It is few years that the strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu went the way of all mortals. I had the privilege of observing his politics, first as a political reporter at the Nigerian Tribune and later, as a teacher of Political Science at the University of Ibadan when I encouraged and supervised undergraduates to study his brand of politics. In later years, I was persuaded that his brand of politics deserved a closer and detailed study through a biography. His politics had many components that the public abhorred but offered an excellent understanding of Nigerian Government and Politics, including how we can prevent those components that are uncomplimentary.
On the 10th anniversary of his passage, I offer you snippets from his uncompleted biography.
ADEDIBU REFUSED RELEASE FROM DETENTION
It was1991. The government of General Ibrahim Babangida had fixed the governorship election between its Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Party (NRC). But it was worried that old politicians were derailing its vision of a political dispensation dominated by new breed politicians. It went after the old folks. Among them were Chief Bola Ige, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi and Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu. Adedibu’s inclusion was curious because, at that time, he had not attained the prominence comparable to the other detainees.
They were taken to Kirikiri Maximum prison and Chief Bola Ige was worried about Adedibu. He protested vehemently that while the military government could complain that the political activities of these politicians threatened its agenda, Adedibu was unjustly included because his activities could in no way affect the transition programme. Alhaji Adedibu said he immediately thanked Chief Bola Ige but protested against being released.
“Why will you protest being released when Chief Ige had made a case for your release?”, I asked him. “What will I be doing at home?”, He countered in Yoruba and continued: “In that detention camp were the First Eleven of Nigerian politics. If the newspapers are reporting that the most prominent politicians are detained, they will list my name among them. Will I gain such prominence if they release me and I go and sit at home?…” His visibility at the national level was enhanced by the detention.
HOW HIS "DOCTOR" BECAME THE COURIER OF POLITICAL MESSAGES
The eminent politicians were initially detained at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos. When the crowd of sympathisers that thronged the prison became unbearable to the military government, they were transferred to a detention camp at Epe, also in Lagos State. Adedibu shared the same chalet with General Yar’Adua. They were not allowed visitors, as the government controlled their contact with the outside world so that they would not influence the impending governorship election. Their contact with the outside world was at the benevolence of the ubiquitous security operatives detailed to keep watch over the detention camp. Adedibu got a message out to one of his aides. One morning, the aide arrived at the detention camp in the overalls of a medical doctor, a stethoscope and a bag of drugs requesting to see Chief Adedibu. On enquiry, he introduced himself as Adedibu’s personal doctor. He was allowed in. Yar’Adua was surprised when the "visiting doctor" turned out to be Adedibu’s personal assistant. Adedibu had a good laugh. The aide gave Adedibu a detailed account of the political situation at home in Oyo State and received instructions on what should be done in preparation for the election. Adedibu also wrote letters to some politicians on what he wanted them to do. The envelopes were addressed to Adedibu’s wives. Thinking that an obstinate security operative could insist on reading it and knowing that they were not from the South West, he wrote the letters in Yoruba.
Yar’Adua expressed concern that he was cut off from political reports from home because he had no access to the radio, Adedibu’s aide then approached the security aides that Adedibu’s health was deteriorating and he urgently needed some drugs. He returned with a small transistor radio that fit into the package of a drug. From the detention, Yar’Adua and Adedibu monitored political activities across the country.
ADEDIBU AND THE LEPER'S COLONY
An associate of Adedibu had a running battle with his tenants. He approached the Rent Court which ordered the tenants to vacate the premises, but the obstinate tenants appealed the judgment. The court process became frustrating for Adedibu’s friend as the case was repeatedly adjourned at the behest of the tenants. Suspecting that the tenants were pulling some strings in the judiciary to frustrate the case, he approached his friend, Adedibu, to help him with his (Adedibu’s) own contacts in the judiciary. “Can you raise about N50, 000?", Adedibu asked him. His response was positive. Money at hand, Adedibu sent his aides to the market to buy a stove, cooking utensils and foodstuff. When they returned from the market, he asked them to prepare and take the food to the popular colony of beggars in Ibadan. They were to announce to the lepers among the beggars that the government had decided to offer them free accommodation and free food. Some of the lepers volunteered, and Adedibu's aides drove them to the building occupied by the recalcitrant tenants. The tenants fled with their families. By evening, they were sending emissaries to Adedibu to allow them to pack their property from the house.
ADEDIBU AND HIS DEBTOR
A businessman who doubled as a politician had a transaction with Alhaji Adedibu and held on to his (Adedibu's) money. After much pestering, he issued a cheque to Adedibu.
