TRIBUTE: Chief C.O. Adebayo: Remembering a true hero one year after

Some people leave lasting marks, memories, and imprints on our lives. The late Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, former university lecturer, Second Republic governor of Kwara State, Senator, former minister of communications, and later transportation, a formidable figure of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a leading voice for Afenifere, the Middle Belt Forum, and the Movement for National Reformation (MNR), amongst others, was one such person. He lived a purposeful life, defined by integrity, humility, and commitment to lofty ideals. He walked tall, carrying himself with grace, dignity and quiet self-confidence. One year later, I’m still trying to come to terms with the reality of his passing. Chief C.O. Adebayo, popularly known as C.O., left a lasting legacy. A year after his interment, we remember an elder statesman who meant so much to many people.

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If you were an itinerant journalist covering politics in the early 1990s, you might well have encountered Chief C.O. Adebayo. I first met him 34 years ago at his Ilorin GRA home. I had gone to interview him as a member of the editorial team at the Lagos-based Classique magazine. I was excited to interview him. His handshake was firm, and he radiated warmth. His smile was infectious. He did not shy away from expressing his progressive views. During the interview, he spoke with clarity, precision, eloquence and coherence, so much so that I was at home with him. He was a consummate communicator and a great repository of knowledge. So, what began 34 years back as a journalistic encounter evolved into an enduring, lifelong bond until his passing last year. I have many fond memories of him. He had great oratorical skills- always delivering his points with clarity, excellent diction and rhythm. His simplicity was disarming. He was entirely without airs. There was never a time you visited C.O. Adebayo that he wouldn’t see you off, extend his customary friendly parting handshake!

I vividly remember the last time I saw him: in 2021, four years before his passing, when I visited him in his Abuja home. I had gone to check on him upon learning that he hadn’t been quite well. That afternoon, I met him with one of his daughters. He was his usual self- straightforward, attentive and jovial. As I sat with him that day, my mind went back to decades past when he was very active politically-with a commanding personality. We spent so much time together reminiscing on certain political developments and the state of the nation. He said he was very delighted and proud to see my name among those nominated by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, as Ambassadors-designate. He promised to visit me in Bangkok, Thailand. Even then, I suspected he might not visit because of his age and the rigours of such a long trip. He was a visionary who gave his all to several organisations, including NADECO, MNR, Afenifere, and the Middle Belt Forum.

In fact, Chief Adebayo was a thought leader, a progressive compass, and a calming presence in turbulent times. Apart from being a towering figure in NADECO’s battle for the restoration of late Chief M.K.O. Abiola’s electoral mandate, C.O. Adebayo was a pivot in Afenifere, the Middle Belt Forum, and the MNR, respectively. An inimitable hero, a voice of reason and courage, late C.O. Adebayo exemplified exceptional integrity, uncommon moral force, and an extraordinary sense of both courage and compassion. His depth of thought, word choice, and unique storytelling style set him apart. He communicated his views with a peculiar ease and poise. Throughout my association with him, beginning in the early 1990s, he always evinced great wisdom, logic, strength of character and conviction.

Chief C.O. Adebayo’s insights were always pertinent, especially his vehement opposition to military rule and his call for Nigeria’s restructuring. His decency, affable disposition, and his inclination to counsel (freely) younger professionals like myself naturally drew us very close. Thus, a sustained relationship emerged that lasted for more than three decades. He was a go-to person on happenings in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). Because of our closeness, he wrote me a letter from Calabar prison, where the regime of late General Sani Abacha detained him in 1994 after his frontline role in NADECO. The Calabar prison letter was more than a personal account of his experience. It is on record that C.O. Adebayo declined a ministerial offer from the regime of late General Sani Abacha. As a journalist covering politics, C.O. Adebayo drew me close, and I became one of the media foot soldiers in the battle for June 12 and democracy. He was one of the preeminent progressive voices who greatly helped me in my early days in journalism, serving as a reservoir of information. His media-friendly disposition during those turbulent years of the Babangida and Abacha regimes also helped those of us who yearned for the news behind the news! Chief Adebayo was congenial, and, to boot, exceptionally media savvy. His depth of thought, rich sense of intellectual wit, and openness drew some of us to him, and his Lagos home became a meeting place for thoughtful political engagement.

