Adebayo: Tale of a deserted leader

By Ojo Fatade

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” —-John Kenneth Galbraith

When I was growing up, my grand mother told me a story of a certain man called Akanbi, who felt aggrieved that out of the ten men he met on his way from the farm, none bothered to greet him. The said man had complained to my grand mother about what the men did and went on to conclude that all of them were bad.

But Iya Eleko, my grand mother pulled the wool off his eyes when she told him that all the ten men could not be bad. Akanbi was told pointedly that he ought to examine himself instead of jumping into conclusion that the ten men did not greet him because they were of bad character.

After narrating this story, my grand mother pulled me to herself and said; “Omo mi Ojo olukuloye, bi gbogbo ore eni ba ti nsa funni, oye ka tun iwa ara eni se” (Ojo my son, if all our friends are deserting us, we should check ourselves).

Since the names of new appointees into the Engr. Segun Oni led Ekiti State government were made public, my memory has not stopped being reminded of the story of Akanbi and the ten men. Worse still, it has been equating Akanbi with former governor of Ekiti State , Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo and the ten men, with his erstwhile political associates.

Adebayo was opportuned to be the first democratically elected governor of Ekiti State . His father too was a former governor of the old Western Region, which now comprises of five states. After winning the election, which he contested alongside Chief Paul Olatunde Alabi as deputy governor, Adebayo assembled the best hands that he could get and assigned portfolios to them as members of his cabinet. And for four years, everything went smoothly especially between him and Alabi, his deputy, who was adjudged the best deputy governor in the Southwest.

However, less than five years after Niyi Adebayo left the government house, he is now wandering in a kind of political wilderness alone. Virtually all those with whom he ran Ekiti for four years are now in Governor Oni’s People Democratic Party (PDP) and most of them are among the appointees whose names were made public last week.

Barrister Afolabi Ojuawo, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under Adebayo who is now Special Adviser on Chieftaincy Affairs for Oni, Kola Adefemi, then Speaker of the House of Assembly is now Special Adviser Legialative Affairs, Obafemi Adewale, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General during Adebayo’s reign is now Special Adviser (Political) to Oni, Bunmi Ogunleye, Adebayo’s Special Adviser (Political) now nominated as chairman of the newly established House of Asssembly Commission, Gboyega Isijola, SUBEB chairman under Adebayo is now Special Adviser (Rural Development) to Oni, Kola Amire and Femi Robinson, both members of the House of Assembly during Adebayo’s administration.

Others are Akin Oluwadare, former chairman of Ekiti West Local Government who also served briefly as Adebayo’s Special Adviser on Parliamentary Matters and Stephen Akinola (Sadola), former chairman of Ikere Local Government now member of Project Monitoring Committee and Capital and Urban Development Authority (CUDA) respectively.

Apart from the above listed men whose political influence cannot be wished away, others that are no longer with Adebayo include his deputy, Chief Paul Alabi, Bayo Aina (commissioner for finance), Sesan Fatoba (commissioner for commerce), Mrs. Jolaade Onipede (commissioner for environment), Dayo Fajuyi, (chairman of Ado Local Government and commissioner for justice), Gbenga Ogunremi (Chief Press secretary), Femi Balogun (chairman, TESCOM and Adebayo’s kinsman), Femi Adesokan (Chairman, Bulk Purchase Agency and also Adebayo’s kinsman), Akin Elegbeleye (chairman of Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government, Adebayo’s local government of origin) Dipo Anisulowo (Adebayo’s in-law), Dayo Adeyeye (former AD and Afenifere national publicity secretary) among others.

The list also includes AC governorship aspirants like Senator Ayo Arise, Dapo Alibaloye, Afolabi Popoola, Tunde Odetola, Caleb Olubolade, Bode Olowoporoku and a host of others.

The way and manner these highly respected politicians left their erstwhile boss has also reminded me of why some leaders sustain their position and others lose theirs. For instance, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) under which Adebayo contested and won election is an offshoot of late chief Obafemi Awolowos Action Group and latter Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). Though the same cannot be said of the AC, which was formed out of the grievances of some members of the PDP and AD, those whose ascendance to political relevance bore the signature of Awolowo still identify with the family till today. 

 It was Admiral James B. Stockdale who said leadership must be based on goodwill. This goodwill he posited does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers.

Perhaps, as further posited by Stockdale, what the Adebayo men needed was for their leader to be man of the heart who is so helpful that they, in effect, will do away with the need of their jobs. Because they opined that leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. Unfortunately, that must be what he (Adebayo) could not be. He could not even pay the severance allowance of those who served with him, thereby throwing them into penury soon after they left government. That allowance is now being paid by the Segun Oni led government.

The consequences of Adebayo’s leadership failure are what the AC is feeling today. How did it happen that of all those who worked with him during his four years administration, none was qualified to be AC’s governorship candidate except Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who was a total stranger to the state political terrain up till the time he declared his governorship ambition? I am not sure one needs to be a professor of political science to know that leaders as Chief Paul Alabi, Dayo Adeyeye, Dapo Alibaloye, Caleb Olubolade, Ayo Arise, Femi Ojo, Tunde Odetola, Dare Babarinsa, Afolabi Popoola, Bunmi Ogunleye, Akin Oluwadare, Bode Olowoporoku, Afolabi Ojuawo, and others too numerous to mention here had their followers and that they must have evacuated that sea of followers with them into PDP.

- Fatade, a public commentator lives in Ado-Ekiti.