100 years posthumous birthday of Adegoke Adelabu

Adegoke Adelabu, whose birthday we celebrate today (Thursday, 9th July, 2015), many years after his death in a ghastly motor accident, at the age of only 43 years, at old Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ibadan, would have been a grand old man of 100 years. He was, without any doubt whatever, a legend in his time and his iconic status still endures. Many of us still have vivid memories of the shock and grief that his death triggered off. There were riots in Ibadan and its environs and potential for further escalation was sufficiently evident to compel the government of the day to embark on a vigorous campaign on radio and television. Even back then the Western Region, with Ibadan as its capital, had a thriving television station – WNBS (Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service). These combined with newspapers were the lynchpin of the damage control aimed at firmly denying the culpability of the government of Western Nigeria in the demise of the government’s fiercest opponent and unrelenting critic.

Before we get carried away, perhaps we need to remind ourselves of not only what late Adelabu Adegoke said or did but much more importantly what he stood for. It is no exaggeration to assert the he was the embodiment of the heart and soul of Ibadan. Indeed, he was a fascinating advertisement of the enduring virtues and characteristics of those who proudly brand themselves as “Omo Ibadan” (the sons of the soil of Ibadan) – fearless, defiant and uncompromising. If Adelabu Adegoke were still with us, the government would have neither peace nor slumber! He was an unrepentant activist and brilliant orator rolled into one and when he famously declared publicly that the government of Western Nigeria was in “a peculiar mess” over the management of its affairs, the audience, who were not all endowed with fluency of the English language, went wild with their own version of what they had heard. They translated it as “penkelemesi”. That is how “peculiar mess” was supplanted by “penkelemesi” which has since become synonymous with not only the name of Adelabu but also a short hand, abbreviation or acronym for any government that is considered grossly incompetent or outrageously corrupt.

I have opted to resist the temptation to venture into singing “Penkele o, penkele, Adegoke mi o penkele” which the inimitable King Sunny Ade waxed in memory of Adegoke Adelabu. Instead, we should get back on track and recognize that the chief whose life we are celebrating was in every sense a “Man of the People”. When he became the Minister of Labour, he immediately drove his official car, an American limousine (I think it was an Oldsmobile or Chevrolet) all the way to Ibadan and challenged all his teeming supporters to share the car with him. He boldly announced to them that the car belonged to them and not him!

Similarly, when he was provided with a government house as his official residence in Ikoyi, the most exclusive part of Lagos, he turned up with drummers from Ibadan much to the discomfiture of the largely expatriate (mostly English and French) residents of Ikoyi. They protested vigorously about the noise but Adelabu would not relent. He called a press conference and stoutly declared: “If they do not like noise and drumming, they are free to go back to their own country.” That silenced the protest!

It is beyond question that Adelabu was a genius in addition to being a gifted orator. Time and space will not permit me to dwell on his outstanding academic record while he was a student at Government College, Ibadan, or his subsequent achievement at the Higher College, Yaba, Lagos. We have just enough time to pause and reflect on the disclosure in the first page of Adelabu’s autobiography: “I Adegoke Adelabu entered Government College, Ibadan at the tender age of 19.”

He lived at a time when Ibadan was the magnet of the political dynamics of Nigeria in addition to being a major commercial centre. Adelabu and Ibadan were indivisible. While the city was the magnet, Adelabu was not only magnetic; he was without doubt incomparable when it came to reading the direction of the compass. He was robustly confrontational and fiercely ebullient and that was what made him a powerful force to be reckoned with. Even his worst enemies could not ever accuse him of guile or timidity. He was truly the darling of the masses and his own battle cry was: “I belong to you and you belong to me”.

He did not resort to mixed metaphors. His enduring legacy is his EXCEPTIONALISM. He thrived in Ibadan because Ibadan was then and still remains the largest small town in the world. Regardless of all the tribulations and travails, Ibadan and its people have somehow managed to preserve their social cohesion. Everybody knows everybody. Christians and Moslems cohabit without any fear, suspicion or resentment. Among themselves, every sentence is preceded by “E dakun” (Please forgive me)! It is only the detractors who refer to Ibadan as a garrison town.

