Chief C.O. Adebayo: Remembering a True Hero One Year After

BY Oma Djebah

There are people who leave lasting marks, memories and imprints on our lives. The late Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, former university lecturer, Second Republic governor of Kwara State, Senator, former minister of communications, and later transportation, a formidable figure of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a leading voice for Afenifere, the Middle Belt Forum, and the Movement for National Reformation (MNR), amongst others, was one such person.

He lived a life of purpose, defined by principles of integrity, humility and commitment to lofty ideals. He walked tall, carrying himself with grace, dignity and quiet self-confidence. One year after, I’m still trying to come to terms with the reality of his passing. Chief Adebayo, popularly known as C.O., left a huge legacy far into the future. A year after his interment, we remember an elder statesman who meant so much to many people.

If you were an itinerant journalist covering politics in the early 1990s, you might well have encountered Chief Adebayo. I first met him 34 years ago at his Ilorin GRA home. I had gone to interview him as a member of the editorial team at the Lagos-based Classique magazine. I was excited to interview him. His handshake was firm, and he radiated warmth. His smile was infectious. He was not someone who shied away from expressing his progressive views. During the interview, he spoke with clarity, precision, eloquence and coherence, so much so that I was at home with him. He was a consummate communicator, and a great repository of knowledge. So, what began 34 years back as a journalistic encounter evolved into an enduring, lifelong bond until his passing last year. I have many fond memories of him.

He had great oratorical skills- always delivering his points with clarity, excellent diction and rhythm. His simplicity was disarming. He was entirely without airs. There was never a time you visited Adebayo that he wouldn’t see you off, extend his customary friendly parting handshake!
I vividly remember the last time I saw him: in 2021, four years before his passing, when I visited him in his Abuja home. I had gone to check on him upon learning that he hadn’t been quite well. I met him in the company of one of his daughters that afternoon. He was his usual self- straightforward, attentive and jovial. As I sat with him that day, my mind went back to decades past when he was very active politically-with a commanding personality. We spent so much time together reminiscing on certain political developments and the state of the nation. He said he was very delighted, and proud to see my name among those nominated by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari as Ambassadors-designate. He promised to visit me in Bangkok, Thailand. Even then, I suspected he might not visit on account of age and the rigours associated with such a long trip. He was a visionary who gave his all to several organisations to which he belonged, including NADECO, MNR, Afenifere and the Middle Belt Forum.

In fact, Chief Adebayo was a thought leader, a progressive compass, and a calming presence in turbulent times. Apart from being a towering figure in NADECO’s battle for the restoration of late Chief M.K.O Abiola’s electoral mandate, C.O. was a pivot in Afenifere, the Middle Belt Forum, and the MNR, respectively. An inimitable hero, a voice of reason and courage, late C.O. Adebayo exemplified exceptional integrity, uncommon moral force, and an extraordinary sense of both courage and compassion. His depth of thought, choice of words, and unique storytelling style set him apart. He demonstrated a peculiar way of communicating his views with ease and poise. Throughout my association with him, beginning in the early 1990s, he always evinced great wisdom, logic, strength of character and conviction.

Chief Adebayo’s insights were always pertinent, especially his vehement opposition to military rule and the need for the restructuring of Nigeria. His decency, affable disposition and his inclination to counsel (freely) younger professionals like myself, naturally drew us very close. Thus emerged a sustained relationship that lasted for more than three decades. He was a go-to person on happenings in the defunct Social Democratic party (SDP). On account of our closeness, he wrote me a letter from Calabar prison, where he was being detained in 1994 by the regime of late General Sani Abacha following his frontline role in NADECO. The Calabar prison letter was more than a personal account of his experience. It is on record that C.O. Adebayo declined a ministerial offer from the regime of late General Sani Abacha. As a journalist covering politics, C.O. Adebayo drew me close, and I became one of the media foot soldiers in the battle for June 12 and democracy. He was one of the preeminent progressive voices who helped me greatly in my early days in journalism as a reservoir of information. And his media friendly disposition during those turbulent years of Babangida and Abacha regimes, was helpful to those of us who yearned for the news behind the news! Chief Adebayo was 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 Lagos home was like a meeting place for thoughtful political engagement.

