Chief Ayo Adebanjo ,  Afenifere leader  who died, aged 96 ,and  last of the original Awoists,  was a  vivacious,  joyous soul.   He was a zestful political warrior who embraced political combat  with gusto.  In his usual ebullience, he embraced death and  even  humorously  cast the news headline for  the media on his imminent  passage :   “ Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Afenifere, the controversial man, is gone”.  He had added :  ‘’He last spoke with his daughter’’.  It was his last video chat.  For a man who preached fairness, equity and love of country for a united Nigeria,  it was symbolic that   he took his  last bow on February 14, 2025, Valentine Day ,  a day  humanity celebrate love.    

 I first made contact with  Mr. Ayo Adebanjo,  as he was then , the  ebony black handsome lawyer , as a village child  in  Okelamuren,  Ogbo  community, near Ijebu-Ode , Ogun State when he made a triumphant  homecoming on his return from England in 1961. .  The then  33- year old lawyer rode into the village in the same car with Chief ( Mrs.)  H.I.D. Awolowo.   It was a glorious day for us villagers.  We, the children,  crowded the slow moving car, as it waltzed its way to the village square, to get a glimpse of  this illustrious son  of the soil just returned from  ‘ilu Oyinbo’ ( the White man’s land) . In those days,  we village children used to wave at any aeroplane  passing over our  village asking  the passengers, in  Ijebu dialect, to  help us greet our relations in ‘Ilu Oyinbo’  !!!  A childhood blissful ignorance  !  We got heightened excitement when we found out  that the  lady who  rode in the car with him was  the wife of the legendary AWO !   Mythical Awo  !!  My maternal grandmother, Olori Adejoke  Adebambo, wife of  Ilamuren of Okelamuren,  Oba Julius Adebambo,  referred to  Ayo Adebanjo as   ‘omo Bada ‘  ( son of Bada )  a  Lagos-based , successful goldsmith.  Chief Ayo Adebanjo inherited his handsomeness and sartorial elegance from his father, who was always resplendently dressed , with  long  gold chain.

Chief Ayo Adebanjo  was committed to his local Ogbo  community, comprising 11 villages ( Ogbo mokanla ) . His country home , a compact, elegant  bungalow built on a landscaped expanse of land, in the centre of Ogbo community, straddles Isanya and Okelamuren villages.  He was the Asiwaju of Ibido-Ogbo, the Baba Oba of Okelamuren , Grand Patron of Okelamuren  Progressive Union ( OPU )  and leader of Ogbo  Christian community . For decades, he hosted  Ogbo community members in Lagos to annual new year party  at his Lagos residence on the second Sunday of every January. He paid his tithe and regularly packaged  money for the local clergy at Saint Phillips Anglican church, Isanya-Ogbo.  On one of my visits to the country home, I witnessed his doling out two envelopes of money to the assistant pastor of his home church.  After the pastor left, I had asked Baba why at age 95 he was  still giving out money.  He had smiled , pointing out that as church leader , there were some expectations of him, adding   that even his wife, also in her  90s, made similar donations.  What a devotion !    

As  is the tradition with Afenifere,  Chief Ayo  Adebanjo,  as Afenifere Leader,  hosted  the organization’s meetings at his Isanya-Ogbo  country home, usually under a canopy provided for the occasion, with entertainment sponsored by various groups. At such meetings,  where he presided , Chief Adebanjo stamped his authority , as the man in charge . Meeting must follow procedure as laid out in items in the agenda. If you got up to speak on item 6 while discussion  was on item 4, he shuts  you up , mid sentence.  Also, you don’t go back to an item that had been treated , he would dismiss you as  absent-minded,  inattentive and a time waster.  Some did not like the brusque manner,  but to him meetings must be ordered business.  

The point is, whoever got to interact with Chief Ayo  Adebanjo  saw  him as a Strong Man  !  Strong in intellectual  articulation and elocution, a strong robust physique,  strong vocally in his emphatic tone  and very, very  strong in his convictions.  With him , there is no ambivalence, no ambiguity  – he takes a reasoned  stand  and sticks with it – his last unequivocal stand  being  his endorsement of Peter Obi of Labour Party  for president in the 2023 presidential  election, based on justice and equity.   It turned out his last political battle.  With Bola Ahmed Tinubu as presidential candidate of the All Progressives Party ( APC ),   a large section of Yorubas went into ethnic mode to pillory the Afenifere leader  for supporting  an Igbo against a fellow  Yoruba.  Some members of  Afenifere left to form a splinter group that endorsed Tinubu for president.  Chief Ayo Adebanjo  was the target of  a bruising campaign of calumny to which  he  usually responded with   infectious , boisterous  aplomb in  stoutly  defending  the logic of  his  stand on equity among  Nigeria’s  tripod of North, West and East to the presidency.  When Peter  Obi , the one they said had no structure on ground,  scored the landmark, upset  victory of defeating, Tinubu,  the Lagos Landlord, in his Lagos domain, in the presidential election,  the opposition went for broke in the virulence of their attacks on Chief Adebanjo.  Nothing was spared in the demonization of the  old  political warhorse . One character, in a social media post that went viral,  even claimed Chief Ayo Adebanjo was half Igbo, that his mother was Igbo !!! Imagine the audacity of that blatant lie. Of course, Chief Ayo Adebanjo’s  mother was  Yoruba,  of Ijebu stock.  I had raised the issue with Baba at his Isanya-Ogbo country home, that we should counter this big lie.  But he had  told me , with a wry smile,  “ Bisi, leave them alone. It is not worth it “.  Days later, I had an appointment with a Professor  of Ophthalmology  in Lagos who repeated the lie of  Chief Adebanjo not  being a full blooded Yoruba because his mother was Igbo. I tried to correct the misinformation but she was not convinced, telling me why was it not refuted. But my greatest shock was on  Saturday, February 15, 2025, the day after the passing on of Chief Adebanjo, when at Ede, where I live, people gathered  at  the vendor’s place in Oke Gada while discussing the late  Afenifere leader’s last political stand  also said he supported his kinsman Obi because his mother was Igbo !!.  It then dawned on me gravity of the menace posed by  disseminators  of fake news and why it must be tackled  by the government with the urgency  and severity of sanctions it deserves.  If someone can brazenly  peddle such  a lie about  a national figure like Chief Ayo Adebanjo,  what can  they  not publish about us regular folks ?