Pronto, Adedibu went to the bank, and the cheque bounced. He was asked to re-present it. Using his network within the bank, he found out that the balance in the account was less than the amount on the cheque.
Adedibu headed for the residence of his friend, Alhaji Azeez Arisekola Alao, telling him that he got a business deal that would yield a profit within 24 hours. He then asked the billionaire to lend him the shortfall in the funds he needed for only 24 hours. Arisekola, a generous man by all standards, obliged. Adedibu got his men to deposit the amount in his debtor's account and after that presented the cheque again. The bank paid.
Days after, the businessman got to know of the transaction and went to Adedibu to ask why he deposited money in his account to make up for the amount on the cheque. Adedibu retorted: "You forget that I am an Ibadan man. You cannot come from the village and play a smart one on an Ibadan man.
ADEDIBU, MADMEN AND ELECTIONS….
Adedibu never had it easy as a politician. While his most enduring epithet was “Strongman of Ibadan politics,” he had a serious challenge winning elections in his Ibadan South West Local Government, particularly in the Oke-Ado area where voters were mostly non-indigenes. For every election, he did his calculations to make projections of where his votes will come from and where the greatest challenge is. On this particular election, the major challenge was narrowed to a particular set of polling units in the premises of a school. His opponent was certain to record high votes to cancel out his advantage in other areas. Meanwhile, being a very generous man who gave alms to beggars and the needy, he had a very long list of disabled people who collected weekly monetary support from him. One of them was a mentally deranged man who curiously came to collect alms on a particular day of the week without fail. He had very bushy air, always dressed in rags and looked violent. Adedibu asked him to come on Election Day. On arrival, he was given more money than he expected and had the tag of “party agent” hung on his neck. They took him to the polling unit where Adedibu feared he would lose the election with a huge margin and was introduced as the party agent. As word went round that a madman was a party agent at the unit, many voters stayed away. Adedibu successfully controlled the margin of his loss in the polling unit.
ADEDIBU AND ARISEKOLA'S ZOO
Arisekola was Adedibu’s closest ally in the politics of Oyo State. Adedibu was the politician, and Arisekola, the financier. In the 1990s, Arisekola built what became one of the biggest mansions in the ancient city of Ibadan. The mansion was to have a zoological garden as a novelty. Adedibu told his friend Arisekola that he had contacts in Senegal who could supply lions to the zoo. Arisekola released N10 Million for the lions. Week after week, there were no lions in sight. Arisekola was worried and became agitated. When Adedibu heard of his worries, he visited Arisekola one early morning. As he climbed the stairs to his presence he announced, “Are, awa ti na owo awon kiniun re o. Bo’ba ju awa na sinu cage k’awon ara Ibadan o ma wa wowa”. (“Are, we have spent the money you gave us to buy lions. You may wish to put us in the cage meant for the lions so that the people of Ibadan can come and gawk at us”.
Both men had a good laugh, and their friendship continued.
A POLITICIAN MUST LAUGH ON HIS CAMPAIGN POSTER:
The contest for the Oyo South Senatorial seat in 1992 pitched Chief Rasidi Ladoja against Chief David Abinusawa, a former Head of Service in Oyo State. Adedibu supported Ladoja who was just making his first attempt at an election but his ally, Arisekola wanted Chief Abinusawa for the seat. Adedibu played hide and seek with Arisekola. On the eve of the election when it became apparent that there could be a clash between them on Election Day, Adedibu went to Arisekola’s house. Clutching a bale of Abinusawa’s campaign posters, he dumped the posters at the feet of Arisekola complaining loudly and bitterly, “I don’t like it when I work for someone, and the person messes up my efforts.” Arisekola was alarmed. He asked what the problem was. ”Look at these posters, why is he not laughing in the posters. No one will vote for a candidate who is not friendly in his poster”. Arisekola rushed to his telephone stand and called Abinusawa. He complained about the picture in the poster and advised him to quickly take new ones for another set of posters. When he got back to Adedibu and told him what he had done, Adedibu resumed his complaint, saying it was too late. “I accept that I have lost this election due to the bad pictures. Maybe we try our luck some other time,” he said as he took his leave of Arisekola. His preferred candidate, Ladoja, was elected the following day.
