Politics

‘The Action Group was willing to play fair and square, to continue to undertake the role of opposition in the centre with dignity’

When I got to England, I was unattached and unmarried. Very matured, with ample experience under my belt, I was ready again for matrimony, and this time for keeps. I wanted an enduring and eternal union. I was looking for more than a friend and companion. I wanted a soulmate and an ‘alabaro’ (a confidant). Olaniwun Ajayi, my host in London, already found a lady who would turn out as a perfect match for me.

After all, he knew me well, and was aware of what I desired from the ‘bottom’ of my bosom. Olori Stella Yetunde Gbadebo, too, put in some good words for her. She came highly recommended. Christiana Anoko Magnus-Lawson was on federal government scholarship, on the recommendation of Dr. Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi who was then the Chief Gynaecologist at Massey Street Dispensary (now Hospital) and who later founded St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos. A nurse she was, and the ward of Prelate Bolaji Idowu of the Methodist Church, Nigeria.

Christiana had come with Olori Gbadebo (whom she was staying with in London) to visit the Ajayis. In the course of their discussion, they agreed that if she was unattached, she’d be good for their friend; for me. I was not around, though.

When I returned, Ajayi told me about my good fortune. On their second visit, I was not in too. But they made a phone call to me and I rushed back from a social engagement to see the lady everyone couldn’t stop talking about. My heart pounded, and I was full of expectations on the day set aside for our meeting and matchmaking.

I wanted it to go right so fervently. I had a picture of a better half, and I hoped and prayed that she fitted that portrait.

Christiana was herself nervous. She brooded and agonised about how events would turn out. However, she trusted the Ajayis enough to believe that there was ample chance that the new relationship would fly. How far, she wasn’t sure.

Everything turned out as if it was well scripted and acted, with gifted performers on stage. Christiana came well-packaged. Her background, a ward of Prelate Idowu was enough to make any man swoon. On top of it, she was cultured, beautiful beyond my imagination. We started on a good note, discussing safe subjects.

I arranged to take her out (this was in late 1959), and we fixed another date. We went to a cinema and took it off from there, spending time together, and building a dream, a future, as a pair.

It was a jolly time full of sunny and bright moments. Events cascaded into a pool of happiness and laughter with marriage as the destination of choice. But it wasn’t that easy. Prelate Idowu’s approval had to be sought and granted. And when he came to London, Christiana informed him about me. As I had anticipated, he demanded that he wanted to see the young suitor.

The meeting was arranged, and I ‘reported’ myself at Methodist International House where the clergy lodged. He interrogated me and asked if I was married before, and I told him I was, but divorced. The Prelate was taken aback. And he thundered, ‘Who was the guilty party?’

‘Sir, there is no use talking about that now, because there is no way you can corroborate what I tell you. The fact of the matter is that the divorce was undefended.’

Prelate Idowu went on, ‘Don’t you think it’s too much of a risk for her to marry a divorcee?’

I didn’t hesitate. ‘I bear the greater risk because I cannot afford another failed marriage. If this marriage fails, I’m culpable in the eyes of the world. It is mandatory that I ensure it works…’

Prelate Idowu was quiet, and didn’t say anything again. (When Christiana and I saw thereafter, she told me the comment of the Prelate: that I would be a tough guy, difficult to handle by the way I answered a seemingly difficult question).

On the eve of my Bar exams, I was also occupied as a Secretary of the London branch of Action Group. In 1960, when activities were frenetic at home about Independence and a new dawn, we fixed our wedding for May 7. But we had to postpone it till May 14 because Princess Margaret (the Queen of England’s younger sister) was getting married to Anthony Armstrong Jones (first Earl of Snowdown) that day, and many of the guests, Nigerians attending the Constitutional Conference in London, were also invited for the royal wedding.

But the May 14 ceremony almost never took place. It was discovered at the Registry, Lambert Registry, that I was officially still married unless I produced the divorce certificate of the previous marriage.

