By Adeyinka Adeniran
The family of the late Ibadan political strongman, Lamidi Adedibu have expressed their displeasure in what they described as the exclusion of the Garrison Commander from the list of individuals recognised and awarded as parts of events to celebrate the five decades of the creation of Oyo State.
The Nation reports that, at an event whiched peaked the weeklong programme of activities to celebrate Oyo @50, a total of 74 people from different spheres of life such as: governance, public service, philanthropy, business, sports, academia, military/paramilitary, entertainment, banking/finance, judiciary/law, religion and medical sciences were presented the Oyo State Merit Award for contributing to the development of the state.
But in a viral letter which was shared across various social media platforms, the family of the late politician queried why the name of their patriach was missing among those recommended to the governor for the award.
The letter signed by the head of Adedibu’s Family, Prof Asiwaju Adedibu was addressed to the Chairman of the Oyo @50 Planning Committee, Hon. Saheed Akinade-Fijabi.
But, effort to confirm the authenticity of the letter proved abortive as at the time of this report.
The letter which accused Fijabi of not know much about the late politician enumerated some of the roles he played in the state and national politics in his life time.
It urged the Oyo @50 Committee Chairman to ensure the name of the patriach is included immediately while also demanding an apology to the entire family of Late High Chief Alhaji Lamidi Akanji Ariyibi Adedibu.
The family head of the Adedibu however warned that the failure of Fijabi to do so, will result in his sending a copy of the letter to the governor not to consider the Committees recommendation based on bias.
The letter reads in part, “It was discovered from the lists on the awardess you recommended to His Excellency, The Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr Oluwaseyi Abiodun Makinde that Late High Chief Alhaji Lamidi Akanji Ariyibi Adedibu was missing
“It seems to me that you don’t know too much more about the history of Late High Chief Alhaji Lamidi Akanji Ariyibi Adedibu on his impact in Oyo State and Nigeria in general
“Note he was instrumental to the establishment of the Airport in Alakia in 1979
“He was an instrumental to the winning of the Primary election of Late MKO at Jos Plateau State in 1992
“He was awarded the Garrison Commander of Nigerian politics by Chief Obasanjo etc
“I don’t expect that such mistakes should have been committed by your committee
“Its better you ensure his name is included immediately and apologize to the entire family of Late High Chief Alhaji Lamidi Akanji Ariyibi Adedibu.
“Failure to do so, I will send a copy of the letter to his Excellency not to consider your recommendation based on bias. Waiting for a positive response.”
When contacted, Fijabi denied receiving any letter, adding that the fact that it was flying around on social media does not mean it was addressed or delivered to him.
He said the Adedibus are more of a family to him and that they know how to reach him in case they need any information or clarification on any issue..
He explained that he wouldn’t have excluded anybody from the list because every citizens of Oyo State was entitled to the awarded.
Emphasising that the exclusion and or omission couldn’t have been deliberate, the Chairman explained that as a Committee, there were other sub committees that did a lot of things behind the scene and that nobody would have deliberately excluded the late political strongman.
Fijabi said “I didn’t see any letter. We are like families. The Adedibus’ knows me very well and they know how to reach me anytime. So, the fact that the letter is flying around social media doesn’t mean it was delivered to me.
“Meanwhile, I wouldn’t have excluded anybody, let alone Baba Adesibu. Every citizens of Oyo State is entitled to the award but we cannot give everybody. The omission was not deliberate.
“As a committee, we had other committees working on many parts of the programme, so nothing could have been done deliberately against anyone.
“Like I said earlier, no letter has been addressed or delivered to me. Whatever the error of ommission must have been an oversight and not in anyway an attempt to sly anyone.”
