REMEMBERING CHIEF ALONGE JOSEPH ADEFOLAJU (Circa1890-1961)
The Elegemo of Ire-Ekiti
By, Seye Adetunmbi
As my friend, Femi Adefolaju was telling me about his beloved father, I got so interested that it became impossible for me to resist the urge to write about the distinguished Ekiti man and get it published in my blog. Naturally, I asked for as many available information as possible about Baba, High Chief Alonge Joseph Adefolaju and review for special publication here. I first heard the name of the great man by virtue of one of his sons, Mr Albert Yinka Adefolaju who lived in my father's house with his family at Ifaki-Ekiti in the early 1980s. Subsequently, Femi and I met and got along very well, as our friendship continues to blossom stronger as a going concern to the glory of God. High Chief Alonge Adefolaju was among those very few Ekiti indigenes who made the difference in their community through plausible initiatives, commitment to progressive community service, and inimitable integrity. He was among the early Christians in Ire-Ekiti who played prominent role the advent of Catholic mission and its entrenchment in the community. He had no formal western education, yet by virtue of being a successful itinerant trader who interacted with European merchants in Lagos, he developed himself and was able to communicate in English. This made him useful to his community and environs in their relationship with early missionaries and colonial masters in the old Ondo Province. I am pleased to present what Femi, his last born wrote, as well as the written account of Chief Lucas Ogunlade who worked closely with him and that Dr Marcus Abe who claimed to be a beneficiary of his positive influence on his father. He was no doubt a man of affluence and influence by standard of his time
The Letter of to His Dearest FatherMy dearest father,
The cold hands of death snatched you away barely before I could call you
‘Baba’, at my tender age of three months. I was forever deprived the
opportunity to sit at your feet and learn the tales of our ‘ancestral lineage’
verbatim from you: At ’owuro se omo Oyinbo, Chief Joseph Alonge
Adefolaju, The Elegemo of Ire-Ekiti. Everything I ever learnt, knew, discovered
and understood about you were basically second-hand information relayed by
several people I met as I continued my sojourn in life after your departure. My
insatiable quest and passion to gain insight into your life and times, became a
debt I owe you, thus evolved from the yearn for sense of paternal association
and belonging, because one of the most important facets of personal identity is
our knowledge and understanding of our parents and our relationship with them.
My first role model, my first super star and my
hero, in your likeness and character I grew…Yes! That’s you, my father, omo
Elegemo odinyan. From the lips and mouths of many, I was fed with tales
of who you were: your significant birth, your heroic life and your triumphant
death, especially your birth story which has left me in awe of you. As told by
your aunties, Iya Famoluse and Iya Legbe: Exactly seven days prior to your
grand entrance into the world, it had been raining cats and dogs. A very
cloudy, stormy and rainy month, which brought along disruptions to the daily
life activities of Ire-Ekiti people. What a horrible weather condition and
harvest of the locust for the past seven days! Farmers were hesitant to go to
their farms, market women were reluctant to go to the market in pursuit of
their daily bread. Noon drew nigh; heaven was yet to cease the torrential
downpour of the rain. The poor villagers were frustrated and disillusioned,
thus, gave up on their daily activities. It was this wet weather that ushered
in your birth as a great man. The halt in commercial activities and the floods
were enough for the good people of Ire to worry about, hence, only a few came
to rejoice at the news of your birth even these few could not stay long. Before
the well-wishers could get back to their respective houses, something dramatic
and mystical took place; the dull and gloomy weather changed giving way to a
bright and sunny day, the sun shone high up in the sky, the birds flew singing
melodiously, the children could play once again at the village square and the
village as a whole could go about their normal activities. Though a normal
delivery, Chief Adefolaju’s birth came at an unconventional time and manner.
What a significant birth! It turned a dull, gloomy and stormy day into a gay,
bright and beautiful morning. In the same vein, your life gave impacts to many
other lives causing a revolutionary change of a generation into bright,
purposeful and meaningful one! There is a lot to say about this man, in Shakespearean terms, ‘the giant
who bestrode the narrow world like a colossal’. I have grown up to be very
proud of you my beloved father based on the positive detailed accounts people
from all walks of life said and still say about you - A disciplinarian to the
core and a man of principles.
