Adeleke: Remembering the people’s fallen ‘elephant’

In Yoruba mythology, the elephant, due its huge size, is given a pride of place as a symbol for affluence, greatness, conspicuity and other attributes that one can relate to size. But the Yoruba, trust their deep sense of responsibility, in their symbolism on the elephant, do not ascribe it to mere monstrosity or ‘big-for-nothingness.” Like the Yoruba, the Igbo of South-East Nigeria also has a great place for elephants in its lexicon for symbolising greatness: enyimba, meaning the people’s elephant.

The late Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, the first elected governor of Osun State and two-term senator representing Osun West, fits the bill of the symbolism of the elephant by both ethnic groups. Interestingly, he is a descendant of both, having a mixed parentage of an Ede father and an Igbo mother. The late Adeleke was not only of greatness in size, he was an elephant in visibility, good character, magnanimity and determination.

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But for the cold hands of death, which wreaked an unthinkable havoc on 23 April, 2017, putting to sleep the elephant of Osun politics and an individual whose goodly attributes continue to be praised even in death, I am sure that thousands of people, including me, would have continued to benefit from his immense kindness.

For those who never had the opportunity to get close to Adeleke in his lifetime, apart from his physical attributes, which always stood him out among others, his affable and unassuming nature belie his years of experience as a politician. At a period that Nigerian politicians become inaccessible, haughty and unnecessarily arrogant, Adeleke, to me, was always an epitome and an exemplar that I urged others politicians to copy, because despite my low estate, the late Ede-born politician had always made feel at home. He would tell anyone who dared to block me from accessing him to “allow him.”

Beyond accessibility, Adeleke’s benevolence as a politician was second to none. With hundreds of homes, students, artisans and other individuals on his list of must-reach for assistance of different nature, the late politicians had built himself an army of followers and lovers. It is not a surprise to see how thousands of people within and outside Osun State reacted to the news of his demise on that Sunday morning. When I heard the sad news, the first words I said were in Yoruba: “Oloore lo,” meaning that a benevolent man is gone. I still hear different good testimonies from many people about the politician, two years after his death.

As the Yoruba would say whenever a man of good character and great standing in the society dies, “Erin wo, ajanaku sun bi oke,” meaning that the elephant is fallen.

Thousands of people in Osun State and outside it, I am sure, will continue to mourn the untimely demise of Adeleke, a true people’s elephant. But in our grief, we continued to take solace in how well he lived; allowing our sorrow to metamorphose into celebration of his good and truly impactful life as a leader and politician, while also praying to God to give us a worthy replacement in no distant time.

Lekan Olawoyin,

Abuja.