Pa Taiwo Fadahunsi is one of the children of Sir Joseph Odeleye Fadahunsi who was a governor of the now defunct Western Region. In this interview with BOLA BADMUS, he speaks on the biographical journey of the Ilesa, Osun State-born nationalist who joined other patriots to midwife the emergence of the country from colonial rule to independence, as well as failure of government to give due recognition to the memory of his father. Excerpts:
Who was the late Sir Odeleye Fadahunsi and what role did he play in the country’s journey towards independence?
In the days of late Pa Herbert Macaulay when patriots were forming the NCNC, my father was one of the founding fathers of the party. By the time the first set of elections were held in the Western Region, he was elected by his people in Ilesa as their representative in the Western Region, House of Assembly. He was subsequently elected the deputy opposition leader in the House to the late Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu. Concurrently, he was the chairman of the Ijesa Urban Local District Council. He rose again in the party to emerge a delegate of the NCNC to the last constitutional conference in London.
When did the conference that you referred to take place?
The last one before Nigeria gained independence in 1960. My father was also at a time, the chairman of the Nigeria Airways. He later rose to become the first vice president of the NCNC. At that time, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was the chairman of the party. When Zik vacated the chairmanship upon his appointment as the country’s Governor-General, he (Sir Odeleye) was appointed the patron of the party with Dr Michael Okpara becoming the chairman of the party. As a statesman, he accepted to become the patron, despite the fact that he ought to have taken over from Zik as the chairman of the NCNC. It was from there that he became the governor of the Western Region.
What year did he become the governor of Western Region?
That was in 1962. He was the governor till the military took over government in January 1966.
What were his landmark achievements in Western Region when he was in office as governor?
It’s unfortunate that he was just a ceremonial governor compared to those we have now who wield enormous executive power. Then, the power to administer the regions rests with the premiers. The only major thing he did was sign bills that would have been passed by the House of Assembly. The best he did was to play an advisory role in the day-to-day governance process in the region, which he did from time to time. There was nothing he could do because he neither had any portfolio allocated to him nor was he a member of the regional House of Assembly.
How did he emerge as the governor of the region?
His emergence as governor was due to an alliance that took place between members of the NCNC in the Western Region and a splinter group of the Action Group, led by late Chief Samuel Akintola. Their group was NNA. Akintola led the NNA delegates while my father led the NCNC delegation to the talks. The merger or what you call alliance took place shortly after the exit of Dr Koye Majekodunmi as the administrator of the region in 1962.
How would you describe his tenure as the governor of the region?
It was, indeed, a very turbulent era in the Western Region because I was old enough as a secondary school student to witness it.
What did he do to douse tension as an elder statesman?
Unfortunately, for him his role was advisory in nature because the constitution did not invest him with power to act administratively. He was not really happy with the turn of events, but it is to his credit that he provided shelter to some displaced residents of the region who sought shelter at the Government House in Ibadan. I remember that he put up a team of eminent and distinguished sons and daughters of the region to look for means of dousing tension. He mandated the team to approach both federal and regional governments to find ways of dousing the raging tension in the country. Unfortunately, some elements within the Akintola- led government in the Western Region believed that the crisis was a war that was to be won at all costs. He tried his best to ensure that these elements had a rethink without success. Things degenerated with opposing politicians burning their houses across the region. His house in Ilesa was even razed. Before his house was burnt, one incident occurred that made him realise how serious the situation had degenerated to. He came to Ilesa on one occasion and his car was stoned by some partisans. That was a rude shock to him based on the fact that the NCNC has always had rousing acceptance in the town. Sincerely, my father never thought that the situation would have turned out the way it turned out to be. At that material time, he contemplated resigning from office until the military took over in January, 1966.
Where was Sir Fadahunsi when the military took over in January, 1966?
We were in Government House when the coup took place. The late Chief Fani-Kayode’s official residence was very close to the Governor’s Lodge. He was the deputy premier then. My father’s aide-de-camp was the one who woke us up very early in the morning to tell us that the premier, Chief Akintola had been killed and that Fani-Kayode had been taken away by the soldiers. This prompted us to come together in the sitting room to monitor the situation before we decided on the next line of action. I was so young to offer any form of advice, but God saw us through in the end.
Would you say your closeness to your father spurred you into politics?
Yes, I became more politically aware at a tender age. I remember I used to travel long distances with my father to attend major meetings of the NCNC. We travelled as far as Asaba, Port Harcourt and Onitsha to attend such meetings. He was always taking me along with him to such high-level meetings. During such occasions, I used to see prominent members of the NCNC, such as Zik, Raymond Njoku, Festus Okotie-Eboh and many of them. Such meetings some time took place in our house in Ilesa. I remembered attending one of such meetings in Ikeja, home of Zik. Whenever they came, they discussed politics.
Why is it that your father has not been properly acknowledged by successive governments considering his role in nation building?
My father was a victim of political conspiracy. We are trying our best to keep his memory alive. We have approached federal and state governments on the need to accord his memory the due recognition. Unfortunately, many of his peers and those lesser in status to him have been honoured, but for reasons unclear to us, nothing has been done by the federal and Osun State governments to honour his memory. I also think one of the reasons for this was also because those who are leading the nation are not conversant with history.
How do you feel knowing that nothing has been done to immortalise him?
We don’t feel anything. If God can recognise you and make the family happy, we are satisfied.
What is the relationship between your late father and late Chief Obafemi Awolowo?
It will interest you to know that both of them were so close and friendly to one another notwithstanding the fact that they were in different political parties. I respect Chief Obafemi Awolowo so much because this was a man, who despite the fact that the AG was not making an appreciable impact in Ilesa still has tremendous respect for my father. Whenever he (Awolowo) came to Ilesa to campaign, he would stop by our house. The politicians of those days were extremely decent in their conduct.
How would you describe your late father?
My assessment of him is not because he was my father, but I will say that he was nice and was always available for his people. He was religious too. He did not joke with his religion. He had an excellent relationship with the people he came in close contact with.
What did you miss about him?
There is nothing that you won’t miss about your father. Seeing him alone is enough. I miss his wise counsel in terms of valuable advice. Luckily, we were old enough to have intimate interaction with him. In those days, when you saw people like Zik, TOS Benson, Michael Okpara, it was like you saw God. These were outstanding political figures. They all came to our house and when they did, we got animated and saw our father from another light. When these people are gone, we now begin to see our father again as a normal human being.
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