Ayo Adebanjo (1928 – 2025)

One of Nigeria’s greatest titans, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, died on February 14, 2025 at the age of 96. In Adebanjo, leader of Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, we lost an elder statesman and a patriot of no mean repute.  In announcing his death, his family said he died peacefully at his Lekki, Lagos, home. “His belief and struggle for a truly independent and progressive Nigeria was total, and this he fought for until he breathed his last breath,” the family said in a statement signed by his three children: Ayotunde Atteh (nee Ayo-Adebanjo) Adeola Azeez (nee Ayo Adebanjo) and Obafemi Ayo-Adebanjo.

Born in Ijebu Ogbu Oke in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State on April 10, 1928, Adebanjo had his primary education at Saint Saviours Primary School, Elegbaata in Lagos between 1934 and 1935. He later went to Holy Trinity School, Ebute Ero between 1937 and 1941. Between 1941 and 1943, he was at Cathedral School in Lagos. He proceeded to England to read law in 1959 and was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1961.

He worked briefly in the Ministry of Health in Lagos where his appointment was terminated for being rude to an expatriate after a demonstration for self-government. He also worked briefly at Ikorodu trading company and with The Tribune newspaper as a reporter before he went to study law in England. On his return to Nigeria, he joined the Awolowo’s chambers as a practising lawyer.

He began his political life as early 1943 when he joined the Zikist Movement as a follower of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. In 1951, he became a member of the youth wing of the Action Group, thus becoming a political disciple of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

He was charged with treasonable felony alongside Chief Obafemi Awolowo and 30 others in 1962. He fled into exile then in Ghana. He was also a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) who fought the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by Chief Moshood Abiola. This earned him and his colleagues, serious harassment and intimidation by the then powers that be. He was also a member of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Progressive Democratic Coalition, and Alliance for Democracy (AD). He was a member of the 1978 Constituent Assembly and the 2014 National Conference. In these conferences, he joined in demanding the restructuring of Nigeria. \He remained faithful to the principles of ‘Awoism’ all through his life. ‘Awoists’ promoted free education, health care, welfarism, rural development and prosperity for all. 

He was a principled politician who believed in true federalism just as his concern for the unity of Nigeria was profound. Never afraid of speaking his mind, Pa Adebanjo spoke truth to power. He never stood for any political office, and was once quoted to have said that “if the government is interested in keeping the country, it should simply go back to the 1963 constitution. Under that constitution, governance was competitive. That was when Awolowo built the Liberty Stadium; Sardauna built the Ahmadu Bello Stadium. Awolowo built the University of Ife, Ahmadu Bello built the Ahmadu Bello University, Azikiwe built the University of Nigeria. Every region worked for itself.”   

Pa Adebanjo was a man of conviction and was never swayed by money. In the 2023 presidential election, he lent his support to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, because he believed that it was the turn of the South-East to produce the president of Nigeria. He did this despite the fact that he was a Yoruba leader and, ordinarily, should have supported a Yoruba son, Bola Tinubu.

Following his demise, many prominent Nigerians paid glowing tribute to him. President Bola Tinubu described him as one of the leading voices against military dictatorship and a political leader whose decades of unwavering struggle for justice, democracy and national unity left an indelible mark on our nation’s history. 

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo described him as a great man, a committed nationalist and an unpretentious personality who, until his death, “fought with courage and tenacity to see to the restructuring of the Nigerian nation through which good governance based on democratic principles and practice and leading to unity in diversity, justice and equity, political stability, nationalism, popular participation, peace and security and socio-economic progress with strong leadership would be enshrined.”

Also, former President Muhammadu Buhari said Adebanjo was one of those rare politicians who straddled the worlds of the legal profession, politics, and socio-cultural activism. He stated that his death was a loss for the nation. The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, said Adebanjo’s death was a profound loss to Nigeria and to all who cherish justice, equity, and truth.

Adebanjo was married to Christiana Modupe Adebanjo whom he met in the late 50s during his studies in the United Kingdom. Christiana is still alive and is 94 years. They both had children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We commiserate with his family, political associates and Nigerians who share in his ideals of equity and justice for all. We urge the Federal Government to immortalize him.