called the Gbara, as I learned. My belief in the recognition of our youth caused me to be quite pleased when I noticed the involvement in many ways of the Egba youth in the celebration of the life of Lisabi, the founder of the Egba (the people of Abeokuta) people.

    We could make more of a practice of looking back into our indigenous past not only for carnivals but for constructive organizations that will help our present and our future, give us our identities and keep the youth busy. I have always been concerned with the social impact of our newly adopted ways of raising and educating children and youth that does not keep them occupied meaningfully with and usefully to the larger society between the ages of five and 18 for instance or give them leadership for instance in organizing the beautiful and highly creative Atilogwu Dance. Instead of engaging in socially organized and recognized social activities, they are left to wander around society trying to find their own amusements and running into trouble with crime and physically abusive activities. Lacking guidance or attention from adults and the larger society, they obsess with the imitation of foreign societies that they do not know or understand, the world of cell phones and television and new modes of crime as they suffer from sheer confusion and boredom.

    It was never so in the past and it is being suggested here that the energy and creativity of youth be harnessed in our new national dispensation. I have often wondered to myself if the rage of cults and cultism in the society do not derive from the neglect and boredom of youths. By neglect is meant the fact of not being educated culturally by adults who are confused between modernity and their own culture, who themselves mimic what they think is modernity as they pursue the new ideal of money by any means necessary and neglect the cultural raising and development of their offspring. Since the larger society does not guide them or innovate modern patterns of activities of their own, the young make up their own consisting of gruesome notions of what they think is African and traditional: initiation ceremonies of murder, mayhem and the abuse of women (the girls who are fought over and shared by them, dominated in a mixture of bad Hollywood and what they think is African culture as no parent or adult taught them or helped to find what is African. Perhaps such energies can be taken over by governance, absorbed into organizational and public structures and used to give youth a sense of usefulness and respect from adults. Perhaps it would help if the youth are given recognized positions of leadership in the modern dispensations in their villages, towns and governmental organizations.  I was at a conference in Senegal where students who were members of parliament came to represent their country, Mali.

    Such absorption of youth into social and governmental life, finding useful and relevant patterns from our traditional cultures can only happen if we still respect our various cultures and do not despise them as seems to be the condition now for many religious organizations teach youth and the whole country that everything African is demonic. This rage of internalized racism and self-despisal needs to be engaged and stopped in the new educational curricula and the development of children and citizenry that we are thinking of now and are also necessary. Self-respecting nations like Japan and others do take from their past and their own cultures as they love and respect them unlike us… They are reputed for instance also adapt those cultures to meet modern needs as is reported that Japanese social patterns of authority are adopted in their factory system and other businesses. The Japanese studied, mastered and dominated electronic technology without considering themselves therefore inferior to the Westerners from whom they learnt.

    We seem to think that worship, adoration and self-despisal must go with learning from a culture perhaps because we think culture is biological, but culture is not biological. Anything created by human beings anywhere is the heritage of all humanity as interculturality, learning from and borrowing are habits of all humanity. And that is why we must study our history, world history and the histories of other peoples to understand how achievements are made in those societies.  The British are reputed to have studied the Romans to build their own empire of Britannia as other peoples did before them. We often say we no longer know the African cultures; yes, maybe but we can read about them; study them for all sources in museums and libraries from all over the world. That is what was and is done by other peoples to learn their own cultures and know what to choose for modernity. The average Britisher or French person does not necessarily know his or her history but those who build nations and institutions read, study for the important work of nation building in which they are engaged. Our Nigerian political and ruling classes travel a great deal; they could find the time to visit places and study.

  • Remembering January 15, 1966

    Remembering January 15, 1966

    On Saturday, January 15, 1966, 50 years ago, five Army majors and accomplices of the Nigerian military seized power, overturning the democratically-elected civilian coalition federal government of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. It was the first time the military  intervened directly in Nigeria’s political affairs. The coup was bloody, leading to the death of several key political figures, including the Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, his Finance Minister, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, the Northern Region Premier, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Western Region Premier, Chief Ladoke Akintola. In the course of the military coup d’état, scores of senior military officers, some of the best in the Nigerian Army, were also killed.

    It is a date that I will always remember, but not simply because the first ever military coup in Nigeria took place on that day. Rather, it is because it was the day that I had chosen to marry and proceed to London on my first diplomatic posting abroad. I had joined the Foreign Service in 1964 on graduating from the then University College, Ibadan, and looked forward eagerly to my first posting abroad. That date, January 15, 1966, also my wedding day, turned out to be ominous. In my memoires, Lest I Forget’, published in 2013, nearly 50 years after, I have made some brief references to the events of January 15, 1966, as they affected me personally Some of the materials in this article are from the memoires.

    There had, for some time, been rumours of an imminent military coup in Nigeria, but very few really took those rumours seriously. Although there had been a lot of tension in the country in the wake of the lingering political crises in the then Western Region, the Nigerian Army had a solid reputation as a professional, loyal and stable army that was unlikely to stage a coup against the federal government. It had been involved in maintaining peace under UN forces in the Congo in 1960-61, and in 1962 and 1963 had helped the governments of Uganda and Tanzania to put down the rebellion of their own armies. So, most people ignored the persistent rumours of an imminent army coup. As we were to learn later, even the Balewa federal government ignored intelligence reports that a military coup against the government was in the offing. The coup took everyone by surprise. The coup destroyed the professional reputation of the Nigerian Army.

