After HID Awolowo’s burial, Ikenne turns deserted

FROM YINKA OLUDAYISI FABOWALE, IBADAN
Sun up on Thursday, November 26, 2015: Ikenne,
provincial homestead of one of Africa’s foremost political
thinkers, statesmen, nationalists and former Premier of the
defunct Western Region of Nigeria, the late Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, gradually rouses from the fatigue and hangover
of the orgy of celebration of the funeral of the widow of the
late sage, Chief (Mrs.) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo,
buried the previous day.
The streets, the markets and the motor parks still bear
vestiges of the revelry of the night before as they were
littered with discarded plastic food packs, disused water
bottles and sachets, yoghurt and chocolate packs and
cellophane bags. This is in spite of huge piles of the stuffs
already gathered and arranged by the roadside for sale by
enterprising scavengers, mostly women.
At the Obafemi Awolowo Square, Dideolu Stores along Tai
Solarin Way, the town’s major road, Our Saviour’s
Anglican Church along Kehinde Sofola Street (where the fu­
neral service was held), Yeye Odua (former Ajina) Street
and several other reception venues used by the
government of Ogun State, Awolowo’s kinsmen, the towns
folk and various groups in hosting guests; workmen and
officials of the state’s Traffic Compliance and Enforcement
(TRACE) agency are seen busy dismantling canopies and
security barricades.
Although offices and schools have resumed after the one-
day unofficial holiday declared in honour of the Awolowo
matriarch, only few shops are opened for business even
as at 9:00am. Traffic was light. Save for some commercial
bike operators on the prowl for passengers, only few cars
and township taxi cabs ply the roads. Indeed as the day
wears on, the major motor park in the heart of the town
has become virtually deserted. Only a handful of officials
of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)
and touts are seen either seated on benches or playing
with young female hawkers. There is no vehicle on turn. A
few only drives in and out of the park without stopping,
after finding no passengers to pick.
Ironically, the light human activity sharply contrasts with
the profuse presence of roaming pets and other domestic
animals- dogs, goats, hens, which, as if with an
understanding with their owners, came out of a two-
month forced hibernation with their brood to sun their furs
and feathers. Saturday Sun almost twice ran over two
flocks of hens and their chicks on different lanes and saw
local dogs stray across the roads at will, while riding
round the town.
At last, the “townlet’, (as that is what it can be called with
its hybrid features of a village and town) is regaining the
old tranquil and idyllic temper it shares with other 32 neigh­
bouring communities that make up Remoland in Ogun
State, which it had temporarily lost since September 9,
2015, when Mrs. Awolowo died, barely two months shy of
her 100th birthday anniversary!
Since the demise of the grand old maid, acknowledged by
her illustrious consort, to have been, besides God, the
pillar of his success in public life, Ikenne, which is the
headquarters of Ikenne Remo, a local government area
comprising four other major towns-Iperu, Ilisan, Ogere and
Irolu, in Nigeria’s gateway state, has been in frenzy as
eminent world-citizens, leaders, politicians, industrialists
and associates of the late nationalist, daily, indeed, hourly
thronged the town to pay their respects and sympathize
with the Awolowo clan.
The serenity of the sleepy community was often shattered
by VIP visitors who besieged it in convoys of cars led by
siren-blaring escorts, hungry for photo-ops and media cov­
erage, which the press centre set up at the Awolowo
family house, guaranteed. “We’ve become accustomed to
the wailings of sirens in the past two months, remarks Ms.
Omotola Taiwo, a resident civil servant, adding: “Hardly
would the noise of one have died down, before you hear
another in the distance and you’d know another person
had come. As ones goes another comes”.
Also, for the two-month mourning period which was used
in preparing a befitting burial for the old woman, the family
compound was a beehive of activities as the Awolowo
feasted the townsfolk, providing free meals thrice every
day. Local drummers, cultural groups, comedians, and
praise singers cashed in on the opportunity to set up shop,
angling for money from well-to-do prospects. The rites of
passage, which saw Mrs. Awolowo’s corpse lying-in-state
at special tribute sessions in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital
and Ibadan, the former headquarter of the regional govern­
ment headed by her husband, climaxed in a glorious
funeral church service that attracted the “who-is-who” in
the Nigerian society. The roll-call includes the Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki,
former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of
State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd), past and present state
governors, ministers and other dignitaries.
