In order to fully digest this piece, it is imperative that you please read my article titled, “I WILL PAY FOR DSA’s SAKE”, published 27 years ago, in the Sunday Tribune newspaper issue of 28th March 1993.
The summary of the article is how a son of the late Alhaji Dauda Soroye Adegbenro, (DSA), Minister in the two cabinets of Premiers Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola of the now-defunct Western Region of Nigeria, gave me DSA’s post office box key to keep.
58 years ago, in May 1962, an internal crisis tore the ruling Action Group party of Western Region apart, snowballed into the ‘WET E’ violence, the unfair declaration of emergency rule in the West by the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)Federal Government of Nigeria, led by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, the first military coup of 15th January 1966 etc
Part of the casualties of 1962 to 1966 political topsy-turvy in Nigeria, particularly in Western Nigeria, was the prevention of Adegbenro to rule as the Premier, in spite of his party, the AG, replacing Akintola with him, and the Nigerian and British(PRIVY COUNCIL) judgements in his(Adegbenro)favour.
A son of the late Alhaji Adegbenro, Rasheed, is my friend and professional colleague. We both met at the Sketch Publishing Company Limited, Ibadan in 1973 and rolled on to the Nigerian Television (NTV), Ibadan, now called Nigeria n Television Authority (NTA) Ibadan.
In 1980, Rasheed secured employment as the pioneer Public Relations Manager of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ikeja, Lagos State.
At the send-off party organised for him by we, his close friends, Rasheed declared that he was handing over the key to his, our, father’s postal box at the Dugbe Ibadan General Post Office, “to a trusted friend who would not allow the Adegbenro postal chain to break “. He gave me the key.
40 years on, I am still servicing the Adegbenro Family’s postal box.
