Why I compiled my newspaper articles into book form ― Chief Fadun

Chief Babatunde Fadun, a businessman, insurance expert, trained journalist, international relations expert and politician, recently published a book, Thoughts of Babatunde Fadun, where he compiles his newspaper articles and presentations over the years. In this interview with Adewale Oshodi, he speaks on what has changed between those years he fought for social change and what we have on ground now. Excerpts:

YOU recently published all your newspapers articles, as well as some unpublished presentations, starting with your article in the Daily Sketch of March 5, 1973, where you wrote, ‘Awo is 64 tomorrow;’ is there any reason you are compiling all the articles in book form now?

The publication is being made now because I want the younger generation and the world at large to know some of my activities when I was young. As a great admirer of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, I dedicated my first newspaper article 48 years ago to Papa as my humble present on his 64th birthday.

With you having an economics background, the majority of your articles dealt with improving the country’s social system; do you think you have achieved what you fought for over the years?

Of the 20 chapters in the book, only two are on economic issues; the first one explains why locally-made goods are more expensive than their imported substitutes. This is an economic irony which appears to be confusing to the general public, with the chapter seeking to throw some light on it. Secondly, the chapter on debt relief gives a fairly detailed history and structure of Nigeria’s foreign debts (domestic debts not considered) since independence. In fact, Nigeria started incurring foreign debts since 1957; the involvement of the various administrations in the accumulation of foreign loans was highlighted while the huge cost of servicing the debts and its economic implications are explained. The heroic effort of President Olusegun Obasanjo in securing debt relief for Nigeria is also treated in that chapter.

Another important article which you wrote in ThisDay of April 17, 2020, ‘Amending the 1999 Constitution,’ is still as relevant today as it was when it was published 21 years ago; if the government then had heeded the voice of reason, do you think Nigeria would have been in a better situation today?

When I wrote the article in ThisDay in 1999 about the need for review of the constitution, my basic objection was the over-centralisation of power at the federal level. After operating the 1999 constitution for over 20 years, it is now clear that it is a major deterrent to social economic and political development of Nigeria.

Nobody knows who wrote the constitution and the views of Nigerians were never sought before it was promulgated into law by the military government of Abdulsalam. Nigerians need a new constitution not a white wash or an amendment of the secretly written military constitution.

Your dream in your paper, ‘The Case for Integration of the Awori Towns of Ota, Igbesa and Ado-Odo into Lagos,’ presented in March 1977, to the chairman of the Boundary Adjustment Commission did not come to fruition, however, these towns are more like towns in Lagos today; are you really happy with this, or you still hope they can be fully integrated into Lagos? 

When the states were created in 1976, there were complaints nationwide, especially from communities around the state boundaries. A boundary adjustment commission was set up under the late Justice Mamman Nasir. In Ogun State, Ijebu people from Omu Eleni and Awori people from Ota, Ado Odo and Igbesa filed petitions protesting their non-inclusion in Lagos. As a young student at the University of Lagos, I filed a well-researched petition calling for merger of the Awori in Ogun State with their kith and kin in Lagos State. The petition is published unedited in my book. Other Awori pressure groups also wrote and the weight of evidence we presented convinced the boundary adjustment commission to recommend our merger with Lagos. But some powerful forces within the military administration vetoed the recommendation at the last minute. I am in possession of de-classified document in this regard.

You are also a politician, being a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State; with what is happening in the country today, don’t you think the political class has failed Nigeria?

The political class have not failed Nigerians; while politicians are not angels, some problems are beyond their control. The 1999 constitution was, as I said earlier, written by people not known to Nigerians and the military compelled the political class to operate it. More than half of the problems facing Nigeria today are attributable to the 1999 military constitution.

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