A LEADER IN THE SERVICE OF THE PEOPLE

HIS EXCELLENCY, CHIEF BISI AKANDE, CFR
Former Governor of Osun State

Our honouree of today is special in many ways. When he was born in lla Orangun on January 16, 1939, the Yoruba wars had long ended, but the echoes remained and some of the veterans of that war were still very much alive. When at 40, he became the Secretary to the Government of Oyo state in 1979, the echo of the war could still be heard in the ancient Ile-Ife and its neighbouring community of Madakeke. In 1983, when our distinguished honouree was now the Deputy-Governor of Oyo State, the Ife-madakeke conflict was again in full conflagration. In 1999, when he was elected the Governor of Osun State, the Ife-Modakeke conflict had become a war of attrition and an enduring shame of Yorubaland.

Today, The Apostles of Peace International Society honouring His Excellency, Chief Abdulkareem Adebisi Akande. because God used him to remove the shame of Yorubaland by ending the Ife-modakeke conflict. In other lands and climes, Chief Akande would have been considered for the Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts yielded the good fruit of peace. Therefore, we as a Christian organisation, believes that Akande’s greatness transcends religious divide, though he is a Muslim by religion. God has endowed him with the courage and sagacity to tackle a problem that has lingered on since the end of the Yoruba Wars in 1886. It is on record now that though Chief Akande left the Government House in 2003, his footprints remain indelible, not only as a peace-maker, but also as one of the Living Legends of Nigeria whose advice is sought by governments and leaders in Nigeria and across the world.

Since 2003, Chief Akande has remained very active on the national stage. He was the chairman of the Alliance for Democracy, AD and its successor political parties including the Action Congress, AC. In 2014 he led other leaders across the country to create the giant All Progressives Congress, APC, which acceded in wrestling power from the lumbering Peoples Democratic Party, Party, PDP, of His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. His singular contribution to the emergence of the present dispensation as the first National Chairman of the APC is highly recognised and appreciated. Recently, he was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Nigerian pioneer university, University of lbadan. It is a fitting appointment for an administrative genius and intellectual giant whose corpus of works are relevant addition to the world body of knowledge. His enthralling autobiography, My Participations, is a seminal addition to contemporary Nigerian historiography.

Yet his influence remains prevalent beyond the confines of political power. In 2018, three bishops, led by our father, Most Reverend, Dr Nicholas D Okoh, then the Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of AlI Nigeria, gathered in Otan Aiyegbaju, to celebrate Chief Akande when a building block was named in his honour at the Evangel College, build and owned by the Osun North East Anglican Diocese. The other two bishops present were the Most Rev. Dr. Segun Okubanjo, the Archbishop of the Ibadan Province and the host bishop, our father, the late Rt. Rev. Dr Humphrey B. Olumakaiye, who was later translated to the Diocese of Lagos. The diocese and the entire Christian community in lla-Orangun, Otan Aiyegbaju and neighbouring towns held a special service in honour of Chief Akande when he celebrated his 80th birthday. Every year, Baba Akande is a welcomed and honoured guest at each synod of the diocese. AlI these honours and recognitions are because of Chief Akande’s singular contributions in promoting a very Cordial relationship between the Christians and Muslims of lla -Orangun and other towns of Osun State and beyond.

Chief Akande’s life has been that of service. His grandfather was one of the generals who led Ila Orangun troops to the Ekitiparapo Grand Aliance that confronted lbadan forces at Imesi-lle battlefield during the last Kiriji War of the 19th Century. When Akande was born in 1939, Nigeria, then only 25 years old under British colonial rule, was in ferment. By 1952, Chief Obafemi Awolowo came to power and in 1955, he launched the Free Education Programme that was to change the life of millions and defined subsequent history of Western Nigeria. In 1955, Akande became one of the pioneer teachers who executed the programme, serving as a teacher and headmaster. He was precocious, tireless, relentless and determined. Few years after he graduated from the teacher’s training college in lle-Ife, he qualified as an accountant, and after a stint as a teacher in Abeokuta, got a job in 1963 with the oil multinational, British Petroleum, BP.

The company sent him all over the world to acquire training in top universities and institutions and by the time he retired 1979, he was one of the top most Nigerian managers in the company. He was appointed the Secretary to the Oyo State Government by Governor Ige in 1979. In 1983, he became the Deputy Governor of Oyo State. In 1984, the military struck and General Muhammadu Buhari came to power and Chief Akande, like many other top politicians, was thrown into prison. He was 45 and he thought righty that his career in politics and public life had ended. But indeed, it was only the end of the beginning. The old warrior was summoned into battle again when the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1994 begun a government-without-end. Chief Akande became the Osun State leader of the opposition National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, and Afenifere, the mainstream Yoruba political and cultural movement. It was a trying time and when the new dawn came on May 29, 1999. Chief Akande emerged as the Governor of Osun State. He was 63.

He embarked on massive rehabilitation of the entire state; building roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructures. He created a regime noted for its prudence, accountability, integrity and social relevance. As a true-Awoist, he made planning, the anchor of his programmes which were done with thoroughness and sense of social responsibility. In 2001, Afenifere set up a commitee under Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, to examine the performance of South-West governors and Akande was adjudged the best. That was even before he built the iconic Osun State Government Secretariat, Osogbo, the largest and best state secretariat in the South-West. He also built the Bola Ige House which is now the Office of the Osun State Governor. As stated earlier, he ended the Ife-modakeke conflict and the peace he made has endured. Even after he lost the 2003 governorship election, he emerged as the most respected Yoruba elder statesman. He is Baba awon Kekeke, the father of the youths, because he cares so much about the future.

Therefore today, we have an historic figure in our midst, the Dagunduro of Yorubaland, whose exemplary performance in public office has shown to us that good government is not just a dream, but a possibility. Chief Akande’s life of service exemplifies the injunction of Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 2, verses 3 and 4: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. “

For more than half-a-Century, Chief Akande has been serving the Nigerian people with selfless devotion, humility, dedication, integrity and industry. He is like the one Our Lord Jesus Christ would call a good shepherd. Today, we honour him with the Peace Award for his service to humanity and for his devotion to the cause of peace. His accomplishments have shown to us that true greatness transcends the bound of religion. True greatness, like that of Chief Akande, belongs to all humanity.

Apostles Of Peace Society International

Annual Peace Award & Investiture