Adegoke Adelabu

Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu (3 September 1915 – 25 March 1958) was a prominent personality in the politics of Ibadan city and subsequently that of the Western Region of Nigeria right before the country's independence in 1960.

Adelabu was born on 3 September 1915, the son of Sanusi Ashinyanbi and Awujola Adelabu.

His mother was the second wife of Sanusi, but she died when Adelabu was quite young and the young Adelabu was then raised by a paternal aunt.

From 1925 to 1929, he attended St David's C.M.S. School, Kudeti, Ibadan and finished Standard IV and V at C.M.S. Central school, Mapo.

Though a Muslim, Adelabu's aunt valued Western education which was dominated by the Christian missionaries in Ibadan.

She obtained a baptismal certificate for Adelabu, providing him the opportunity to attend the CMS schools.

From 1931 to 1936, he attended Government College, Ibadan where he completed his secondary education as the head boy of the school.

In 1936, he passed the entrance examination into Yaba Higher College and he won a scholarship from UAC to study commerce at the college.

However, after 6 months, he left the college with his scholarship unused.

He was offered employment by UAC as an assistant to the Ibadan district manager, an expatriate Adelabu had met a year earlier.

His first assignment was a tour of the cocoa producing areas of Ibadan province.

At the end of the tour, he presented a proposal about the reorganization of the cocoa distribution and trade structure.

The report earned him promotion as an assistant produce manager with UAC.

However, Adelabu left UAC in 1937 and joined the produce trade business.

He was unsuccessful in the trade and was soon looking for a civil service job.

In 1939, he became an agricultural inspector and later supervisor of a cooperative society which had Akinpelu Obisesan as its president.

He was with the cooperative until 1945, when he went back to UAC.

He was successful in his second stint with the organization but after the resignation of his mentor, the Ibadan District Manager Richardson, Adelabu left the firm.

He then ploughed income from UAC into a textile trading business with Levantine clients in Ibadan.

At the time, the Ibadan Native Authority system was dominated by junior chiefs, family heads (mogaji) and the Olubadan, majority of whom were not literate.

Adelabu became interested in acting as an Administrative Secretary for the native council.

Adelabu's career in politics can be traced to his support of the agitation led by junior chiefs and mogajis against Salami Agbaje.

Adelabu was known as a smart individual, and the fact that he was literate brought him to the attention of the chiefs in their opposition to Agbaje.

The agitators needed someone to help with writing petitions and commentaries to advance their viewpoint, and so they sought out Adelabu for support.

Adelabu obliged, hoping to earn the job of Administrative Secretary.

The target of the chiefs was Salami Agbaje, a businessman who held the traditional title of Otun Balogun of Ibadan.

As third in line to the throne, literate, rich and independent minded, he was found to be obnoxious by some of the chiefs in Ibadan - many of whom were indebted to him.

The junior chiefs and heads of lineages (mogaji) began a campaign for his deposition to prevent him from becoming Olubadan.

Adelabu was active in the movement to depose Agbaje, providing print commentaries and assisting in writing the petition that the chiefs forwarded to the colonial authorities.

During this period, Adelabu became secretary of the Egbe Omo Ibile, the leading association opposed to Agbaje and headed by Bello Abasi, the son of Aleshinloye, the previous Olubadan.

When the case reached the colonial authorities, though Agbaje was admonished and told to suspend his involvement in the native council, the authorities used the opportunity to make sweeping reforms including removing Oshun division from Ibadan province.

The outcome was not favorable to many Ibadan groups and a few groups came together to unite politically to protect the interest of Ibadan.

During the local elections in 1951, Adelabu's Egbe Omo Ibile, Augustus Akinloye, and a youth group from Ibadan Progressive Union formed the Ibadan People's Party as a challenge to the old guard of the Ibadan Progressive Union.

Adelabu capitalized on some anti-Ijebu sentiments among native Ibadan residents, especially after the loss of Oshun division, which was supported by Action Group leaders such as Awolowo (an Ijebu-man) and Akintola.

The new party won all six seats to the Western Regional Assembly.

He was Nigeria's Minister of Natural Resources and Social Services from January 1955 to January 1956 and was later the opposition leader in the Western Regional Assembly until his death in 1958.

He was a self-made man born into a humble family but became an influential figure in Nigerian politics.

He attended Government College, Ibadan and eventually became a businessman.

His successful political career was cut short when he was killed in a car crash, not long before Nigeria gained independence from Britain.

Adelabu was a self-described egotist who believed in the merits of radical nationalism, national unity and radical socialist ideology.