Gen Alabi-Isama seeks recognition, honour for Gen Adekunle

Brig-Gen Godwin Alabi-Isama has decried the burial of Brig-Gen Benjamin Adekunle in Lagos, outside his ancestral home Ogbomoso in Oyo State.

Speaking in Ogbomoso at a maiden lecture organized by the family to mark the 10^th anniversary of the demise of the 1967-70 war hero who commanded the dreaded 3^rd Marine Commando that saw to the recovery of many territories lost to the rebel Biafran forces, Gen Alabi-Isama who fought along  with the late Gen Adekunle, regretted that his boss who was Asipa (War Commander) of Ogbomosoland died in Lagos and was buried there.

The late Gen Adekunle died in Lagos on September 13, 2014, and was buried in Lagos.

Gen Alabi-Isama who spoke in an emotion-laden voice declared that Ogbomoso people should mobilise the community and go to Lagos to exhume his remains and rebury him and build a hero’s arcade in his honour. He regretted that such a man of valour could be buried outside his hometown when he he was not an outcast. According to him, the fact that he was thought wordy of the title of Asipa should have been enough to bury him at home and not in a ‘strange land’.

He asked: “Why was he buried in Lagos? Bring his body back home and bury him as a hero which he was.”

Gen Alabi-Isama, who was Gen Adekunle’s chief of staff during the over 30 months war, regretted that some of those who caused the war were better treated than a man who fought gallantly to ensure the unity of the country.

According to him, the war General who fought to secure and liberate all Nigerian oil blocs during the war never had a single oil bloc allocated to him despite his acts of gallantry. He said, “Nigeria should be ashamed that Gen Adekunle died unsung,” he therefore appealed to all Ogbomoso people not to allow his name to be erased from the history of the country by uniting to fight for the restoration of his glory.

He stated that Gen Adekunle was a man who deserved better recognition and called on President Bola Tinubu and all men of goodwill as well as his colleagues to make case for the rehabilitation of his name and honour.

He averred that his retirement was borne out of jealousy and rivalry among his colleagues in uniform. He therefore called on the president to redress this imbalance and accord him the deserved honour. In the same vein he called on General Yakubu Gowon who was Head of State during the war to support efforts to rehabilitate his valued war commander’s status.

Speaking about their exploits during the war, Gen Alabi-Isama declared, “They discredited us for their own glory, they lied against him. Adekunle never stole money as they claimed, he lived in a tent during the war. We had no furniture, no Officers’ Mess. I am speaking from a vantage and authoritative position and can attest to his patriotism, sharp mind, and engaging knowledgeable expertise in military matters.

“He was just a brilliant person and they were too jealous of him and that was why they lied against him. 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 January 15th, 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.”

In his lecture, Dr. Olayinka Oyegbile, a journalist and media scholar, said the war hero deserved all honours due to all victorious war commanders. His lecture was largely based on the accounts of the war as recorded by veterans of the war who wrote about their experiences in books.

“He was like the Roman god Janus. One would not have expected anything less of such a great man. He lived and died in a blaze of controversy.  He was a mostly misunderstood man and his place in history remains neglected and ignored. But if the truth is to be told, the complete history of the Nigeria Civil War (1967-70) cannot be written without the name of General Benjamin Maja Adekunle being written in gold shinning letters. He was to the Nigeria civil War “What General Westmoreland was to America during the Vietnam war.”

Dr Oyegbile drew his references by quoting copiously from war authors such as Gen Alexander Madiebo, Frederick Forsythe, Gen Chris A. Alli, Ken Sario-Wiwa, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, Bernard Odogwu and Gen Godwin Alabi-Isama and a host of others.

President of Ogbomoso Valiant Club, Rear Admiral Jacob Ajani (rtd), praised the military qualities of the late General Adekunle and urged the youths to emulate his gallantry and honesty. He added that loyalty, integrity, sense of responsibility, knowledge, courage, initiative and decisiveness were some of his greatest legacies.

Professor Omotoye Olorode praised the role played by Gen. Adekunle in enhancing the unity of Nigeria. He, however, regretted that the heroic war commander was deprived of his rightful honour by the government.

Mr. Segun Adekunle, in his vote of thanks on behalf of the Adekunle family, said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has promised to look into all the issues raised by the Adekunle family and speakers at the event and accord the late Brigadier Adekunle his due honour.

The lecture was graced by President, Ogbomoso Parapo, retired Justice Afolabi Adeniran and Professor Sola Adepoju, Dr Akin Onigbinde, Mr Sunday Dare, the immediate past Minister of Youths and Sports, the Vice Chancelor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Professor Olatunde Kalilu, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, and a host of others.