In the marriage form, I had stated that I was married. They asked for the divorce papers – which I had never set my eyes on. I had to send a registered mail to my friend, Mosunmola Folarin (a timber merchant I had known in Sagamu) to help procure the papers which were posted to England in time before the May 14 date.

Those who were attending the Constitutional Conference in London and also the wedding of Princess Margaret, stayed on to grace our nuptials. There were many high-ranking party officials and Western Region government functionaries.

The wedding took place at the Anglican Church at Ann Hill, London with Oniyide Sodipo, (also a law student at that time and father of Prof. Kole Sodipo), my childhood friend, as bestman. This was followed by a reception at the Agent-General’s house, 15A Kensington Palace Gardens, West London. It was a high society event with Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola (the then Premier of Western Region) as chairman of the reception, and Chief Toye Coker, who was then the Agent-General, as master of ceremony. (Kensington Palace Gardens was, and still is, London’s most exclusive address and had one of the world’s most expensive residential streets, with embassies and residences of ambassadors.) The property was bought by the Action Group Government under Chief Awolowo when M.E.R. Okorodudu was the Agent-General. (The military later took it over from Western Nigeria and converted it to Nigeria House.) Also in attendance were Chief F.R.A. Williams (Attorney-General of Western Region), S.O. Ighodaro, J.A.O. Odebiyi, among many other dignitaries from Nigeria. Chief Awolowo was not in England at the time.

The wedlock, blessed with four children, two male and two female, has lasted over 50 years already – through the valleys and peaks of trials and triumphs as a politician, activist, lawyer, businessman and elder statesman, apart from the years of exile, detention and imprisonment.

It has survived all, with beautiful children who are now parents. There is Adeola, born in 1960, a lawyer and banker; Obafemi, 1962, who studied political science, and is doing business in London; Olusegun, 1968, a lawyer in New York; and Folasade, 1972, a medical doctor and currently a consultant.

Chapter 6

The Treason Trial, Exile and Detention

Then I qualified as a lawyer, and coming home was non-negotiable. It was what I always planned. To come back to Nigeria, practise law and engage in politics. Immediately I returned to Nigeria, I enrolled as a solicitor and barrister and began practice.

About a year later, when I was just settling down, I became a fugitive, running from the long arms of the law, avoiding arrest and detention, and a long trial which had a predetermined judgement. I had become a wanted man accused of plotting a heinous crime.

It was a very turbulent period: of treachery and all the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride) in full operation. Politics was becoming warfare, full-scale battle where all evil and maleficent tactics were admissible as fair. Events and alarming scenarios, took place in rapid succession, fresh things happening before previous dramas were resolved. There were many long, dark nights and so few bright days.

The government of the day at the centre, led by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister of Nigeria, and overseen and manipulated by the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Alhaji Ahmadu Bello (Premier of Northern Region and Leader of Northern Peoples Congress) wanted the opposition, particularly Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Leader of Opposition and Action Group) smothered, silenced and asphyxiated!

From early 1960, long before independence, they had tried to ‘put him in his place,’ disgrace him thoroughly, and hound him into oblivion. Throughout the ceremonies that heralded the October 1, 1960 lowering of the Union Jack and hoisting of the green-white-green flag, Chief Awolowo and the Action Group (AG) were banished to irrelevance in the centre, in Lagos. No official role was assigned the party or its officials. We were positioned far away from the hub of activities.

This humiliation was the smallest part of it. There were more daring and damning plots. The ruling party used its position to tragic ends. They had willing tools (which they exploited) and persons (who were devilish accomplices) in the structures. Their allies in the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe all turned a blind eye, or manipulated the system to frustrate the AG and its leaders.

It was a very difficult period for democracy, the system which guarantees freedom for all, encourages and nurtures the framework which assures the greatest good for ‘almost’ all. The arrangement that promises a level playing field, where the minority could have their say, and the majority their way. The Action Group, our party, was willing to play fair and square, continue to undertake the role of opposition in the centre with dignity and a sense of duty that was difficult to fault, hoping to encourage good governance, and a better polity.