I AM NOT A THUG; I AM A PARTY FAITHFUL:
The greatest criticism of Adedibu was the violence of his brand of politics. He was described as the GOC of Oyo State politics because he was an enforcer. But he had a different view. He said politics is a serious game and a loss in the power game comes at a significant loss. He recalled that when Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Akintola, and others fought for political independence, they would not have succeeded if everything was limited to constitutional provisions. ”One day Chief Awolowo and others came to Ibadan to address the people on the move for independence. When they got to Mapo Hall, the colonial government had shut all the doors and placed a notice that such meetings were outlawed. Awolowo, being a lawyer and constitutionalist, led the others to a side room and made efforts to get lawyers to approach the court for an order to allow them to use the hall”. Adedibu said he felt that would be too late for the meeting. He called his boys and gave them hammers to pull down the doors. He recalled that the crowd that had waited impatiently outside rushed into the hall as the doors were pulled down. Awolowo, he said, was surprised at this, but addressed the gathering nevertheless. “Awolowo did not call me a thug for doing that. He said I was a party faithful”.
ADEDIBU'S ENDURING COGNOMEN
Adedibu was the toast of traditional musicians, and there was hardly any of the eminent musicians of the Fuji, Apala, Were and Sakara genres of old that did not compose songs in his praise. Perhaps the most enduring of the lot was that by the wordsmith from Ilorin, Odolaiye Aremu, who sang in his album entitled "Olowe Mowe":
Adedibu lo soja o m’ adiye wale
Kora, kogbe, beni won o si bun…
(Adedibu went to the market and returned with a chicken
He didn’t buy it. It was not a gift. And he did not steal it.)
This is probably the best description of the intriguing life of Alhaji Adedibu whom Odolaiye also described as “a half of Ibadan mistaken for one person.”
Adedibu and the hunchback witness:
This has been our longest running democratic experience. Nineteen years. Despite the odds, we are trudging on. It is a day of exhortations and congratulatory messages. And of lamentations. I wish to bring some good cheer into the day by sharing two anecdotes from a book I'm working on - The hilarious book of Nigerian politics. It is a book about the funny or sunny side of Nigerian politics. They are records of episodes that brighten the political landscape otherwise filled with lies, deceit, violence, brigandage and the like.
Today I serve you two episodes involving the late strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Akanji Adedibu. I met him as a reporter at the Nigerian Tribune, and as a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ibadan, I encouraged my students to study his politics. The findings were intriguing. As researchers, we kept open minds about Adedibu as a subject, and the findings are essential for the development of politics in Nigeria, including how to prevent some of the vices he was known for. Please read and enjoy.
ADEDIBU AND THE HUNCHBACK WITNESS:
There had just been an election in which Adedibu's candidate was declared the winner. The opponent challenged the victory at the tribunal. His trump card was the evidence of a hunchback who had witnessed the massive falsification of election results at a beer parlour. The manipulators had dismissed his presence because he was considered an invalid.
As the case progressed, it became increasingly apparent that the evidence of the hunchback would make all the difference. Adedibu devised a ploy to prevent such damaging evidence.
One day, he arrived at the Tribunal and chose to sit beside the hunchback. When proceedings started, he beckoned at one of his aides. He pretended to speak in low tones, but audible enough for the hunchback to hear. " How far have you gone with the ritual they asked us to perform on this case? he asked. "Everything is ready, but we have not found a hunchback to complete the ingredients," the aide replied. " You are always careless about taking advantage of your opportunities," he said as he threw a glance in the direction of the hunchback. "You must not miss him today," he said as he waved the aide away.
The hunchback looked the other way, pretending not to hear the conversation. As Adedibu pretended to resume concentration on the court proceedings, the hunchback tiptoed his way out of the courtroom. Barely out of the courtroom, he removed his shoes and took to his heels.
He did not turn up in court the following day. When the petitioner who relied on his Evidence-in-Chief went to his residence to get him to appear, his neighbours said he had relocated with his entire family and did not leave a forwarding address!
Adedibu won the case:
When I worked on his biography in his twilight years, I asked him why he devised such an intriguing plot; Adedibu, lively and ever jovial- with his infectious laughter- replied; "Opolo oloselu gbodo ma sise ni gbogbo 'gba"( a politician must be at the top of his game at all times).
How Adedibu bought an airline ticket for Ghana Must Go Bags:
As the nation warms up for the 2019 elections, one man missing in action is Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, the late strongman of Ibadan politics who passed on in June 2008.
I bring a story from his yet unpublished biography. It was in 2003, and the setting was Abuja. The then ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) held its national convention to elect a candidate for the 2003 presidential election.
