Alake Of Egbaland Reflects On Life @ 80

• What Oba AREMU GBADEBO Told City People

When news filtered out a few weeks back, that the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Gbadebo would be turning 80 in September, we knew we had a big story on our hands. This is because Kabiyeesi is well loved by the Egba people and he has very many admirers outside Abeokuta. Everybody describes Papa as a Good man. Over the years, he had touched many lives and had done many good things to many more people. That is why Kabiyeesi is so well loved and many have good things to say about him.

Our decision was that City People should approach Kabiyeesi and get him to tell us how he feels, as he turns 80 on September 14th, 2023. What is going on in his mind as he turns 80?.

This is not our first time of talking to him. We had interviewed him at least twice. We have also been with him on the Abeokuta Golf course watching Papa play Golf. Papa is a great lover of Golf and he usually enjoys going to play his favourite game every week. You need to see Kabiyeesi when he is fully kitted.

All of these has help Baba stay active and fit.

This time around we wondered how we could reach this first class traditional ruler to talk to us. All the attempts we made failed and we decided to approach a friend of the house, Chief Bode Mustapha, who is a high-ranking Egba Chief. He is also a statutory chief.

He is the Osi of Egbaland and one of the few men Kabiyeesi holds in high esteem. He himself revers Kabiyeesi so much. Many don’t know that Kabiyeesi is Chief Mustapha’s senior in school. We told him about our wish to talk to the Alake. He told us it was a done deal and he helped carry our message to the appropriate quarters and we were given the Green light last Wednesday.

As the message came that Kabiyeesi had given us a 12noon interview appointment at the Ake palace but, it came with a caveat: Please be punctual. Be at the palace by 11:30am.

We were told that Kabiyeesi as nice and jovial as he might be, he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He is a stickler for time. He doesn’t waste time. And he does not enjoy people wasting his time.

As we were about to probe further into the kind of person Oba Gbadebo is, we got to know that he is an accomplished soldier who spent quality years in the Nigerian Army.

And that military upbringing and training he had in his younger years has helped shaped his life into the highly principled man he is today. No wonder, everyone describes Kabiyeesi as a highly principled man whose word is his bond and someone you can trust. With Kabiyeesi, his Yes, is Yes and his No is No. He has also been described as a straight forward man.

When we got ushered into the pressence of Kabiyeesi, he was busy working on files and as he minuted on them. He was signing letters to be sent out. He had about 150 letters to sign. And he was painstakingly going through each one. He is a very meticulous man by nature, who is also very hardworking. As he worked on the files, his chiefs kept coming in to consult with him and he kept attending to them intermittently.

There are about 3 categories of people who see Kabiyeesi everyday: the old, the middle aged and the young ones. Everyone wants to see Baba. They believe once you unburden your problems to the Alake, they are half solved.

Baba is also always busy adjudicating disputes. Because many trust his judgements, tonnes and tonnes of petitions get fired to Baba from people who have suffered Injustice in various ways and want redress.

When we got in, he was in the middle of his paperwork and he asked us to wait patienly for him to sort all these out.

What caught our attention was the way Kabiyeesi kept jugggling his many roles, with ease at 80.

He was attending to many of his aides and chiefs, all at once.

Baba looked good at 80. He enjoys good health and he is still very vibrant. He went on and on, and his visitors left one after the other, new ones came in and Kabiyeesi kept at it, showing no sign of fatigue or stress. In the middle of all these, he gave prompte instructions on how some issues should be resolved amicably among warring factions.

Kabiyeesi is father to all and his persuasive skills often come to play most times. Many people usually accept whatever Kabiyeesi’s decisions are because they know him to be an unbiased umpire.

It was after making a bit of progress with his work that he created time for City People. And as we pulled a chair close to Kabiyeesi to commence the interview, Kabiyeesi asked; Gentleman how many minutes will this interview last. We told him 30 minutes and he responded, no way. I don’t have that time we then shortened it to 20 minutes, he then gave the go-ahead, lets start.

By the time the interview ended we had spent over 30 minutes. The Alake revealed a lot about his life and how he has been able to positively serve his people.

Congratulations on your 80th birthday. How did you feel?

I am 3 weeks to the 80th birthday but I feel like, will this day ever come! When Mama who is sitting here was 80, it made me remember the day of her marriage in 1953-1954. These days people look very old, so, I thought I should be old too but I am still looking younger and the years cannot lie. So, when I thought that those days and years have gone I feel grateful to God and I still feel so till tomorrow. I can only attribute my youthful look, long life, good health and a life free from sorrow to the grace of God in my life.

If the reverse were to be the case, the story would have been different, one would probably not be alive to be talking of my 80th birthday. I thank God for what he has done for me and for what he has used me to do for others too.

Kabiyeesi keeps looking younger with the passing of each year. What is the secret?

It is the same Grace of God. I play Golf but not as regularly as I would have loved to. I try to do press up but it’s not so easy but if I am looking younger than my age, it is the grace of God like I said earlier.

How has it been as the Alake of Egbaland?

It has been a life of service to ones people not looking at what you are going to get from it but ensuring that people who come to you in tears go back smiling. And God has assisted me in no small measure. The resources required are so enormous, but somehow God has been meeting us at the point of our needs.

Have you been able to achieve what you set out to achieve?

It is not my own achievement but God’s own achievement. Yes, I set out dedicating the rest of my life to my people when I was 62 years, that was 18 years ago. When I look back, I find that all I had in mind like creating minor kingdoms in various areas where you have Baales and make them kings so far has worked as we have about 50 people as kings in their various kingdoms. Just like we have it in Ijebu.

Anything that is good that you find your neighbours doing and they are doing well, you should replicate it. That doesn’t mean you don’t have your own initiative, copying others and you are doing well is an achievement. In Egbaland, where we used to have six Obas in the past and in no time we now have over 50 Obas. I promoted many books. It is only unfortunate that some of the people we chose have got involved in controversial sale of lands, claiming to own some of the lands that did not belong to their forefathers.

They assumed that since they have been made kings, they now have the right, to claim other people’s land. In such instances, we try to curb their excesses.

We have also done well to promote girl child education, and we look forward to continuing to promote the girl child education. We are the first to train our girl Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti who was the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria.

We have so many great people who have gone through the hand of an educated woman, so it is not out of place to train the girl child. We try in other areas to promote good health, we do screening from time to time and we have already performed surgical operations on so many of our people. We were taking to Oruwa to have some people tested and we have discovered many people did not know that they have diabetes and they have been given drugs and told how to manage their conditions, by telling them what to eat and what not to eat.

What is your message to Egba people and Nigerians, as you celebrate your birthday?

As I celebrate 80 years on earth, my message to my people is that they should always be number one in Nigeria.

And they should continue to strive to be the best in everything they do. Two days ago, we were in Abuja and two of Egba sons were made ministers, while some states have only one. That is the spirit I want them to have to ensure that we have a great past, a great present, and our future will be greater.