Although President Muhammadu Buhari missed the
church service, which the Prelate of the Methodist Church
Nigeria, Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche, who
officiated, described as “one of the most attended and
dignified” he had ever witnessed in his clerical career, he
flew into the town in a chopper at about 2:10pm. The
President, who cut short his trip to Iran and was billed to
travel to Malta and France the following day, remarked
that he could not, but come and personally pay his
respects to the woman described as “Mother of the
Nation”.
The presence of the President and other VIPs coupled with
the massive crowd of visitors from across the federation
including the Oodua’s Peoples Congress and other groups
in “Aso-Ebi” uniforms, no doubt, jolted and put under
severe shock the 144km2- (land mass) capacity of the
small town of 118,735 people, according to the 2006
census. Ikenne was a bedlam with security agents-the po­
lice, Department of the State Security Service (DSS),
soldiers, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSDC), TRACE
as well as the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) having dif­
ficult time controlling the crowd and traffic. The entire
town was agog, as masquerades and cultural troupes
paraded the town, while the Ogun State Television aired a
recorded interview with the deceased via its Outside
Broadcasting (OB) Van on Tai Solarin Way. The
celebration continued with parties that dragged into the
night at which music icon, King Sunny Ade (KSA) and Fuji
music star, Adewale Ayuba, a pride of the town, enter­
tained guests.
Only as the siren wailings of the last remnants of security
vehicles that came for duty receded as they pull out this
Thursday morning is Ikenne finally freed from the
boisterous panoply of the funeral celebration, the only type
of which, residents say, they witnessed when Chief
Awolowo was buried on June 9, 1987.
Mrs. Awolowo’s funeral makes many an Ikenne indigene
flush with pride, particularly, for focusing national
attention on the town. Mrs. Esther Iyabo Adeyemi, a
retiree and neighbour of the Awolowos, in a chat with
Saturday Sun, enthuses: “I feel proud to have hailed from
this town. We are blessed to have produced an icon such
as Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his dear wife. I have not
seen where a death attracted such universal sympathy
and celebration. Here we are a small community in this
little corner of Ogun State, where everyone knows from
which compound the other is from. Yet, the entire country
is here identifying and celebrating with us!” A trader, Pa
Babatunde Adenuga, echoes Mrs. Adeyemi: “Awolowo
brought us this fame. He put this town on the global
map”.
And indeed so. Ikenne is synonymous with the late
statesman and the political dynasty he left behind.
Although he had homes in Lagos and Ibadan, most of
Awolowo’s political, social, economic and philosophical
thoughts believed to have had bearing on public policy
direction, were said to have been hatched at his country
home. Ikenne is seen as the political headquarters of the
progressive political movement that later transformed into
political parties that he led. It was the Mecca to which
political pilgrims across the nation, especially those
seeking public offices, must visit to receive advice or
blessing. Veteran journalist and old associate of Chief
Awolowo, Mr. Felix Adenaike notes that Ikenne used to
host crucial meetings of Awolowo’s political disciples- a
trend which continued after the great nationalist’s demise,
until the venue was shifted to Owo, home town of former
Ondo State Governor, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, who
succeeded Awolowo as the leader of the Yoruba, one of
the three largest ethnic groups in the country. Even so,
some loyalists still meet under the auspices of Yoruba
Solidarity Forum, convened by Awolowo’s widow; former
Transport Minister/Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
chieftain, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Senator Femi
Okorounmu.
Ikenne also featured in the famous 1960s treason trial, in
which Chief Awolowo and others were jailed for alleged
armed insurrection plot against the Nigerian state in the
First Republic. A rubber plantation located in the town, one
of the many established by his government in various
parts of the Western Region, was said to have been a
hideout and depot of a cache of arms and weapons alleg­
edly seized from the plotters.
Apart from Awo, another personage that has contributed
to the globalization of Ikenne’s renown was the late
maverick educationist, humanist, activist, albeit atheist,
Dr. Tai Solarin. Solarin, a radical socialist and critic,
grabbed international attention by battling the country’s
successive military rulers over corruption and human
rights violations. However, his less known, but more
profound contribution was, perhaps, the establishment of
the famous Mayfair School, a private reputed secondary
school that produced generations of eminent Nigerians in
diverse sectors, bred on the practical creeds of discipline,
integrity and self reliance. “Mays”, as the alumni of the
school who are to be found all over the world are called,
nurture a sentimental attachment to the school located in
Ikenne, such that one of the conditions for ceding it to
government, during the 1976/77 takeover of schools from
voluntary agencies and private proprietors, was that the
principal would ever be an “ex-May” in order to preserve
standards.