    I woke up early that Saturday morning on January 15 to prepare for both my wedding in the morning at 10 am and my departure with my wife for London in the evening. I left home early for my wedding that Saturday morning thinking of only my wedding and my departure for London later in the evening. Suddenly, I saw a convoy of military vehicles, including APCs behind my car, at Kingsway, Ikoyi, driving furiously, with their sirens blaring. This was quite unusual in those days. I recognised the head of the Nigerian Army, Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi, in the lead car and quickly pulled my car off the road, after which I proceeded to my wedding without being unduly worried about the military convoy. The wedding over, we had planned a modest reception at my residence for our family and friends. But as we were leaving after the wedding, there were a lot of whispers that there had been a bloody coup in the country. Military check points and APCs began to appear all over Lagos. There were also reports that military checkpoints had emerged in the regional capitals of Ibadan, Kaduna, Benin and Enugu, and that both the Sardauna and Chief Akintola had been killed in the coup. But these reports could not yet be confirmed. The telephone lines had been cut,

    Obviously, we could not in that tense and uncertain situation hold a wedding reception. At mid-day, there was a terse announcement on Radio Nigeria that ‘some dissident elements of the Nigerian Army ‘had abducted Prime Minister Balewa and his Finance Minister, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and that their whereabouts  were unknown. The situation in Lagos was very tense and confusing. I felt irritated that the coup had occurred on our wedding day. In fact, I had been attached to Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus who was in Nigeria for the meeting in Lagos of the Commonwealth heads of governments. I was to have accompanied him to Enugu on his official visit there, but as I was proceeding to London, another officer replaced me. Otherwise, I would have been with him in Enugu when the army majors struck. He was brought back to Lagos hurriedly and flown out of the country.

    The wedding over, my wife and I returned to our residence and, in the midst of the melodrama in Lagos, continued with our wedding arrangements. Our flight by British Airways to London from Ikeja Airport was scheduled for 10 pm. But in view of the widespread disturbances in Lagos, we decided to leave home early at 6 pm for the airport. But we could not, at first, get to the airport. We were turned back by an unruly band of soldiers at the Ikeja military Cantonment. They appeared ready to shoot at the slightest provocation. There was a complete breakdown of law and order in Lagos. Then my late mother in-law, a matron at a Yaba hospital, offered us an ambulance to take us to the airport. We accepted her kind offer, but we were not sure how the soldiers would respond to our ploy. Happily, we scaled through unhurt. The ambulance was searched but we were waved through. The soldiers believed we were on a genuine mercy mission.

    When we arrived at the airport at 9:30 pm there were a lot of British school children returning home after their holiday in Nigeria with their parents. It was not until midnight that the plane was cleared for take-off. We were stressed but relieved that we had finally left the chaos in Lagos behind us. We discovered later that all our friends and relations, including my father, who had gone to the airport to see us off on that day, were subsequently delayed at the airport for two days before being released.

    We thought our ordeal was over, but this was not quite the case. When our plane landed at Kano airport at 1am, a military officer, who I recognised as Lt.-Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, boarded the plane with some armed guards and conducted another search of every passenger on board the aircraft. He looked very stern. When he got to me and saw my diplomatic passport, he demanded angrily to know what the purpose of my mission to London was. I told him I was going there on posting. Not satisfied with my response, he ordered that I should disembark from the plane. I was then taken to a small military guardroom for further interrogation after which I was allowed to return to the plane. It was difficult to tell from his action whose side he was on, the federal government, or the coupists. Later, I came to the conclusion that he was simply an opportunist, who had decided to make the best of a confused situation in the Army. It is unlikely that he was personally involved in the coup plot.

    When we arrived at London’s Heathrow  Airport early on Sunday morning, I was totally unprepared for the rowdy reception we got there. We were the first passengers to arrive in London after the coup in Nigeria. The airport swarmed with journalists and camera crew eager to have first news about the disturbing situation in Nigeria. I was bombarded by the press with questions about the tragic events in Nigeria. As I knew very little about the situation in Nigeria, I declined all requests for my comments.

    The experienced protocol officer, who met us at Heathrow, rushed me and my wife to a private waiting room, away from the prying eyes of the media men. We were driven off and taken to a hotel at The Strand, near Trafalgar Square. There he handed me a note from the acting High Commissioner, Mr. (later) Justice L.J. Dosumu, inviting my wife and I for lunch at his residence. He was naturally eager to be briefed about the coup in Nigeria, but I had very little information that could be useful to him. Telephone lines to Nigeria had been cut. It was not until several days later that the British press reported the horrifying events that had taken place in Nigeria on that Saturday, January 15, 1966, including the death of Prime Minister Balewa, the Sardauna and Chief Akintola.

    In his broadcast on Radio Kaduna on the day of the coup, Major Nzegwu, the leader of the coup, claimed that “the aim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong, united and prosperous nation, free from corruption and national strife…Our enemies are the political profiteers, swindlers, the men in the high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 per cent, those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers and VIPs of waste….We do promise you freedom from fear and freedom from general inefficiency.” Very strong and idealistic words which the military never kept. Nigeria was laid bare and devastated after 29 long years of military rule. It is worse off today than it was on January 15, 1966.

    I was in the High Commission in London when the country erupted into civil war in 1967. When the war ended in January, 1970, I was at Trinity College, Oxford.

  • Remembering the ‘Black Scorpion’

    Remembering the ‘Black Scorpion’

    He was one of Nigeria’s Civil War heroes whose exploits hit the mythical realm. In death, he is being celebrated for his contribution to the peace and stability of the nation, Veterian Journalist Oloye ’lekan Alabi writes in this tribute to the late  Brigadier-General Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle. 

    The family of the hero of the Nigeria Civil War, the late Brigadier-General Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle (retired) has, in a full-page advertisement in The Nation on Sunday issue of September 13, announced the first memorial programme for the gentleman officer, who became famous worldwide while commanding the elite 3rd Marine Commando Division of the Nigerian Army during the Civil War (1967 -1970). The four-day programme begins tomorrow.

    The late Brigadier – General Adekunle, alias “Black Scorpion” was my hero, as he was to millions of Nigerians and foreigners alike, and besides was, with due respect, my older friend and guide. I admired and still admire, the professional soldier, sometimes brash when conditions demanded, though.

    When the late hero died on September 13, last year, aged 77, following was the tribute, published in some national newspapers, written by me in honour and remembrance of the great soldier. May his valiant soul continue to rest in perfect peace. Amen.

