REMEMBERING A POLITICAL ICON WHO ALSO HAD A MUSICAL CONNECTION. LAMIDI ADEDIBU OF NIGERIA MISSED AFTER 5 YEARS.

The Legacy of Lamidi Adedibu

#RIP: 9pm Nigeria 6/11/13: I waited till this hour when 5 yrs ago 7pm prayers were not the same to remember Lamidi Adedibu, considered one of my #HEROES. At 18, I remember election day when my father became Governor. It was Adedibu that woke up at 6am knocking every single door in Molete to wake people up to go out and vote, yet some nonentities claim that election was rigged. Well my dad became Governor for a short time before the coup, then Adedibu showed them politics again in the PDP where he became the strongman of Ibadan politics and was said to have removed another Governor, Rasheed Ladoja who was impeached.

Today, Akala who succeeded Ladoja are one big happy family. Call him what you want, when the taxi drivers, vulcanizers, agberos and even blacksmiths had  their babies, it was Adedibu that gifted them with cows and chickens and even wads of cash. He was generous as hell. He gave his stash of cash to everyone. Nobody ever remembers that or tell others around the country.

Adedibu once joked with me that I will one day become the President of Nigeria and he even once called me a military title. Major General Kemi Olunloyo because of my powerful assertiveness. I love people who make me totally power hungry. lol. You never know...about that Presidency! He had a connection to the Nigerian music scene and was once the head of the Fuji Music Association of Nigeria.  Fuji is a genre of music here and very popular amongst the locals. 

He was also the Ekarun of Ibadan, a traditional title in my hometown and I used to joke calling him the Maroon 5 of Nigeria (American band). Ironically Ekarun and Marun both mean the number 5 in my language.

His adult children, Sinata, Yemisi, Akeem, Kamoru, Ismaila and others were my friends, neighbours and family. We all grew up in the historical Molete neighborhood.

Sinata Joke Adedibu

Yemisi Adedibu Adeduntan

Ismaila Adedibu and wife

The COW gift along with my son and nephew

Adedibu, once ended a beef between me and my dad by sending me a COW which is some kind of tradition. He lived down the street and the cow was walked up the hill to mine. I mean real BEEF to end a beef? Even my loved ones took pictures with it.

Adedibu was PHENOMENAL. His Molete residence is QUIET now and we all truly miss him. The stress was too much sometimes that I once accused everybody in Ibadan for stressing him to death.

Shame nobody even remembered on my Ibadan page with no posts on the wall despite the cover photo. On the afternoon of June 11th 2008, he was said to have slumped in front of a passport official while trying to get his passport done for travel. He had celebrated his 80th birthday the previous year in the pictures above with me and his children but was steadily getting old with ailments such as diabetes.

May ALLAH bless Lamidi Adedibu. You can read more about Africa's political icon and the most CONSISTENT politician in the continent of Africa. I can tell you that ever since his death the party has gone wild with disarray. He was called the father of PDP, Nigeria's majority ruling party. 

Read more on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamidi_Adedibu

#Kesus aka Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo
@HipHossip on twitter