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Historical, Col Francis Adekunle Fajuyi's
When Col Francis Adekunle Fajuyi's immediate elder sister went to meet him (Fajuyi) in Ibadan, the headquarters of the western region, she took the opportunity to register a company so she could lobby for contracts from government.
When the Western region Governor, Col Adekunle, returned later that day from the office, they exchanged pleasantries and the big sister went ahead to show the kid brother the certificate of registration of her new company. Col Adekunle's mood changed immediately! He asked,
"What is this? Is this why you came from Ado Ekiti to this place? Do you want to soil my name? The thing we want to eradicate, you want me to have a hand in it? You will be going about getting contracts from the ministries? No way, you cannot do that!’
Then he tore the paper and went upstairs. The sister broke down in tear.
Col Fajuyi was an incorruptible soldier who became governor of old Western Region in January, 1966, and sent words to Ekiti to stop the building of his house, which was at foundation level on Textile Road in a place called Onimosoyin in Ado-Ekiti, because the ethics of public service demands that you do not acquire anything during service. He never had a personal house when he died.
Col Adekunle Fajuyi's "native intelligence" was legendary. Some British men came to have a meeting with Fajuyi and the Secretary to the government of Western region, Pa Odumosu, because they wanted to site an industry in Ibadan. At a point, the British requested to see Col Fajuyi privately, so Pa Odumosu was asked to leave. They wanted to bribe him!. The gave him huge cash and they left. Then Fajuyi called pa Odumosu and said the British brought "our money" and he said he collected the money from them because "it was part of our money." He then instructed him to pay the money into the government’s treasury.
Col Adekunle Francis Fajuyi was an embodiment of courage and unalloyed loyalty. Suicidal loyalty!. When the head of state, Agonyi Ironsi went to Ibadan on official visit and gunshots were heard in the dead of the night, both the host and the guest were taken aback by the ugly development.
The government house had been surrounded by soldiers of northern extraction in a COUNTER-COUP. In their pyjamas, Fajuyi and Ironsi went to the Governor's office to make calls for reinforcements. Then Ironsi asked Fajuyi,
"But you assured me yesterday that I was safe in your territory".
"Yes, I thought you were safe. I didn’t know anything. I didn’t hear anything. But don’t worry, the two of us will stay together. Go and dress up and I will dress up. Anything that will happen will happen to the two of us." Fajuyi replied.
The invaders broke in and before they saw the Head of State, they told Fajuyi;
‘Give us Ironsi, we want Ironsi. Give us Ironsi, we want Ironsi.’
Fajuyi stood his grounds and replied;
‘No, you cannot take him, he is my guest. Why didn’t you take him in Lagos or elsewhere? You cannot take him here. If you are taking him, then take me along"
Gallant, brave and outstanding soldier, Col Adekunle Fajuyi put his own life on the line to defend his guest and even when he was told they only wanted Ironsi, he stood by his guest and died with him.
He was just 40 years-old when he took a bullet for his friend. Fajuyi was survived by aged parents and very young children. His heartbroken father died shortly thereafter.
Just history that is worth telling at this crucial time with political rogues without honour at the centre stage of our polity in Nigeria.
I feel irked by their indecency and gullibility.
History Today
OPINION
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"When our country calls upon us for sacrifice, we shall be worthy to follow those who, in all the ages and countries, have lived and even died for God and freedom."
Lt. Col. Francis Adekunle Fajuyi was appointed First Governor of Western Region on 18 January 1966.
There were certain events that made it clear that Fajuyi found himself in the crossfire between angry northern officers (who saw the January 1966 coup, led by Majors Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna as an Igbo putsch against the North) and Ironsi, an Easterner, who became the beneficiary as the occupant of the topmost office.
In that coup, prominent politicians were killed: Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa; Premier of the North, Ahmadu Bello and Premier of Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola.
On 29 July 1966, Fajuyi displayed his gallantry and altruism when the Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi, visited Ibadan to address a conference of traditional rulers. At 4 am, soldiers, who were all from the North led by Theophilus Danjuma and Joe Garba, drove into Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, their mission was to kidnap and kill the Head of State Aguiyi Ironsi in a reprisal coup.
The Loyalty and Integrity displayed by Fajuyi, a Yoruba man, towards his boss and guest, Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo man was the true reflection of humanity. He queried the invaders, how could he stand at an akimbo while his guest (not to even talk of his supreme commander) was to be killed under his roof? He refused. It would have given rise to Yoruba, Igbo suspicion and everlasting hatred, woven into a conspiracy theory.
Fajuyi jumped on the open Land Rover conveying the victim, Ironsi, even as the soldiers barked orders at him to stay away from the drama. He forced himself into the vehicle as the murderers drove away with him and his guest, their real target.
The soldiers drove to Lalupon on the outskirts of Ibadan. A wine tapper watched the hideous drama unfold in the bush under his palm tree. As the desperate soldiers would make to shoot Ironsi, Fajuyi would rush between them and the victim, his hands spread in a you-cannot-kill-my-guest or boss fashion. He repeated the intervention many times so much so that the killers were frustrated and angrily pumped hot bullets into the two hostages. And Fajuyi died a hero, a true friend, a great officer and a patriot.
This history is important at a time like this when the 2023 Presidential election has mainly reflected ethnic bias across the regions. In the second and third republics, political parties with pro-peoples program used to be the criteria for voting candidates but all this is gradually eroding away due to the deliberate attempt by the political class to replace history that binds us together as a people with religion and ethnic division.
Nigerians must not allow ourselves to be turned against each other for the selfish interest of a few people but rather fill our minds with the quote of Lt. Col. Francis Adekunle Fajuyi: "When our country calls upon us for sacrifice, we shall be worthy to follow those who, in all the ages and countries, have lived and even died for God and freedom."
Francis Nwapa Watch
Revolutionary Activist