From Dr. M. Agbaje, whom I met in New York in
1994, Mr. Lanre Adegbite formerly of News Agency of Nigeria, the Elekole of
Egbeoba land, HRM Oba Adetunla Adeleye II, your uncle Chief Akomolafe, the
Alawe of Odo, Ire-Ekiti; Mr. Babalola, H.O.D. English Literature Department,
Stella Maris College Okitipupa, Ondo-State; Rev. Fr Tom Mallory, now retired in
Ireland; Barrister. Jude Okoye of South London, United Kingdom (as a young lad
who accompanied Dr Nnamdi Azikwe to our house at Ire-Ekiti in the 1950s; Dr
Ajimoko; Chief Olawumi Falodun; Mama Falusi, the wife of your cousin, Canon
Falusi; Mallam Idris Soje of Tungan-Goro, Minna, Niger State; Mr. Lucas Odoko
Ogunlade your Personal Assistant; Alhaji Rasheed Ibikunle, a taxi driver from
Oyo-State, Mr Dairo Ologe from Ilesa; Baba Odejayi; the Onire of Ire-Ekiti, Oba
S. A. Adeyeye; Baba Eelebi Pius Awe; Baba Albert Faleto, the Elebi of Akete;
your very close Aunties Iya Famoluse and Iya Legbe who both narrated the story
of your birth and of course, your lovely wives; Yeye Aladesola
Adefolaju, Mama Eleko; Mrs Ige Adefolaju and my mother Chief Mrs. Lucia
Oladimeji Adefolaju, (Iya Onigold) the Olori Obinrin of Ilegemo, all of
blessed memories. All those listed and many more people that I met wherever I
found myself, told me a lot about you.
Baba Adefolaju as you were fondly called, were
like Owusu, the legendary Ghanaian community leader who was very kind to the
entire members of his community. You were a community leader of repute,
philanthropist and benefactor to many people around you. A patriotic Ire
indigene, that never lost his sense of patriotism. Your love for your people
and selfless nature made you to embark on a heroic journey to Enugu in 1935 in
search of a new king for your community, Ire Ekiti. Due to your astute,
influence and wealth, you were initially asked to be the king and of course you
are a prince too, but you turned it down because you were neither selfish nor
over ambitious. You insisted on going to Enugu to bring and install your close
friend: late Oba S.A. Adeyeye who reigned from 1935-1996.
Wherever I go, people say I look like you
facially and in character. At the tender age of eight years, I vividly
remembered the day Onire of Ire-Ekiti, Oba S. A. Adeyeye saw me during Oro Ode
and Upo festivals and said I was a carbon copy of Baba Adefolaju. One of my
secondary school teachers; Mr. Babalola whose father a member of your staff,
who once stayed in our old family house and my interactions with Iya Famoluse,
from time to time, also confirmed this. From then on, I knew I had to behave
well and achieve greatness in order to represent your good personality to
ensure the carrying on of your good name, image and reputation.
My pride of place reached its peak when I
learnt that when the Irish missionaries came to Ire through your initiatives
and there were no residential apartments, you gladly and readily offered to
give part of your houses to accommodate them. Years after your demise, I have
met some of those Catholic missionaries in the year 1996 when I travelled to
Ireland and one of them, Rev. Fr. Francis Mallory had this to say about you…
“Papa Adefolaju was a very kind, enterprising, jovial, good-natured, religious
and hardworking man that loved education, the Catholic mission and his
Ire-Ekiti community”. Another Rev Fr, Rev Father Manning said this about you, “if
you want to engage Baba Adefolaju and capture his attention, make sure you centre
your discussions on education, Catholic church and all that would bring
progress to Ire-Ekiti”. He went further that you often lamented with regrets
how it was too late for you to acquire formal education. Yet, you made sure you
sent all your children went to school. Rev. Fr. Mallory confirmed that you
encouraged many pupils to go to school and also assisted with the payment of
their tuition fees.