    “Nigeria’s civil war hero, Brigadier Benjamin Maja Adekunle, alias “Black Scorpion”  died in Lagos, on Saturday 13, September, this year aged, 77 years. May his gallant soul rest in peace. Amen.

    “Typical of Nigeria’s opportunistic class, crocodile tears and absurd tributes will, and indeed have started, be pouring in torrents to the departed professional soldier and gentleman officer, nationalist and self-effacing hero. Genuine heartfelt condolences will be far and in between for the late retired Brigadier – General Adekunle.

    “For a deserving citizen who had contributed so much to keep Nigeria a united country, clear the Lagos port during the self-inflicted, through government planlessness, congestion of the early 1970’s among other patriotic deeds, who was shamefully ignored, out of envy, pettiness and fickleness by successive governments, it is too late to now shed crocodile tears / pour hackneyed tributes to the “Black Scorpion”.

    “In my rejoinder to a former Sunday Punch newspaper editor’s jaundiced and unfair comments on another nationalist, Nigeria’s first Federal Minister of Social Services and Natural Resources, prodigy and ebullient politician, the late Adegoke Adelabu, alias “Penkelemesi”, published in The Punch newspaper issue on Wednesday, 14 November, 2007 (page 13), I wrote inter alia: “Due to reasons that we all know very well, Adelabu and other nationalists in his hue (Adekunle Fajuyi, Aminu Kano, Eyo Ita, Adaka Boro, Mbonu Ojike, Benjamin Adekunle etc) are deprived of history’s fair treatment by an ungrateful country”. That was my comment on Nigeria’s ingratitude to Benjamin Adekunle seven years ago when he was still alive.

    “In choosing a title for this tribune, I struggled with the above, “Don’t Cry for Him Nigeria” and Don’t Cry for Me, Nigeria”, a variant of the 1970’s chart buster, “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”, dedicated to Isabella, the late wife of the also late Argentinean dictator, General Peron. Why did I drop the Peron variant? One, Adekunle  never begged Nigeria to honour or mourn him and unlike the Perons, Adekunle was a patriot and complete Nigerian, if one considers the fact that his father, Thomas Adekunle, was Yoruba, mother, Amina Theodora, a Bachama from Adamawa and first wife, Comfort Akie Wilcox, from Bonny.

    “In my formative (teenage) years, Benjamin Adekunle was one of my heroes. Others were my late paternal grandmother, Mama Asmau Odunola, the women leader of the now defunct NCNC in Ibadan, under Adegoke Adelabu, Adelabu himself, Obafemi Awolowo, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Alimi Adesokan, Muhammad Ali, Pele, ’Wole Soyinka, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Yusuf Olatunji a.k.a “Baba L’egba”. As seasons fell on themselves, the portfolio of my heroes/ role models grew, and may still grow when individuals display talent, integrity, patriotism and fairness.

    “The Nigeria / Biafra civil war (1967 to Jan. 1970) threw up Brigadier Adekunle as a professional soldier, strategist and myth. I soaked up his warfare fame and made known to him, though letters, ad I did to Professor ’Wole Soyinka, while an untried political prisoner at the Kaduna Prison in 1967, courtesy of the retired General Yakubu Gowon – led Federal Military Government, my admiration of his (Adekunle) war exploits.

    “In 1983, when I became a press secretary to the then governor of old Oyo State (present Oyo and Osun States) the late Chief ’Bola Ige and also to three military successors of Ige (retired Major – General Oladayo Popoola, retired Brigadier – General Adetunji Olurin and retired Brigadier – General Sasaniea Oresanya), the paths of the late Brigadier Adekunle and my humbleself crossed.

    “Of our encounters, I recall here his courtesy visit to me in July 1999, sequel to my appointment as the Managing Director of Sketch Press Limited, Ibadan (although designated as co-ordinator) by the then newly – sworn in Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti States. Before their election as governors though, Odua Investment Company Limited, owned by the five states named above, had been saddled by the five former military administrators of the states to oversee the affairs of Sketch. I was seconded from ODU’A in 1998, where I was the substantive Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs, to run the affairs of Sketch, pro bono, as Coordinator. Later, ODU’A conducted interviews for a new management for Sketch and I handled over to the new Managing Director, Mr. Biodun Oduwole.

    “But, with the advent of civilian governments in Nigeria in May 1999, ODU’A states inclusive, the five governors of ODU’A states, as explained earlier, sacked the Sketch Board and Management, and asked me to take over the newspaper company’s affairs again – also pro bono. It was during my second coming, as it were, in the capacity as acting Managing Director of Sketch that the late Brigadier Adekunle sent his Personal Assistant to me to deliver his congratulatory message and book an appointment for a courtesy visit. On the chosen day of the visit; my guest in keeping with military tradition arrived the now defunct Sketch Press Limited office on Oba Adebimpe Road, Dugbe, Ibadan, some minutes earlier than the appointed time. The Sketch has since been demolished to give way to a shopping mall.

    “I, with my management team, received him at the gate and led the late Brigadier – General Adekunle to the MD’s office on the last floor of the three – storey building. Protocol over, he asked me to tell him the circumstances that led to my appointment as the Coordinator of the Sketch Press Limited.

    “I narrated the story to him and as I was about rounding off, he asked “Mr Coordinator, do you have a letter of appointment as the acting Managing Director of the Sketch from the governors?”

    “I replied in the negative, as I was verbally appointed by the governors without even any mention of an allowance to me! Brigadier-General Adekunle shook his head and bellowed that I should head the following day of his visit, to the late Governor Lam Adesina of Oyo State (the ‘overseer’ of the Sketch Press Limited, to obtain a “formal letter of authority (appointment”.

    “He told me that his advice was based on his “bitter experience” as the emergency manager (actually Military Commandant) of the Lagos Port, Apapa, from where he was unceremoniously eased out, after cleaning the port (Cement armanda) congestion in the 1970s, after he had been recalled from the war front.