I must say that indigenes of Ibadan are naturally endowed with a unique sense of humour. It may be inappropriate for me to share with you the famous encounter between the late Olubadan, Oba Ashanke, and the then Military Governor of Oyo State (with Ibadan as the capital), Colonel Oladayo Popoola, who had brought the then Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Sani Abacha, to the palace of Olubadan on a courtesy visit. Apparently, the Olubadan took umbrage at being kept waiting until the Chief of Army Staff turned up two hours later. The Olubadan refused to be intimidated by the boss of the army, particularly on account of his rather small stature which seemed to be at variance with his awesome reputation (as he had participated in several coup d’états). On the arrival of Major-General Abacha, a northerner who could not speak or understand Yoruba, the Olubadan took one look at him and promptly delivered judgement in Yoruba: “A se ko ga ju igo lo!” The translation is that the man who has created so much fear is no taller than a bottle (pint size).

That was not the end of the tragedy/comedy as the Olubadan proceeded to offer his guest the traditional kolanut as a gesture of welcome. Colonel Popoola promptly intervened and proceeded to explain that security and protocol forbade the Chief of Army Staff from eating kolanut in public. His Royal Highness the Olubadan was not in the least convinced or impressed. He remonstrated: “Is he not a Mallam (from the North where kolanuts are part of the staple diet)?”

Adelabu Adegoke was a product of the politics of Ibadan Native Authority from where he rose to command a more formidable stature in Western Nigeria and eventually the national stage. Although he was rather small in stature, he had won his spurs as “the stormy petrel of the Western Region”. He was the ultimate grassroots man and his footprints as well as his feet were firmly planted in Ibadan. He breathed the same air and ate the same food as his ardent followers. Even when he became a minister, there was no change in his lifestyle as he continued to live in the same house in Ibadan. As for his clothes, there was no way he would demand the hefty “Wardrobe Allowance” that has become a scandal amongst the current crop of ministers and members of the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives).

It must have been 1952 or 1953 when as a little boy I managed to catch a look at Adelabu when he turned up to campaign at Campos Square in Lagos on the platform of his party – the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC). The entire square was jam-packed and my father, Chief JK Randle, had to carry me on his shoulder.

Several speakers delivered their address and they were applauded politely. Even the great Nnamdi Azikwe, the leader of the party, did not fare much better. The person everyone wanted to listen to was none other than “Adegoke Adelabu Penkelemesi”! When it was eventually his turn to speak, the applause that preceded even his first sentence reverberated all over Lagos. Every subsequent sentence was drowned in even louder applause. At the end of the speech, neither my father nor I could recall what Adelabu had actually said. When we checked with others in the audience, they were no wiser. In any case it did not matter at all. The crowd went home jubilant that Adelabu Adegoke had made their day and provided them with all they needed to demolish their opponents. As far as they were concerned, Adelabu could do no wrong.

Apparently, that is still very much the case so many years after his death. It is not uncommon to hear his surviving loyalists lament, when they see the poverty, ignorance, oppression, greed and impunity which have conspired to rubbish our nation, “Ti o ba si iku Adelabu”, which translates as, “But for the death of Adelabu, we would not be in this mess.”

Indeed, if the late Gbadamosi Sanusi Adelabu Adegoke were to be invited to read the auditors’ report on our beloved nation, he may well be tempted to declare: “Nigerian is in a peculiar mess (penkelemesi). Ibadan like the rest of the country is a victim of crisis fatigue.”

J.K Randle

Being excerpts of an address delivered at the 2015 edition of the annual Adegoke Adelabu Memorial Lecture at Ibadan Civic Centre, Agodi, Ibadan, Thursday, 9th July, 2015.