Olaitan Oyerinde: His Struggles For A Better Nigeria
By Lois Otse Adams
BOOK REVIEWER –Comrade Issa Aremu mni
Late Olaitan Aremu Oyerinde was a comrade and friend to many of us. Undoubtedly he was a special son to his parents, namely Mr. Azeez Oyerinde his father, a veteran Journalist and Mrs. Comfort Oyerinde, a trader. He was also an acknowledged possessive brother to his lovely siblings. On page 21 of this historic document Olaitan’s younger sister, Atinuke narrated .”….that when they were in primary school, he (Olaitan) would always have pebbles in his pockets which he hurled at people who tried to bully or make trouble with him. She said he would not allow anybody bully her as his favourite sister”. Apparently Olatain’s subsequent charity in life with respect to the defense of human and workers’ rights started at home.
Testimonials and tributes which make up the chapter six of this worthy book show different attributes of Comrade Olaitan by comrades and friends of late Comrade Olaitan. The great contribution of the author, Lois Otse Adams lies in her ability to weave together the varying positive attributes of Comrade Olaitan to give us a complete picture of a patriot, a revolutionary, a tested unionist, an organizer, a loyal worker, a mentor and a proud father of three and husband.
On May 4, 2012 Comrade Olaitan then a Principal Private Secretary to Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole around midnight was brutally murdered at his residence in Benin, before family members. His cowardly murder had added to the increasing cases of unresolved killings of politically exposed individuals in Nigeria, well documented mystery deaths by the author in Chapter Five; End Of A Dream. Olaitan’s murder raises the painful memory of the unresolved deaths of political notables like Bola Ige, Pa Alfred Riwane, Dele Giwa, Chief Marshall Harry, Engr Funsho Williams among others.
Given that Olaitain was a global citizen, his death also reopens the mystery surrounding murder of great progressive political personalities names like Malcolm x, an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist murdered on February 21, 1965, Walter Anthony Rodney, a prominent Guyanese historian, political activist and preeminent scholar and author of the classic book; How Europe Underdeveloped Africa who was assassinated in Guyana in 1980, Che Guevara, an Argentinean-born, iconic Cuban revolutionary leader who with American assistance was captured by the Bolivian army captured Guevara and was mysteriously executed on 9 October 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, a Nobel Peace Prize and author of the famous quotable speech; I Have a Dream murdered on April 4, 1968 and President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, who was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Given the embarrassing conflicting accounts and outcomes of separate investigations by the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) since 2012, unmasking Olaitan’s killers is increasingly proving a tall order. We are all scandalously embarrassed and diminished that we were callously deprived of our own without an answer as to who carried out this dastardly act. We are even further intimidated that the murderers might still be on prowl scouting (May Allah forbid) for another victims.
But while we are weighed down with the mystery of his death, Lois Otse lifted our spirit in a compelling essay of some beautiful over 50000 healing word counts (256 pages) about the struggles of Comrade Olaitan and his contributions to humanity spanning over two decades out of his relatively short 44 years in life. This book encourages us to stop agonizing about the acts of evil men and possibly women. Rather let us organize to project the good works of good men and women. This is the great contribution of this book.
It takes us out of the suffocating box of unknown wicked act of the murderers to the appreciated deeds of the victim which Olaitan was. We are eternally grateful to the author for damning the killers with documented good works of late Comrade Olaitan. We may possibly not know Olaitan’s killers but God sees all. But through this book the Almighty inspired the author to spotlight Olaitan beyond another statistical murder to show that this is a loss to humanity!