It was a keenly contested election in which the two foremost candidates, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Dr Alex Ekwueme deployed enormous resources to curry the favour of the delegates.
Adedibu led the delegates from Oyo State and was the pointsman in the resources directed at delegates from the state. Adedibu was also rising in the estimation of the PDP leadership in the South West. He had the added responsibility of enlisting other delegates from the South West to vote for either of the candidates. Although he was publicly identified with the Obasanjo/ Atiku candidacy, this did not stop other presidential candidates from approaching him for his support. It was such a bountiful harvest.
Election over and it was time to return home. Adedibu instructed his aides to buy two airline tickets. He refused all entreaties to check in his two Ghana must go bags as luggage. When it was time to board, He went in with the two hefty bags and fastened them to the seat beside him. The air hostess worriedly approached him and gestured to remove the bags. "NO, NO, NO!!! Won ni tiketi ti an," (You can't do that. They have their own ticket!) Adedibu bellowed as he fetched the other ticket he had purchased for the bags to show to the hostess. The air hostess was beside herself with laughter as she realised what the old man was saying. Adedibu refused all entreaties to remove the bags. The pilot had to be called in.
Adedibu insisted that he could not trust any arrangement that would take the bags out of his sight. He agreed only after the pilot gave an undertaking to return any shortfall in the money in the bags as he took responsibility for their safety to Ibadan.
Of course, Adedibu arrived home safely with the returns from the convention! Laughing later at the stunt,he said that was the only guarantee that his money could get home intact.
Adedibu and Arisekola's Zoo:
There is a more hilarious story of Adedibu and Arisekola’s Zoo. Arisekola had decided to set up a zoo in his new palatial residence at Oluwa Nla. Adedibu volunteered to get the lions from Senegal. When after a long wait and several entreaties it appeared no lion was going to be delivered, Arisekola became agitated. Informed of Arisekola’s worries, Adedibu walked into Arisekola’s residence and volunteered; “Aare, ati na owo awon kiniun re o, bo ba ju awa na sinu zoo k’awon ara Ibadan o ma wa wowa mbe” (Aare, we have spent the money you gave us to buy lions from Senegal. You may wish to throw us into the cage so that the people of Ibadan can come to watch us as they would have come to watch the lions). Both old men had a very hearty laughter. Their friendship continued.
Adedibu's Hilarious Encounter with a Pastor and an Imam:
Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu was the Balogun Musulumi of Oyo State. He had a big mosque in his expansive Molete residence in Ibadan which was hardly free of activity on any given day. Adedibu's engagements in the mosques were complemented by prayer sessions observed by visitors and political associates who thronged the residence daily.
Yet, there was hardly a day itinerant pastors and evangelists did not visit the residence to offer prayers for the politician and his family. Adelabu was comfortable with the two dominant religions so much that each time he succeeded in installing the governor of the state, among the offices he craved to fill were the Chairmen of the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board and the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board.He leveraged on his network with Christian and Islamic leaders and groups for political advantage.
It was therefore not strange when in the early hours of this fateful day, a pastor came to the residence to pray for the Balogun Musulumi. Adedibu was comfortable enough with the pastors that many of them had access to his private quarters. Adedibu knelt before the pastor as he offered the prayers.
A prominent Imam in Oyo State walked in during the prayer session. Without missing a beat, Adedibu cracked open one eye and in his Ibadan dialect told the old Imam who had only been turbanned few days before, " Baba, onise ara ni Olorun. Tori yin ni ase n se adua. Pastor loji mi laaro yi, won ni awon ota fe gba emi Lemomu wa ti a sese je. Mo ni yo mo pe ti a ba ranse si yin. E dakun, ekunle ka pari adura fun yin ( Baba, our Almighty Allah works in mysterious ways. We are holding this prayer session for you. The pastor woke me up this morning with a troubling prophetic vision he had that some evil people are working hard to kill our newly turbanned Imam and that we need urgent prayers to stop them. I felt it might be too late if I sent for you before we hold the all-important prayer. Please kneel for prayers so that we can ward off the evil plan.