    “Thank God, I heeded Brigadier Adekunle’s advice to demand and obtain a formal letter of appointment, among other words of wisdom (advice, if your prefer) that he gave freely to me.

    “Sometime last year, his wife visited the late Aare Musulumi of Yoruba land, Alhaji Abdul Azeez Arisekola Alao, at his Oluwo, Ibadan home. I was present. She complained to Aare that her husband’s ONLY plot of land on one of the Oyo State Government’s Reserved Areas (GRA) in Ibadan, was about to be acquired or taken over. True to his kind nature, Alhaji Arisekola promised to make enquires about the acquisition threat. When Mrs. Adekunle visited the Aare again early this year on the land matter, I was also present.

    “Alhaji Arisekola Alao had intervened on the late Brigadier-General Adekunle’s behalf on the premise that “heroes/patriots like General Adekunle should not be made to suffer over a plot of land which was legally acquired by him”.

    “May the patriotic and kind souls of Alhaji Alao and Brigadier-General Adekunle rest in peace. Amen. In concluding this tribute, I admonish political leaders and public officers to honour our heroes/patriots in their lifetime. Please put an end to the insultive posthumous ‘oju aye’ (belated and filthy) awards / tributes.

    “A word for our youth, please borrow the “I can – do” attitude of the late Brigadier-General Adekunle, who as a nine – year old in 1945, upon the death of his father, ‘Strengthened my resolve to take matters into my own hands. I resolved to leave home and look for someone to serve, in exchange for educational support”. He ran away from his family’s home in Jos, roamed the streets for several days before finding his way to the home of Reverend Ayiogu whom he (Adekunle) persuaded to employ him (Adekunle) as a domestic servant on a salary of one shilling and six pence a month.

    “Please don’t cry now, Nigeria, for Adekunle. It is too late. May the valiant soul of this great soldier and selfless nationalist rest in peace. Amen.”

     

    • Oloye Alabi is the Aare Alaasa Olubadan of Ibadanland.

  • Remembering an icon

    The fifth Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Colloquium has been held at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) last Thursday; it featured presentation of awards to some personalities, reports OLATUNDE ODEBIYI.

    The event kicked off after the entry of the Lagos State Governor, Batunde Raji Fashola. He entered in company of his crew amid shouts and claps by the gathering. Fashola looked charming on black suit and pair of glasses; he was all smiles and headed straight to his reserved seat.

    Guests including, politicians, captains of industries, legal practitioners, lecturers and students, filled the main auditorium of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) last Thursday. They came in choice outfit as there was no uniform attire for the occasion.

    The stage, high table and pulpit were decorated with yellow and blue fabric. A bevy of beautiful women dressed in black with blue rose on their chest led guests to seats; some sat in the gallery.

    It was the fifth Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Colloquium 2014, organized by Gani Fawehinmi Students’ Chambers (GFSC) of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG). The topic was “consolidating democratic norms through credible electoral process”.

    The late Chief Abdul-Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi was an activist who struggled for emancipation of the masses. He bagged the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM), Senior Advocate of Labour (SAL) and finally Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He died in Lagos on September 5, 2009 after a protracted battle with the cancer of the lung at 71 and was buried in his Ondo hometown on September 15, 2009.

    The duo of Oliver Omoredia and Omolade Afonja anchored the event. It started with the national anthem and guests were introduced.

    In his welcome address, the host, Dean, Faculty of Law, UNILAG, Prof Akin Ibidapo-Obe thanked Fashola for his immense contribution to the development of the school and for his presence at the colloquium.

    He said the late Gani stood for the masses.

    The Head of Gani Fawehinmi Students’ Chambers, Mr Henry Ikwunemere, described Gani as a man who fought relentlessly for the enthronement of democracy and rule of law.

    “He was a dogged fighter, social crusader of extra-ordinary moral fiber and an unequalled public interest litigator who consistently confronted the menace of institutionalised injustice, wanton official corruption and excruciating poverty unleashed on hapless Nigerians by tiny rapacious ruling elites,” he said.

    He described the late Gani as a man that did a yeoman’s job in emancipating Nigerians from the jackboots of the military.

    “In fighting those wars, he was traumatised, beaten, incarcerated and brutalised severally but, he stood out as a selfless, altruistic, benevolent, public-spirited and humanitarian citizen,” he said.

    He said the topic of the colloquium was not only in view of the fast approaching 2015 general elections but also captures the ideals and struggle of Gani.

    After the address, Yetunde Afonja took to the stage to read Gani’s citation.

    The chairman on the occasion, first Governor of Imo State and former governor of Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubusi Kanu (rtd) said there is need to structure government on the right foundation.

    He told the guests to rise up and recite some words after him, in honour of the late Gani.

    Governor Fashola citation followed. It was read by Oluwadara Oluwafemi.

    Fashola who was the guest speaker, urged Nigerians to guard the nation’s democracy jealously by shunning acts that could weaken or truncate it.

    He noted that the late Gani was a brand that was built on the best values that the society should aspire for.

    Fashola said: “His brand was built on hard work, justice and fair play, rule of law and equality before the law, anti corruption, public accountability, freedom of expression and speaking the truth to the power.

    “Gani’s values had nothing to do with race, religion or tribe; they had everything to do with common good.”

    A session of photographs followed with the governor and some of the guests.

    Chief Fawehinmi’s first daughter, Mrs Basi Fawehinmi-Biobaku who represented the Gani Fawehinmi family thanked the gathering for the gesture.

    She identified justice and uprightness as two major attributes that people should emulate from her late father.

    “We should be accountable for what we do to have a better society, this was what daddy was always after,” she said.

    The presentation of awards and certificate followed.

    Governor Fashola and his Osun State counterpart Rauf Aregbesola were given the award of ‘Icon of democracy and good governance’. Governor Aregbesola was represented by his commissioner for special duties, Mr Ajibola Bashiru.