OLAITAN AS A PATRIOT AND GLOBAL CITIZEN
Most testimonials singled out Comrade Olaitain as a global citizen. But it is in this book we get raw evidences of a patriot and global citizen almost from cradle to grave. He was “was born in Ilorin on the pleasant day of December 7, 1968” to a mother from Ilesha in Osun State and a father who though from Ede in Osun state adapted Ilorin, Kwara state as a home. Comrade Olaitain’s parents hailed from Osun State but many would readily insist he came from Kwara State where he had his primary, secondary and in part tertiary education. He schooled in Lagos and worked in Abuja and with union work almost all parts of Nigeria and indeed the world. As a student activist, he had known all parts of the country well before he graduated. Serving the nation through the compulsory NYSC was just an official legitimization of his earned national outlook. His acceptance of an appointment as a Principal Private Secretary of the governor of Edo State and his post humous celebration as a hero of that great state; the Heart beat of the Nation and indeed Nigeria as a whole further attested to his pan Nigerian vision. This book is certainly a worthy work in progress. A revised edition must bring to bear Comrade Olaitain’s international work as the head of NLC international department showing that he was indeed an internationalist callously denied us by the murderers. Olaitan was a brand name in J/burg, Berlin, Geneva, Ghana and Togo, Kenya where he had added value to the struggle of the working people of the world.
A MAN WITH BIGGER PICTURE IN MIND
Chapter 4 (pages 49 to 78) gives us the photo album of the life and times of Olaitan. Baby Olaitan looked as confident as father Olaitan. But the bigger picture lies in the sayings and writings of the comrade. The quotable Olaitan is about bigger picture of Nigeria not just his place of birth, tribe or religion. Witness this his patriotic posting as late as 17th February, 2011 as narrated by the author;
“If you give up hope on Nigeria, you are giving up hope on yourself because Nigeria is a paradise. So if it is no longer paradise, it is those who inhabit Nigeria that have ruined it and that is you and l. It is what you sow that you reap; the quality of the leaders that we have is equal to the people that we are. People complain of corruption, but some of us are even worse; the difference is that we have not had the opportunity to get there and if we are there we would do worse things. So it is the aggregate of what is in the heart of every one of us, these are those we have as our leaders.”
In a country in which millions of youths are being recruited into ethnic and religious bigotry, Olaitan through this book is a worthy patriot.
AN ORGANIZATION MAN
Right from his school days, Comrade Olaitain has appreciated the need to organize rather than agonizing about the state of underdevelopment of Nigeria and Africa. Very few revolutionaries have been part of the formations of progressive organizations as Olaitain was. This book is a good reservoir of good memories of progressive organizations that advanced the struggles for democratization in Nigeria. Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde participated in formations of radical groups such as Thomas Sankara Movement (TSM), Youth Solidarity on Southern Africa (YUSSA), Patriotic Youth Movement of Nigeria (PYMN), the University of Lagos Students’ Union and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) and the Senior Staff Consultative Association of Nigeria (SSCAN) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). In a country in which scores of registered political parties lack clear cut ideological orientation, this book fires our imagination about formations of ideologically motivated organizations to advance the struggle for better Africa.
ANGRY BUT NOT HUNGRY
The author also shows that contrary to the false impression that comrades and progressive are motivated by depreciations, Olaitan’s example shows that those who often fight for better society are only angry about underdevelopment not hungry for materialism. Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde was born into a middle class family in the 60s. His father Alhaji Azeez Oyerinde, was a journalist who worked as the Ilorin correspondent of the then high flying Sketch newspaper of the old OYO state. He was exposed to the culture of reading at tender age which explains why he was an accomplished scholar, intellectual and writer in his own right. In terms of class origin he shared the same background with the likes of Nelson Mandela,Frantz Fanon who consciously chose to fight for the mass of the oppressed rather than pursuing material selfish interests. Olaitan was a realist and not a dogmatic comrade who showed through assistance to Comrade Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole that Comrade must and still go into governance and still remain focused.
A WITTY WAG
Many thanks for the Lois the author for bringing the humanity of Olaitan as a humorist who lightened the struggle through jokes that keep life going. For Olaitan, there was hope and not despair. The author shows that Comrade Olaitan “was such a bundle of humour”. According to her “He had this uncanny way of cracking rib-cracking jokes and yet kept a straight face while others would laugh to stupor.” To those who wanted to see him as an outsider in Edo government calling him Mr. Expatriate (he hailed from Osun), he returned with a joke instead of hard feelings; ‘But you people are not paying me expatriate wage unlike my contemporaries from overseas’. “If you got angry with him, he would disarm you with jokes. Once, someone barged into his office and hollered at him for not picking his calls after several dials. To that, Olaitan said calmly: ‘Why should I be in a hurry to pick your calls? Am I your girlfriend? I can imagine the kinds of jokes Olaitan would have given us today in the light of Tragi-comedy in official quarters of Nigeria today. He was a witty wag like the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, his favored musician which the author misses out in this beautiful narrative.