The Imam promptly knelt, and the prayer session continued. The pastor and Imam took their leave afterwards. They were hardly out of earshot when Adedibu's aides in unison queried the claims of their leader: "Baba, the pastor never said what you told the imam". Adedibu then replied; "Omode ni n seyin. Lemomu ba wa lori'kunle niwaju pastor. Awa ni o fi s e 'wasu ni Mosalasi Jimoh. Yo'pe "Lahilah illah lau, e wa ma wo Balogun Musulumi ti nkunle niwaju pasito... Iyun ni gbogbo Janmmah o mo so kiri. A mo bayi,ofin to mu eegun, ti mu eleha!" (All of you are reasoning like children. The Imam met us kneeling down before a pastor. On Friday he will begin his sermon with, "Laillah...! can you imagine a whole Balogun Musulumi kneeling before a pastor for prayers and everyone will take that to town. But now that we have both knelt before the pastor, he dare not mention the encounter on Friday or any other day. The law that indicts the masquerade has also indicted the woman in purdah. They are both covering their faces and bodies!".
Adedibu on Election Postponement
The last 24 hours before an election are always busy for politicians. It is the crucial time funds are released to pay party agents and all logistics that will get out the votes. Many elections are determined by how solvent candidates are in these hours. Candidates who struggle for funds hold their breath until the very minute that voting commences. When elections are postponed, it technically knocks out candidates who struggled till the last minute before the postponement. This is because the funds disbursed to party agents and for transporting, feeding and entertainment of voters go down the drain with the delay. The candidate has to provide new funds for the logistics on the rescheduled election day.
Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, the late strongman of Ibadan politics,taught the Yar'adua political family this political lesson in 1992 during the staggered presidential primaries of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The night before the primaries, Chief Sunday Afolabi, coordinator of the Yar'adua campaign in the South West took the funds for "logistics" of the primaries in Oyo State to the Molete home of Chief Adedibu. Pleasantries exchanged, they both went through the list, calculating the expenses. Chief Afolabi handed over the cash to Chief Adelabu and left for his residence at Oremeji, Mokola area, in Ibadan - a distance of about 15 minutes. His family welcomed him with the breaking news on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that the election had been postponed. Afolabi immediately rushed back to Adedibu's house in Molete, to demand a return of the funds pending the new date for the election. " Owo ewo? Which money?, Adedibu asked in his impeccable Ibadan dialect and continued: "E je a lo tunra mu o. Eyii tilo, ibo tin bo lona ni e je a mura fun o". E ti dele tiyin ti gbogbo awon eyan wa lati Saki, Igboho, Iseyin, Ogbomosho ti wa gbowo won... ( Which money? It is better we start preparing for the new date. You could not have reached your house when our agents from far places like Saki, Igboho, Iseyin, Ogbomosho and Oyo came to collect the money for logistics in their areas. Let us begin to prepare the money for the new election date because it is practically impossible to call them back to return the money!
How Adedibu bought an airline ticket for Ghana Must Go Bags:
As the nation warms up for the 2019 elections, one man missing in action is Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, the late strongman of Ibadan politics who passed on in June 2008.
I bring a story from his yet unpublished biography. It was in 2003, and the setting was Abuja. The then ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) held its national convention to elect a candidate for the 2003 presidential election.
It was a keenly contested election in which the two foremost candidates, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Dr Alex Ekwueme deployed enormous resources to curry the favour of the delegates.
Adedibu led the delegates from Oyo State and was the pointsman in the resources directed at delegates from the state. Adedibu was also rising in the estimation of the PDP leadership in the South West. He had the added responsibility of enlisting other delegates from the South West to vote for either of the candidates. Although he was publicly identified with the Obasanjo/ Atiku candidacy, this did not stop other presidential candidates from approaching him for his support. It was such a bountiful harvest.
Election over and it was time to return home. Adedibu instructed his aides to buy two airline tickets. He refused all entreaties to check in his two Ghana must go bags as luggage. When it was time to board, He went in with the two hefty bags and fastened them to the seat beside him. The air hostess worriedly approached him and gestured to remove the bags. "NO, NO, NO!!! Won ni tiketi ti an," (You can't do that. They have their own ticket!) Adedibu bellowed as he fetched the other ticket he had purchased for the bags to show to the hostess. The air hostess was beside herself with laughter as she realised what the old man was saying. Adedibu refused all entreaties to remove the bags. The pilot had to be called in.
Adedibu insisted that he could not trust any arrangement that would take the bags out of his sight. He agreed only after the pilot gave an undertaking to return any shortfall in the money in the bags as he took responsibility for their safety to Ibadan.
Of course, Adedibu arrived home safely with the returns from the convention! Laughing later at the stunt,he said that was the only guarantee that his money could get home intact.
By Adeolu Akande
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