We remember him today as a statesman who had a positive impact on many. He was deeply genial, with an astute, quick-witted intellect. He was an Iroko whose unwavering commitment, courage, and intellectual acuteness, inspired admiration and hope. He was straightforward, pragmatic and bold. His personality sprawled across the broad spectrum of politics, leadership, public service, community service, the Middle Belt Forum, the Yoruba nation, Kwara and Kogi States, etc. His accomplishments were remarkable. A scholar who was a Senator, governor at a young age! He was minister of transportation, and communications, at different times. A lecturer at the University of Ife, head of English department at Kwara State College of Technology, and Commissioner for Education in the old Kwara State, respectively, at an early stage. There is no doubt that C.O. Adebayo was one of our nation’s most consequential statesmen, and illustrious reformists who stood on the side of the people during the tempestuous years of military dictatorship.

His voice on pressing national issues was unequivocal. At the core of his political philosophy was the call for restructuring of Nigeria. In an interview in 2016, he was quoted as saying: “There are nations, and I am talking about conventional sense of the word nation, in the sense that Yorubaland is a nation. There are smaller and there are bigger. Who wants to be together? My people in Kwara want to be part of the Yoruba nation within a federation. And so long as they have such desires, they must be addressed. And if they are not addressed, the people are not happy. They are not getting what they believe they need to be able to stay happily within the federation…Power is too heavy in the hands of the Federal Government in Nigeria. There must be devolution. Before devolution, there must be restructuring so that the oppression of the minority within a unit can be stemmed. My position remains what you’ll expect it to be.”

He added: “With all modesty, I was one of the leaders of the Middle Belt Forum, and I remain one of the leaders of the forum. I was at one point chairman of the political forum of Afenifere; I remain a very strong believer in Afenifere and of course, the Yoruba nation. I believe Kwara wants and deserves the best share of whatever this country has to offer. So, beginning at home, we were talking restructuring.…I was secretary of the National Reformation Movement. And what the NADECO was about is restructuring of Nigeria…”
He was a quintessential leader, an iconic statesman whose deeds and reputation transcended many jurisdictions. He was also a man of incredible resilience and strength, confronting various challenges with grace and courage. Born on February 24, 1941, in Igbaja, in present-day Kwara State, Adebayo attended Oke-Onigbin Provincial Secondary School before progressing to Barewa College. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1967, and proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon where he obtained his Master’s degree. He was a versatile personality whose rich service records traversed the intersection of the academia, governance, parliament, community service and pro-democracy movement.

Chief Adebayo was a colossus, a torchbearer, a shining star from Oke-Onigbin, Isin local government in Igbomina land, Kwara State that shone brilliantly throughout his 84 years. His accomplishments and enduring influence remain a legacy for generations to come. One year after, as we remember the iconic and heroic Chief Adebayo, widely known as C.O., I find solace in the comforting words of Clare Harner, the American poet, whose poem in 1934 entitled “Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep,” remains soothing:
“Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there.
I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain when you awaken in the morning hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at Night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there.
I did not die.”
In the blueness of our beautiful skies and oceans, and in the warmth and brightness of our tropical weather, we remember C.O. Adebayo as a patriot, a forthright public-spirited leader who was deeply committed to the restructuring of Nigeria, democracy, rule of law, and a new nation built on federalism that recognises the diversity of its peoples. His exemplary accomplishments will continue to serve as a guiding light in an era of vanishing dedication to noble ideals.

•Ambassador Oma Djebah, a frontline diplomat-journalist, and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, is former Delta State Commissioner for Information, and erstwhile Nigeria’s Ambassador to Thailand with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Myanmar.