Adegoke Adelabu
Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu (3 September 1915 – 25 March 1958) was a prominent
personality in the politics of Ibadan
city and subsequently that of the Western Region of Nigeria right before the country's independence in 1960.
He was Nigeria's Minister of Natural Resources and Social Services from January
1955 to January 1956 and was later the opposition leader in the Western
Regional Assembly until his death in 1958. He was a self-made man born into a
humble family but became an influential figure in Nigerian
politics. He attended Government College,
Ibadan and eventually became a business
man. His successful political career was cut short when he was killed in a car
crash, not long before Nigeria gained independence from Britain.
Adelabu was a self-described egotist
who believed in the merits of radical nationalism, national unity and radical socialist ideology.[1]
Early life
Adelabu, the son of Sanusi
Ashinyanbi and Awujola Adelabu.[2] was born in 1915. Adelabu's
mother was the second wife of Sanusi but she died when Adelabu was quite young
and the young Adelabu was then raised by a paternal aunt. From 1925 to 1929, he
attended St David's C.M.S. School, Kudeti, Ibadan and finished Standard IV and V at
C.M.S. Central school, Mapo. Though, a Muslim, Adelabu's aunt valued Western
education which was dominated by the Christian missionaries in Ibadan, she
obtained a baptismal
certificate for Adelabu providing him the opportunity to attend the CMS
schools.[3] From 1931 to 1936, he attended Government College,
Ibadan where he completed his secondary education as the head boy of the school. In 1936, he passed the entrance examination
into Yaba Higher College and he won a scholarship from UAC to study commerce at the college.[4] However,
just after 6 months left the college with his scholarship unused. He was
offered employment by UAC as an assistant to the Ibadan district manager, an
expatriate Adelabu had met a year earlier. His first assignment was a tour of
the cocoa producing
areas of Ibadan province. At the end of
the tour, he presented a proposal about the reorganization of the Cocoa
distribution and trade structure. The report earned him promotion as an
Assistant Produce Manager with UAC. However, Adelabu left UAC in 1937 and
joined the produce trade business. He was unsuccessful in the trade and was
soon looking for a civil service job.[5] In 1939, he became an
agricultural inspector and later supervisor of cooperative society which had Akinpelu Obisesan as its president. He was with cooperative until 1945, when
he went back to UAC. He was successful in his second start with the
organization but after the resignation of his mentor, the Ibadan District
Manager, Richardson Adelabu left the firm.[6] He then ploughed
income from UAC into a textile trading business with Levantine clients in
Ibadan. Ibadan Native Authority system was dominated by junior chiefs, family
heads )mogaji) and the Olubadan, majority of whom were not literate. Adelabu
became interested in acting as an Administrative Secretary for the native
council
Political life
1949 - 1953
Adelabu's career in politics can be
traced to his support of the agitation led by junior chiefs and mogajis against
Salami Agbaje. Adelabu was known as a smart individual and literate
qualities needed by the chiefs in their opposition to Agbaje. The agitators
needed someone to help with writing petitions and commentaries to advance their
viewpoint and sought out Adelabu for support. Adelabu obliged hoping to earn
the job of Administrative Secretary. The target of the chiefs was Salami
Agbaje, a businessman who held the traditional title of Otun Balogun of Ibadan,
he was third in line to the throne, literate, rich and independent minded but
was found to be obnoxious by some of the chiefs in Ibadan many of whom were
indebted to him. The junior chiefs and heads of lineages (mogaji) began a
campaign for his deposition to prevent him from becoming Olubadan.
Adelabu was active in the movement to depose Agbaje providing print
commentaries and assisting in writing the petition that the chiefs forwarded to
the colonial authorities. During these period, Adelabu became secretary of the
Ebge Omo Ibile, the leading association opposed to Agbaje and headed by Bello
Abasi, the son of Aleshinloye, the previous Olubadan.[7] When the
case reached the colonial authorities, though Agbaje was admonished and told to
suspend his involvement in the native council, the authorities used the
opportunity to make sweeping reforms including removing Oshun division from
Ibadan province. The outcome was not favorable to many Ibadan groups and a few
groups came together to unite politically to protect the interest of Ibadan.