    Other awardees included, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, she was represented by Mr Akineye Oluwafemi; Prof Itse Sagay SAN; Prof Ibidapo-Obe and the Chief Executive Officer, Mai Group, Mr Micheal Enyinnanya, who was represented by his wife, Ifeoma. They were awarded for their support to the development of the GFSC.

    The past and present executives of the GFSC were given certificate of excellence in recognition of their outstanding performance and invaluable contributions to the GFSC in the year 20143/2014 academic session.

    In his closing remarks, Rear Admiral Kanu thanked the gathering for their support and time spent. He prayed that the person to take over from Fashola would be as good as or better than him.

  • Remembering a beloved father

    Remembering a beloved father

    The one-year remembrance prayer for Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola, father of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, was held at Surulere Secondary School last Tuesday, reports TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO

    It looks like yesterday, but it has been one year since Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola lost his father Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola. Last Tuesday, the Fashola family gathered at the Surulere Secondary School on Ladipo Labinjo Crescent to mark the one year remembrance. Fashola and his wife Dame Emmanuella Abimbola were in their element, attending to guests.

    Alhaji Fashola, died on August 5, last year. He was 80.

    Officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) ensured free flow of traffic on Akerele and Bode Thomas streets linking Ladipo Labinjo Crescent.

    Security personnel directed guests to the venue and ensured that things were in order. Inside the expansive school premises, guests sat under a tastefully decorated giant canopy for the prayer session; the other canopies were reserved for the reception.

    Fashola sat in the front row facing the clerics. With him were his father’s widow, Mrs Cecilia Omolara Fashola, children and other family members.

    Members of the State Executive Council, members of the National and Lagos State House of Assembly, local government chairmen and royal fathers were represented.

    Prayers were offered by prominent Islamic clerics under the leadership of Chief Imam of Lagos Sheikh Garuba Akinola Ibrahim  and Baba Adinni of Lagos Sheikh AbdulHafeez Abou.

    The event was anchored by one of Fashola’s aides, Alhaji Shakiru AbdulGafar popularly called Mofesaye.

    The clerics took turns to pray for the late Fashola, his family, Lagos and Nigeria.

    The Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria Chief Missioner, Sheikh AbdurRahman Ahmad, delivered a short sermon.

    He enjoined the gathering to always remember that death would come one day, followed by judgement.

    According to Ahmad, it should be the preoccupation of man to invest his resources in propagating the works of Allah because He is the one that has invested man with the good things of life, including sound health, intelligence and wealth.

    Sheikh Ibrahim enjoined the children to be united and continue with the legacy of their father.

    The first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, said the late Fashola was a nice man.

    Fashola described his father as a disciplinarian and a man of integrity, who lived an exemplary life. His father’s life, he added, taught everyone a lesson in contentment.

    The governor said his father’s life revolved around people, adding that he spent  time to build an extensive family including not just his relations, but also those whose life he impacted.

    “We are sad that he is not here; we are proud to hold on to the love and the values he lived by – being his brother’s keeper, being contented in whatever situation we may found ourselves and serving God and serving humanity,” Fashola said.

    Aladeshonyi of Noforija in Epe Oba Babatunde Onalaja described the late Fashola as a humble man.

    “He was very accommodating and loved his family dearly,” he said.

    Oba Onalaja enjoined the children to follow their father’s path. Mrs Fashola described her father-in-law as a peaceful man.

    “Daddy was a lovely man, gentle, kind and generous; when you are around him, you exprience peace. There is no problem you take to him that he didn’t take in his giant stride, advising you. After discussing it with him, the problem becomes solved.

    “He was a father to me; he was a father to all of us. He was always a reference point in the Fashola family, which is why we have so many people naming their child after him. We have a lot of Ademola in and outside our family,” she said.

    There was light music while the guests relished sumptuous meals and drinks.

  • Remembering Amb. Gabriel Oyaletor Ijewere

    It is my great honour and privilege to pay the following tribute to Amb. Gabriel Oyaletor Ijewere, one of our departed former colleagues being remembered today, as always, with a profound sense of loss. Amb. Ijewere and I first became acquainted in 1965 when he entered the Foreign Service as a middle level officer, a counsellor. I had entered the Foreign Service the year before on graduating from the University College, Ibadan. Though he was a senior colleague, we soon developed a good personal relationship. He was one of the few senior colleagues in the Foreign Service for whom I had a great professional admiration and genuine respect. It was he who encouraged me to go to Oxford. After we had both left the Foreign Service several years later, we had more time to socialise, visiting each other at home, and became really good friends. We met often at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club and dined regularly at the Metropolitan Club. We had a similar academic background and the wide range of social, professional and intellectual interests we shared drew us closer to each other. I found him to be a very engaging personality with a liberal world view.

    Amb. Ijewere was born on April 24, 1931, at Ubiaja, now in Edo State, and died in Lagos on 4th January, 2004. He was one of the finest and ablest career diplomats our country has ever produced. Until he retired in 1984 he served with distinction in various capacities, both in the Foreign Ministry and in some of our major diplomatic missions abroad. He started his public service career in the civil service of the old Western Region on graduating from Oxford University in 1959. He served there for three years as an Administrative Officer, and later as the Assistant Registrar (Academic) at the then University College, Ibadan, for two years.  It was from the university that he joined the Foreign Service.

    Amb. Ijewere entered the Foreign Service with a highly impressive academic background, certainly one of the most formidable among the senior diplomatic staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He had his secondary school education at the famous Abeokuta Grammar School from 1943 to 1948, where his principal was the legendary Revd. I.O. Ransome-Kuti. Of him Amb. Ijewere wrote several years later that the Revd. Ransome-Kuti taught accountability in the school by example. Amb. Ijewere left the school as head boy in 1948 at 17, remarkably young in those days, coming out with flying colours in his Cambridge School Certificate Examinations. Because of his brilliance, he was retained as a teacher in the school and studied privately for his GCE A levels. It was from Abeokuta that in 1953 he was admitted to the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE) to read Economics on the scholarship of the old Western Region government.

