BRIGADIER GENERAL B.A.M ADEKUNLE
(THE BLACK SCORPION),
A MAN WHO CAME TO FULFIL DESTINY.
A speech delivered by:
I, Brig-General Godwin Alabi-Isama, the Chief-Of-Staff to Col. Benjamin Adekunle, the Commander of the 3MCDO Division of the Nigerian Army, during the Nigeria–Biafra civil war from 1967-1969; as Ogbomosho People honour the Late Brig-Gen Benjamin Maja Adekunle, the Asipa of Ogbomosho today the 18th of September, 2024 at Ogbomosho, Oyo State, on the 10th Memorial Anniversary of the late General.
My speech today is not very different from my last speech of the 14th December 2014 at this very auditorium. General Adekunle was my commander and my very dear friend before the war, during the war and after the war.
I am delighted to be one of the special guests participating in this worthwhile event to honor and venerate the imperishable soul of one of the greatest modern day military warriors of Nigeria, nay, Black Africa, the late Brig-General Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle, the Asipa of Ogbomosho, popularly known as the ‘Black Scorpion.’ He was buried at the Ikoyi cemetery on the 3rd of October 20I4.
Indeed, as one informed commentator averred, “Few civil war era military officers have been eulogized, demonized and fictionalized like Adekunle”. Adekunle was a national icon and enigma and very impactful soldiers-soldier. May God grant his family and the people of Ogbomosho, hence the Nigerian Nation, the fortitude to bear this loss. May his gentle soul rest in the bosom of the Lord, in perfect peace. Amen.
I am particularly grateful to the enlightened and good people of Ogbomosho, the proud, iconic and ancient land of ‘ionic-warriors’, the bastion of accomplished politicians, bureaucrats, soldiers, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, women of substance and great leaders, for affording me this rare honour of making a few remarks about the indomitable, indefatigable and irrepressible Asipa ‘Warrior’ of Ogbomosho land.
Having worked under Brig-Gen Adekunle’s dynamic leadership as his Chief of Staff during the most challenging period of Nigeria’s civil war years (I967-69) when he was the Commander of the Third Marine Commando Division, I am therefore, speaking from a vantage and authoritative position, and can attest to his patriotism, sharp mind, and engaging knowledgeable expertise in military matters.
I may safely assert that of all the military officers I was privileged to work under as their deputy, in my very distinguished military career, our late Chief and proud son of Ogbomosho is a priceless jewel of inestimable value to the Nigerian Military establishment, in the area of military strategy, tactical war assault, psychological warfare and war plan maneuvering of the first order. He was also a kind soul who wept when we loss officers or positions during the war, and also did he release many Biafran prisoners of war while preaching the mantra of “GOWON – Go On With One Nigeria” to them, and that to keep Nigeria One is a task that must be done. (See page I0I and I24 of my book, The Tragedy of victory…).
Yet as a human being our Asipa was not infallible. He had his flaws, like all of us do; he had his glorious era and low moments like every other mortal. After the initial successes recorded by the 3MCDO capturing the whole of the land border from Calabar to Obubra, Oron, Uyo, Ikot-Ekpene, Bonny, Port Harcourt, etc. Adekunle military plan to go into the Igbo heartland and capture Owerri, Oguta, Aba and Umuahia (OOAU), which was hurriedly packaged without the usual input and consultations from his other officers was not effective as I elaborated in chapters II and I2 of my book; It was the beginning of the end for Adekunle in the 3MCDO. (See page 342 for the map of the OOAU plan). With the benefit of hind sight and declassified foreign intelligence reports today, we now know that he was lured to doing so.
All put together, in spite of the difficult situation he found himself fighting a brotherly civil war with all its sentimental and emotional connotation and contradictions, it is indisputable that as a soldier-statesman and nation builder, he studiously and dutifully facilitated unity and cohesion of Nigeria as the very charismatic Commander of the 3MCDO. Dr. Olunloyo, an Ogbomosho son captured this better when he asserted: “Our own Benjy proved his class and mettle during the Nigeria Civil War of I967-70. The most unfortunate kinds of wars are of course civil wars. Brothers kill brothers. Bitterness, hatred and rivalry become the order of the day and linger almost indefinitely.”
