Home Education Senator Abiola Ajimobi: A Tribute | Gani Adeniran

Senator Abiola Ajimobi: A Tribute | Gani Adeniran

1830
0

In the early fifties, Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi’s father, Alhaji Gani Ajimobi and my late father, Alimi Adio Adeniran, were the closest in their group of friends which included Alhaji Sali Lawal, Baba Akinyo, Baba Abondejo, Baba SLY, BabaLAK, Baba Kotoye, Baba Honourable Lasisi Ajimobi alias “okoro and Baba Kannike. They were barely literate Ibadan elites of that time who popularised Yusuf Olatunji, the legendary sakara musician. They all had one trait in common: they took time to have more than one wife.

After my father died in 1965, it was in Senator Ajimobi father’s house at Oja Oba that I normally took refuge whenever my mother, the itinerant trader-turned-widow, was away on many of her trips along the West African coast. I knew Senator Ajimobi faintly then but certainly his late mother who shared the same name (Sikirat) with my mother was well known to me. I got to know Senator Ajimobi much later in politics.

In the build-up to the 2003 elections, he had emerged from the blues as AD senatorial candidate to upstage Prof Wole Akinboade of UI who was then well favoured and had worked tirelessly for Chief Lam Adesina in the previous elections of 1999. A number of people were unhappy with the denial of the senatorial ticket but Senator Ajimobi did a lot of fence-mending to assuage the feelings of many AD faithfuls. I was at Prof Akinboade’s house when he led his supporters including some hardcore friends of Prof Akinboade to beg him! Senator Abiola Ajimobi eventually won the 2003 election but Lam Adesina lost his second term bid as Governor! That was the beginning of the making of the legend that Ajimobi has become in the annals of Oyo state politics, and by extension, Nigerian politics at large.

In 2004 when I was a member of OYSIEC, he led members of Alliance for Democracy (AD) to our Commission to present candidates for the Local Government elections. Days later, another faction of AD came with their own list. The Commission discovered that some names were common to both lists. This apparent factionalisation of AD became evident and that affected the party’s poor showing amongst other reasons at the 2004 LG elections. By 2007, Broda Isiaka had become a household name although he lost the governorship election.

With the ACN/APC merger, Ajimobi’s emergence in 2011 as Oyo Governor was a tale foretold. Though I was not his fan as Governor, his achievements in the two-term residency at Government House, Agodi has been well captured. Without doubt, nobody can deny his contribution to the transformation of Ibadan city. He was indeed the advocate of industrialization and urban renewal as many towns and cities started to wear new outlook, with dual carriage roads as common features inOyo,s Ogbomosho, Iseyin, Shaki among others.  I had serious issues with some of his policies and public demeanors but I gave him due regards each time we met at private functions. The last of such functions was at the one year Fidau of Alhaja Sherifat Kola Daisi in October last year.

His wet and dry senses of humour and his ability to repeat publicly what he had had people said about him all confirmed that he couldn’t be bothered by complaints and mischiefs against his person. He would turn serious matters, almost everything into jokes. There was the popular myth about his fateful declarations during his tenure as governor. Once, he stated that he would not need anything from God again after his tenure as Governor. He later withdrew the claim and wanted to be Senator. He was also recorded as doubtful of longevity in his family: he was said to have seen 70 years as being good enough for a lifetime; but he later switched and said 96 years would not be a bad idea if God wishes! I always admire his public chemistry with his wife, Florence and how he would never stop talking about her beauty and character.

May God grant Governor Isiaka Ajimobi Aljeanah firdaous, forgive his sins and comfort Mrs Florence Ajimobi, children, grandchildren and his political dynasty. Adieu Broda Isiaka.

Dr. Gani Adeniran
Department of Veterinary Pathology
University of Ibadan

Previous articleCOVID-19: One Dead As Oyo Discharges 169
Next articleAs Incessant Killings Rise In Ibadan, Residents Blame ‘Yahoo Boys’

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here