In 1985, I represented my club Alpha Club
Ire-Ekiti in a meeting in the palace with your bosom friend, the Onire of
Ire-Ekiti, Oba Samuel Adeyeye. When he noticed the active role played by me and
his first grandson, Segun Adeyeye a member of the same club, Oba Adeyeye said
he was happy to see me and encouraged my friendship with Segun. The Kabiyesi
said both of you were very close friends and that some people then caused
enmity between both of you and became separated. He warned me and Segun not to
allow anybody for whatever reason to separate our friendship. He said he
regretted that it was after your death that he realized that people with
ulterior motives were instrumental to the separation. He wondered that what
manner of love could a man display to his friend than when you sacrificed your
time and risked your life by travelling to Enugu in 1935 and brought him home
to be installed as king in Ire. The Onire said by tradition, after coronating
an Oba, before he could ascend to the throne of his fore fathers, it was
mandatory that he spent three months in our Ebi Akete compound in
Elegemo where he had to learn royalty, get the sovereign power to the throne
and that you really looked after him and made sure our family, Ebi Elegemo
performed the necessary rites that really made him enjoy his stay throughout
the period.
Wherever I go, Baba, I find your foot print
permanently imprinted on the sands of time. You were also an ‘osomalo’
trader who had a shop at Ehin Igbeti in the present-day Marina, Lagos.
You bought goods from the white merchants in Marina wharf and sold along
Ibadan, Oshogbo, Ilesha, Efon-Alaaye, Ijero areas then back to Lagos. Baba
mi, it will interest you that I also met one of the sons of your trading
partners from Ilesa, Mr. Dairo Ologe who was in his late 80s, he too told me
how you and his father, Pa Ologe were very close friends and as business
partners, you were honest, faithful and always accountable to the last kobo to
each other. He narrated how he once followed you, his father and another man
from Calabar to the Eastern part of the country, then to Lagos Island area of
Lagos State and explored having real estates there.
I also met one Chief Ignatius Maduforo (he told
me this when he heard my name: ‘Adefolaju from Ire-Ekiti’) that he was then an
apprentice with Pa Ogunlesi an Ijebu man who had a shop beside your shop at
Ehin Igbeti (Marina), the business hub and the central business district of
Nigeria which currently boasts of best prized and highly valued commercial
buildings. You were also close to Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu Snr, as your shop was
along the same street in Ehin Igbeti. It was in the same Marina, due to your
hard work, diligence and business prowess that you owned landed properties in
the 1940s and 1950s. All these reflected you had foresight and was extremely
business minded.
Both oral and written records, including your
personal diary which was discovered five years ago, show that due to your
advocacy, representation, public roles and activities you were able to show
your love for your community; Ire. During your Osomalo trade ventures in some
parts of Yoruba land in the early 1920s, you discovered some Ire-Ekiti people
that had been sold into slavery during the wars. You paid a lump sum as ransom
for their release and transported them back to Ire-Ekiti all the way from
Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Efon-Alaaye, Oke-Imesi, Ijero, Ido-Faboro etc. Many times, you
were responsible for the payment of the developmental levies in your community
at the District Office at Oke Imo, Ilesha. You gave support to Oba Samuel
Adeyeye in town meetings, Ekiti Parapo meetings and history recalls that in
showing your support for your town, you attended the “Pelupelu” meeting
of first class obas in Ekiti land together with the Kabiyesi Oba S.A. Adeyeye,
ensuring that Ire people also hosted Pelupelu meeting in Ire-Ekiti.
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| Femi Adefolaju on his 60th birthday Anniversary in 1960 |
In the 1970s, I used to visit the royal palace
of the Elekole of Ikole-Ekiti. Of note was in 1984, I visited my friend Prince Kunle,
now Justice Kunle Adeleye, the son of Elekole of Egbeoba land, Oba Adetunla
Adeleye II. On getting to the palace of Elekole, I introduced myself as Femi
Adefolaju from Ire-Ekiti, On hearing my name the then Kabiyesi welcomed me with
open arms and paid glowing tributes to you and to your son, Adebanji Adefolaju,
who sadly died in the Lalupon train disaster in the late 1950s. According to
him he was Adebanji’s bosom friend and school mate at the College of Arts and
Science Zaria. The Elekole gave me a free access into his Palace anytime I went
to see Prince Kunle Adeleye, which was a privilege as at that time. The Elekole
said when the Ikole people wanted to take over your egan farm along Ikole
road, he Elekole had to intervene and confirmed that the egan farm
belongs to the Adefolaju and Odo people in Ire.
