The road not taken, By Oma Djebah

By next month, precisely 30 April, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, a towering elder-statesman, journalist-Lawyer, federalist, frontline Afenifere leader and one of the behemoths of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), who passed away peacefully in his Lekki, Lagos home, on 14 March, will begin his journey home.  Though he departed at the ripe age of 96, his death is a big loss to journalism and the media. The late nonagenarian, was first and foremost, a journalist before his transition into law and politics. Even so, he remained on the Board of Tribune for decades, a measure that mirrors and underlines his personality as a valuable gift to journalism. His love for the media, was therefore, understandingly infectious, compelling. He evinced this during the June 12, 1993 struggles by NADECO for the restoration of democracy and late MKO Abiola’s electoral mandate.

As a consequence, I find it difficult to pen this tribute. I remember 14 March, the day that Pa Adebanjo, whose love for the words, also defined his essence, passed away. It was unsettling, and I came close to bawling like a child. I have not had the opportunity of seeing him, in recent time.  The last time I saw him was in 2015, ten years ago, when I visited him in his Lekki, Lagos home. I had gone to introduce the editor of The New Diplomat, a digital newspaper I founded upon completion of my term in the government of Delta State. I met him in company of Otunba Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of Ogun State, ace founder of Krestal Laurel, an electro-mechanical engineering firm, and currently, a Senator, representing Ogun East. That Morning, he was in his usual elements- candid, and plain-spoken.

Pa Adebanjo always stood on the side of press freedom, exemplifying great courage, frankness and consistency, especially during the darkest days of late General Sani Abacha’s regime, when the media operated under severe peril and intense adversities. To journalists, his doors were always open, notwithstanding the risks as the Abacha regime regarded the media as highly adversarial. His influence and deeds resonated far and wide. This was because,  Adebanjo believed that good journalism is good for the soul of society. It is incredibly healing, therapeutic. One was therefore naturally crest-fallen, emotional. As I recall, Chief Adebanjo was always available to speak, rail against the military regime at the time. Indeed, his consistent denunciation, candid criticism, and incendiary censure of  Abacha’s regime, were rich contents for the media, including TheGuardian where I worked at the time.

Sadly, Pa Adebanjo has joined the list of esteemed members of the depleting league of late elder-statesmen in the pro-democracy community whom I was privileged to have cultivated as engaging news sources during that period in the course of my journalistic career. The late icons include Chief Anthony Enahoro, NADECO leader (alongside Chief Adekunle Ajasin),  pivotal nationalist, first  Parliamentarian to move the motion for Nigeria’s independence in 1953, and Nigeria’s youngest  editor ever at 21 in 1944; Chief Abraham Adesanya, Second Republic Senator and leader of Afenifere; Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs, billionaire founder of Moni Pulo, and a chieftain of NADECO; Chief Frank Ovie Kokori, Secretary of  NUPENG and fervent activist; Chief Alfred Rewane, a NADECO stalwart; Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former governor of Anambra State and an unfaltering NADECO chief; General Adeyinka Adebayo, former military governor of the old Western Region; Dr Chuba Okadigbo, ex-colourful  President of the Senate; Chief Gani Fawehinmi, radical Lagos Lawyer and one of the pre-eminent  champions of democracy and the rule of law; Mr Chima Ubani, Executive director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO),  Senator Kanti Bello, a reformist politician, Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, erstwhile military governor of Lagos State, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, ex-military governor of old Plateau state, etc.

To help drown my emotions, I picked up a book, which I found very insightful, illuminating, The Age of Voter Rage: The Tyranny of Small Numbers, authored by Nik Nanos, a Professor of Data Analytics at the State University of New York, Buffalo. A richly interesting book, which offers lavish insights into how a slew of propaganda, fake news, and voter sentiments  influence elections outcomes across various jurisdictions, the book provides riveting dynamics of how democracy is painfully, ironically being satiated with fake news, spins, trolls, propaganda, and how nanoscopic voters are tragically shaping democratic institutions through voters-rage, spurred by swing votes, and social media nuances. Even so, the emotional unease would not cease. Adebanjo was not just a journalist’s delight, he was a fervent anti-military rule champion. Beneath his frame, laid a bedrock of geniality, principles and vision which attracted him to many journalists covering politics, especially between 1992-1997.

To hark back, I first met Adebanjo in 1992. As a journalist covering politics, I yearned for big stories-news content that would make headlines. As a result, I wanted to interview Chief Enahoro, the legendary journalist, quintessential nationalist, and sublime golfer, who was championing restructuring under the auspices of the Movement for National Reformation (MNR), at the time. One of the preeminent progressive voices who helped me greatly in my early days in journalism was Second Republic governor of Kwara State, Senator Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, whom I am grateful to, for his invaluable support and encouragement during those turbulent years of Babangida and Abacha regimes. Chief Adebayo is congenial, and, to boot, exceptionally media savvy. His profundity of thoughts, rich sense of intellectual wit, openness drew some of us to him, and his Surulere residence was like a rendezvous of a kind.