Above all, our late Asipa of Ogbomosho will be fondly remembered in history as a warrior and great liberator and redeemer of the Minorities- who exhibited uncanny military prowess with his very committed officers and soldiers of the 3MCDO to flush away the Biafran secessionists, hence created the enabling peaceful environment for the smooth take-off and establishment of the then newly created Cross-River and Rivers states.
He was positively, a passionate patriot and professionally gifted pragmatic military tactician and strategist. He was forthright, focused and fearless. These attributes made it possible for the Nigerian military to secure the oil bearing territories like the fall of Calabar, Bonny, Oron, Port Harcourt, etc. The secured oil wells were the eventual resources used by the then leadership of General Gowon’s Federal Military government to prosecute and win the war.
As one of the bright Sandhurst trained professional Nigeria military officer, he did not involve himself in any coup planning, but, like a true patriot and nationalist, sacrificed his comfort, so as to protect and defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria. As a pan-Africanist, Gen Adekunle was involved in the United Nation’s Congo Military operations of the early I960s as a young officer, who fought from the trenches so as to enthrone a conflict free and the sustainably developed Africa that even in retirement, was involved in Nation building, in I976, as part of the Federal Government delegation that worked assiduously so as to secure the independence of Angola from the Portuguese.
A literature review of the eulogies from prominent Nigerians after his death attests to his greatness. A few samples will suffice. From President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, Gen Adekunle “is one of the most celebrated military commanders of his generation, an accomplished strategists and celebrated hero of the Nigerian Civil War;” to General M. C Alli, former Chief-of-Army-Staff, Adekunle, “…remains one of the most indefatigable, physically and mentally versatile warriors the Nation and the Army has ever produced”.
To Prof Jide Osuntokun, he was not only, the most successful field commander but also the most colourful and sometimes, arguably, the most controversial officer.
To Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Gen Adekunle, “The Civil War Hero was a Soldier’s Soldier. He was a man of valor and unimaginable bravery. Lion-hearted and a leader of men. He served his Fatherland devotedly and without question, when we most needed him.” Ahmed Bola Tinubu is today the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Indeed, Gen Adekunle is a true Nigerian, he was born in the year I936 at Kaduna; his father, an ex-colonial soldier from Ogbomosho, South-west, Nigeria; His mother was of the Bachama tribe in present day Adamawa state, a people noted for their bravery in warfare. His first wife hails from Rivers State in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. He is the father of many adorable children and grand children who have made successes in different professions. He spoke many Nigerian languages, including Yoruba, Hausa, Fulfulde, Bachama, Igbo, Ijaw, Efik, etc.
Methodologically, I shall be following the exemplary footprint set by the Ogbomosho Community Foundation (OCF) about five years ago, when an erudite Ogbomosho intellectual colossus, Dr V.O.S. Olunloyo delivered a bombshell of a lecture and eulogy: titled, “Ogbomosho Heroes- Gen. Benjamin Maja Adekunle, An Unsung Hero,”. In this lecture, Olunloyo asserted that Adekunle’s greatness is traceable to his ancient Ogbomosho forbears who are noted for their bravery and accomplishment in warfare. In the same spirit, I shall elaborate and build on this theme by quoting extensively from my book, The Tragedy of Victory, in order to place the iconic stature of Adekunle, as a thorough breed and humane patriot and professional soldier’s soldier, in proper perspective. Despite some unpalatable comments from some not-so-informed-critics about the role played by Adekunle during the civil war years, I shall be quoting extensively from the well informed, professional opinion of some of the Biafra Military officers, Madiebo and Gbulie, for instance, who fought against him to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that Adekunle was poles ahead of his peers, when it comes to the art of warfare.
