In this interview, 87-year-old Adelani Adebowale, tells GBENGA ADENIJI about his life, joys and regrets
Where were you born?
I was born on June 14, 1925 at Ikereku, Abeokuta, Ogun State. My father was a rich cocoa farmer and my mother traded in kolanuts and other farm produce.
How did being the son of a cocoa farmer influence your upbringing?
Cocoa money only helped my education to a certain level. In those days, only children whose hands could touch their left ears were allowed to enrol in primary schools. I started primary school at Ikereku Primary School in 1934. I took ill soon after that and had to stay at home until 1936 when I started school again at Olorunda Primary School. I completed elementary school in 1940 and I had to start looking for a secondary school to attend. The only one in Ogun State was Abeokuta Grammar School. Majority of those in secondary school then were adults who had taught before and had children. In December 1942, I took the entrance examination into Abeokuta Grammar School and was admitted into preliminary standard four in 1943.
In 1944, we were promoted to Class One and I can still remember the names of some of the pupils in the front row because the back row was occupied by those who were mature. Those in the front row included Bankole who became a medical doctor, myself, Oloyede, Osoba and Prof. Wole Soyinka. Mr. Oduniyi was our class teacher.
Soyinka was so brilliant, funny and the youngest among us. He did not stay long with us because he left for Government College, Ibadan, after we were promoted to Class Two. We were fond of each other at the time. Each time I see his picture, I am always glad that we are still alive despite all odds.I eventually left the school in Class Six (Cambridge Class) in 1949.
After you completed secondary education, what did you do next?
I moved to Lagos to stay with an aunt who was married to a Lagosian. She liked me so much and insisted that I should live with her.
Did your parents approve of the trip?
My parents did not object to it. Besides, I was of age then and the next thing was to start working. In those days, before you leave school, you would have employment waiting for you. Initially, we were told to wait for a while and it did not take long before we were assigned to federal establishments. I was posted to the Nigerian Railway Corporation on November 21, 1949 and from there, I was sent to the corporation's traffic training school. On April 1, 1950, we graduated from the school.
What type of work did you do at the NRC?
My job was to check passengers on the trains who had no tickets. Anyone caught without a ticket would be issued a receipt.
Can you remember any time you caught a passenger without a ticket?
There was none. Those of us doing the job were happy young men. Every young and beautiful woman wanted to interact and identify with us. Our uniforms were so clean and smart. We did not play with our jobs. The British never tolerated such. In 1955, I was deployed to the Nigerian Ports Authority, Apapa. By that time, activism had started building in me. I was beginning to see reasons why I should support noble causes and intervene in the plight of fellow workers. At NPA, I joined the Railway and Ports Transport Staff Union as an executive member. I became the general secretary of the union. In 1962, I became the general secretary of the Non-expatriate Officers' Association. The Europeans also had a similar association in the place. That was where I worked till 1976 when the Olusegun Obasanjo administration came to cleanse the establishment. Before that time, I had been promoted to the senior service position by the Europeans.
What was your experience as a union leader?
It was a big challenge because some of the workers were loyal to the management and pretended to support the union. There was a time I was addressing the workers and policemen came to whisk me away. The workers did know that the police only took me to a police station in Onikan and asked me to sit down. After sometime, I was returned to where I was earlier addressing the workers. By then, the workers had gone to Marina and had started destroying everything in sight because they felt the police took me away to kill me. When it was time for promotion, I was told that the money that would have served as my salary after promotion had been used to compensate those whose property got destroyed by the workers. It was the Europeans that later worked out my promotion because I was working hard.
Were you married then?
Yes I was married. I had my first child in 1952 when I was posted to the ports. My parents did not believe in court marriage. They only put emphasis on the care of children.
How did you meet your wife?
As young men, we made friends with young ladies everywhere we went. She owned a cafeteria close to the ports and that was where my friends and I used to eat. I met her there, we became friends and later got married.
What attracted you to her?
It was her friendly nature that attracted me. Many young ladies loved me when I was young. I am a very straightforward person who hates mischief. With the help of my parents, I was the only one among my friends who had a house and many of them always visited me.
Did you work elsewhere after you left the ports?
