Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu was born on 3rd Of September, 1915. He was a Nigerian politician. He was a self-
made man born into a humble family, but became an
influential figure in Nigerian politics. He attended
Government College, Ibadan and eventually became a
business man. His successful political career was cut
short when he was killed in a car crash, not long
before Nigeria gained independence from Britain.
Early life:
He was almost the first beneficiary of a scholarship
given by the United Africa Company Nigeria (UAC) for
outstanding ability, the first Nigerian to occupy the
position of manager at UAC and the first chairman of
the Ibadan District Council. He was also a member of
the Western Region House of Assembly and served as
the federal Minister of Social Services and Mineral
Resources. He was also a salesman , a merchant, a
writer and a journalist.
Political strongman:
Chief Adegoke " Penkelemesi" Adelabu was a fiercely
independent-minded man who refused to be swayed
by the herd mentality, and the politics of tribe and
personality which governed politics in the Yorùbá -
dominated Western Region of Nigeria in the 1950s;
centered in Ibadan. As one of the leading Ibadan
politician of his time, he championed the cause of the
National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons
(NCNC) led by Nnamdi Azikiwe . He co-founded the
Ibadan Peoples Party (IPP) with Chief Adisa Akinloye
who later became his rival till death and was
instrumental in the formation of the Ibadan Taxpayers
Association. Adegoke Adelabu, described as the
colossal figure in Ibadan between 1951 and 1958,
became the leader of opposition in the western region
house of assembly. At the time of his death he had
already married 12 times and had 15 children.
Peculiar mess:
Adegoke Adelabu is often mentioned in Yorùbá and
Nigerian history, almost nearly in parentheses as the
author of that expression: "penkelemesi ", a
Yorubanisation of the phrase, " peculiar mess" which
Adelabu, known for his deep knowledge of English,
had used on an occasion to describe the opposition in
the Western Region House of Assembly. Not
understanding what he meant, the non- literate section
of his audience translated the phrase into vernacular
as "penkelemesi".
Adegoke Adelabu, in his oration, was talking about
peculiar mess of that time. Anywhere Adelabu went,
he had large followers and supporters, singers, and
drummers. When they heard him utter the word
peculiar mess, the drummers threw up their drums,
singing he had knocked them off with another
vocabulary. They sang and also used their drums to
say: Penkelemeesi, Adegoke Adelabu,
penkelemeesi.
Died in motor accident:
He was such a shining star, bright intellectual,
great orator and mass mobiliser. But he suddenly
met his death in a road accident at Ogere Remo in
the present day Ogun State on March 25, 1958, and
died at the age of 43. If Adelabu did not die on
March 25, 1958, at the age of 43 due to a ghastly
road accident, he would have been 100 years old on
Thursday September 3, 2015, having been born on
September 3, 1915.
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