It was a gathering of who’s who in Ibadan recently when the former governor of Oyo state, Adebayo Alao Akala, marked his 70th birthday and a launch of his biography. BAYO AGBOOLA captures the day.
Thursday November 5, 2020 would no doubt continue to be remembered as one of the memorable days in the life of the former governors of Oyo state, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala as the high and the mighty in society stormed the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan to honour him at the formal presentation and launch of his autobiography, ‘Amazing Grace’.
Otunba Alao-Akala till date has many to his credit especially in grassroots politics of Oyo state particularly Ogbomoso, his country home. He has remained a strong force years after leaving office as governor of the state. To that extent, he is the man of his people in the entire Ogbomoso land. And as some political gurus in the town put it, the fear of Alao-Akala’s political might is the beginning of wisdom in the land.
Being at the prestigious Trenchard Hall, it leaves no one in doubt that the Ogbomoso born former police officer, local government chairman, deputy governor and later as governor, he remains the man of the people from within and outside the state.
Who’s who in attendance
Also, the presence of the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Saliu Adetunji; Governor Kayode Fayemi; Governor Seyi Makinde represented by his deputy, Engineer Rauf Olaniyan; APC governorship candidate in the 2019 general election, Chief Adebayo Adelabu; senators, House of Representatives as well as state assembly members and many others that filled the hall stands as a clear testimony of the love of people for the great politician and administrator.
OBJ eulogises Akala
No wonder, Chief Obasanjo while speaking at presentation and launch of the biography minced no words saying, “You have had opportunity to serve; you have served to the best of your ability, you have kept as best as you could recollected records of events as you wish to present them. It has become part of history and let others contend. And you are already a maker of history.
“I find this book easily readable and I will recommend it to practitioners of politics and students, teachers of politics and Political Science in all educational institutions. Finally, Bayo, this is a good effort for which I, once again, commend and congratulate you. You have had opportunity to serve; you have served to the best of your ability. You have kept as best as you could recollect records of events as you wish to present them. It has become part of history and let others contend. And you are already a maker of history. Well done! And once again, congratulations.
Chief Obasanjo added, “Having started with an attempt to make the point of biography more than history, I must hasten to congratulate Governor Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala for the great efforts he had mustered to write his own biography. I know from experience as a regular book and letter writer how much discipline and courage you need to garner to write meaningfully.”
When the man of the moment spoke
Otunba Alao-Akala on his part while emphasising the significance of the presentation and launch of Amazing Grace described the event saying, “This is history making, not strictly for any other reason but for the fulfillment of my long anticipated desire to codify, so to speak, the remarkable events of my 70 years on earth in a single, accessible copy.
“It fulfills my desire to bookmark the landmark narratives of my life, how the tragic death of my father in a road accident in 1952 single-handedly threatened to swamp my dream of getting to the cusp of my life aspirations but how providence miraculously found for me a path to the top.
“In writing the book, I was faced with the challenge of narrating some of the events in innuendoes, window dressing critical occurrences therein or bluntly recounting them as they occurred. I choose the latter. This book sets the records straight. It properly constructs or even reconstructs some of the tissues of lies spurned about me, especially within the period of my being at the driver seat of Oyo state administration. It situated occurrences, without malice and with an acute presence of mind, in their proper perspectives, carefully appending names of the dramatis personae of events to this critical junctures of history. In the course of doing that, I might have injured or stepped on the toes of some people, I take full responsibility for the injuries they might have suffered. In some instances, some characters, whose roles at some points of my life might not be too noble, and which I amply documented without hiding back any of the narratives, are not alive to rebut them. I wrote the book at the full blossom of some of such persons, believing that today, they would be alive to witness its launch but God did not give them the grace to see this manifest. I attest to the absolute truth of the narratives contained in Amazing Grace, believing strongly that someday when it would be time for providence to abridge my earthly sojourn, I would continue to dialogue with them,” he said.
Otunba Alao-Akala stressed further that, “Amazing Grace is not a happenstance; it is the audacity of providence to bring me out of the dungeon of a hopeless tomorrow into the fulfillment of a life that I today celebrate at 70 years on earth. My very meaningful and impactful sojourn in the Nigerian Police Force is also amply documented in the book to tell the story of how grace pushed me to the top. There were blinding storms that threatened to capsize my boats which I volunteered to the reader.
“In Amazing Grace, the reader would pick historical nuggets of police’ recent history and my personal interface with that history. It perhaps would redraw whatever unpleasant impression Nigerians have of their friends in the police and situate the force in the right perspective. In Amazing Grace, I did not shy away in the tradition bequeathed to me by Iya Alaro from acknowledging and documenting the strides of the angels that providence used to push me to the heights I occupy today. I amply recounted all these angels from Late retired IGP, Chief Sunday Adedayo Adewusi, Late Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu to President Olusegun Obasanjo and many more that the space may not permit. The narrative of what I call my very tumultuous years of being the Governor of Oyo state is also documented. They serve as a reminder to those who may be prone to being quickly swept off by the amnesia of history that God used me and my team of dependable colleagues at that period in time to change the lives of the people in the state. Our administration concentrated on the welfare of the people and affixed the need for development to any governmental step we took.”
Acknowledging the presence of those that honoured him with their presence at the event, the former governor said, “It is a great delight to have you all gathered here today to witness the launch of my autobiography entitled ‘Amazing Grace’. It is even a greater delight to see the creme-de-la-creme of our great country abandon their very tight schedules just to be part of today’s history making event.”
All said and done with the outing at the presentation and launch of the biography, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala has clearly proved to the world that he is and still remains a force to reckon with in the political history of Oyo and Nigeria.