During the local elections in 1951,
Adelabu's Egbe Omo Ibile, Augustus Akinloye, and a youth group from Ibadan Progressive Union formed the
Ibadan People's Party as a challenge to the old guards of the Ibadan
Progressive Union. Adelabu capitalized on some anti-Ijebu sentiments among native Ibadan residents especially
after the loss of Oshun division which was supported by Action Group leaders such as Awolowo,
an Ijebu-man and Akintola.
The new party won all six seats to the Western Regional Assembly. However, an
informal alliance proposed by Adelabu to support NCNC fell apart and four of the elected members joined AG.
Adelabu then became more active in the organization of NCNC in Ibadan and
became the secretary of the party's Western Province Working Committee while
earning recognition within the party as the only IPP legislator who stayed with
NCNC. Soon his profile began to rise nationally that in 1952, he published a
book, Africa in Ebullition about his political thoughts. To provide a
formidable organization to challenge AG in the 1954 elections, Adelabu formed a
new organization, the Ibadan Taxpayers Association which was an attempt to
attract mass following based on tax reform. The group then formed an alliance
with some a farmers group called Maiyegun to become Mabolaje Grand Alliance.
1954-1958
Adelabu and his group provided an
opposition platform to the IPU and AG dominated district council. He opposed
the district council terms of tax reform and the role of heads of lineages
(mogajis) in governance positioning himself as a supporter of traditional authority
and values.[8] During the local elections in 1954, the alliance won
majority seats into the Ibadan District Council, paving the way for Adelabu to
become district chairman.[9] He became chairman of the Finance
Committee and any other standing committee of the council.[10] In
the federal elections in 1954, Adelabu also won a seat to the House of
Representatives and his party won majority seats to the House of
Representatives. He later became the First National Vice President of NCNC and
appointed Minister of Social Services, a post he held concurrently with his
position as chairman of the Ibadan District Council from January 1955 till
January 1956.
In 1955, Adelabu's administration
was a subject of inquiry into allegations corruption in the district council.[11]
The inquiry was set-up by the Western Regional government dominated by
AG. He resigned both positions after the report of the inquiry into the affairs
of the district council. He was replaced by J.M. Johnson as Minister of Social Services. In 1956, Adelabu again ran
for a seat in the regional assembly but this time as leader of NCNC in the
Western region. Hoping to lead the party to victory, he had ordered clothes
with the inscription Adelabu, Premier of the Western Region. However, the party
lost majority seats to Action Group. Adelabu then became the leader of
opposition in the Western House of Assembly.[12] After the loss,
Adelabu sought to carve out a Yoruba Central State from the Western Region. The new state was to
be composed of NCNC strongholds of Oyo, Ibadan and Ondo provinces. However, the
proposal was rejected in 1958 based on the proposed division on largely on
party lines.[13] In 1958, Adelabu opposed the leadership of Azikiwe
because of its support for a tripartite national government consisting of AG,
NCNC and NPC. Adelabu did not like the inclusion of AG describing it has an
unholy alliance.[14]
Death
Adelabu died on mile 51 Lagos–Ibadan
Expressway close to Shagamu.
He was returning from Lagos along with a Syrian businessman when their car hit
an oncoming vehicle.[1]
Peculiar mess
Adegoke Adelabu is often mentioned
in Yorùbá and Nigerian history as the author of that expression:
"penkelemesi", a Yorubanisation of the phrase, "peculiar
mess" which Adelabu, known for his deep knowledge of English, had used
on an occasion to describe the opposition in the Western Region House of
Assembly. Not understanding what he meant, the non-literate
section of his audience translated the phrase into vernacular as "penkelemesi".
References
- Sklar, Richard. Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation.
- Jenkins, George (1965). Politics in Ibadan (Thesis). Northwestern University.
- Onabanjo, Abayomi (1984). ETHNICITY AND TERRITORIAL POLITICS: THE CASE OF THE YORUBASPEAKING PEOPLES OF NIGERIA (Thesis). State University of New York at Albany.
- Post, Kenneth; Jenkins, George (1973). The Price of Liberty: Personality and Politics in Colonial Nigeria. London: Cambridge University Press.
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