Beyond the grave, Chief Adebanjo still speaks to the meaning of existence

A few days after the Ijebu-born, Lagos-raised Chief Ayo Adebanjo was eternally snatched by the Grim Reaper, though at a ripe old age, a video of him surfaced online.

Though short and laced with wit, the clip offered a thought-provoking perspective to viewers, particularly on the theme of existentialism, made popular by Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzche, Albert Camus and the like.

To be specific, Danish theologian and philosopher, Kierkegaard, who lived only 42 years, wrote extensively on reasons for man’s existence. In works such as Stages on Life’s Way or Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard assessed man’s pursuit for authenticity and the challenges of finding meaning in a world that often feels meaningless.

For the most part, the philosopher, in his essays, asked penetrating questions: How should we relate to moral exemplars? What is the meaning of existence? How do we choose our path?

Questions that remain relevant today, and that the late Adebanjo during his lifetime answered as captured in that short but powerful video. Speaking tenderly to his daughter with his two eyes closed and cheeks bubbling, the staunch Awoist had regaled viewers with the notice that might greet his passing, saying: “Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Afenifere, the controversial man, is gone. He died at the age of 90-something. He spoke last to his daughter.”

As he captured himself, Adebanjo’s life was steeped in admirable controversy.  A leftist until he breathed his last, he found existence in moving against the establishment.

Like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, he believed in freedom for the Nigerian people – no matter their religion or ethnic affiliation – and accepted that Nigerians deserved a life more abundant, as the defunct Action Group, AG, preached.

This belief made his call for purposeful leadership and detribalised public service in his final years all the more impressive. A gripping instance was his declaration of support for the Labour Party (LP), presidential candidate, Peter Obi, an Igbo man who hails from Anambra.

Despite being leader of the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Adebanjo defied the politics of prebendalism and tribal allegiance to shake hands across the Niger, to the irritation of some of his kinsmen. Even during days when his choice of the next man to lead Nigeria resulted in his being mocked as an Igbo stooge, he remained uncompromising, unconcerned and true to his ideals.

In 2022, at the public presentation of a book titled: ‘The Challenges of Good Governance and Leadership in Nigeria: The Peter Obi Factor,’ added more logs to the fire of criticism by saying the task of electing Obi-Datti into power was not a tea party “as the oppressors do not want to vacate office.”

The late Afenifere leader, like Chinua Achebe, had long x-rayed the Nigerian problem and submitted that most or if not all were rooted in bad leadership. At the event, he said: “Peter Obi is a young man of tomorrow who will rule Nigeria for the good of the people and I am here today to support him in order to make his ambition to become  president a reality. To make Peter Obi the president in the circumstance of Nigeria today, is not a tea party. It is not an easy job. Those who are there do not want to leave but we will push them out.

“I am not impressed by your clapping and dancing; I want your action. When I say this is not a tea party it means we are fighting a battle where the oppressors want to remain. Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your belts. On the day of election, as eligible voters, make sure you go to the polls. You do not have money but power. So, on that day, show them that their money is useless.

“I am an embittered old man but I have found in Peter Obi a young man to cool me down for a better tomorrow. I want to appeal to young ones to take this job from now to February as a full-time job. Don’t let them say Obi has no structure, demonstrate to them that you are the human structure and push them out. They will try to put a crack. Today, they said the Labour Party chairman had resigned. Who told them that? They say Afenifere is divided, who told them that?”

French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir once wrote in The Ethics of Ambiguity that to live authentically, one must take full responsibility for their choices, even in the face of uncertainty.

There was a 97th Posthumous Birthday Celebration of the life and Times of the late Afenifere leader and a public symposium themed: ‘Afenifere: Identity, Ideas and Ideology.’ There, Afenifere’s acting leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, described him as a man who knew his vision and was prepared to fulfil it at whatever cost. According to him, Adebanjo would say what he believed in without caring whose ox was gored. He said: “He felt fulfilled, he felt accomplished, he felt a duty to his leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He didn’t believe that he had finished all the work. He believed there was a lot to be done, even though he felt fulfilled. He also believed that he had people who would take over from him.”

Though gone, the Adebanjo message would be carried on by his adherents many of whom he spent his last years mentoring and shaping their political views. In death, his voice continues to echoes as he urges them to live purposefully and uphold the values he defended.

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