The  2023 elections which triggered the lie about Chief Adebanjo’s maternal nativity, also drew editorial attacks. Three days to the gubernatorial election, I had written a piece captioned ‘ The Igbo & the battle for Lagos’, published in many newspapers, including The Guardian and The Nigerian Tribune, both on March 16, 2023. In that write-up, I had , among others, stated  : “ Whipping up  Yoruba  ethnic sentiments  against the Igbo portrays the APC as a drowning  party seeking any straw to cling on. It  is a manifestation of the desperation of  Tinubu and the APC, apparently destabilized  by the Obidients’ phenomenon “.   Surprisingly, on the same day the write-up was published , the Tinubu media gladiators published  a counter in  The Nation newspaper, which did not publish the article itself.  Rather than responding to the points raised ,  the surrogate writer,  Ayodele Ola Daniels,  described the write-up as ‘’ malicious , malevolent analyses’’ . However, it was a manifestation of their obsession with  Chief Ayo Adebanjo that they  implied that  he sponsored the  write-up by noting that :  “ After all,  Olawunmi’s  kinsman , mentor  and sponsor, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, endorsed  Peter Obi  in the presidential election”.  Then the clincher : “Pa Adebanjo is  not known to have won any election anywhere in his  life ! ‘’. This is what had confounded  critics of Chief Ayo Adebanjo over  the  years , how in spite of his not having occupied  any  of those lofty , aphrodisiac ,  public offices like minister , senator or governor, he had, by strength of character,  attained prominent public visibility and earned respect for  his articulate position on issues, from restructuring to a united one Nigeria. He had only been pioneer organizing secretary of the Action Group in the 1950s.  One concedes that Tinubu’s  thunder in Abeokuta – the Emilokan battle cry – was seen by many  as tantamount to committing political hara-kiri, but in spite of the odds stacked against him, still  triumphantly  clinched  the presidency.   But  the question arises : after the victory, where is the beef ?  Back then in 2023, Daniels had assured us that ‘’ Tinubu’s presidency  will usher in a new , brighter , more prosperous , stable, secure  and United Nigeria’’  and  that ‘’ The Bisi Olawunmis of this world would have a long, inconsolable winter ahead.’’.  Well,  getting to two years on in the Tinubu Presidency,  prosperity and  security remain elusive  and millions of Nigerian Bisi Olawunmis, nationwide, are experiencing  inconsolable, harsh economic  winter !!  

Chief Ayo Adebanjo had opposed Tinubu’s presidential bid on  principle of equity and often said  it was not a declaration of war, which was why he visited Tinubu during the time he had   health challenges before the election.  This  gesture was lost on the Tinubu boys.  However, in spite of the  irreverent  Tinubu political gladiators, among the glowing tributes  to Chief Ayo Adebanjo,  I found the one  by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu  ( a.k.a. Emilokan ) quite gratifying for the humility  in publicly acknowledging the pivotal role of Chief  Ayo Adebanjo , as acting chairman of the Alliance for Democracy party , in getting him elected as Governor of Lagos state in 1999, a position that launched his political trajectory.  “ His ( Adebanjo )  unwavering  commitment to truth  and justice  extended to my journey as governorship candidate  in 1999.     Baba Adebanjo’s  steadfast support was instrumental in my election as Governor of Lagos State under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy’.  Tinubu had added :  ‘’Until his death, I shared a deep personal bond with  Baba Adebanjo; he was like a father figure’’ .  Those Tinubu laudatory words about Chief  Ayo Adebanjo ,  ‘’ unwavering commitment to justice ‘’ played out in 1999 in commendation  but  played out in 2023 in condemnation !!!    Chief  Ayo Adebanjo, a man of politics without bitterness,  died on Feb. 14  - Valentine Day - a day of showing amity, which hopefully,  may  create a pathway  to restoring  harmony  to Afenifere, the  umbrella Yoruba   body,   which he led with passion and dedication.  

Chief Ayo Adebanjo lived  a frank , unpretentious and fulfilling life.  He  harped on life’s transient nature  and  had always jokingly reminded  people of his imminent passage.  He used to say :  Ayo  Adebanjo ti se ti e , o ku siyin lowo ( Ayo  Adebanjo has done his beat, it is left for others to carry on).. He ran a good race and ended well. He left a legacy of political fidelity to justice,  equity  and a principled stand in furtherance of  Nigerian  brotherhood.