Ode to ‘Iwe Iranti’ – Rest on Oloye Lekan Alabi | By Omotajo Olugbade

Long before he began his weekly historical reviews on the popular Agidigbo FM, Baba Oloye Lekan Alabi had been doing the same every Monday on the general platform of Omo Ajorosun club. He was a regular finger, ever prompt and mission-like.

In actual fact, I cannot remember a Monday that passed without a good serving from him. His subjects ranged from arts, culture, politics, entertainment to anything worthy of remembrance including his own personal records of achievements.

Of course, not everybody loves history and so, not everybody loves his frequent educative interruptions in the consciousness of the club.

But then, Oloye Alabi could not be bothered as he kept plying his trade relentlessly. Unlike many others, he served history like a sweet wine. Somewhere within him was an elaborate historical winepress that will stagger even the most elderly in the land as Baba Oloye recalled past events with the narrative efficiency of an eye witness. He told his stories with amazing clarity laced with dates, months, characters and where necessary, landmarks.

One day, while sharing drinks with him on the breezy club platform, I asked: “Baba, do you get supplies from the ancestors with this ‘I dey there’ way you tell your stories especially those that happened long before you were born?” He took a tantalizing sip at his favorite Guinness Stout, looked at me with a squint and finally answered with a laughter: “ancestor ko, ancestor ni! Professooor (his affectionate way of addressing me), when you know your interest and give it a run, the result is what you’ve said. I am not fed by any ancestor o! I am my own ancestor. I take time to feed my passion for past events”

I didn’t doubt his answer. Oloye Alabi was a man who prioritized knowledge over posture and chose professionalism above empty exuberance. He was as sartorially flamboyant as he was intellectually engaging. He went for everything and anything that added value to his life and kept learning till the last day.

Iwe Iranti has been dismissed in some quarters as an exercise in self-promotion but I stand to testify that it meant much more than a personal garland or an ordinary historical brew.
To post-independence generations like me, it has redefined perspectives and corrected long-held misconceptions regarding the roles of certain individuals in the political evolution of the Yoruba nation.

I cite just one example of this.
On this side of Nigeria, once lived a colossus and character called Meredith Adisa Akinloye. I grew up knowing him as a notorious Judas in the political life of the Yoruba people. Elite narratives famously framed the man as a political actor who enjoyed betraying his people for a ‘mesh of pottage’. Coupled with his deplorable contributions in the politics of the 80s that I witnessed myself, it was not difficult for me to put him under the weight of my everlasting hatred.

That was Akinloye in the eye of my endemic prejudice until one day I read a striking edition of Iwe Iranti where Baba was celebrating his grandmother who, at a time, was the women leader of NCNC-one of the rival and dominant political parties in the country headed by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.

In his calming exposition, he touched on the nail-biting election in the then Western Region that will produce parliament members and the Premier. The election was said to be a firestorm between Awo’s AG and Zik-led NCNC. Interestingly, when the dust settled neither of the two parties had the requisite majority to form the government but NCNC was clearly in the lead. In other words and all things being equal, Zik was on his way to becoming the premier of Western Region headquartered in Ibadan.

However, between the two prominent and contending parties were other auxiliaries which also got votes into the parliament. Ibadan People’s Party, headed by Akinloye, was the most visible. This party also had Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu as a member. To have the needed majority that will ultimately produce the Premier depends on which side of the divide IPP goes. High-wire lobby followed and in the end, Akinloye led his other party members to go the way of their fellow Yoruba man and cede victory to AG.
This way, Awo eventually became the first Premier of the Region to begin a remarkable journey of impactful governance and statesmanship.

Nonetheless, of all the elected members of IPP that defected to AG side, it was reported that Adegoke Adelabu did not join the train preferring instead to team up with NCNC thus becoming an influential pro-Zik politician in the region. It was from this that Baba Alabi’s grandmother cut her political teeth and became the leader of the women group in Ibadan.

Set in this context, it would then appear that whatever Awo became today in Nigeria’s political and governance life was made possible, in a way, by the platform given to him by the much-hated Meredith. Not minding his later day disastrous stab of the same man, his sacrifice remains undeniably pivotal and from then on, I ceased to see him as a political principality of evil import only.

Before the voice began to fade, Iwe Iranti also revealed some other important facts about certain other widely misunderstood political actors of Nigeria’s First Republic such as S.L Akintola. I spare the details till another time.

Sadly, in the morning of August 1, 2026, both trend and role changed. The reviewer joined history and became a new chapter in the Book of Remembrance for a future review.

With your closure and painful exit, I’ve lost a promise, I’ve lost a walking library, I’ve lost my cultural inspiration.

Rest on Oloye Lekan Alabi, Abese Olubadan of Ibadanland, till we meet again beyond the river.