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Baba n badan.....Ageshin
kole.....e wa se gbe e beun.......omo wani. Oke Ibadan a gbe yin
o......Sun...re o. What in heaven will befit a maverick than to break into my Ibadanese
and release panegyric as mourning dirge for the passing away of an icon? In
life, Adedibu was larger than life. When he was with us he was feared,
idolised, venerated, courted, iconised, scandalised and hated. In death, he was
abhorred, hated and even compared to a wasting demon.
I have read so much
gratuitous attacks against Adedibu and if I must use a writer’s license I will
say that the world is still full of hypocrites. Baba Adedibu, my kinsman, is
not here to defend himself against accusations of wickedness, thuggery, civil
disobedience and political murder. I still could not believe that our own
Ibadan political fixer and maverick has died. Just like that! Oh death!
How would I pick up my
shattered emotion at the passing away of a deified god of Oluyole? He had been
entertaining me since the early 80’s when I was a student at the premier
University of Ibadan. He still entertained me with his political manoeuvres
during my yearly vacation in Ibadan, my home state. His death has sounded the death
knell for my future life in Ibadan politics. I had thought that he would still
be around to give me a double potion of his anointing which would then change
me into a political wizard. My hero has hitched a last ride in a wooden coffin
and fittingly dumped in the wasting refuse dump of Ojaba!
For me, it is not in my
journalistic tradition to kick the frozen ass of a dead townsman and crow badly
about all the sinful things he did here on mother earth. One thing I knew and
which would never be erased about Adedibu was the near success of his ‘Amala
Revolution’ in Ibadan. I would have loved to lay my hand on the secret of his
indomitable and inimitable exegesis of his political doctrines. I mean the
theory of his political pragmatism. At least when Adedibu was alive, he had no
time for pretence. He spoke his mind in such unfettered way as to make other
hypocritical politicians marvelled at his abrasiveness and fearlessness.
He lived the life of a born
commander. He lived among his troops in Ibadan. And when he throttled out his
shots, be rest assured that bullets ran out from all cylinders. He was no
respecter of any mortal. He was as rascally tough as a nail. He was
incorrigibly stubborn as a true bred Ibadan man. He could fight alone. After
all we are all alone the moment we all die.
Adedibu was a colourful and
charismatic figure and his politics was fascinating, repulsive and sometimes
outright evil. He was an instinctive politician who ran errand for cabal
operators in Aso Rock for political expediency. That was the reason why top
military elites and ex-Aso Rock landlord like Obasajo could not wait to
register their last respect for a creature who served their selfish interest
with energetic alacrity. Other notable figures and political elites have equally
joined in with weepy condolences and sickening glorification of Adedibu. This
is the crude reality that keeps popping up in the manifest political destiny of
Nigeria. Mortally evil men are coroneted with so much amplifying respect which
makes me wonder if anybody could be called evil in Nigeria. Adulsalam, Buhari
and Babangida only recently wore their mentally deranged caps and canonised the
life and times of Abacha. Abacha!!! Give me a bucket and let me puke. What is
good for the goose is equally good for the gander and thus, Adedibu, the
malevolent gangster of Ibadan was pack away with praises for his wonderful
political astuteness. Sorry, thank God, Adedibu was a made in Nigeria
politician----a third rate and crude apparition.
Still I would have love to
see the Ibadan ‘stormy petrel’ this year to pay my yearly homage to his altar
of ‘alatika commonteriat’ politics. Adedibu could not wait as the tsunami of
death swept him off. Farewell, baba alatika. Farewell, shon of de shoil.
Farewell, the strongest man of Ibadan politics. Farewell, a master mobiliser of
grassroot emotion. Farewell, consort with presidents, kings and devils.
Farewell, father courage. Farewell, the born outlaw. Farewell, my
townsman. Farewell, the spirit of wetie! Farewell, omo Ibadan kini so?
Tijani lives in London.
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Posted by Robot| 14.06.2008 17:51