It is indisputable that he fought so that Nigeria will be one. Most of his critics, particularly, some of the overzealous Federal House of Representative legislators, from the Igbo extraction, who recently opposed the motion moved on the floor of the House, to the effect that Adekunle should be given ‘A National Burial’, forgot so easily that but for the civil war efforts of the likes of Adekunle, who fought with gusto so that we can go on with one Nigeria, they will not be privileged Members of this hallowed and honorable chamber of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is the irony of history. Essentially, therefore, our ‘not so Honorable Members’ of the National Assembly, who opposed the motion that Adekunle should receive a National burial, forgot so easily that for Adekunle’s civil war efforts and eventual victory of Nigeria, Gowon’s ‘NO VICTOR, NO VANGUISHED’ mantra, which afforded Ojukwu (and indeed all Biafra’s of Igbo extraction) the opportunity to re-integrate into Nigeria, thus giving them the right to contest elections as bonafide citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, may not have been possible.
Is it not an irony of history, or shall we say the tragedy of victory, that while the man Ojukwu who led the Biafran secessionists, who lost the war, in which more than two million people died with many scared and maimed forever, was pardoned, all his seized properties returned to him, and reintegrated into Nigeria as a bonafide citizen, so much that he contested elections, under the sovereign Nigerian flag, first as a senatorial candidate of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in I983, then as a member of Abacha’s I996 National conference, and later as a founder and Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), and received a National burial with the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, physically in attendance during his burial ceremony, a true patriot like Adekunle who secured this victory for Nigeria, as the Commanding Officer of the 3MCOD, should be treated with such contempt and disrespect in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly by the beneficiaries of his efforts, toil and sweat -some illogical and misguided, pseudo-revisionist historians and Members of the National Assembly of Ibo extraction. What a sad story indeed.
Is Nigeria really worth dying for, this is my question today? My thesis is simple. Gen Adekunle is a Nation builder who deserves to be immortalized and awarded a post-humors National Honours award, on account of his civil war efforts. It is for this reason that I appreciate the effort of the Ogbomosho community, a feat that Dr Olunloyo and many others have been championing, to rebrand and reposition the patriotic actions of my former boss and friend, so that his past, heroic, patriotic and nationalistic efforts shall not be in vain. In expanding, justifying and philosophically developing my thesis, I would like to emphasize the fact that nations just don’t happen by historical accident, rather they are built by men [Adekunle as Commanding Officer of the 3MCDO] and women with vision and resolve. Nation-building is therefore the product of conscious statecraft, [i.e. The Scorpion Strategy] not by happenstance. Nation-building is always a work-in-progress; a dynamic process in constant need of nurturing and re-invention. Nation-building never stops and true nation-builders never rest because all nations are constantly facing up to new challenges.
Based on these facts, I wish to posit that Brig-Gen Adekunle made substantial contributions to Nation-building in Nigeria on account of the fact that he commanded the 3MCDO which secured the territorial integrity of Nigeria from the Biafran secessionists. Some empirical facts will be necessary at this point to embellish and support my thesis.
Firstly, before Adekunle handed over to Gen Obasanjo in I969, as his successor in the 3MCDO, the defunct Biafran territory had lost a large chunk of its original land mass. (See page 4I2 of my book for the map indicating: the position of 3MCDO in May I969 when Obasanjo took over command from Adekunle. In this picture below, 3MCDO Division of the Nigerian Army had captured these shaded areas between 1967 and May 1969. Col. Obasanjo took over the command of 3MCDO in May 1969. These areas included all the oil blocks in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Today’s Cross River State, Akwa Ibom State, Rivers State, and Bayelsa State.
It was Operation Pincer 2 that Akinrinade used to end the Nigeria-Biafra war of 1970. The plan, the strategy and the tactics applied were made before Col. Adekunle was transferred out of 3MCDO in May 1969. Akinrinade and I had already briefed the Head-Of-State Gen. Yakubu Gowon and the Supreme Military Council including Obasanjo himself that with Operation Pincer 2, the war would end in 30 days.