When I left the ports, I started a shipping company. I registered the company and started travelling to the West Coast areas. I was importing cement into the country and making enough money to pay my workers. When the government banned cement importation, the business suffered. I shared the company's assets with the workers as their pay-off and told them to move on with life. My interest shifted to the training of my children. They were given the kind of home training that Yoruba tradition recommends. They were taught how to respect elders and how to relate with friends.
Apart from the moral training you gave your children, did you also influence their choice of careers?
I did not influence it. The only thing I did was to advise them on how to make the right choice. God has blessed me with good children who listen to me. They are my confidants and my best friends. Many of my children are technocrats working in the UK, US and Nigeria. Three of them are lawyers. One of my greatest moments was when one of them was called to the British Bar. I attended the ceremony and the master of the scroll announced my presence as the only African in the hall.
What were the challenges you faced as a young man?
The first major challenge I faced was when I left primary school and was to proceed to secondary school. My father told my mother that he was not going to finance my secondary education unless my mother did. He said there were still children of other wives waiting to go to school and that he had given me enough education by sending me to primary school.
My mother, Mrs. Marian Adebowale (nee Shonola), had to fund my secondary education by selling kolanuts. Getting secondary school education then was like going to the university. The total amount my mother raised was £1 and 10 shillings, which was a huge amount. The love my mother had for me was what propelled her to raise the money for my education. When she gave me the money, I paid the tuition fee, bought uniform and books. She gave me food and other things I needed in the school.
Were you able to repay her kindness?
God assisted me to do that because she was a very wonderful woman. Immediately I started working, I took her to live with me. She cared so much for many of her relatives. I also trained many of them on her insistence. One thing about her was that she was always around me in order to train my children regardless of whether their mother was around or not. I knew I owed her dearly. That was why I tried to do whatever she requested of me before she died in my house in 1984.
What was the reigning fashion for men in those days?
In school, it was mandatory to wear a shirt which must be tucked in our trousers or knickers. We kept our hairstyle low. At Abeokuta Grammar School, we wore khaki coats and shorts. It was compulsory for us to button our shirts or risk six strokes of the cane. In the office, it was either we wore a jacket atop a sparkling white shirt or knot a tie. If it is native attire we wore, it must go with a cap. We never dressed shabbily. Nowadays, if I see youths sagging or not tucking in their shirts, I feel unhappy. In our days, we did not reveal our pants for people to see on the streets and whoever did it would not be considered a gentleman.
Do you have any special food?
I really do not have a special meal. I can eat any food as long as it is delicious and well-prepared. I neither drink nor smoke.
What's your social life like?
I am a very sociable person. I was the welfare officer and assistant general secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the Association of Egba Chiefs and Environs. I was also a member of many social groups. I was a member of Island, Apapa and Ikoyi clubs. I joined Island Club in 1966.
Do you have any regrets?
Life has taught me that the man you wasted your energy to protect could be the same person that would make things difficult or impossible for you. I have always wanted to be a lawyer. But many factors prevented me. When I was a unionist, I was sent to the University of Ibadan to study Industrial Relations. In 1967, I enrolled for Law at the University of Lagos and everything was going smoothly. But I did not complete the study. So, I was happy when three of my children chose to study law.
When I was young, I wanted to become a lawyer to address the injustice prevalent in our society. There was a day I was in court and my lawyer had not arrived. The magistrate started harassing me and his behaviour annoyed the late Gani Fawehinmi who was in court that day. The magistrate said he was not opposing me but that my lawyer was delaying the case by not arriving early enough. I knew what to say but could not say it because I was not a lawyer.
What kind of music do you listen to?
I like music that helps me to do serious thinking about life. Before any music can make meaning to me, it must be meditative and philosophical. There was a time some members of my family came to hold a meeting in my house and I sang one of Lagbaja's songs that says, "No do, No do, No do gragra for here." My friends laughed and said I was singing a modern song. To me, it does not matter whether a song is modern or not, what matters is that such songs must have good message.
What advice would you give to youths?
Youths must always remember the children of whom they are. They must try not to hurt anyone in words or deeds. I dislike people who make promises they cannot fulfil.