I was told you were the only child of your
mother, Mrs Agberibila Adefolaju (Nee Akomolafe of Ebi Elesin in Ilefa Odo
Quarter). I am very grateful to Odo people for their support to me since my
childhood. Your uncle, Chief Akomolafe the Alawe of Odo Ire-Ekiti, showed me
love and affection. I recently visited your farm plantations at Igbon, Odo-Oko,
Ashe and Egan respectively. It is impressive that Egan plantation, given to you
by your maternal family of Ebi Elesin in Ilefa, Odo Quarters, is still intact
and I appreciate the Odo people for this. The Odo-Oko and Igbon farms are also
intact but the Ashe farm plantation can no longer be found as it has been taken
over by someone else.
I was elated to hear that both the legendary
Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the great Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, on their respective
electioneering campaigns in the 1950s visited the old Ondo Province and visited
Ire-Ekiti where they personally recognised you as a community leader and
visited your house for dinner and entertainment. Baba as well as passing the
nights in your house! You were a strong member of Action Group (AG). Your first
son, Ayo Adefolaju was then a journalist with the Daily Times who later became
the Night Editor was instrumental to Dr Azikiwe’s visit having told him to feel
free to stay in your house at Ire when Dr Azikwe embarked on electioneering
campaign of the then Ondo Province area. Some of the Ire people that thought
you were anti Awo confronted you and wanted to burn down your house for hosting
Dr Azikwe. I was told you confronted them you were not a member of Dr Azikiwe’s
party but, at the same time, could not refuse him coming to your house because,
your son, Ayo, had asked him to visit you. You also educated those miscreants
on how not to play politics of bitterness but politics of tolerance that
accommodate everyone. Your personal assistant, Chief Ade-Ojo always make
references to this particular stand whenever there were issues of intolerance
in Ire community.
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| One of his sons, Tunde Adefolaju (1st standing from the left, a technocrat who got to the peak of his career in the federal civil service |
A particular incident happened in the 1950s
when you were one of the dignitaries invited to Lagos to meet and welcome Her
Royal Majesty, the Queen Elizabeth of England during her official visit to
Nigeria. The photographs of your meeting and handshake with Her Royal Majesty
the Queen Elizabeth still adore your living room years after your demise. The
Queen recognized your boldness and confidence when you registered your
embarrassment as to why Her Imperial Majesty the Queen should shake people
hands with her own hands covered in gloves. You made it known to her that all
the dignitaries that were selected to welcome the Queen were also important
community leaders in their own rights. In response to the protocol officers who
tried to stop you from engaging with Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth
recognized and appreciate our boldness and asked them to allow you speak your
mind. The Queen therefore explained that wearing of gloves is a tradition of
the royal family and was not limited to shaking of hands of Africans but to
everyone the Queen meets.
Baba, on daily basis, I tell my children, your
grandchildren: Olumide, Mofeoluwa, Mayowa and Eyitemi about you and they all
wish they had known you. Baba, whenever I thought of not knowing enough of you,
I take solace in your good parental roles and skills bestowed on my older
siblings, the education you gave your children and all the good works God
enabled you to accomplish for mankind to His glory and honour still speak for
you to date. If indeed it is a fact and not mere myth that one reincarnates,
regardless of the number of times I make my re-entry into this world, I will
always choose to be your son and have you as my beloved father but will only
request that God enables you live longer for me to know more of you.
Your exemplary life cannot be summed up on the
pages of a book, you were and still a role model to all those who had one form
of interaction or the other with you. I wish more than anything that I could
turn back the hands of time to have known you personally, have you assess my
performance at school, eat with you from the same bowl just like my elder
siblings, go hunting and farming with you, hear long tales of your sojourn,
travails, travels and interactions with the foreigners, chastise me when I’m wrong
and have you ‘bribe’ me with goodies like “okele” but called ukele”
in Ekiti dialect - pounded yam meal almost immediately after, take long evening
walks with you, accompany you to the numerous town meetings, festivals and
ceremonies where I could ‘steal’ occasional sips of palm wine, basically to
share those cherished childhood, puberty and adulthood memories with you as my
paternal figure indeed.