    After graduating from the LSE in 1956 at 25, he proceeded to St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, where he obtained the Oxford post-graduate degree of B. Litt. in 1959. Later, from 1961-62, while serving in the Western Region civil service, he went to Harvard for his MPA. Subsequently, Amb. Ijewere obtained a Ph.D by thesis from the University of London in Economics. Obviously, Amb. Ijewere had prepared himself for an academic career, but found himself instead in the diplomatic service which he grew to love and enjoy. He exemplified professional rectitude and integrity and embodied the best traditions of the old school of diplomacy.

    In the Foreign Service he held many sensitive and important positions. From 1965-66 he served as head of the Economic Division in the ministry and later, from 1970-72, as the Director of Africa Department. It was my distinct pleasure and privilege to have worked with him in both departments.  An outstanding public servant, Amb. Ijewere was one of the most versatile, professional, diligent, inspiring and committed officers it was my good fortune to have worked with in the ministry. His solid academic background was a tremendous asset to the departments in which he served in the ministry. He achieved much effortlessly. His analysis of foreign policy issues and international economic relations was very professional. His advice and recommendations to the government were consistently sound and in the best interest of the country. He had a great sense of duty and fully embraced the virtues of probity, honour, restraint, friendship, humility and generosity that are essential for a good diplomat.

    As the head of the International Economic Relations Department in the Foreign Ministry from 1978-1981, Amb. Ijewere played a major role in the development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its major economic institutions. Equally under his leadership, the Africa Department acquired a reputation as an outstanding department in the Foreign Ministry. He was head of the department soon after the civil war when, under General Yakubu Gowon, the country began redefining its African policy and strategic interests in Africa. Amb. Ijewere was at the centre of that review process. He worked very closely with General Gowon in the efforts to reassess and review Nigeria’s African policy. General Gowon once told me that he thought very highly of him as a fine and dedicated officer. In many ways, he was one of the unsung heroes of Nigeria’s new African policy. He took his official responsibilities very seriously.

    In the course of his diplomatic career, he served from 1967-68 as Counsellor and Head of Chancery in our Embassy in Washington and from 1968-70 in a similar capacity in our OAU Mission in Addis Ababa. From 1973-76 he was our High Commissioner in Ghana, and from 1976-78 he served as Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EEC. His last diplomatic posting from 1981-84 was as Permanent Representative (PR) and Ambassador to our UN office in Geneva. In all these positions he stood out as one of Nigeria’s most accomplished diplomats. After his retirement in 1984 he was appointed a member of the National Electoral Commission and continued to work as a Consultant to several UN agencies where he was highly regarded and held in high esteem.

    In the Foreign Service he was friendly with all his colleagues, fair-minded, decent and righteous, without being self-righteous. He stood above the petty bureaucratic intrigues in the ministry. Though a brilliant officer, he was not intellectually snobbish. He had a hearty laughter which drew all his colleagues to him. Amb. Ijewere was not simply a great technocrat and an outstanding public servant. He was also a great patriot and scholar who cared deeply about Nigeria’s future as a united, democratic, stable and prosperous country. A few years before his death, he published in 1999 his seminal book on “Accountability, Politics and Development in Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa’, in which he made a strong case for public accountability, democracy and federalism in Sub-Saharan Africa. I had the privilege of reviewing the book and consider it as one of the most impressive studies on post-colonial African politics in recent years. It deserves better public attention.

    We, his former colleagues in the Foreign Service, will always remember him with great affection, admiration and respect for his great sense of humour, his sincere friendship and his immense contribution to the development of the Foreign Service and Nigeria’s foreign policy.

    Amb. Ijewere was a good and devoted family man. He gave all his children the best education possible in public schools in England.

    May his soul and those of our other departed colleagues continue to rest in perfect peace.

    A speech delivered by Amb. Fafowora at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, on May 28 at a memorial service for deceased members of the Association of Retired Ambassadors of Nigeria (ARAN).

  • Remembering Segun Okeowo

    Last Tuesday, at 11.00am, I received an anonymous breaking news SMS from a reader – I guess – which simply read: “Chief Segun Okeowo, ex-student leader, is dead.” I replied immediately, paying glowing tribute to a man I never met but whose character, leadership qualities, doggedness and determination defined student unionism in a bygone era.

    I was in secondary school when the famous “Ali Must Go” demonstration – which became synonymous with the late activist – took place across the country. We, in our young minds, never knew what it was really about, but we joined the undergraduates in some of the protests in Lagos nonetheless.

    I never realised how student unionism has fallen until I wrote my three part series on the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) last year. After the publication of the first part, I received series of calls, emails and SMSs from students and stakeholders in the education sector. I was appalled at some of the allegations which I could not publish because I could not independently verify the allegations as they bother on the character and integrity of some individuals. But suffice it to say that I wept, and continue to weep for the so called “future leaders” of our great nation.

    I was specifically told of instances where the leadership of a faction of NANS hired street urchins, miscreants and “mercenaries” to join their demonstration when they couldn’t get real students to participate! Can you beat that! I was told they could not get the required student number because they were perceived as “government agents” working for dubious and corrupt politicians and public office holders. This is where we are today.

    It is scenarios like this that make one yearn for the ‘good old days’ of Okeowo and his contemporaries when student unionism had intellectual and ideological depth and relevance. Back then, students even prepare their own budgets to counter that of the military regime each year. Such was the level of their intellectual prowess.

    The late Okeowo was the President of the proscribed National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) who provided courageous leadership for the decisive students’ nationwide protest against the commercialisation of education by the then General Olusegun Obasanjo military regime in 1978.

