Only few leaders have maintained such a steady, and stoic dignified political followership and respect accross partisan divides, in Ekiti State.
These virtues are products of earned impact and consistency. Among the very few is the amiable born Prince of Ise Ekiti, Senator Dayo Adeyeye.
Before I met him and got relatively close, I had heard of his political voyage and had been acquainted with his trajectory since 1999.
We were to have met in the run up to the Gubernatorial race in Ekiti in 2007, when my blood Yemi Olayinka, who was his associate and assistant talked to me about him, he would go Bro Dayo this, Bro Dayo that.
But I had pitched my tent with Dr Kayode Fayemi, who was senior in Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, and of course I was more acquainted with Dr Fayemi.
But truth be told, in that contest, there were relatively more politically astute and known persons in the race, more home grown, that ordinarily and naturally would have flung Dr Fayemi into a distant fourth or fifth position if the Gubernatorial primary race had been allowed to go freely devoid of any special interest or interference of the system that obviously preferred Dr Fayemi.
Among these persons was Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who at this time came into the race from the deep stock and dye in wool hue of past South west political exemplars, starting from Papa Obafemi Awolowo himself, through the Unity Party of Nigeria[UPN] era, and thereafter, after the demise of the sage, Papa Awolowo.
The young Prince Dayo Adeyeye, had imbibed and flowed with the vestiges and legacy framework that berthed Alliance For Democracy [AD] and of course under the veritable halo of Afenifere, where he had served the likes of Papa Adesanya and the “Ijebu Igbo confraternity”.
So on the account of that rich political pedigree and exposure, mixed with his background as a trained journalist and lawyer renowned for sustaining, promoting and marshalling the idealistic ideals, if not the near provincial or separatist inclination of the South west politics of the Progressives back then, Prince Dayo Adeyeye came into that race with this rich political pedigree compared to the preferred aspirant and towers over and above others in the race.
It need be stated that Prince Adeyeye had ran for Senate in 1999.
So one would have thought Prince Dayo Adeyeye would have been a yours truly candidate of the system.
Of course others in the race included Baba Paul Alabi, former Deputy Governor under Governor Niyi Adebayo, the first civilian Governor of Ekiti State, the entire Southwest states Governors were elected on the banner of Alliance for Democracy, and this President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR was the Governor of Lagos State then.
Alliance for Democracy being an offshoot of the Unity Party of Nigeria in a near direct sense, had adopted a puritanical political outlook that had little or no tolerance, least of it accomondation for anyone coming from the “demo ni mo wa background”
The lot of the need to sustain the pristine identity of UPN if not AG, fell of human machineries like Prince Dayo Adeyeye and Ebenezer Babatope [Ebeno Topsy] to ensure that the lights of the idealistic politics of Awolowo’s Action Group, Unity Party of Nigeria did not flicker out, and they did the job so well, that explains why Prince Adeyeye is a well known avartar.
Both of them sustained that people centric and centred identity politics of UPN till it’s resurgence in the Alliance For Democracy [AD] and the seemingly the diluted later version known as the Social Democratic Party [SDP] under Bashorun Moshood Abiola.
This bit of abridged history will be a near chronicle of the rich political tapestry and trajectory of the blue blood man Prince Dayo Adeyeye.
By the way we used to joke around that, he would say if his body got lacerated, the colour of the blood that will come out would be blue !
So the Prince had paid his dues politically, his traverse out of the AD/AC of the 2005-2006 years in the run up to 2007 was occassioned by the outcome of the decision of the system with regard to the Ekiti State Gubernatorial primaries of 2007, which led to himself and thirteen others who got aggrieved to move out of his historical habitat to the People’s Democratic Party where he was later appointed as Honourable Minister of State for Works under President Jonathan, with Architect Onolememen as the ” primary” Minister.
This period provided me the first direct and close meeting with him as the Honourable Minister of State for Works.
So that year, the budget of Federal Ministry of Works was brought before my committee under the chairmanship of the Enugu State born Parliamentarian, Hon.Ozumgbachi.
While the budget defence was going on , I spotted the usual prank of our people in the civil service 🙄 and I was so aggrieved that I stridently declined that the House Committee on Works would continue with the budget defence before the committee
When I raised the issue with the full Minister, Architect Onolememen, initially he wanted to browbeat me into agreeing, I faulted his defences flatly, and then he switched to playing the “ignorant, i not aware card” that too fell like a pack of cards, at this point hell had nearly broke loose.