Most of all, I wish you were around to watch me
blossom into adulthood and eventually become a parent myself and know my own
children, your grandchildren…If you could get a chance to look down from
heaven, as my mother told me of her last moment with you…when you were about to
enter the vehicle that took you to the Adeoyo Specialist Hospital, Ibadan for
medical checkup, you asked my mother to bring her three months old baby boy
into your hands and you prayed for me powerfully that everybody was looking curiously
in admiration. It was on record that you did not handle young infant but you
did for me and told them to watch out for what I will become. Baba, I am still
waiting to see the confirmation of your words. That was my mother’s last moment
with you and immediately after you entered the vehicle for Ibadan and you never
returned home alive! I am pretty sure you would smile and be very proud knowing
that all your children, grand and great grandchildren, spread all over the
world, turned out just the way you mapped out or even better than you could
ever think or imagine.
Baba mi, remember your son you named Oluwafemi, whom you left when he was three
months old to sleep with your maker, it will interest you that through Dipo and
others, he was supported in fulfilling one of your greatest desire and dreams,
that your children get western education! I am sure you will be happy that I
had my first and second degree at the University of Ibadan and Cardiff
University in Wales respectively. I worked with the Federal Ministry of
Education as a teacher before I travelled to England where I work for over
fifteen years as Housing Officer in the Department of Housing, Senior
Specialist Service Manager with Refugees and Asylum seekers Department and the
Social Service Department. I was also appointed and served as the Senior
Special Adviser for Diaspora Affairs and Integration to the Executive Governor
of Ekiti State, Nigeria in 2010 to 2014. After losing the election in Ekiti, I
went back to work with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as a Senior
Practitioner Manager and currently running my own real estate business in Ikoyi,
Lagos.
You have always been on my mind and will
forever be fondly remembered by me and all my children, your grandchildren. Baba
mi, omo at’owuro se omo oyinbo. Omo Elegemo odinyan, omo alaran upo kan m’owo
epo bai lu. Omo eleyinkule a de sure, omo orisa oke je mi se bi ti onile yi.
Omo a jojo mowo maso, Omo o tele tele te pound! Sun Re o, Rest in perfect peace!!!.
Olufemi
Some of his children
The write up by Chief Lucas Odoko Ogunlade, the Ejeu of Elegemo
Ire-Ekiti on Chief Joseph Alonge Adefolaju, is an excursion into the history of
some aspects of Ire community as well as the life and times of the
distinguished Ire-Ekiti high chief. Chief Ogunlade who was a personal assistant
to High Chief Adefolaju, wrote this piece at the age of 105 years in August
2012 and I quote:
The history of what I know about Chief Joseph
Alonge Adefolaju, the Elegemo of Ilegemo Street, Ire-Ekiti, Ekiti State. I am
now 105 years old and I was the late chief’s henchman and the Chieftaincy title
he held then was the highest Chieftaincy title in Ilegemo Street till now and
the Chieftaincy title of Ejeu is the next in rank to the chieftaincy of his own
father, and my father was then the Ejeu of Ilegemo in Ilegemo street in Ire
Ekiti then. I used to help him write letters to his children who were in the
schools and overseas and also used to post the letters to them as well. I also
used to write and read the replies of all letters to him. I also helped in
keeping his accounts and records.
The man, as I know him, was a trader and a professional
farmer, who started with produce buying and selling of cocoa beans and palm
kernel. He later traded in clothes selling and goods supplied by the white men
then in his shop at Eyin Igbeti, now Marina, Lagos and brought them to
hinterland Yoruba land. He became Elegemo of Ilegemo Street after the death of
Chief Gregory Oke Afuye his predecessor. Joseph Alonge Adefolaju before his
inauguration as a chief, was a local politician, in his own right, attending
all town’s meetings, in the oba’s palace at Ire-Ekiti, and also represented Ire
town in outside engagements.