    Christened “Ali Must Go,” the protest emanated from the order of the then Federal Commissioner of Education, Col. Ahmadu Ali, (yes, the same former PDP Chairman under Obasanjo’s civilian presidency) who announced the increase in tuition and feeding fees for all universities in the country. The students went on protest agitating for his immediate removal from office.

    It is quite instructive that Col. Ali, a medical doctor, was at a time NUNS president while he was an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan.

    The then Federal Military Government had increased the feeding fees from 50 kobo to 70 kobo! Can you believe that! Previously, the costs of eating at various campus cafeterias were: Breakfast, 10 Kobo; Lunch, 20 Kobo and Dinner, 20 Kobo, making a total of 50 Kobo for a three-square meal a day.

    With the new increase, breakfast cost 20 Kobo while lunch and dinner cost 25 Kobo each making a total of 70 Kobo per day.

    As expected under the military, response to the protest was swift and brutal. Akintunde Ojo, a student of the University of Lagos – Okeowo’s initial alma mater – and some other students were killed by agents of the Nigerian state. It didn’t stop there. NUNS was proscribed while Okeowo was arrested, physically assaulted and rusticated (expelled) from UNILAG. The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, another renowned activist then, took up his case and served as his legal counsel; his chambers also provided temporary refuge for him.

    He, however, completed his degree four years later at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1982, graduating with a second class honours degree in Literature in English, with the assistance of Professor Wole Soyinka and other radical lecturers who made his obtaining a full degree possible even at the risk of incurring the wrath of the military.

    Though the government stuck to its guns and the increment was never reversed, the protest, however, marked a watershed in the annals of students uprising in Nigeria as it conveyed to the military government, the shocking capacity for students to mobilise forces across the country. The protest was also significant for it helped to further mainstream student unionism as a national discourse, just as it showcased the power of students to agitate and force change.

    Okeowo continued his activism at Ife even in the face of oppression. It was little wonder that he was one of those who condemned the police killing of four students during a funeral procession at the University in 1981. Indeed he was one of those who testified to that effect before the administrative panel of enquiry set up by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), over the incident.

    The clampdown on radical student unionism and left-wing lecturers intensified under Obasanjo where many of them were either expelled as students or dismissed as lecturers across the campuses. This however, did not stop the agitations and by 1984, NANS (which emerged out of the ashes of NUNS), now armed with a Students’ Charter of Demands, picked the gauntlet to embark on a nationwide protests and boycott of classes, when the Buhari-Idiagbon regime attempted to further commercialise education, through the re-introduction of tuitions fees in the Universities.

    Like most radicals and idealists, Okeowo and his contemporaries were carried away by their radicalism and failed to understand the necessity of overcoming the challenges in the education sector through a focused and consistent struggle against bad leadership which transcend student unionism and dovetails into the organised labour movement.

    The NANS of nowadays is a far cry from the ideals of NUNS as it is at present split into factions and is now a platform for politicians to ‘connect to the youth of the nation.’ The present crop of student leaders would not lose a night’s sleep in collaborating with any government in power no matter the level of its anti-people educational policies. They are mainly interested in paying courtesy calls on state governors, who they approach to sponsor their conventions. Is it any wonder that after such ‘sponsorships’ the students would lack the moral right to criticise the government that sponsors them?

    Armed with his degree, and with age beginning to tell on him, Okeowo (who had a NCE certificate before gaining admission into the university) later pursued a commendable career as an educationist, rising to be principal in many schools in Ogun State such as Ogijo High School; Makun High School, both in Sagamu and Christ Apostolic Grammar School, Iperu Remo. He was appointed a commissioner in the Ogun State Electoral Commission, 1983; he was also member, Federal Government Panel of Enquiry on Ahmadu Bello University Students’ Crisis in 1986.

    His maturity equally led to his being appointed a member of the late Chief Rotimi William led 1976 Constitution Drafting Committee, (CDC), constituted to write what later became the 1979 Constitution by the same Obasanjo regime, though he was later removed from the committee.

    Okeowo was quite prominent in the activities of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS). His last stint was as Chairman of the Ogun State Teaching Service Commission from where he retired in 2011.

    This remarkable Nigerian who – through his actions – defined protests and students activism for his generation was criticised by some for not using his early rise to fame and prominence to drive social change and make a lasting impact at the national level. Such critics would have wished he used his experiences to groom young leaders who would have taken the gauntlet and moved into the future with it rather than being subsumed under the bureaucratic inertia of the civil service where he was later involved.

    This notwithstanding, Okeowo was a truly great, sincere and focused student union leader whose boldness has remained unmatched till date. His was a generation that fought and drove home the point that educational opportunities should be accessible for everyone who required it in Nigeria. Though unsung, he remains a hero to this writer, students of his era and some who may be reading this.

     

     

  • Remembering late Oba Adelabu (Ewi of Ado-Ekiti)

    SIR: Wednesday October 23, marked the 25th remembrance anniversary of His Royal Highness, Oba Adeyemi Adelabu (I). He reigned as the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti between 1983 and 1987.

    Though brief, Adeyemi’s reign was quite remarkable.

    He ascended the throne at a time Ekiti needed a forefront leader and a monarch that would re-engineer the ancient town in the wake of growth and development sweeping through Nigeria then. The late Oba felt Ekiti communities could not afford to lag behind. He then used his influence to mobilize the elites and sons and daughters of Ekiti towards the growth and development of Ado-Ekiti. The fruit of such efforts was the creation of Ekiti State with Ado-Ekiti as the capital.

    In the area of traditional institution, Adelabu’s reign brought radical changes into the Obaship institution. His prowess, glamorous life and exemplary leadership style amongst the then Ondo State monarchs became notable as smaller communities in Ekiti started installing younger and educated individuals as their monarchs.

    It is still painful that the late Oba Adeyemi could not wait to enjoy the fruits of his legacies; however, the children are grateful to God and are comforted by the knowledge that their late father was not only fulfilled in death; but lived a life of notable accomplishments which we are all witnesses.