My Committee Chairman knew the implications of the impasse, a divided committee is a horror to any Chairman!
The Chairman, sued for calm and recognised Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the Honourable Minister of State to speak, and that soothing voice came on, he said to the full audience in the committee room, my dear brother from Ekiti, Hon Daramola, only just demonstrated the Ekiti man in all of us, including me, we abhor indiscretion, we have noted this observation by Honourable Daramola, we will go back and make ammendments, we will then bring it back.
With that intervention calm was restored and on that note, we parted on a reconciled note.
That’s vintage Prince Dayo Adeyeye for anybody, in the following years, when our voyage merged more closely as occassioned by our struggles which Hon.Oyetunde Ojo was pivotal to, I had seen more of that attribute in the Prince, particularly where there is a common goal to be pursued.
From that day, I became more acquainted, and we have at various times in the last six years worked together on common goals, ultimately aimed at the defence, promotion and advancement of the cause and in the interest of our people.
I have over these years found in Prince Dayo Adeyeye 🤴, a man of uncommon high tensile strength, in his morals, conviction and beliefs. A marathoner in the his beliefs.
Whatever Prince Dayo Adeyeye believes in, he creates time for and throws himself into it.
In the tension soaked journey of Dr Fayemi to get re-elected for Second term, he was by his side all through from podium to podium, town to town, all crannies of Ekiti putting all his political capital behind that aspiration.
In like manner,when the idea of South West Agenda For Asiwaju [SWAGA] was berthed by Hon Oyetunde Ojo, and the lot fell on Senator Dayo Adeyeye to lead it, Senator Adeyeye gave that struggle everything in his princely armour , from State to State, Palace to Palace, groups to groups, unrelenting and untiringly, again throwing his vast exposure, experience and versed understanding of the terrain in the advancement of that conviction that Asiwaju must be President,a lot of hard work was thrown into it two clear years even before Asiwaju declared , and the roadwork at personal expenses for a long time mobilising great support in the advancement of that belief. That movement benefitted immensely from the latitude of Senator Dayo Adeyeye’s vintage personality.
He is a man who bears his personal struggles with unusual candour, not one to be beaten by any unsavoury situations of life, he bears any and all of such with stoic philosophical equanimity, always believing that such remains a part of life.
A ready example was his dramatic removal from the Senate, with the alleged tacit complicity of somebody then in power and said to be the mastermind, Painful as it could have been, the Prince never allowed that to keep him down, soldiered on in good faith, accepting that fate, but today he is back to his feet and in very strong reckoning and relevance in National politics as the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself had attested to privately and publicly.
Anyone who has Senator Dayo Adeyeye on His side or with him on a journey, political has secured a prized personality of value, an asset of unquantifiable value, a repertoire of value, an invaluable asset to draw virtue from, starting with his intellect, to his native intelligence and the hands on craft of the Masters.
And if anyone is unlucky to have Adeyeye against you, the game is half lost, the reason his adversaries end up seeking raproachment with him.
Elected Senator in 2019, and was the spokesperson of the Senate, until he was conspired against in high wired political stake politics, a man with huge political capital in, where his political group PAAM is still a political machine and beyond Ekiti State on the strength of his intellectual depth and political sagacity.
Born a blue blood but not known for royal haughtiness, real and relatable, frank and friendly, a deep repository and fountain of the politics of the Progressives of the past 50 years.
If anyone needs a detailed chronicle of the political history of the Progressives in Nigeria, I will be surprised if there is any person other than Senator Dayo Adeyeye.
Incidentally that’s what I love most about him and what I cherish the most anytime I have the opportunity of being with him, Uncle Dayo is vast, deeply informed, and has that gift of remembering everything to details from his days as a journalist to his days in University of Ibadan, his trip to Russia 🇷🇺 in pursuit of his early Marxist ideology, Action Group [AG] Unity Party of Nigera, [UPN] Alliance for Democracy[AD] days, Social Democratic Party [SDP] to APC , Then the inner grove details and operations of the Ijebu Igbo Political Confraternity, all to the recent ones, Uncle Dayo is a walking archive.
On this day, it’s with great pleasure and regard that I join the family of Distinguished Senator Dayo Adeyeye, his lovely, ageless very affectionate Wifey, a Princess too, and his teeming admirers and supporters to wish our Princely People’s Prince a very happy birthday 🎂 and pray for more years in good health and well being.
Happy Birthday Uncle Dayo.
Your Aburo,
Bimbo Daramola.