In 1935 June, he was asked to be the King in
Ire-Ekiti but declined and rather travelled to Enugu, now Enugu State capital
to call one Samuel Adeyeye to come and become the Onire of Ire Ekiti. He said
he would give every support to the new king which he did throughout his life
time to the development of Ire community. Late Chief Alonge Adefolaju was not
selfish. He loved the town and the indigenes, and always sought the path of
progress and righteousness for the town. He was a philanthropist to the core. He
encouraged parents to send their children to the schools both males and
females. Through his persistent persuasion, other parents in Ire sent their
children to schools. Chief Adefolaju saw far more into the future as regards
the benefits of western education, hence sent his children to school.
He was a disciplinarian; he drank palm wine in
a moderate level. He never drank just any water, but from a special stream
called Omi Ashe (River Ashe) clean water from a particular rock. He
trained his children in the schools both primary, secondary and university
levels. His Chieftaincy title as the Elegemo of Ilegemo Street, Ire-Ekiti,
ranks him to be very important in Ire-Ekiti. When one Chief Asaba Sholagbade
died, he also acted on his behalf, till one Gbolade Jegede became Asaba, and
through the virtue of Adefolaju post as the then Elegemo, he was therefore
authorized to perform ritual activities on Gbolade Jegede to become the then
Asaba of Ikeleju. His position as the Afobaje in Ire thus entitled him
alone to perform rituals ceremonies to install and coronate all Onire of Ire-Ekiti,
and all prominent Chiefs in Ire-Ekiti, Nigeria. He was the only child of his
mother but he had many wives and as a result of this he had many children,
males and females.
From him, I learnt hard work, humanity,
truthfulness, kindness and philanthropy, as he used to say that we should be
our brother’s and sister’s keeper. It was on record that he single-handedly
encouraged and assisted many people to achieve western education. That is why
many of his own children attended schools in at home and abroad through his
early contact with the Irish catholic priests. He was the one who first sent
his children to study abroad in Ire-Ekiti. His close friend, Chief Jegede’s son
followed. People used to call him a diligent and brilliant person, who also
worked hard in his farm he did not use to eating in just any place until, he came
back home to take his food.
In 1959, when Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the National
leader of National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (N.C.NC) later National
Council of Nigeria citizens came to Ire-Ekiti on a countrywide political
campaign, Dr Zik stayed in his house to the admiration of Ire people. Zik
recognised him as a shrewd local politician and shook his hands and introduced
him to the people. Chief Adefolaju’s first son, Emmanuel Ayodele Adefolaju was
a journalist and later became the Editor, working with Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, in the
then West African Pilot Newspapers and the Daily Times in Lagos which I believe
was the biggest newspaper in Africa then.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo also visited his house
during his campaign tours to Ire-Ekiti. Chief Adefolaju was a member of Awolowo
political party. Chief Joseph Alonge Adefolaju was the first and for a long
time the President of Egbe Ifeloju Society of Saint Gregory's Catholic Church,
Ire-Ekiti in Ekiti State, and of the Diocese of Ekiti too. Pa Adefolaju due to
his wide traveling, initiated the idea of building a new modern bigger church
and was the first to pay the contributions and to the admiration of everybody,
he also paid for all his children. The election to the position of Baba Egbe
was keenly contested among three members viz; Pa Joseph Alonge Adefolaju,
Emmanuel Jeje and Julius Farinnako of the same Egbe Ifeloju of the church. Due
to his progressive activities, he was elected the Baba Egbe of the most popular
and influential society, Egbe Ifeloju of the said church. It must be noted that
Pa Adefolaju was the Baba Egbe of the society and at the same time the Chief
Elegemo of Ilegemo Street in Keleju Quarter of Ire-Ekiti. Up till his death in
January 1961, he never allowed conflict between his religion and his tradition.
My advice to you, the children, grandchildren and the great grandchildren is
that you should cooperate to keep up the legacies which the said Chief laid
down. May he rest in perfect peace. Amen.
Femi Adefolaju and his nephew, Debo Adefolaju
Mrs Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett, the mother of Debo Adefolaju flanked by Mr & Mrs Fem Adefolaju
Dr. Marcus O. Abe wrote
and I quote: I am thrilled and indeed I feel very privileged to be called upon to
write on Chief Joseph Adefolaju, a colossus of his generation. Perhaps, I need
to start with a confession: that my memory of this man is not as full as I
would have wished because of the very wide gap between his generation and mine.