As his Chief of staff, Adekunle loved debates, which we dubbed “NEW KNOWLEDGE BASED MANAGEMENT COMMAND AND CONTROL,” he had a very engaging mind; he encouraged his military commanders to present their military strategy which was thoroughly debated before he approved. One of Adekunle’s unique contributions to the Nigeria civil war effort, which gave him the name ‘Black Scorpion’, was the five pronged attack which led to the fall of Port Harcourt. On page 229 of my book, I described it thus: “The advance from Calabar to Port Harcourt was a five-pronged exercise. First, from Bonny led by Lt Col Alani Akinrinade; second from James town, through infiltration into Widenham Creek, led by Major Isaac Adaka Boro; third from Oron, through Opobo and Bori, led by Lt Col Ayo Ariyo; Fourth from Okopedi, through Ekeffe, led by Lt Col. Philemon Shande; and fifth from Calabar through Itu and Uyo as the ambush and envelopment troops, led by Lt Col. Alabi Isama- my humble self.
. Indeed this strategy was executed with few casualties “…that way I had only one officer and eight soldiers dead in the 30 days and 480 kilometers advance from Calabar to Port Harcourt and of course Isaac Boro that was killed at Okirika”.
THE SCORPION STRATEGY FOR THE CAPTURE OF PORT HARCOURT MAY 1968.
Is it not the tragedy of victory that in other CLIMES, the Commanding officer and his Commanders who executed this ingenious military plan, a feat that gave Nigeria access to the oil wells that was used to fund the civil war, receive National Honors? The irony is that Brig-Gen Adekunle, left this planet-earth without being awarded a well deserved National honor, on account of his contribution to nation-building through his civil war efforts; he died UNSUNG HERO. To affirm that Adekunle was very passionate and committed to securing victory so as to keep Nigeria one will be an understatement. He did much more than that, he laid his life so that we can “Go On With One Nigeria”. This fact can be demonstrated with the evidence I provided in my book about the uncommon commitment and sacrifice of Adekunle towards securing victory for Nigeria, thus:”…On page I69, we could see the picture of Adekunle his shirt removed for use as stretcher. Dr Nya is second (from) right, with another doctor. Adekunle had a bullet wound on his right foot. He never slept a day in hospital.
Adekunle gave out his shirt to be used as stretcher for a wounded soldier. He too was shot on the right foot. He never slept a day in the hospital. On the left of this picture, is Adekunle’s radio operator who was captuered when adekunle’s command post was attacked. We counter attacked and got the radio operator back.
Our warrior, Adekunle, with bullet wound on his foot, on account of being ambushed in battle and nearly killed by the Biafrans, who captured his orderly, was captured in picture, at the heat of the civil war still strategizing for victory without going to the hospital. In other civilized climes, this evidence is more than enough to secure the Highest Military and National Honours for Adekunle, but in Nigeria, the reverse is the case, a debilitating and stomach upsetting tragedy of victory. It is on record that even the Commander of the defunct Biafran Army, the man Adekunle fought against acknowledged his military dexterity and warrior spirit of never say die. Here is an excerpt from a book titled-“The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War” – by Alexander A. Madiebo, the Commander of the Biafran Forces on page 240 and 242 of his book about the superior military prowess of the 3MCDO war strategy under the command of Gen Adekunle at the Calabar/Oron/Ikot-Ekpene sector “On the 9th of March the enemy[3MCDO] landed at Oron and from then on no one including the [Biafran] Brigade Commander Aniebo, really knew what was happening until Ikot-Ekpene, 50 miles from Oron also fell. However within hours of enemy landing, there was firing in many towns and villages between Oron and Uyo. Thereafter, wherever our [Biafran] troops tried to deploy in the area, they fell into an ambush.
That confusion continued until the 11th March when firing started in Uyo town and we soon discovered that the “enemy” whoever he might be [3MCDO] was there. In short Uyo had fallen. Our own [Biafran] troops were pulling back in disarray, absolutely unable to establish a defensive position anywhere around the route. Having lost complete control of his Brigade, with no prospect of regaining it, Col Aniebo was dismissed from command and summoned to appear before the [Biafran] Head of State, Ojukwu. ”All hail, the Asipa of Ogbomosho, High Chief Maja Benjamin Adekunle, the civil war Commander of the 3MCDO, liberator and redeemer of the minorities, in the present day Cross-river, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa states”.