    The family also owes a lot of gratitude the late Oba’s friends and close associates for their support at all times. We shall continue to be grateful to the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi for not forgetting the family.

    Late Oba Adeyemi Adelabu is a personality that cannot be forgotten in a hurry. He lives on and his works is what the Ekiti people and indeed Nigeria cannot ignore.

     

    • Prince George Adelabu

    Lagos

  • Remembering Kofi Awoonor

    SIR: I was in Ilorin, Kwara state in June as a guest of Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who was being installed as the pioneer Chancellor of Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete. To me this is one of those ways the nation can engage academics who had distinguished themselves in public office. In the case of Gambari, he has distinguished himself as an academic, minister and diplomat.

    I got to KWASU early enough to participate in the convocation lecture delivered by Professor Kofi Awoonor, the renowned poet, novelist, scholar and diplomat who gave a damning verdict on Africa’s educational development sparing no institution, particularly the leadership, in locating the reasons for Africa’s woes. I finally met him after the lecture during a dinner given in the honour of Prof. Gambari. ‘Good evening Prof’ I greeted him. I’m very happy to meet you sir, particularly in Ilorin not in Lagos, Abuja or Port-Harcourt.

    ‘Hmmn!!’ he answered; a very beautiful evening to you young man, somehow I’m happy we are meeting in a very less stressful environment, Ilorin. Awoonor was generous with time for a small chat that touched on his books, life as an academic and diplomat. He gave his insight into the problems of Africa and the continent’s leaders, saying how disappointed he was given its human capital and mineral resources. He also talked about his diplomatic efforts while representing his country in the UN and his books that he wished every African would read. By the time we finished our conversation, another small crowd had gathered to either talk to him or take photos with him. We parted on a good note. I was trying to re-read one of his books in light of our discussion when I heard of his senseless killing on September 21 in a mall in Kenya. I was shocked.

    Professor Awoonor, had distinguished himself in both academics and diplomacy; more still, he excelled as a writer and novelist, a good father and a friend. In memory of this eminent African son, the perpetrators of this evil act must be brought to book. The combined efforts of Africa Union (AU) must be brought to bear on the lingering Somali crisis, and efforts must be made to solve this problem. African countries should tighten security within and outside their borders to guide against future re-occurrence of tragedy like this. We cannot be losing our best to needless and senseless crisis. Awoonor stands for the best in African culture, manners and systems. His death should cause a re-think on the challenge of ensuring peace in Africa.

    •Adedeji Badejo.

    Surulere, Lagos

  • Remembering the ‘Mubi 43’

    Remembering the ‘Mubi 43’

    ONE year after, parents, friends and colleagues of the slain 43 students of the Federal Polytechnic in Mubi, Adamawa State, are still mourning. The death of these promising youngsters, they said on Tuesday, is difficult to forget.

    Mr John Odewale whose son, James, a National Diploma (ND) II Electrical Electronic Engineering student, was among those killed by the gunmen who invaded the school in the night of October 1, last year, said: “We have tried hard to forget it but my brother, it has not been easy for me and my wife to cope with the reality that a child we reared for 19 years could be killed just like that by people we still don’t know. What is painful is that the identities of the killers cannot be confirmed and in the last one year, nobody has come to tell us the reason why our son should die for no just cause.

    “In the last one year, we have not been contacted by the government, whether state or federal, over the death of our son . This is the height of insensitivity. Innocent students were killed because of the inability of the government to manage the security of the country. The only people who visited us were members of the polytechnic management, who brought N30,000 to buy casket to bury our son. Is this a country?” Odeyemi, who has been living in Adamawa State for more than two decades, asked.

    The feeling was the same when hundreds of students of the polytechnic gathered in the school’s main auditorium last Tuesday to say prayers for their departed colleagues.

    Clad in black attires, the students quietly filed into the hall one after the other. They held an interdenominational session for the deceased students.

    They were led by the students’ Union President, Joseph Usiiju.

    Deto Etim, a student of Management, who escaped unhurt when his Wuro Patugi hostel was invaded by the gunmen, thanked God for sparing his life.

    Reliving the incident, he said: “It was a shocking moment for me because I had said my last prayer. The attackers were knocking on my door but I remained in prayer until they left my room to another. I heard the cry of my fellow students being killed. That scene was a hell.”

    At the remembrance service, their colleagues promised to ensure that they did not die in vain.

    They said the security around the campus and the community is nothing to write home about, urging the government to find the killers.

    They decried what they called insensitivity on part of the government to fish out the killers and bring them to the book.

    Usiiji said: “Up till this moment, we don’t know the people that went to Wuro Patugi to kill our colleagues. Even the management does not know. How many students will die if the attackers come back? Government must find the killers and strengthen security around the campus and off-campus hostels.”

    After the prayer session, the students planned to embark on a procession in the community but they were stopped by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Mr Leo Ekpene, and the polytechnic’s security personnel.

    Ekpene said the move was necessary because of the security situation in Mubi town.

    Joy Solomon, a Higher National Diploma (HND) II Business Administration and Management, said security in Mubi and the surrounding communities remained fragile. “Up till now, the killers of our colleagues have not been found. We don’t even know if they live around us. Government should ensure adequate security because we cannot afford to witness more bloodshed,” she said.

    Rose Nkwang, a ND II Computer Science, said: “Mubi is still not safe for us. The security situation in the community is yet to improve. We want government to deploy more troops to this area. That would be a better way to forestall repeat of the incident. It makes no sense that after the crisis, we cannot beat our chest on security in Mubi.”

    But Ahmed Isiaka, a student of Mathematics and Statistics, disagreed with his colleagues, saying security had relatively improved in Mubi town. “There has been an improvement in security after the unfortunate incident. Security personnel have been drafted to keep an eagle eye on the campus and residents of affected areas. I really appreciate the government for its efforts so far but the killers must be found. This will heal our wound and make us put the killing behind us,” Isiaka said.