So, it was Chief Adebayo, later minister of Works, Transport and Communications, respectively, between 2003-2007, who asked that I meet him at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos at about 8;00am one Monday morning in 1992. As a peripatetic journalist, I had just wrapped up an interview with General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, a frontline presidential aspirant of the erstwhile Social Democratic party (SDP), one of the two political parties midwifed by General Babangida’s regime, and I hopped into my Volkswagen Beetles car and headed for Ikeja, navigating through the snail-paced Lagos traffic. I successfully made it to Sheraton Hotel. Without further ado, Chief Adebayo took me under his wings upstairs. Therein, he introduced me to the coterie of Chief Anthony Enahoro ; Chief Abraham Adesanya; Chief Alfred Rewane, and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

Interestingly, what struck me about Chief Adebanjo were his sense of precision, candour, and impeccable dress sense. He was attired in a well spruced up suit coat, and he drove a clean, white Mercedez Benz car. He spoke precisely as he felt and thought with straightforwardness. “How do  I pronounce your name? Are you from Kwara?,’’ he asked, looking at my complimentary card.  “Sir, my name is Oma Djebah, from Delta State. I cover Politics for Classique magazine.”, I replied. Thus, began a relationship which prospered for about 33 years. Chief Adebanjo, was without doubt, one of the most principled, and media friendly personalities of his generation during the June 12, 1993 struggles.

Jovial, pleasant, and very courageous, he represented the best of his age. His infectious personality, contagious and commanding voice were quite thrilling and rip-roaring. He followed up on developments as a figure whose first training was journalism. In the intervening years, when I joined TheGuardian, and later ThisDay, he was among the first to wish me well in my new roles. Always unafraid to address any subject matter under the sun, I recall interviewing him in 1997, when a hail of gunfire by Abacha’s security’s henchmen disrupted a reception in honour of the then outgoing United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Walter Carrington, at the Surulere homes of Pa Solanke Onasanya and his, respectively.  He was unequivocal and lashed at the Abacha junta. The disruption was so intense that one had thought that Adebanjo would go underground, as many nestled, huddled away in fear, and panic. Conversely, he demonstrated courage at that inauspicious occasion. He was not just plain-spoken,  he spoke straight-from-the -shoulder. You didn’t  have to forage or scout out for the news content as a journalist.

He roared: “ Write it and publish it. Whether Abacha likes it not, it is the position of NADECO that Abacha should quit now and hand-over power to the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections, MKO Abiola. We shall not stop speaking, and we in NADECO shall be meeting again. Where was Abacha when I marched on Race Course in the 1940s and 1950s, fighting for independence?” Predictably, Adebanjo’s assertion was the headline on many newspapers the following day.

Pa Adebanjo was one of Nigeria’s most consequential elder-statesmen,  and legendary reformers who stood on the side of principles during that tumultuous  period. He believed that the society must be democratic, free and allow the journalist the freedom to function. In an age where  opportunism seems to trump logic, industry and forthrightness, and  peeve long-term strategic goal and patriotism, it is applaudable that Adebanjo was steadfast in his fervent belief in democracy and federalism. As one newspaper editorialized “ A Great elder-statesman has departed.” Truly, he was. Though, he was often criticized for allegedly being too inelastic and antagonistic to all those who oppose his views, Adebanjo habitually explained that he was simply being consistent as an Awoist and a democrat. Even so, his critics believe he was too inflexible.

Born on 10 April, 1928 in Isanya Ogbo, a community near Ijebu Ode in present day Ogun State, Adebanjo started off as a journalist, and later studied Law in the United Kingdom. Upon his return, he launched himself into politics, full throttle, in the 1950s, pitching tent under Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group (AG). And he remained an unyielding federalist, heartfelt disciple of Awo and inductile advocate of restructuring. Adebanjo was a very disciplined family man. He  relished vegetables, fruits and engaged in physical exercises religiously. In his over 75 years of active political engagements, Adebanjo played various roles and left his marks with admirable dignity and auditable accomplishments.

He is survived by his long-standing wife, Mrs Christy Ayo-Adebanjo, 94, his children, grand- children and great grand-children. As Robert Frost, one of America’s most noteworthy poets of the 20th century, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, four successive times, once put it in the last stanza of his poem entitled, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”:

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”.

Pa Adebanjo’s life was a life well lived, a life of great purpose, and sterling accomplishments.  He took the path of humanity and noble deeds. He will be greatly missed. May his soul rest in peace.

Oma Djebah, journalist-diplomat, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Delta State honourable commissioner for Information, and previously Nigeria’s ambassador to Thailand with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok, is the author of the book, Niger Delta: Media & Peacebuilding Options.