But the much I remember of this large-hearted gentleman have to do with his
roles as a prominent elder and member of St Gregory's Catholic Church
Ire-Ekiti, particularly his uncommon courage in standing up to the white Rev.
Fathers who were then responsible for the administration of the church parishes
in the Diocese. In the late 1940s and 1950s, the different parishes in what is
now Ondo and Ekiti Dioceses were administered centrally from Akure with priests
sent to the churches to say Masses on Sundays (not every Sunday though). The
two Dioceses were under the Ordinary of the Bishop residing at Akure. There
were few parishes in Ekiti at that time. They were in Ado, Ilawe, Efon,
Igbara-Odo, Ire and Usi as well as Oye-Ekiti. As it were, it was the priests
residing at Oye who paid the occasional visits to Ire. They would come to Ire
on Saturday afternoons for confession, set their camp beds in one of the school
classrooms and sleep over for the Sunday Mass.
Of course, it goes without saying that the
Catholic schools in the parishes were under the supervision of the priests.
After Mass, the priest would hold a short meeting with Church Council members
who were usually drawn from the Elders of the congregation. He would then
collect the offering money and any other collections such as the yearly
contribution and annual harvest levies. He would take his leave, promising to
be back in another two or three weeks. St Gregory's Catholic Church had a very
large population of Catholic Faithfull, next only to St Patrick Cathedral,
Ado-Ekiti. It is instructive to note
that St. Greory’s financial contribution was about the largest in the Diocese. But
despite the huge financial contribution of St. Gregory’s to the central pool of
the Diocese, the various developmental projects in other parishes were
unfathomably not extended to Ire-Ekiti. Pa Adefolaju, an apostle of decency,
honesty and fairness as well as about the most enlightened of all the elders of
the congregation, would have none of that. A widely travelled personality at
that time, he wondered why Secondary Schools and Teachers’ Training Colleges
were established at nearby parishes while Ire was excluded from such largesse.
Besides, Ire was denied of Catholic Hospitals, considered as indication of
progress like Secondary and Teachers’ Training Colleges.
He therefore put on the gauntlet to question
the rationale behind such a blatant display of injustice and unfairness by
volunteering to lead a delegation of the elders to the Bishop at Akure to
formally complain about the unfair treatment and inequitable disbursement of
the money collected from the parishes towards general developmental efforts. Unfortunately,
the response by the Bishop at Akure was not quite agreeable. The bishop
explained that the church was more interested in the areas where the people
needed to be encouraged to embrace the faith and that schools and hospitals had
to be built in such areas as a means of evangelization. Ire, according to him,
was not a problem because a large number of the people (nearly 80%) had
embraced the Catholic Church. Consequent upon this development, the Catholic
Church at Ire then decided to cut off all financial contributions to the
Diocese and this led to the refusal of the priests to visit the Catholic Church
at Ire. The war of secession had started. It was not only waged, it raged for
well over five years. During the over five-year period of the ‘secession war’,
the church at Ire was alert to its financial responsibilities. It simply pooled
all its yearly contributions together and used same to purchase a lorry which
was plying Ire-Lagos. Because of his antecedent and his impeccable character,
Chief Adefolaju was naturally the most fitted and proper candidate put in
charge of the management of this nascent commercial venture, with Prince Paul
Falade as his secretary. For control purposes, a management team was put in
place to check on the management of the ''enterprise''.
However, the war of ‘secession’ came to an end
with the installation of a new Bishop and the enthronement a new Diocese of
Ekiti with Rt. Rev. Michael O. Fagun in charge. An astute administrator and a
man of peace, Bishop Fagun promptly reconciled with church members, established
St. Joseph Catholic Hospital with a promise to establish a Catholic Secondary
School (CKC) at Ire. It is in the area of education of young people that Pa
Joseph Adefolaju stood high above his peers. He was the most travelled
individual amongst his friends. His trips to various places in the country gave
him the rare opportunity to be aware of the import of education. His early
recognition of the significance of quality education is worthy of note. A
rather selfless individual, he was in vantage position to communicate the
importance to his friends in the weekly meetings of the Church Society (''Egbe
Ife'') of which he was a prominent and vocal member. Egbe Ife was the most
influential Men's Society of the Ire Catholic Church at that time. The impact
of his conviction saw the upsurge in the education of young people, most of
whom were children of his society members. To set the pace, Pa Adefolaju sent
his own children to high-brow Catholic Schools very early in life. A
trailblazer, he did not stop at local schools to get his children educated,
some of them went as far away as attending St Gregory's College, Lagos. As
expected, many of his peers ‘caught the flu’ by following his footsteps.