But how far can you go when your opponents adopt every necessary evil means to annihilate you? There was already trouble in the West. Chief S. L. Akintola (who became Premier in 1960 after Chief Awolowo) had become insensitive to party proclamations, was dining with enemies, and there had been widespread violence leading to deaths and loss of property.

There was pandemonium. The enemy was determined to railroad AG off-track. A state of emergency had been declared in the West on May 29, 1962, and an administrator (Dr. Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi) installed.

Whispers of a grand plan to implicate leaders of AG, the cream and prime movers of the party, in treason, a forceful overthrow of a legitimate government, were everywhere.

The Coker Commission of Enquiry had earlier been inaugurated, and it was working to a macabre script. It was investigating the activities of Nigerian Investment Property Company (NIPC), which took a loan from the Western Nigeria Marketing Board (WEMABOD) to accelerate development of the region.

NIPC (with Shonibare, Maja and Rewane on its board), was a private company being run on behalf of the Action Group (AG). The proceeds of that company were meant to support the party.

Awolowo was working at establishing a strong political party, with independent sources of income. He had said he didn’t want 10 per cent from contractors, and would not encourage kickbacks, bribery and corruption in whatever guise.

Chief Shonibare had started his estate earlier in his career, and built a strong company (Shonny Investment and Property Company, SIPC) which we all admired. He got a loan from Barclays Bank to bankroll some of his property (in Shonibare Estate and Elephant House both in Lagos, just to mention two).

Chief Awolowo was in love with Shonibare’s managerial skills, and set up NIPC. He then called Shonibare that he wanted him to replicate the feat of his estate by building NIPC into a strong platform.

So, NIPC was set up as an estate development company, with the sole aim of providing finance for the party (using SIPC as a role model). The capital was raised from a loan obtained from the Western Nigeria Marketing Board.

The loan was at a higher interest rate than the prevailing bank rates, and was used to build a number of landmarks, from Cocoa House in Ibadan to Western House, Unity House and Bristol Hotel (all in Lagos), among others.

The Marketing Board’s interest rate was comparable to what Gilt-Edged Securities charged. The Action Group borrowed from WEMABOD at 5 percent more than the prevailing market rate. All these properties came under the management of the Western Nigeria Marketing Board following the Coker Commission of Enquiry.

NIPC operated above board, never took bribes from contractors nor did anything under the table. There was nothing irregular or fraudulent about the relationship between the Western Region and NIPC. They couldn’t prove any fraud! From its terms of reference, it was obvious that the Coker Commission of Enquiry was a witch-hunt targeted at the NIPC which Akintola had wickedly leaked to the Balewa government as the source of Action Group’s finance.

It was no surprise, therefore, that the Commission recommended the acquisition of NIPC properties which were used as a collateral for the loan granted the company by WEMABOD.

The Coker Commission of Enquiry’s report was very unpopular and, when it was published, it was met with hostility in the minds of the people who made a bonfire of it. The crisis in the AG led to a no-confidence motion in the Western House of Assembly against Chief Ladoke Akintola, calling for his removal as Premier and replacement with Alhaji Dauda Adegbenro, one of the leading members of the party at that time. The motion was signed by majority of the members and sent to the Governor of the Region, Sir Adesoji Aderemi, (who was also the Ooni of Ife).

When the motion was to be moved, however, a supporter of Chief Akintola, who was from the same Ogbomoso Constituency with him, jumped on the bench of the House and said, ‘There is fire on the mountain.’ This action caused an uproar in the House; hence the motion was signed by majority of the members. The governor then removed Akintola as Premier and announced Adegbenro as his replacement.

In the ensuing commotion in the House, policemen entered and shot teargas into the packed hall which caused a stampede. The Balewa government, as if acting out a script, seized on this development and announced that law and order had broken down in the Western Region. Balewa then declared a state of emergency in the West, dissolved the House and appointed Dr. Koye Majekodunmi, his personal physician, as administrator.