TRIBUTES TO THOSE WHO HELPED TO NURTURE A WORTHY COMRADE
Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said (and I agree with him,) that the essence of being human within the context of what South Africans call Ubuntu is that we are what we are because others are interconnected to us. We can’t exist as human beings in isolation. This book shows Olaitan’s interconnectedness to his wife, children, siblings, parents, his mentors and his followers in addition to his comrades. Special mention must be made of Didi Adodo who first discovered Olaitan and nurtured him to leadership position without any complex or fear that he would “outshine” him in mass organizations that have their fair shares of organizational intrigue. On Page page 26 we see the singular leadership role of Didi “Comrade Didi confessed that when Olaitan left his union his office suffered because Olaitan wrote better than he did and with his departure he had to write his letters himself. He said that Olaitan’s flair for writing was something else. He then recalled another event that took place, when he wrote a circular to members and some branches rejected it on the ground that ‘this is not how our General Secretary writes’ and he had to go explain to them that ‘this is my own, the one I have been signing is Olaitan’s own’, that was to show the nature of his professionalism. Didi said that when Olaitan wrote for him, he did not even need to read in most cases before signing because he knew how to capture what he wanted to say or do.”
Many thanks to SOZ Ejiofor for his insistence that Olaitan had what it takes to be worthy staff of the NLC. Special thanks to Comrade governor Adams Oshiomhole who had the courage of conviction to cultivate Olaitan and elevated him to the level of Deputy General secretary in NLC and dared to make him the head of engine room of the Governor’s office as Principal Private Secretary. Olaitan was not just an individual but a worthy being connected to others who recognized his worth and assisted him to grow with worthy achievements that must shame his murderers. Last but not the least, is our own President of NLC, Abdulwaheed Omar who generously released Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde to serve in Edo without loss of job, with his promotion intact and had even called him back to the congress before the evil forces strucked for the worse. Indeed Comrade Omar encouraged me to also review this great book. I thank him immensely.
Many thanks to the leadership National Administrative Council (NAC), Central Working Committee (CWC) and National Executive Council (NEC) of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for naming the prestigious assembly hall of the congress after Comrade Olaitan. Together with that recognition and this great book, we can say Olaitan is Dead, but his good deeds are eternally alive. With the permission of the NLC under the leadership of Comrade Omar I salute this author for a worthy job and recommend this book for our comrades and working people of Nigeria, Africa and the world. Who killed Olaitan? As mortals we possibly will find it difficult to find his killers. The respected Benin monarch, Omo ‘N’ Oba ‘N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediuwa who in his tribute was also “shocked” to hear the reported assassination of Olaitan enjoined us to “..leave everything in the hands of God”. His Royal. Highness added “We will keep on praying”.
GRACIA MACHEL the living widow of two great African , after the death of her husband (Samora Machel) President of Mozambique in Plane crash in 1986 remarked that “Fighters Never Say Goodbye”. Olaitan as a fighter did not say Goodbye knowing fully well that the struggle continues for us the living comrades. Lastly I share the view of a South African poet BM Themba. According to him Blessed are the dead, For they will; Never be suspected..
Olaitan is gone but he will no more be suspected of perennial power failure, water shortages, non performing loans, closed universities, militancy in the Niger Delta, kidnapping of chibok girls, bombing of EMAB plaza, Nyanya bombings, the widening gap between the poor and the rich and the pervasive underdevelopment of Nigeria amidst potential prosperity. The only way to mourn Comrade Olaitan is to fix Nigeria the way he desired. We the livings are the ones to be held accountable for of Nigeria’s progress and development NOT Olaitan again!
May Almighty God make his grave spacious for comfort and eternal rest until the last day. Amen.
Comrade Issa Aremu, mni
Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)
General Secretary, National Union of Textile Garment & Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN)
Chairman, IndustriALL Global Union, Africa Region Labour Delegate to the National Conference 2014
industriALL Global Union, Africa Region
Labour Delegate to the National Conference 2014