His first son, Chief Emmanuel Ayo Adefolaju,
was one of the very early Catholic trained Primary School teachers and lest I
forget, Ayo Adefolaju was a chip of the old block: he was as courageous as the
old man in dealing with the white Rev Fathers who were School
Managers/Inspectors then. His second son, Mr Peter Adefolaju, who attended St
Gregory's College, Lagos, gained admission to the Engineering College, Zaria
and later went to study Engineering in England. He could have been one of the
early Engineers in Nigeria, but he sadly lost his life in the train disaster of
Lalupon. The third is Mr Albert Yinka Adefolaju who was not just among the
first set of students of Acquinas College, Akure, but was also the first
Prefect. Chief Tunde Adefolaju, the fourth also attended St Gregory's College,
Lagos before proceeding to Ireland and U.K. for Bachelor’s and Master’s
Degrees. He took up appointments in the Nigerian Federal Civil Service on his
return from abroad and worked as Head of Federal Government Colleges in Kano,
Yola and Odogbolu before retiring as a top Federal Civil servant. His daughter,
Mrs Theresa Mopelola Olofinlua (Nee Adefolaju) studied abroad and she is the
first woman in Ire to graduate in England. She too helped many Ire sons and
daughters before she retired from the federal civil service. Mr Adeola
Adefolaju was one of the first to study photo journalism in Nigeria and worked
along with the legendary Chief Peter Obe and served as the Assistant Photo
Editor in the daily Times.
I testify here and now that I benefited from Pa
Adefolaju’s advice to my father, when in 1956, I passed the entrance
examinations to a number of local secondary schools in Ekiti. My father was
weighing the cost of sending a child to a secondary school (a six-year course)
as against the low cost of a Teachers’ Training College, for three/four years.
It appeared to my father that a College Education at a low cost would be
achieved by going to a Teachers’ Training College. But Pa Adefolaju maintained
his preference for a college education in a Secondary School or Grammar School
and as a result of his intervention, my father changed his mind and sent me not
just to any Secondary School, but to Aquinas College, Akure which Pa Adefolaju
believed was just as good as St Gregory's College, Lagos where his own children
had received sound education. I also testify that it was upon the insistence of
Pa Adefolaju that Mr Remigious Afolabi (son of Pa Phillip Afolabi, his cousin)
was among the second set of Aquinas College, Akure, following the footstep of
Mr Yinka Adefolaju.
Pa Adefolaju was a man of strong character and
conviction. He was bold and courageous. He was affable and exuded confidence,
respect and awe. He was a man of peace: a good example for others to follow. He
was a leading light of his time. He was a good example of a gentleman. As a
result of his commendable candour and incisive intellect in dealing with
issues, everyone looked up to him for fairness, justice and genuine advice.
Such was the life of this great man.
Thanks be to God for the lifetime of High Chief Alonge Adefolaju. The memory of the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. Psalm 112.
It is understandable if one claims to be getting weary of writing✍️about Nigeria and her peculiar mess (penkelemesi). This is because for over three decades I have written so many articles and even got books published in which issues on Nigeria were addressed, highlighting suggested solutions and plausible way forward. However, the recent protest across the nation calling for the end of bad government in Nigeria, generated a debate in Ekitipanupo Forum. I was not going to comment because it would amount to repeating oneself on the same issues, over and over again as far as I am concerened. As a matter of fact, it was this statement of Dr Dokun Adedeji that finally drew me out. I quote his apt comment thus: "...The saddest part of our deceit and hypocrisy is that if elections are held today, these same crowd of political vultures and carpetbaggers, will return in triumph" Oga Dokun, the Doksie, of Christ’s School fame, in his characteristics manner has said it as it is, again!
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