ADEKUNLE’S RADIO OPERATOR LIBERATED.
PRISONER OF WAR DILLEMMA.
Dr. V. O. S. Olunloyo informed us that, around 1970, after the end of the civil war, one journalist described Brig-Gen. Adekunle thus:
“Standing only 5ft 7in tall, weighing under 10 stone, he is a ruthless professional soldier, faultlessly dressed whether in uniform or in civvies. He eats little, is a chain-smoker, who enjoys his drinks and can get by with four hours’ sleep a night. Explosive and impulsive, with a mercurial temperament, during the war he was nicknamed ‘the Black Scorpion’. The wartime stories told about him are legion. Behind the showy extrovert lies a quick, agile mind of a man of action who can grasp essential problems and make immediate decisions”
Adekunle’s leadership acumen, “quick, agile mind of a man of action, as captured by Dr Olunloyo (above) manifested through his daring nature and sincere faith in the concept of one Nigeria helped him to resolve one of our civil war dilemmas – the question was, how do we handle the many Biafran prisoners of war? On page I0I of my book: “We had over 400 Prisoners of War (POW) on hold at Calabar prisons. As we advanced many more were still being captured and many more surrendered on their own… Adekunle then came up with the idea that we should take a chance of having them go back to their homes, but for those who wanted to be recruited into 3MCDO, they should be allowed to do so. Wow that was terrifying but it worked. Adekunle addressed them on ONE NIGERIA and that they were allowed to go back home or join the 3MCDO. Surprisingly, many opted to join the 3MCDO, and only about 20 out of about 400 opted to go back because of their aged parents. So we sent them to the Sea Training School established at Atimbo, commanded by Major Isaac Adaka Boro.”
Adekunle was also a very humane officer as I elaborated in my book, page II9. “Adekunle was very humane. Adekunle with his ‘stern and Field Marshal’ look wept almost daily at the news of lost ground or position or at the death of a well known officer or soldier. He was kind hearted indeed and always unhappy when we had casualties. Since the death of Capt Buba Yaro was caused by lack of vehicles, anytime he went to Lagos, he asked for more vehicles and vehicles… He did not take no for an answer. He got everything he asked for. What Lagos did not give him, he commandeered.
He fought everybody that stood on his way on this subject.”
The incontrovertible fact remains, as I have tried to argue, is that Adekunle joined the Army with the sole purpose of defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria, he was trained in Sandhurst, Britain, and much later Wellington in India to gain superior military knowledge on how to defend his fatherland. He was deployed to Congo, and much later Angola, where he distinguished himself as a soldiers’ soldier, working under the orders and guidance of his superiors. He was also at a time the Aide-de–camp to the former civilian Governor of Eastern Regional Governor of Nigeria, the very revered, Dr Akanu Ibiam, of blessed memory.
Adekunle was a professional soldier who was not involved in any coup plotting against constituted authority-he did not participate in the Nzeogwu coup of Jan I5th I966; he was also not part of the counter coup of July, I966. He was never known to participate in any coup until he was retired from the Army in the year I974. Adekunle, the distinguished Asipa of Ogbomosho, was a professional soldiers’ soldier and true patriot who respected the Nigerian flag, until his last breath. He was appointed as the commander of the 3MCDO by General Yakubu Gowon, the then Military Head of state, and as a well trained professional soldier, he deployed his superior military acumen so as to ensure the invisibility of Nigeria against Biafran secessionists, and a letter to letter and word to word strict obedience to Gen. Gowon’s Code Of Conduct.
Adekunle addressed troops before any operation and reechoes Gowon’s CODE OF CONDUCT. 3MCDO at the war front called it, THE STRATEGY OF TRUST, as there were mutual trust. We needed the support of the people for our success and survival.
Highlighting the said “Strategy of Trust” includes:
The opening of schools for boys and girls at all liberated areas.