The action of the federal government was patently unconstitutional under a federal system. It was therefore challenged by the party. The then Chief Judge of the Western Region, Quashie-Edum, a Ghanaian, acting unconstitutionally too, transferred the case to the Supreme Court in Lagos. The Supreme Court, presided over by Chief Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, decided in favour of Akintola.

But the AG now appealed against this judgment to the Privy Council, which was the highest court of appeal under the constitution at that time. The Privy Council reversed the judgment of the Supreme Court and confirmed the appointment of Alhaji Adegbenro.

However, instead of implementing this judgment, the Balewa government maliciously passed a new bill in the House making the Nigerian Supreme Court the final court of appeal in the country, thereby nullifying the Privy Council judgment.

Sequel to the appointment of Majekodunmi as Administrator of the Region, leaders of the AG were sent on detention in various parts of the country. The party leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was put under house arrest in Ikenne, his hometown. But before the Coker Commission of Enquiry started sitting, Awo was moved from Ikenne to Bell Avenue, Ikoyi, where he was also placed under house arrest. From there, he was charged with treasonable felony, and the rest is now history.

I was ‘Accused Number 30’ (while Chief Awolowo was ‘Number 27’). When we were being rounded up and hauled in detention, I was away in Ghana on a mission for Chief Awolowo. I had already been declared wanted, along with Anthony Eromosele Enahoro, Samuel Goomsu Ikoku and James Olubunmi Aluko.

I returned and offered to give myself up, and face the music of fabrication composed, arranged and orchestrated by the Northern People’s Congress and its cohorts. But when Awolowo heard, he sent word through Alhaji M. O. Owodunni who had access to him and who saw him everyday during the Coker Commission of Enquiry while under house arrest in Lagos, that those who were yet to be arrested should go on exile so that the campaign against tyranny could continue (in order to make the world aware of the devilish machinations of the Balewa government in Nigeria). He directed that I should return to Ghana (I had been visiting Ghana since 1957, understudying the strategies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party, especially how they contained thuggery and rigging at elections). He (Awolowo) said I should not submit myself under any circumstance.

Owodunni told me that some of our colleagues had been arrested and that I had been declared wanted. When I came to Owodunni’s house in the middle of the night, he was surprised to see me. He then told me that Papa had instructed that I should return to Ghana, and not allow myself to be arrested.

I just packed the few things I could take, passed through Dahomey, and landed in Ghana. I went by public transport. I had no choice. The beautiful thing was that the masses and law agents here at home were sympathetic to our cause and so co-operated with me, just as they led Tony Enahoro too through a secret route.

I returned to Nigeria in 1961 as a qualified lawyer, and I had made Ibadan home, but couldn’t even get there to pack anything. I was in Lagos, in the Jibowu area, at Alhaji Owodunni’s house when I had to go on exile that same day, in the night.

My mother, Madam Salamotu Odubanke Adebanjo, went to my house in Ibadan to pack a few clothes, odds and ends which were sent to me later. All my savings, from the time I returned in November 1961 till 1962 and the emergency funds reserved for my wife’s homecoming, were with me. I even took some money from my father (Pa Joel Adebanjo Adedairo).

I stayed in M. O. Owodunni’s house in Jibowu area of Yaba whenever I was in Lagos; and once he relayed Awolowo’s message, I knew I had to leave the country immediately.

Papa Awolowo directed me to call on one of our supporters in Dahomey (now Republic of Benin) to give me easy passage. The supporter was a politician and the Deputy Mayor of Dahomey (whose people were agitating to join Western Region). He was from the Yoruba-speaking part of Dahomey.

I left Lagos the second day through the motor park. Owodunni dropped me at the park. He later told my parents that I had to leave for Ghana urgently because I was declare wanted by the government. I had some money to sustain me. When I got to Dahomey, the man I was directed to see by my party leader was a popular politician. When I met him, he was warm and friendly.

