The Godfather Goes Home

The loyalty came in handy during elections, when his large army is deployed to intimidate and harrass opponents of his candidates among other rule-bending services. Politicians from outside the state patronise him for the same reasons. This was the case during the last two presidential elections when, with the backing of the Presidency, he delivered the state to the PDP. While his party men were enthralled by his capacity for mobilisation, opponents criticised him for his use of thuggery, which he maintained is inseparable from politics, and in contradiction of the rules of the game. There is very little defence for some of his actions. Disagreements with him were usually settled outside the law. Almost always, Adedibu won because he was wired to the direct source of power.

The feud between him and Rashidi Ladoja, a former governor he installed, was the beginning of the end for the latter in office. Tired of his godfather’s influence, Ladoja wanted to break free. He complained about Adedibu’s demand of his security vote and other forms of patronage.

“You know that governors don’t account for security vote. He, (Ladoja) was to give me N15 million of that every month. He refused. Later, it was reduced to N10 million, yet he did not give me,” Adedibu said of Ladoja. Ladoja’s executive powers, however, were no match for Adedibu’s roughneck tactics and support from former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The godfather engineered Ladoja’s impeachment. That, however, was overturned by the courts for not conforming to procedures. Ladoja returned to office after 11 months, but he had been sufficiently weakened and was eventually blown out of office when Adedibu ensured that the party’s ticket went to his deputy, Christopher Alao-Akala, now governor.

In between, the state was a war zone, as Adedibu’s thugs ran wild, making life unbearable for Ladoja. Those sympathetic to Ladoja were kicked into touch and reduced to wailing from the sidelines. One of these was Senator Lekan Balogun, who was beaten up by Adedibu’s thugs. Asked why the senator was assaulted, Adedibu replied: “Who is Lekan Balogun? He has no community value, he has no political value. So why would anyone waste time with him?” In January 2007, the police found six Direct Data Capturing Machines in his residence. In it were about 800 names illegally registered with the machines. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, failed to prosecute him even though it promised to do so. His other major problem with the law was his confrontation with the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC. The agency accused him of obstructing its operations in Ibadan, to which he said: “That lady (Professor Dora Akunyili, NAFDAC Director-General) is a useless lady. Don’t mind her. She was in my house showering praises on me when she came during the campaigns. When she lost her bid to become a minister, she started abusing everybody.”

Adedibu’s excesses also spurred the police into attempting to rein him in. According to the police, which arraigned him in court on a two-count charge of acts capable of breaching public peace, Adedibu and two other accomplices planned to cause public disturbances in Ibadan, Abuja and some other cities of the federation. He was released on bail. Reactions to Adedibu’s demise have been as varied as his rule-bending tricks. Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, described his death as the end of an era. “Only 72 hours before his passage, he sent me words of goodwill. He was always eager to know how I fared even when we were on different sides of the political divide. My sympathy goes to his wives, children and numerous admirers. May Allah grant them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” Atiku said. Vincent Ogbulafor, National Chairman, PDP, who spoke on behalf of his party commiserated with the governor and people of the state for what he termed ‘this irreparable loss’. Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Sir. Alex Akinyele, former information minister, said Adedibu’s exit will restore sanity to Oyo politics.

The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress said Adedibu’s demise will offer a vista of hope to the people of Oyo State to recover their state from the pit of darkness, which Adedibu and former President Obasanjo plunged the state into. In a statement signed by Joe Igbokwe, Publicity Secretary, the party said: “As Africans, we believe firmly that the dead deserve to be allowed to rest in peace. We are schooled in the belief that it is not good to speak ill of the dead because the person will not be able to defend himself and we are not about to contest that belief. But we believe that sometimes, death can open the door to a positive future that needs to be explored for human society to progress. The death of Adedibu offers the people of Oyo State and indeed the entire South-West the opportunity to recover the monumental political grounds they lost to Adedibu’s kind of politics and reposition their region and state for a better political era free from the crude politics Adedibu promoted.” On 12 June, Ibadan was calm as markets were closed in honour of the late politician. Many civil servants did not turn up for work, and those that came closed early, leaving the secretariat deserted. As early as 6am, people from all walks of life started thronging Adedibu’s Molete home to commiserate with the family. Many of them, including the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, wept profusely.

One of the women who refused to be pacified was a food seller identified as Mrs. N. Chukwuma, who described Adedibu as a generous man and revealed that he gave her the shop she is using free of charge. Another weeping woman who came in a wheelchair said that the chair was given to her by Adedibu. There were several others who lamented the exit of their benefactor.

Dignitaries at the funeral included Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, accompanied by his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello; former chairman, PDP South-West, Yinka Omilani and other members of the party’s Board of Trustees; Deputy Governor of Ogun State and her SSG, Fatai Akinmade, former governors of Oyo State, Lam Adesina and Kolapo Ishola. Also in attendance were former Inspector-General of Police, Chief Sunday Adewusi; Kola Daisi, Prince Gbade Odulana who represented his father, the Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odulana, and other high chiefs; Kemi Alao-Akala who stood in for her husband; former military governor of Lagos, Raji Rasaki; members of the National  Assembly and the state House of Assembly; members of state executive council, Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola-Alao; Alhaji Yekinni Adeojo, NURTW leader, Alhaji Lateef Akinsola (Tokyo); Alhaja Adebisi Abiola, widow of Bashorun MKO Abiola and many others.

In his eulogy at the funeral, former governor of Oyo State, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, said the deceased died fulfilled. Describing Adedibu as indeed a strong man, he pointed out that he practised politics to the last day of his life without being distracted.  His words: “I will call his critics idle and impotent politicians. The field is wide open for them to try and collect all the followership [and] I know very well that they will not succeed. It was obvious that Adedibu was a radical from his youth to his old age but he had a sense of humour. How many Ibadan politicians can you go to his house and get a plate of amala or eba? He started politics in 1951 and went through all sorts of political parties from Action Group to NPN to UPN.

“He grew up in stature to become what he is today. So he has achieved. Though, he pretended that he was not educated, it was an obvious fact that he was vastly informed. Many educated persons are not as articulate as he was. He wrote four books. He wrote What I Saw About June 12, he wrote about Adegoke Adelabu and two others.”  Former governor of Oyo State, Lam Adesina also offered his views: “Adedibu played a very prominent role in the politics of the state and the entire region. He has created a very great vacuum particularly in Ibadan here.  But I believe he has to answer the call of God…[and] has to go. All of us will soon join him but we pray that we will stay longer than he did. As regards politics in the state, it will go on but the shape will change. His exit will also affect PDP.” Conspicuously absent at the interment were all the South-West governors.