The town has also produced eminent Nigerian
professionals especially lawyers, including the late
Kehinde Sofola (SAN) and current Vice President,
Osinbajo. It also gave the entertainment scene a gift in the
Fuji rave, Ayuba.
Despite its renown, Ikenne’s present state of development
neither advertises nor justifies its reputation as the
birthplace of these eminent personages, no less, Chief
Awolowo! Saturday Sun observes that there is no marked
difference between it and its cluster of semi-urban
neighbours- Irolu, Iperu, Ilisan and Ogere in terms of
physical development. They consist of old houses, mostly
bungalows with pristine architecture that few modern
houses only now fight to displace. Some of the township
roads are bad and in deplorable condition. In fact, the old
major road that linked Sagamu and Odogbolu at the
southern and northern ends respectively was said to have
been an eyesore and death trap until about a month ago,
when the state government, in preparation for Mrs.
Awolowo’s funeral, ordered its repair. It was learnt that the
dualisation of the highway, started by the immediate past
administration, was jettisoned by Governor Ibikunle
Amosun, leaving a section of the dual carriage way
untarred. “Even the only lane left for use became
impassable. It’s filled with a lot of craters and potholes.
There is a huge one on this route that cars would go inside
and then come out; because government refused to repair
the road since former Governor Gbenga Daniel left office.
It has caused a lot accidents and untold damage to our ve­
hicles. My husband and I don’t like taking this road, we
prefer to go through the (Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode-Benin)
Expressway”, complains Ms. Taiwo.
Also, save for a satellite campus of the Olabisi Onabanjo
University, hosting the College of Health Sciences on the
outskirts, there are no significant public institutions or
even industries in Ikenne. The nearest around such as the
ultra modern Gateway Stadium and the National Youth
Services Corps (NYSC) permanent orientation camp are
located in Sagamu while Ilisan, with which it shares
boundary to the west, hosts Babcock University.
Incredibly, only two banks- a branch of Intercontinental
Bank, which, Saturday Sun learnt, had stopped operation
since a robbery attack some months ago and a local
microfinance bank, serve the entire town. Although public
taps run, sources say, the people have enjoyed these
services for decades and that this does not indicate proof
of any special attention from the present government.
Short of alleging official neglect and marginalization, the
people of the town say most of the development projects
in the town have been inspired and executed through
communal self-help. The catalyst, a community leader,
Hon. Leke Onasile says, is the Ikenne Development
Association (IDA), which, he discloses, organises Ereke
Day, an annual festival/ fund raiser for the development of
the town. The 70-year-old former secretary to the local
government laments the dearth of industries in the town;
attributing it to government’s lukewarm disposition and
failure to build upon its predecessor’s industrialization
drive. “Look at the rubber plantation, by now, we expect to
have had tyre manufacturing factories producing from
here. That was Papa’s (Awolowo’s) dream. But it was not
followed up. Also, Gbenga Daniel proposed a cargo
airport. A site was found and earmarked for it along the
Ilisan-Iperu Road. It’s been approved by the Federal Gov­
ernment. But some people in the state House of Assembly
were instigated against it seeing the light of the day.
Again, the OOU Teaching Hospital was to be located here
before it was diverted to Sagamu. I don’t know if people
hate this town because of Awolowo. The question is, is it
Awolowo’s town that deserves to be so treated?” queries
Onasile.
However, Mr. Adenaike disagrees with these sentiments.
He contends that the government cannot be held
responsible for non industrialization of Ikenne, explaining
that setting up of factories is strictly a business and not a
political decision, though he admits that government can
serve as catalyst through policies and incentives. His
words: “Investors consider a basket of factors including
access, market, and other factors of production, which
Ikenne may not offer”. He says a tyre manufacturing plant
may have been considered infeasible or unviable, perhaps,
because the rubber tapped from the Ikenne plantation may
not be in sufficient commercial quantity to sustain
production, reasoning: “So, if the investor will have to go to
Delta and Edo to source for raw materials, he may well feel
it’s not advisable. It’s not a question of sentiments”.
However, an observer faults Adenaike’s view. He notes
that the Ikenne Remo Local Government is strategically
located and endowed with enough natural resources that
should make it an investor’s desired destination. “Apart
from the abundant agricultural resources, it is located
midway between Lagos and Ibadan, two major Nigerian
cities, which, with their population alone are enough
markets to consume what may be produced there. The
Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode-Benin Expressway also passes through
the town, which opens access to markets in the South
South and South Eastern parts of the country.
