Let me state from the outset that this is a fitting tribute to one of the finest breeds of activists whose field of social activism and popular struggle transcends boundaries- a comrade of comrades, Osagie Obayuwana.
Comrade Obayuwana was well suited and much at home, polemicizing among the eggheads in the rarefied atmosphere of the academia just as he was comfortable among the students and teachers at Ekiadolor, the workers of Aladja Steel and the Railway workers and pensioners in Lagos, the farmers of Odiguetue and the market men and women at Uselu. One moment, you found him displaying the measured grace and carriage of the princely while the next moment he was at home breaking bread and sharing conviviality with the masses at Makoko.
He was that activist who, with fervour and unmatched passion, deployed scholarship for the liberation of society from the fetters of illiteracy, poverty, injustice, and superstition.
I had the privilege of participating in several mobilisation and sensitization engagements with him, and he shone as a good mass mobilizer with a grounding in the theory and praxis of revolutionary change.
His intrepidity is never in doubt.
I remember the 1988 (or 89) Worker’s Day celebration during the Babangida military regime when Brigadier General Tunde Ogbeha was the military governor of the then Bendel State. The lot fell on the late Professor (then Dr.) Festus Iyayi, Comrade Obayuwana and my humble self to penetrate the heavy military security cordon in and around Ogbe Stadium, the venue of the event, to share our revolutionary literature under the auspices of the Socialist Congress of Nigeria (SCON) to the workers. We strategized on how to make a lightning appearance, share our materials, and beat a hasty retreat without falling into the hands of the security goons around the place.
Comrade Obayuwana in his characteristic calmness instead and without any reservations moved from the workers podium to where the military and state security guards were stationed, and since it is true that they also form a critical arm of the working class, engaged in brief discussions as he shared our materials amongst them. That was when all hell broke loose as he was immediately arrested and whisked away to the government House.
Around 1987 two of us joined Comrade Obayuwana to Nsukka to visit our Comrade Chima Ubani (now late) at Nsukka Prison where the authorities of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, had detained him and other student Union officials without trial. Obayuwana availed them with material provisions for their upkeep and made efforts to send emissaries via the local ASUU to secure their release.
His later relocation to Lagos changed the trajectory of popular struggle there. He later emerged as the presidential flag bearer of the National Conscience Party in the 2007 elections.
Take your flowers Comrade Obayuwana, your centenary beckons as you continue to stand and fight for what is just, equitable, and right.
● Akin A. Adekunle is based in Port Harcourt.
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