There is the possibility that, the editor of this piece will hesitate a bit to consider the piece for publication. This, I want to presume will be on the thought that, the man I have chosen to memorialise in this piece was neither a flamboyant celebrity nor a grandiloquent political figure. Yet, I hope the editor will be persuaded by my conviction that, for people to cultivate the culture of constant thinking of what they can do for their country, as opposed to what their country can do for them, Nigerians in all walks of life, who are also making differences in their little corners must be recognised and celebrated. According to a Rosicrucian mystic, everyone in the course of life cannot be a mountain, but many can be just a little hill which is not also obscure. The latter was of course, the life of the late Ondo state Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Professor Bayonle Ademodi, a formidable intellectual, a Yoruba nationalist and a patriot, whose soul reintegrated with the universal soul just recently. The fact that Professor Ademodi was not given to the high octave of Nigerian politics does not of course diminish his stature as a politician who was so committed to the rediscovery of Yoruba ethos of Omoluabi and its inculcation in the current generation of Yoruba youth who seem to be victims of ruthless erosion of Yoruba ethos and culture. Against this backdrop, Ademodi was so committed to the agenda of integrating Yoruba people of Western and North Central Nigeria ,as one strong player in the very competitive Nigerian federalism as if that was his sole political mission. In that pursuit, Ademodi did not harbour hatred towards other ethnic groups in the country. He did not equate regional integration with xenophobia.Rather, he was of the realistic stance that, the Yoruba race within the Nigerian federation, needed to coalesce their resources and talents to sustain the excellence for which they are known.
There is also the possibility for some Nigerians who are not even as patriotic as him, to misconstrue him as an ethnic bigot and chauvinist. But far from it for three cogent reasons. One, as the late eminent professor of international relations Olajide Aluko had argued, the reality of African politics for now is ethnic struggle. This cannot be far from the truth granted the motley of ethnic groups the colonial power arbitrarily configured and constructed as nation-states amid scarce resources across Africa. Two, realising the centrality of ethno- linguistic factor to the stability of the Nigerian federalism,Chief Obafemi Awolowo had submitted that, ethno-linguistic factor should form the defining and deciding factor in the composition of the federating units. And to this the Nigerian social forces have responded. Three, federalism in conception and praxis recognises and elicits dual loyalties from the citizens. That a citizen is loyal first to his ethnically composed state, is not therefore, a political sin and for which no citizen as Ademodi stood for, should be castigated . It is nothing no politician should be ashamed of in the face of a fiercely competitive federalism. After all, federalism aims at fostering unity in diversity; and healthy rivalry among the states and between the states and the federal authority, is also recognised as one of the advantages of federalism.
Although I settled in Ondo state in 1992. However, Ademodi had been plying his activism and politics before then. Our paths however, crossed in about 2008, when he emerged the convener and coordinator of the Afenifere Renewal Group in Ondo state, a group I poke nosed into granted my research interest in political parties and interest groups. In promoting the group, which he explained was not birthed to attack the main stream Afenifere, Ademodi stressed that, the ARG is just a social ladder for younger elements to climb into the core Afenifere Group, the manifestation of which is difficult to see till date. Yet, in running the affairs of the group in Ondo state, he attempted to strike a balance in his relationship with the members of the main Afenifere .He was neither rude to them nor spoke ill of anyone even in their absence. He would, using his personal resources with the help of Mrs. Jumoke Anifowose(Nee Ajasin), Mr, Tokunbo Ajasin and one or two other anonymous donors, organise, public lectures to keep the progressive cause on course; to enliven the spirit of June 12 and to sell the Yoruba integration agenda without offending other ethnic groups .In Ademodi’s low octave politics, he quintessentially demonstrated a strong commitment to the progressive cause. He neither waivered nor ratted from one party to another. It was little wonder then, when he emerged as the commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties. As soon as he got to that office, he kept me on tap as he occasionally sought my inputs on policy issues. In a memo I sent to him on the integration of the South West, I had advocated among others that, he should promote through the DAWN Commission, the joint adoption and development by South Western states, of one university, one polytechnic, one monotechnic, one college of education and a teaching hospital into centres of excellence in their respective core mandates ; and see to the joint establishment of a university of aviation and a maritime university .Ademodi did share my views and whisper them at the appropriate quarters .Although his pre-occupation with the campaign of the re-election of Governor Akeredolu did not allow me to feel his thought on the eventual ceding of the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso to Oyo state , certainly, he must have perceived it as a blow to his gospel of integration and cooperative intergovernmental relations in an evolving federal arrangement. If the #EndSARS promoters insist that all politicians are corrupt and are living high-rolling life, I will insist that, Ademodi, a professor of Chemical Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, be counted out. He personified simplicity and contentment. He had planned to retire into farming. On one occasion, he told me that he would pay the money (N20,000) for two publications he bought twice because he did not have money. A whole commissioner I exclaimed. There and then he told me that, with ASUU strike, he had not been receiving his salaries as he was taken his salary as a professor and not as a commissioner. On another occasion, he expressed his worry about societal pressure on him particularly, the daily demand for money by so many people even for frivolous things amid his struggle of having to use his personal money to a times meet his office exigencies. As the book of life, Unto thee I Grant, has posed and answered respectively: what will you be found doing if overtaken by death? Something noble. Ademodi was caught by death doing nothing short of acts of nobility. Few hours before he went into the hospital for the surgery after which he passed on, he had called and implored me to scrutinize the proposed bill in the House of Representatives on the establishment of South West Development Commission which had been referred to him, and make my inputs available to his ministry’s permanent secretary for harmonization and eventual submission to the Green Chamber. This I quickly did to his satisfaction and with the confidence that we would see again after the surgery. But that is no longer to be. Adieu, a plain Omoluabi and a dedicated Yoruba nationalist.
Dr. Adebisi writes from the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo state.
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