Final year students siting for their final year examinations at all liberated areas.
Opening markets for trade by batter. Biafra did not do that.
Opening of hospitals for women and children.
We shared our food with the natives at all liberated areas. Biafra did not do that
We recruited male and female at all our liberated areas. Biafra did not do that.
The natives assisting us in offloading our supplies from ships and planes.
The natives assisting us in the building of culverts, bridges and pontoons and in many other needs including the need for intelligence and security of the rear while we advanced.
At 3MCDO, we had no refugee camps. All were advised to stay home and the RED CROSS took food to every home.
Abandoned children by their parents were gathered and looked after
Adekunle does not need any more adjectives today to qualify his war efforts. With our STRATEGY OF TRUST at all liberated areas, Biafra was already defeated mentally before they were defeated physically. Adekunle came to this world to fulfil his destiny and when he died in 2014, He fulfilled the destiny. I am personally proud to have been his friend and to have served under him as his Chief-of-Staff during the trying period in the history of our country. May his gentle soul rest in peace. Amen and amen.
On page I04 of my book, I said this about Adekunle “ I have been Deputy to many commanders all my life; Major Hoyle; Major Wakeman; Lt Col Abugo Lagerma; Lt Col Ogbugo Kalu; Col Oluloye; Col Obasanjo; Col Danjuma… I knew these people very well and how their minds worked, but none was like Adekunle. He had presence of mind, and more so today that he has also learnt the lessons of life. It is on record that Dr Olunloyo, in a lecture he delivered about five years ago lamented, as indeed I concurred in a newspaper interview I granted in the year 20I3 about the need for the Federal Government to come to the assistance of our great patriot, Adekunle, who was for years before he die, largely, neglected by Nigeria at his greatest hour of need. However, may I use this opportunity to thank the few Nigerians who responded to our call and supported him before his death. I wish to quote verbatim the perspective of one Mathew Onyema, an Igbo, to assert that Adekunle deserves to be celebrated and immortalized for his patriotism. Hear Onyema: “During the July 1966 coup and subsequent massacres targeted at Eastern Nigerians, the then Major Adekunle nearly lost his life for, among other things, protecting Eastern Nigerian military personnel from their rampaging Northern Nigerian comrades”.
Max Siollun, the ace Nigerian military historian, stated in his online essay ‘The Northern Counter-Coup of 1966: The Full Story’ that Adekunle drew the anger of Northern soldiers for giving safe passage to fleeing Igbo officers and nearly died for this gesture.
Dr Nowa Omoigui, another scholar of Nigeria’s military history, confirmed this with detailed insights in his essay on the second coup titled ‘Operation Aure: The Northern Military Counter-Rebellion of July 1966.’ Both essays can be accessed on any search engine, including Google.
By deconstructing and evaluating the lives and times of our own brilliant Nigerian Military officer, my former able commanding officer of the 3MCDO, and indisputable nation-builder, Adekunle, as we have tried to do in this prose, we will fully comprehend why the trouble with Nigeria, and the reason why it has been described variously as a shadow of a great country; a theater of the absurd; a dysfunctional society; a crippled giant, and a paradise for maggots, that is afflicted by monumental socio-economic, political and security challenges, where thieves and vagabonds are our super stars. Indeed, this house, Nigeria has fallen to its lowest ebb on account of the way she treated Adekunle. Alas, it is only in a dysfunctional Nigeria, with a perverted and warped value system that a man like Adekunle, who laid his life for the unity of Nigeria will be treated with levity and contempt, mostly shut out completely from attending any official function organized by the Federal Government, after his sudden retirement in I974, so much that he would die unsung. Veteran journalist Duro Onabule captured Adekunle’s situation better: Either for self-remorse of the circumstances of his fall from grace, or as a victim of envious rivals or dictates of fate, Brigadier Adekunle adopted a low profile in all aspects of life. Even then, to accentuate his self-denouncement, he was, for more than four decades, rendered derelict by the very nation he staked his life to save from disintegration. Adekunle was ignored from virtually all official functions including military ceremonies even under successive military regimes since 1970.” In clinically and painstakingly re-evaluating the lives and times of Adekunle, we need to understand, as a Nation, the how and why he ended up the way he did, so that we can learn from our mistakes, and make the needful amends so as to build a better Nigeria society. In other words could Adekunle’s plight be connected to the words of Olusegun Obasanjo, who lied and submitted thus:
In his book “My Command”, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, one of Adekunle’s most notable rivals in the Army, claimed that at the 3 Marine Commando (3MCDO), “Col. Adekunle, at this point saw the war not only in terms of crushing a rebellion, but also as a means of building himself up for any future political position or responsibility which he might wish to seek, I knew of people of Western State origin who had felt politically victimized and who saw in Col. Adekunle a savior and told him so, and he believed them…. At the entrance to my office (Adekunle’s former office) there was a warning signboard ‘Enter at the pain of Death’. I removed the notice and flung it some fifty meters…”
Do you now see how a Yoruba son ruined Adekunle, another Yoruba? I ASK TODAY, WHERE ARE ALL YOUR HEROES IN YORUBA LAND? Will you now blame the Igbo nation for honoring their own, while you demonize yours? YORUBA RONU! Out of frustration, anguish and broken heart, about his plight and the rudderless way his beloved country was drifting, our very outspoken Adekunle, a “very brilliant and fearless soldier who led from the front and fought side-by-side with his troops… the personal example he set as the commander worked wonders”, lamented about the tragedy of victory: Hear him attentively, please:
“Personally, now and for some time I feel so ashamed to have killed people to sustain the unity of Nigeria. I feel so sad to have shed blood for the unity of Nigeria. While some of us were dying in the battle field for the restoration of Nigeria as one country, some people have their eagle eyes on one particular subject, oil, the live wire of the economy, the new fulcrum or pendulum of power. While we fought for one country, some people have been reaping where they did not sow”
Adekunle personified honor, Adekunle personified integrity, Adekunle personified courage, and Adekunle personified loyalty. The greatness of Adekunle is inseparable from the 3MCDO that he formed, built, trained, and led in battle to defeat Biafra in order to keep Nigeria one.
To show you how much he was hated, this is how a late friend of mine, a Professor, a Human right Activist, and a Civil Right commentator explained the situation to me after reading my book THE TRAGEDY OF VICTORY in a conversation at Ibadan, he said, ’You boys are lucky, you got away with too much.’ Then I asked, who are those you called ‘You boys are’? And he replied, ‘Major Utuk, Akinrinade, Alabi Isama and Adekunle.’ Why did you say so? Was my next question. Then he continued, ‘You did not let the North deep their sword in the sea, you did not let Biafra to secede, you did all that in the name of ONE NIGERIA, but did the Yoruba Nation care about their children that ended the civil war, did they even care about how Adekunle Fajuyi was killed, why then do you think that the Nation will care?’ Don’t you see how the memory of what was 3MCDO as a military unit was wiped out from the Army lexicon in the Country, but for your book?’ I told him that I now understand. Do you all now understand?
Adekunle as a leader and my definition of a HERO, did nothing alone, he believed in our collective effort. A leader is the one who knows the way, shows the way, and leads the way. To command is to serve. Gen Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle served this Nation. My final word is for you, sons and daughters of Ogbomosho, nay Yoruba Nation to get your acts together and recognize your Heroes, do not expect anyone to do it for you. Go get your son, the hero of our time, Gen Adekunle, out of Ikoyi cemetery back home to Ogbomosho for a befitting hero’s burial in a newly to be created Hero’s Park, and leave the rest to God. Adekunle does not need any more adjectives to describe his efforts at keeping Nigeria one during the trying history of our country.
WHEN ADEKUNLE DIED IN 2014, HE FULFILLED DESTINY!
MAY HE REST IN PEACE IN JESUS MIGHTY AND PRECIOUS NAME!
AMEN! AMEN!! AMEN!!!
I salute you all!
