Speaking Truth to Power: ‘Ashipa’ Lamidi Adedibu, and the demise of the politics of fear

-Olu Ojedokun, Ph.D.-

I have followed and listened with some interest to the voices of many a politician and particularly the Ibadan based public commentators.  What is remarkable to me is how they now feel liberated to speak truth to power about the late Ashipa’s antics and the wake of devastation he left behind.  The truth which they were best advised not to utter or articulate during the life and times of Chief Lamidi A. Adedibu, the Ashipa of Ibadanland, the ‘Alafin’ of Molete and the ‘garrison’ commander of Oyo State.

Whilst the Ashipa was alive he insisted that he was a ‘controller of politics’ in Oyo State and many who challenged this claim did so at the risk of their lives, limbs and properties. He reigned with a blend of cheap populism, and raw thuggery and often compelled either violent loyalty or violent opposition, it has been quoted that he was not just a law unto himself in politics but a law unto others, especially in the current Fourth Republic.

It is claimed that with sheer violence and intimidation, closer to the Robert Mugabe a la carte menu, the strongman rendered into irrelevance any pretensions to civility, democracy or governance of any description in Oyo state. For all the President’s claim to the achievement of the ‘rule of law’, this never even made a cameo appearance in Oyo State.

A commentator in the Independent newspaper of 18^th June 2008 went as far as quoting Chief Azeez Arisekola, the Are Muslimi of Yorulaland, stating:

"Let us give it to him; he installed three governors, senators, House of Representatives members and many local government chairmen while alive. He has done his bit."

You might wonder where the Nigerian Police Force was when the alleged acts of lawlessness were perpetuated by this man.  The response is captured in a conversation I culled from the internet:

“….. so what has the Oyo state police been doing about this man’. He replied: ‘what can the police do, when they themselves are in his (Adedibu’s) pocket’, and I was like…….. oh, I see. The whole picture just cleared up on my mind.”

I provide a brief history of the Ashipa, it would indicate that it was the onset of the aborted Third Republic in the early 90s that allowed him to become a household name and a force to be reckoned with in the politics of Ibadanland.  It has been suggested that two reasons accounted for his rise to fame, influence and riches.  The death in jail of Eruobodo, Chief Busari Adelakun who had been imprisoned by a tribunal set up by the military junta of General Muhammadu Buhari, which tried politicians, and public officers of the discredited, profligate and corrupt government of the Second Republic.

The second factor was the flight into exile of prominent Ibadan politicians, especially Chief Akinloye and Chief Akinjide (SAN), in the wake of the 1983 coup d’etat led by General Muhammadu Buhari.  The vacuum caused by the absence of these leaders was yearning to be filled and Adedibu exploited the opportunity.  With the antics of a political contractor he bestrode the political landscape like a ‘colossus’ allegedly causing mayhem and havoc.

Whilst rumours suggest that Chief Adedibu was a butcher of the cow meat variety, indeed, his main means of livelihood was ‘politics’.  Public office holders he assisted in getting there were said to be under obligation to make returns of ‘necessaries’ to him. In fact, it suggested that his feud with Governor Rashid Ladoja arose from the latter’s refusal to honour such patronage. He appeared to confirm this on a Galaxy Television chat show, when he said:

“I am told that Ladoja receives N65 million as security vote. Am I not entitled to a third of the money?” 

The purpose of this article is not to glorify, praise nor exhume and re-bury the Ashipa, but to address and unpack a phenomenon which was allowed to develop in the ancient city of Ibadan, citadel of intellectualism in Nigeria.  For many of us who grew up in and around Ibadan, it was the pace setter in many areas and at least it did match Lagos as an alternative place to live and make some money.  However, currently, Ibadan is a wasteland trapped in a time wrap and a cesspit of violence, poverty and lawlessness.  This state of affairs was allowed to thrive and develop under the 8 years administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo and I submit accentuated by the acquiescence the Ibadan elite.

In any society where we face such a specter it takes the courage and the will of men and women as demonstrated in South Africa to stand up and be counted.  For it was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who responded to the constant treats of the Apartheid regime in South Africa by saying:

“I want to say that there is nothing the government can do to me that will stop me from being involved in what I believe is what God wants me to do.  I do not do it because I like doing it.  …………………………………….  I cannot help it when I see injustice.  I cannot keep quiet.  I will not keep quiet, for as Jeremiah says, when I try to keep quiet God’s word burns like a fire in my breast.  But what is it that they can ultimately do?  The most awful thing that they can do is to kill me, and death is not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian.“[1] 

I would suggest that Oyo State and indeed Ibadan in particular was thrust into arms of the Ashipa because of the lack of many men and women of courage, judgment, integrity and dedication.

It is apparent that such persons of courage were few and lacking in Ibadanland creating a vacuum allowing the dominance of the Ashipa.  Women and men who had the courage to stand up to their enemies and when necessary, to their associates, the courage to resist public pressure as well as private greed.

Secondly, lacking were many men of and women of judgment, with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past, of their own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others, with enough wisdom to know what they did not know, and enough candor to admit it.

Thirdly, the absence of true men of integrity, men and women who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them, women or men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of people’s  sacred trust.

Finally, there were very few men of dedication, with an honour mortgaged not to a single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the Oyo State and the Nigerian national interest.[2]

Maybe the death of the Ashipa would allow men and women of courage, judgment, integrity and dedication to arise out of the vacuum now created but should I hold my breath?

The writer is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

[1] Du Boulay, Shirley (1988)., Tutu, Voice of The Voiceless., London: Hodder & Stoughton.,  p. 174-5.

[2] "Men of Courage" Speech, Assassination Details, Discoveries by Don Roberdeau from 1975

Robot  Villager

# 1 Speaking Truth to Power: ‘Ashipa’ Lamidi Adedibu, and the demise of the politi...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 18.06.2008 17:11