The Majeobaje story

By Gbenga Nadi

WHEN, on Monday, November 5, 2025, Majeobaje Community Development Initiative (Majeobaje) invited members of the press to a conference in Ibadan, as a senior journalist and longtime friend of the group, I felt I had to attend. But the group’s public declaration of total support for President Tinubu’s government took many by surprise, especially coming from a non-partisan Non-Government Organisation (NGO) that is usually lobbying for enhanced security and the development of the southwest states as a single bloc. So much so that it was necessary for Chief Akintayo Akin-Deko, the Convenor and son of the late Minister of Agriculture of the defunct Western Region of Nigeria, to explain why a group of highly educated businessmen, academicians, professionals and retired military officers chose to publicly proclaim their support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and openly endorse his second term. Hear Chief Akin-Deko speak: “The actions of President Tinubu in his first 2 years in office show that the man possesses the vision and skills of a seasoned technocrat as well as the cunning and guts of the streetwise, which are needed to move the country in the direction that Majeobaje has long since been advocating.”

The emergence of Majeobaje as a top advocate for Yoruba interests had not happened by accident. The combined experience of the founding trustees since their youth is a tapestry of Nigerian human rights and political activism from the 1970s to date. Is it Dr Dolapo Sikuade, a consultant psychiatrist, who rose up in the ranks of the National Association of Seadogs during his University of Ibadan days to become a NAS Trustee and close confidante of WS himself? Or Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose, a serial entrepreneur all his life, who was a leading light in the Junior Chamber of Commerce throughout the 1980s and is today both the proprietor of a popular educational institution and a pastor in the Vine Branch Church from where he networks with the Christian Association of Nigeria.

Then there is Sir Gbenga Adebusuyi, a formidable human rights activist ever since his own UI student days, who is today a key member of the Afenifere Renewal Group, and a Knight in the Methodist Church. He helped to write the SW development blueprint that led to the creation of DAWN, the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria and was Deputy Chief of Staff in the Aregbesola government. Meanwhile, Ayo Oyerinde, the group’s young secretary, is a second-generation political activist from a highly influential Ibadan family and was at one time personal assistant to the late Governor Alao Akala. That then leaves Ibukun Fakeye, an unassuming bastion of Ibadan politics, whose influence in Yoruba affairs is often grossly understated and the convenor, Chief Akin-Deko, who grew his political wings during the NPN days and later joined the NRC where he was a close political assistant to Mallam Adamu Ciroma until the older stateman’s death in July, 2018.

Membership of the group has been spontaneous since its inception in 2013. Like-minded people from all walks of life, who had lived or worked in the SW states or simply relocated overseas from the SW, were attracted to Majeobaje by its collective style of interrogating issues and developing well-considered opinions that could guide the most demanding decision-maker. The synergy of its different members ensured that Majeobaje would definitely go places, and it was thus not surprising that by 2018 the group had metamorphosed into a registered NGO. While its eggheads developed purposeful position papers and feasible agro-industrial proposals to repopulate rural areas, Majeobaje also built up a potent network of hunters and vigilante groups across the SW states, with whom they meet periodically and assist with non-lethal logistics. Through these groups, Majeobaje has been able to obtain first-hand information on insecurity issues and suggestions on effective countermeasures. It is therefore not surprising that Majeobaje played a leading role in pressing for the creation of Amotekun in 2019 and continues to protest that there is still much work to be done to get the security outfit to the standard of effectiveness that was originally envisaged.

This writer still recalls how, back in 2013, the convenor invited me to chat over drinks at a quiet location at Bodija, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Seated in an arch-shaped pattern were seasoned technocrats, tested professionals and high-network private sector entrepreneurs, who had gathered to exchange views on a pressing issue. They included Dr Tony Marinho, Tunde Fagbenle, Dr Dolapo Sikuade, Chief Kayoda Ola, Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose, Anjola Aboderin, Ibukun Fakeye, Prof Babajide Elemo, Dax Kumapayi and a host of others. A common thread ran through them. They had all witnessed first-hand the effective impact of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led Action Group government with its unflinching commitment to agricultural and industrial development of the region.

They knew how good life had been in their growing-up years and they were also aware of the positive impact of good governance on their lives. Concerned about the deteriorating standards in virtually all aspects of life, the group, on an ad hoc basis, began interacting with local communities, particularly farmers and hunters, in a desire to help remove the drudgery associated with traditional methods of farming. Majebaje designed and encouraged the fabrication of simple tools and the application of practical techniques, which had a profound effect on the lives of the farming communities. However, the larger picture of the group is to regenerate Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s farm settlement scheme, but with modifications to include in-situ processing of harvest to add value and provision of community self-defense security measures. Back in the 1950s, Chief Awolowo’s government embarked on the farm settlement scheme to restore dignity to farmers, boost food and cash crops production, check rural-urban migration, and make farming profitable.

They had set up an insightful planning committee made up of experts such as late Dr. Ayo Ogunseye (whose son, Segun, is also a member of Majeobaje) and late Dr. V.A Oyenuga with support from the governments of the United States of America and Israel. That move signaled the tremendous prosperity that placed the Western Region first among equals, and today, the success story of the region sounds like a fairy tale. But that was the vision of our founding fathers, the foundation.

The current generation of leaders must now go a step further and harness the energy of our disgruntled youth, who make up 65 percent of the entire population, so they can enjoy a part of national prosperity instead of simply being mowed down in their villages, towns and on the highways by terrorists and land grabbers. This younger generation needs to be engaged in productive farming and small-scale industrial ventures. Toward this end, Majeobaje has written to the Inspector General of Police earlier this year, appealing to him to lift the ban on the licensing of shotguns for hunters and calling on elected officials to organise self-defense training workshops for their communities so farmers can work their fields in peace. Even before President Tinubu’s recent pronouncement to set the ball rolling for creating state police, Majeobaje had been at the forefront of its advocacy, along with the revamping of forest guards. Now that the president has taken the bull by the horns to reignite national development and to confront the existential threat facing the country from rampant insecurity, other presidential aspirants should set their ambition and differences aside and encourage Nigerians to rally behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As an old Nigerian saying goes, this is a task that must be done.

•Nadi, a former Editor of Sketch newspaper, is a member of Majeobaje.