We remember him today as a statesman who positively impacted many. He was deeply genial, with an astute, quick-witted intellect. He was an Iroko whose unwavering commitment, courage, and intellectual acuteness inspired admiration and hope. He was straightforward, pragmatic and bold. His influence spanned politics, leadership, public service, community service, the Middle Belt Forum, the Yoruba nation, Kwara and Kogi States, and more. His accomplishments were remarkable. A scholar who was a Senator and governor at a young age! He was Minister of Transportation and Communications at different times. A lecturer at the University of Ife, head of the English Department at Kwara State College of Technology, and Commissioner for Education in the old Kwara State, respectively, at an early stage. There is no doubt that C.O. Adebayo was one of our nation’s most consequential statesmen and illustrious reformists who stood on the side of the people during the tempestuous years of military dictatorship.

His voice on pressing national issues was unequivocal. At the core of his political philosophy was a call to restructure Nigeria. In an interview in 2016, he was quoted as saying: “There are nations, and I am talking about the conventional sense of the word nation, in the sense that Yorubaland is a nation. There are smaller ones, and there are bigger ones. Who wants to be together? My people in Kwara want to be part of the Yoruba nation within a federation. And so long as they have such desires, they must be addressed. And if they are not addressed, the people are not happy. They are not getting what they believe they need to stay happy within the federation…Power is too heavy in the hands of the Federal Government in Nigeria. There must be devolution. Before devolution, there must be restructuring to stem the oppression of minorities within a unit. My position remains what you’ll expect it to be.”

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He added: “With all modesty, I was one of the leaders of the Middle Belt Forum, and I remain one of the leaders of the forum. I was at one point chairman of the political forum of Afenifere; I remain a very strong believer in Afenifere and of course, the Yoruba nation. I believe Kwara wants and deserves the best share of whatever this country has to offer. So, beginning at home, we were talking restructuring.…I was secretary of the National Reformation Movement. And what the NADECO was about is restructuring of Nigeria…”

He was a quintessential leader, an iconic statesman whose deeds and reputation transcended many jurisdictions. He was also a man of incredible resilience and strength, confronting various challenges with grace and courage. Born on February 24, 1941, in Igbaja, in present-day Kwara State, Adebayo attended Oke-Onigbin Provincial Secondary School before progressing to Barewa College. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1967 and later attended the University of Ghana, Legon, where he earned his Master’s degree. He was a versatile personality whose rich service record spanned academia, governance, parliament, community service, and the pro-democracy movement.

Chief C.O. Adebayo was a colossus, a torchbearer, a shining star from Oke-Onigbin, Isin Local Government in Igbomina land, Kwara State, who shone brilliantly throughout his 84 years. His accomplishments and enduring influence remain a legacy for generations to come. One year later, as we remember the iconic and heroic Chief C.O. Adebayo, widely known as C.O., I find solace in the comforting words of Clare Harner, the American poet, whose poem in 1934 entitled “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep,” remains soothing:

“Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there.
I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain when you awaken in the morning hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at Night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there.
I did not die.”

In the blueness of our beautiful skies and oceans, and in the warmth and brightness of our tropical weather, we remember C.O. Adebayo as a patriot, a forthright public-spirited leader who was deeply committed to the restructuring of Nigeria, democracy, rule of law, and a new nation built on federalism that recognises the diversity of its peoples. His exemplary accomplishments will continue to serve as a guiding light in an era of vanishing dedication to noble ideals.

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Ambassador Oma Djebah, a frontline diplomat-journalist and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, is a former Delta State Commissioner for Information and erstwhile Nigeria’s Ambassador to Thailand, with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Myanmar.