The name Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu is synonymous with poltical triumphs in his native Oyo State where he held sway as the undisputed leader whose word was law. Electoral victory in Oyo State during his lifetime was reflective of his preferences and choices at different times. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, his wife, Hajia Modinat Abosede, Adedibu talked about his political engagements. Excerpts:
It’s been several years since the demise of your husband, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, what has life been like for you and the family since he left?
Well! I give thanks to the almighty Allah for His mercies but I will like to summarise life (since his death) with a Yoruba adage that says ‘Life becomes void when a benefactor departs the scene.’ The family has drawn its support mainly from the support of God who has been sustaining us. He (God) has been kind to me personally and other members of the family.
Your husband was a popular and known figure while alive, politically, that means that he had a large following, how well have his supporters come to the aid of the family since his death?
Well! I had anticipated it, I mean what is happening now. All I can say is that some of them who have assisted the family one way or the other are doing their best. What I know is that, you can’t expect people to reciprocate good gestures that had been shown to them. I can say that some of them are doing their best to reconnect with the family. When I say some are assisting the family, I don’t mean myself alone. I refer to their assistance to the children as well. I can say that we cannot expect so much from people.
Could you name some of those of them who usually come to you from time to time?
No! I will not do that but I just give thanks to Almighty God. I also thank those people who have continued to look back. I also thank God for those who have failed to look back as well. Unfortunately, I won’t mention anyone. God knows them and I pray that God will reward them as well.
Apart from some of his beneficiaries not touching base with the family, what other regrets do you have since the passing of your husband?
I have learnt so much lessons since my husband died. I can tell you some. The major lesson I have learnt is that one with God is the majority. He prepared me for this when he was alive. He always said ‘one with God is a majority.’ He told us not to rely on people, he said people will disappoint you if you rely on them. He told us to rely on God and if we do, He will show us His mercy. I remember that he once told me that Jesus Christ was a benevolent man who healed and cured many people. He asked me ‘how many of the people that Jesus helped came back to him to thank him?
Your husband was a very controversial figure, he was well liked and hated in equal measure by those that came across him while alive. As a wife to him, what kind of husband was he to you and what kind of father was he to his kids?
He was a good husband and companion to me. He was a good friend as well. He was a good father too. All round, he was a good person too. Unfortunately, those who never moved close to him have this wrong notion of him as a bad person. Those who have negative impression of him have offended God because, they never knew him. I know that people tend to say so many things about him. For those who worked closely with him or those who interacted with him while alive can attest to the fact that my husband was very generous and kind. He was very God fearing person.
What would you say about his politics?
What I can say is that my husband knew and understands politics so well. He knew the nuances and the dynamics of politic so well. May be that accounts largely for why people describe him as a dictator. From what I saw of him, he wasn’t a dictator. He shared opinions regarding politics with his friends and associates before carrying out his decisions. My husband was at home with all categories of people, whether old or young. Baba was not the ‘no all personality’ when it comes to politics. He consulted widely with people before taking decisions. Left to me, I love his style of politics. I have heard people criticize his politics yet they (his critics) copied his style at any given opportunity.
Do you subscribe to ‘amala politics’ that your husband practiced?
There is nowhere you go that you won’t see amala politics. Everyone has his own unique ways of doing things. You can’t satisfy everybody. He made remarkable impacts with his kind of politics.
What other attributes do you remember your husband for?
I remember his sense of benevolence and generosity. My husband was a kind of person that would just sit down at home and say ‘haa, I have forgotten a gentleman in Ibarapa’ and send someone down to give him (the person) things. He did that very often and whenever he did, he would send whatever he had to the affected person. That kind of gesture usually sat well with those he sent them to. That’s the kind of person my husband was. There were times he even woke me up in the dead of nights to tell me that he had forgotten one person or the other and he would send things to the person in the morning. He knew people off hand. He would dispatch his workers to the affected people. He had zero tolerance for seeing people go hungry. He loved to see people happy all the time. He would give people things that would make them happy. It wasn’t common to see him underrate anyone. He was also in the habit of visiting people that he had never seen for a long time. When I asked him, he would tell me that he went to see the person because he hadn’t seen him in our house for some time.
Your husband was well known for assisting people to power. To his credit he installed many into various political offices but why do you think he had issues with many of the people that he assisted one way or the other?
Only God knows that. I asked him this same question when he was alive, I asked, ‘Daddy, why is it that people usually abandon you immediately you campaign and win elections for them. He smiled and answered me and said; ‘Jesus gave sight to the blind, he cured the infirm and did many wonders. How many of them came back to say thank you?’ That was his response to me. I know what he went through to get some of these people to power, he never really wanted much from the people he helped to power. All he wanted was respect and recognition.
Many of his protégés accuse him of exerting financial commitments from them after getting to power? How true is this?
(Cuts in) That’s a lie. The question one should ask is; why didn’t they say that when they sought his support for the election? I can give you an instance of how he had to sell his house in Abuja to fund the election of a governorship candidate. He sold the house. If the person is a God fearing person, he ought to show gratitude to someone who helped him achieve your political objective. These people will come to our house to say ‘baba, come and assist me to achieve my political goal.’
Was the person aware that your husband sold his house?
Of course he knew. When you are looking for something and you don’t have money and you see the person assisting you spending money that you didn’t give to him, won’t you ask where he got the money from.
Who was the governor that your husband sold his house to get elected into office?
No! No! Forget about that. I won’t tell you. It wasn’t just one person that he did that for. He did it to many of them that he helped into offices. My husband would go to any length to help anyone realise his political objective. Like I said before, people don’t appreciate gestures towards them. Even if he was in the habit of asking them for money, the case is that the people at the grassroots won’t have access to you but to Baba. At least you (public officers) know that he had to give them something when people came to him to protect your government for you. Is it necessary for him to tell them to bring money before they know the right thing to do? When they get to power, they will now turn around to accuse him of harassing them for money forgetting that he sold his things to get them into office. Most people here in Ibadan, I am sorry to say, are not appreciative; no single edifice or road has been named after him by the government.
Have you got in touch with the state government with respect making them consider immortalising him?
Yes! We are doing that and people are doing that for us too.
What is the disposition of the current government so far to the clamour?
Well! I don’t know because I am not in government, I might be a member of the ruling party here in Oyo State but I am not in government to know what is being done in that direction.
From the way you’ve spoken, it seems you harbour some form of regrets?
About what?
About how things turned out since the death of your husband
I really don’t have any regrets because my almighty Allah has continued to be with me and I usually thank him for the divine provision at all times.
One thing people also accuse your husband of is his use of thugs and recourse to thuggery in his political endeavours, how do you respond to that?
Those who say this should come out to tell us what they mean by thuggery. These people should have accused him of using thugs when they came to him to assist them secure one office or the other. It is when they achieve their aim that they turn around to accuse him of using thugs. To me, it is sheer hypocrisy for them to say so because they are criticising the same process that took them to power. Is there any politician who does not use thugs?
What is the relationship between the family and a former governor of Oyo State who is currently the Otun Olubadan, Oba Rashidi Ladoja?
We are very close. He celebrated his (80th) birthday recently and I called him to congratulate him. He is a father to me and he is also my father-in-law.
Is he constantly in touch with the family?
We talk once in a while, especially when it is necessary.