Although some observers believe Chief Awolowo himself
deserved blame for his home town’s backwardness,
having apparently failed to influence the siting of
development facilities there while in power, Adenaike says
such view does not take into account the ideals and values
for which the late elder statesman was noted. “Pa
Awolowo was a man of integrity and character, who would
not, unlike what we have now, unduly favour his area in
terms of distribution of amenities. He was completely
detribalized and above board. He ensured that there was a
just and equitable dispersal of growth factors so that no
part of the region was disadvantaged, or left undeveloped.
He left things in the hands of his followers and aides in
government, although that was why some were able to
betray this trust”, the former boss of African Newspapers
of Nigeria Plc owned by Chief Awolowo explains.
Senior Special Assistant on Media to Governor Amosun,
Adejuwon Soyinka, denies that the state government
neglected the town in its development drive. He notes that
one of the 15 models schools built in some communities
across the state is sited in Ikenne and was recently named
after the late Mrs. Awolowo. Apart from this, says the
governor’s spokesman, the town has benefited from the
regime’s even distribution of other development projects
and dividends of democracy since its advent in 2011
despite “obvious financial challenges”. He lists these to
include a farm settlement with an oil palm nursery; fish
hatchery and a 20-hectare Cassava multiplication farm as
well as rehabilitation and construction of new roads in the
local government area generally, among them the Ilisan-
Ago-Iwoye Road. “It will be grossly unfair for anyone to
claim that there is no government presence in Ikenne or
accuse Governor Amosun of neglecting Ikenne in terms of
development”, Soyinka submits.
However, residents are unimpressed with government’s
defence. They argue that except, perhaps, for the model
college, many of the cited projects are in other parts of the
local governments. A student of the Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) living in the town thumbs
down government’s boast of working on the 26-km Road
in Ikenne, as mere “panicky window-dressing” induced to
save the regime from embarrassment over the utter
neglect of the area. “I doubt if they would have bothered to
fix the road had Mamma HID not die”, he says. Even now,
there are fears that the job may again be abandoned as
the contractors had withdrawn the caterpillar, graders,
tractors and other equipment from the site, after patching
and tarring a stretch that terminates just in front of a
school at the southern end of the town named after Chief
Obafemi Awolowo.
The school and another, AUD Primary School sharing the
same street with the Awolowos’ compound are the
beneficiaries of the Ogun State government’s efforts at
giving the town a befitting face-lift for the funeral. Both
schools looked resplendent and almost brand new in fresh
colour coating, having been newly renovated. Sources in
the town inform Saturday Sun that a dilapidated roof of a
block of classrooms at the OAP School which had long
caved in, was replaced and the entire school buildings
repainted 72 hours to the funeral grand finale. AUD
Primary School, on the other hand, had its wall fence and
school gutter that had hitherto both collapsed thereby
exposing the pupils to danger, refurbished.
This Thursday morning, a middle-aged man stands at the
entry point of the town. Smiling, he hails passing
motorists: “ E jowo e ba was dupe lowo Amosun o !” (Meaning
“Oh please! help us thank Governor Amosun”) leaving a
visitor wondering what to make of his seeming
excitement- a genuine expression of gratitude at the good
fortune that flowed into the town on account of HID’s
death, or perhaps, mere mockery of perceived
superficiality underlying it?
However, Ms. Taiwo does not leave you guessing what
the average Ikenne person thinks of his town’s position on
government’s priority index: She says in response to a
question: “Well, maybe we should wish that HID could die
every year, so we can get government attention, so our
roads can be fixed, so our schools too can be renovated”.
Her sarcastic remark underscores fears that the passage
of the grand old maid may, in actual fact, signal the end of
the awesome political reverence and influence Ikenne has
enjoyed so far. “This reverence is conditioned by the
existence of a network of powerful and political associates
and loyalists all over the country able to make things
happen in their respective areas of influence. This bond
has been nurtured over decades of credible leadership and
respect for the deceased old couple. They are the only
ones these external forces knew, trusted and respected.
The import of this cannot be lost on anyone most
especially, people in positions of authority. However, with
the link severed now, there is nobody again to fear”,
explains a political observer.
However, Ikenne, described as Nigeria’s Nazareth, would
appear to be a lucky community, as the dying hope of its
winter proclaims the birth of a new spring. Just as its old
titans are quitting the stage, a new hero has emerged to
replace them in Vice President Osinbajo, who also hails
from the town! The question is, will he make the
difference?