Robert Adeyinka Adebayo

Robert Adeyinka Adebayo (born 9 March 1928) was the former governor of the now defunct Western State of Nigeria, 1966–1971.^[4]

He became governor after Col. Francis Adekunle Fajuyi's death in the 1966 coup d'état.

Early life

Adeyinka Adebayo was born in Iyin Ekiti, near Ado Ekiti, (present day Ekiti State), Nigeria. He attended Christ's School Ado-Ekiti. He later completed the Officer Cadet Training Course in Teshie, Ghana from 1950 to 1952. After passing the War Office Examination for Commonwealth cadets in 1952 as well as the West African qualifying examination in 1953, he was commissioned in the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) as the 23rd West African military officer with number WA23 and 7th Nigerian military officer with number N7 after completing the War Office Cadet Training in Eaton Hall, England. He later attended the Staff College course in Camberley (Surrey) in 1960 and the prestigious Imperial Defence College, London in late 1965 where he was the only African officer.

Career

Adeyinka Adebayo became an officer in 1953.

• He was the first Nigerian to be an aide-de-camp to a British governor-general (the last British governor-general of Nigeria- Sir James Robertson-1957^[5]
• First Nigerian general staff officer, Grade 2 (Intelligence) at the United Nations Headquarters in 1961
• First national general staff officer, Grade 2 Nigerian Army Headquarters, 1961–1962
• First Nigerian to be appointed general staff officer Grade 1, 1962–1963
• Commander, Nigerian contingent in the Congo, 1963
• He served as staff officer in the United Nations peacekeeping force during the Congo crisis, 1961–1963
• Chief of staff, Nigerian Army Headquarters, February 1964 – November 1965 [He was the first indigenous chief of staff of the Nigerian Army]
• Chairman, Organinization of African Unity (OAU) Defence Planning Committee, 1963–1965
• Head of Nigerian delegation to the OAU Summit in Ethiopia, November 1966
• Military governor, Western Nigeria, 1966–1971
• Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy, 1971–1972
• Ceremonial military duties, 1972–1975
• Retired from the Nigerian Army with the rank of major-general, July 1975
• One of the founders of and vice chairman of the National Party of Nigeria(NPN), 1979–1983

Biafra War

Adebayo advised against the use of force in resolving the Biafran crisis. In one of the most prescient and articulate quotations of the war, he declared:

I need not tell you what horror, what devastation and what extreme human suffering will attend the use of force. When it is all over and the smoke and dust have lifted, and the dead are buried, we shall find, as other people have found, that it has all been futile, entirely futile, in solving the problems we set out to solve.^[6]

At the onset of war, Colonel Adebayo, then governor of the then Western State ordered all bridges into the West be demolished to prevent the Biafran rebels from reaching Lagos the capital of Nigeria via his state. The rebels went as far as Ore in present day Ondo State about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Lagos.

After the war, he was appointed by the head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, as the chairman of the committee on the reconciliation and integration of the Ibos (Biafrans) back into the Nigerian fold.

Farmers Revolt

Major General Adebayo was the governor during the infamous farmers' "Agbekoya" revolt over taxation which was eventually resolved peacefully and harmoniously.

Robert Adeyinka Adebayo retired from the Nigeria Army as a major general in 1975.

Later life

As of 2011 Adebayo is the chairman of the Yoruba Council of Elders. His eldest son Otunba Niyi Adebayo was a governor of Ekiti State in Nigeria from 1999 to 2003. Another son, Adedayo Adebayo, played rugby for Bath and for the England National team winning six international caps between 1996 and 1999. Another of his children, Leke Adebayo is an actor, writer and producer in London and has appeared in and scripted various productions.

References