Pat UtomiHe had to be called home on St. Valentine’s Day. What greater tribute to a man who cared about people, loved truth, lived his convictions based on principles, and never wavered in the face of whatever he considered just.
It was one of the great gains of my journey that I got to know him and enjoyed the privilege of his mentoring for much of four decades. Oh, what a loss to a nation desperate for true patriots and heroes. Such was the force of his presence and the energy with which he spoke his mind that it was easy to get the false hope that a nonagenarian would still be around for a significant while. You knew he had earned immortality in the hearts of men and the manuscripts of historians but you somehow convinced yourself you could keep coming back for counsel and encouragement.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelOnce I arrived in Nigeria last December I sent him a text to say I was around and wanted to establish his availability to make the usual visit. In the ways of the humble Titan that always kept me puzzled, such a text would trigger a call asking me to come immediately. This time I heard nothing. So one Sunday morning last month I just drove up to his home.
I was told he was on admission at St Nicholas. Could I go there, I asked. The response that visitors were not being allowed caused me to imagine for the first time that I may never again enjoy the good fortune of perching on the chair by his bedside getting history lessons from the 1950s.
We first met in the battles against military rule. His humility in paying attention to the views of young professionals like myself showed character. His toughness and resilience in the face of threatening soldiers encouraged many of us to look injustice in the face and dare it.
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When liberation from Military rule came and some of us chose not to seek political office so that our struggle would not be seen as self-serving play by people interested in power he chastised me saying: it is good to be an activist but if you truly want to advance the common good you should get involved in politics. I resisted for a season and buckled.
He shared with me Chief Awolowo’s desire for true federalism and moderating the East-West divide.
Adebanjo proved his commitment in words and deeds, actively participating in the Handshake Across the Niger initiated by Nzuko Umunna which was founded by a group of my mentees. I served as Chairman of Nzuko Umunna when Chief Adebanjo led a significant Yoruba delegation to Enugu. When Rev. Ladi Thompson started a similar process with YIGBA and I volunteered to host the meetings Chief Ayo Adebanjo was there. We also found shared values in such bodies as The Patriots, PRONACO, and lately in the politics of the elections of 2023.
On so many occasions he would call me and ask that I come with the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi to review the state of play. He was ever so armed with critical information at those meetings that I was ashamed of myself as the much younger person who should be more on top of things.
He was the quintessential social democrat who cared about people and people-centered politics of service. Fabian socialism had a ready trooper in him.
He also frequently honored us with his presence at events of the Centre for Values in Leadership which I founded in 2004.
As we go through this season of state capture in which politicians care more about themselves and the material benefits they extract from a state that places the people on the back burner the example and legacy of Chief Ayo Adebanjo submits itself as torchlight to show a way out of this present darkness.
I am enormously grateful that I lived in a time gifted with the noble personage like Chief Adebanjo who proved positive that a man’s self-worth far exceeds his net worth. Even more worthwhile is the assurance that generations not yet born will hear his voice when the powerful of today that tried to muffle that voice has faded from consciousness except possibly as poor footnotes of when things were unhealthy in Nigeria. His self-worth far more weighty than all the gold Mansa Musa trucked to Mecca has earned Papa Ayo Adebanjo immortality.
Patrick Okedinachi Utomi, Professor of Political Economy
