Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the first Federal Minister of Social Services and Natural Resources, Chief Adegoke Adelabu, popularly called ‘Penkelemesi’, as his political role model.
Obasanjo made this remark on Saturday at his Hilltop presidential residence, Abeokuta, while receiving the family of the late Ibadan-born politician who paid him a courtesy visit.
They had come to intimate the former president about the 100 years posthumous birthday of the late politician slated for September 3, 2015 and a foundation to be inaugurated in his name.
Obasanjo said he shared the political philosophy of the late politician which was devoid of ethnic considerations but which focused on Nigeria’s unity.
He noted that Nigerians were still struggling to reach the pinnacle Adelabu attained in politics.
Obasanjo, who accepted the offer to be the patron of the posthumous centenary birthday celebration of the late politician, described the late Adelabu as a detribalised Nigerian.
Led by an Ibadan chief, Aare Tunde Alabi, the family members said they were in Obasanjo’s house to solicit his support in giving a befitting ceremony to the first African Manager of the United African Company.
The former president further noted that Adelabu was years ahead of his political contemporaries, adding that he advocated for the United States of West Africa before his demise – long before the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS was formed.
“Adelabu was not just a historic figure, he was a reality, he was a phenomenon, he was uniquely Yoruba, uniquely Nigerian, uniquely African and uniquely a member of human race.
“What you are proposing to do, I believe Adelabu deserves it in every facet. Today, we are still struggling to reach the pinnacle or the pedestal Adelabu reached in politics. He was not swayed by linguistic, ethnic, tribal, regional, sectional considerations but by what is best for Nigeria,” Obasanjo said.
Alabi, who gave a brief bio data of the leader of the opposition in the Western House of Assembly between 1956 and 1958, pleaded with Obasanjo to “carry Adelabu to the world.”
He said if Adelabu was alive, he would have been 100 years by September 3, 2015.
Adelabu, the first Chairman of the Ibadan District Council in 1954, died in a road accident on March 25, 1958 along Ibadan-Ode Remo Road at the age of 43.
The opposition leader in the First Republic championed the cause of the NCNC led by the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
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