At the border, they asked me where I was going. I told them I was visiting my in-laws in Togo. I had my documents with me.

The challenge was moving between Nigeria and Benin Republic. The moment I left there, I was in safe hands. The Deputy Mayor gave me accommodation for the night and the next day I proceeded to Ghana (by road).

In Ghana I was a guest (along with two others, S. G. Ikoku and James Aluko) of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s government. We reported to the Bureau of African Affairs (headed by Mr. Bardein) as soon as we arrived Accra. The Bureau was the political outfit of Dr. Nkrumah which looked after political refugees.

As a lawyer and a former journalist, I was attached to Radio Ghana as a features editor while S.G. Ikoku was made editor of Spark, a revolutionary journal of Dr. Nkrumah whose editor-in-chief was Kofi Batsha. I was already very familiar with Ghana. Members of Action Group were being instructed by Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) on better ways of organising a party.

We had developed a relationship with CPP after the 1956 Western Nigeria general elections. The AG had organised a tour of Ghana for 12 organising secretaries led by Chief S.T. Oredein, the Principal Organising Secretary of the party. The tour was organised as a way of appreciating the secretaries in various divisions of the party.

Members of the team included Richard Babalola from Ekiti, Isaac Ositelu (Ikeja), Ayo Soremi (Osogbo), Ladipo Olisa (Owo), Ayo Adebanjo (Remo) and J.O. Lawanson (Ilesa). After our arrival in Accra, we were eventually settled in a housing estate (Cantonment Estate) near Star Hotel (opposite the residences of Kofi Bako, Ghana’s Minister of Defence, and John Tetegah, the Secretary-General of the Trade Union Congress).

I stayed in a whole house. I was there alone until James Aluko joined me (he was a staff of the secretariat). Aluko later became a leader of the party in Ekiti.

The three-year sojourn in Accra, Ghana was at the Cantonment Estate with James Aluko. S.G. Ikoku was in another location in the town.

If anyone had told me when I was returning home after being called to the Bar in 1961 in England, and being registered to practise as a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria, that I would have to flee, escape from injustice of a malevolent kind a year later, I would have labelled the prophecy the prediction of a futurologist who visualised ill will towards me and my progress.

When I was returning from England, there was more than hope dancing in my bosom. I was determined to attempt to surpass all benchmarks of success. I acknowledged that I had to work hard to make a name in the legal profession.

It wasn’t difficult to make a choice of where to begin my odyssey. The chambers of the sage in Ibadan, known as Obafemi Awolowo & Co., was where I kicked off my career as a counsel. Adesina Odedina was the senior lawyer then. I didn’t practise there when it was Awolowo & Akerele.

Abiodun Akerele was in partnership with Awolowo, and the partnership had been dissolved long before I joined the firm. With Adesina Odedina (a nice man who was also in London at the time I was studying Law) managing the firm, many briefs landed on our laps. We worked on cases for UAC and Leventis, and represented some land owners in Ilaro (the present headquarters of Yewa District of Ogun State) who were being compensated by the government. The firm also engaged in general litigation.

I was fast finding my feet as a lawyer, and playing politics on the side as a staunch member of the Action Group. I was even jealously referred to as a top gun of the ‘Ijebu mafia’ (because some respected party members were from the area, including the leader, Chief Awolowo who was from Ikenne in Remo Division). This time I didn’t hold any party position.

One significant thing I remembered while I was practising in Ibadan was my relationship with the Iges (Bola and Atinuke). On one occasion, Atinuke and I appeared before Magistrate Ovie-Whiskey. Thinking I was senior to Atinuke at the Bar, Ovie-Whiskey said ‘Ladies first,’ contrary to the practice at the Bar of seniors mentioning their cases first. And she (Atinuke Ige) said, ‘It’s not a matter of ladies first, it’s a matter of seniority.’ She was my senior by a year or two (although we were contemporaries at the CMS Grammar School) and CMS Girls’ Grammar School, respectively.

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