Fajuyi and Donald
Donald is the first child of the first military governor of the defunct Western Region, the late Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi. He talks about his father’s military career and life with GBENGA ADENIJI
Please tell us briefly about yourself.
I am Donald Fajuyi; the first child and first son of the late Lt.Col. Adekunle Fajuyi. My mother died two years ago. I am a lawyer and I have three sisters and a late brother.
What memories of your father can you remember?
I was really young then because in 1966 I was 17 years old. I remember that in 1955, he was a lieutenant. My mother and I travelled to Enugu State that year to see him. He was posted to the state then but in what capacity I did not know. I was about six years old then. There were not many African officers at that time.
He was at the third battalion of the Nigerian Army and the only black African officer in that unit. That explained why I was opportune to attend schools with white pupils who were the children of my father’s white colleagues. It was a lot of fun in those days. The army was not exposed to the society then. The barracks were located in the outskirts of the city.
We were always picked up from our homes in military vehicles and one of the wives of the officers would be detailed to accompany us to school. We were also brought back when the school closed. By 1960, he became a captain and was posted to the Congo before the war there. Through 1960 to 1966, he was very busy and did not spend much time with his family at home. He was always on one United Nations mission or the other. On the whole, he could go for one year, come home and return. At the end of the tour, we discovered that he spent six years in the Congo. He only spent a brief period at home.
During the brief period, did he have the time to take his family out?
I was in school when he came home for the brief period. He was a very busy man. When he died, I was a young man with a lot of idealism. I later examined his action-packed life. Whenever he was in his hometown in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, he loved to go hunting. That was how I picked interest in firearms. He would teach me how to shoot. He did not like shooting birds on the ground. He liked to throw stones at them and when they flew, he would shoot them. He never missed his target. He also loved fishing. My father enjoyed going out but not for partying. It was to explore his hobbies; hunting and fishing. I took after him in that manner. I do not go to beer parlour to drink. I like to take my beer at home.
He also had a habit which my mother always commented on before she died. Whenever he was at any event with his friends, my father would fill his glass with beer and carry it about throughout the event. It was hard to find his glass empty. He would neither refill nor empty it. The idea was for him not to get intoxicated or lose control of himself. He was an officers’ officer. When he was on training in England, he was made an under officer; that meant among his colleagues, he was singled out and given the authority of an officer even though he had not graduated. My father was imbued with leadership qualities.
As a soldier, how did he correct any erring child?
My father used the cane. There was a day he came home and told me that a man came to our house. He said the man complained that a black boy and a white boy destroyed his heap of beer bottles which he placed on a road not far from our house. I laughed innocently and told my father that it was true. The white boy was my friend. I told him that we saw the bottles neatly placed by the roadside and that the devil just pushed us to pick stones and aim at them one after the other. I thought within myself that people who saw us must have told the man that it was Fajuyi’s son and his white friend who destroyed the bottles. I concluded by jokingly telling my father that we had great fun while breaking each of the bottles with the stones.
He later told me to go and get a cane. He liked to give the exact size he wanted and if it was not what he desired, he would tell the child to be caned to go and look for the exact size. When I brought the cane, he told me to lie down and beat me with it. He later counselled me not to do what I did and never to tell a lie. He explained that whatever one did, the circumstances would show whether it was accidental or deliberate. And that if it was intentional, there was a need for a reminder so that one would not do such a thing again. That was his own purpose for punishing any child who misbehaved. I also remember the day a salesman brought a set of plastic cups to our house. He told my father that they were unbreakable. I did not know that he was only extolling the product so he could sell them.
My father bought some and kept them on a table in the sitting room. One day, I took one of the cups and examined it curiously. I wondered if was really unbreakable. I smashed it on the floor with all my strength and it scattered. When my father noticed that one of the cups was missing, he called me and I said I broke it while trying to test if it was truly unbreakable. He asked me who told me they were unbreakable. He used the cane on me that day. He was a family man too. In the evening, he would play cards or ayo olopon game with my mother.
Whenever he came home from work, he would ask me to remove his shoes and get him a glass of beer. I would happily rush to the fridge, fill a glass, sip a little, refill it and rush to give him the glass filled with beer. He was a very loving father. He loved to take me on a drive. His hunting exercises were carried out during the weekends.
Was there any special treatment you received in school?
There was nothing like that. I did not even know there was any distinction between myself and other children. My father often told me that I was not better than other children. He specifically told me not to feel any special because he was a ranked officer. I did not even understand what that meant. But during that time, I really lacked nothing. Whenever I followed my mother to the market, I used to see many people buying and selling. I would wonder about their lives and who they were because I was sheltered.
Since you grew up seeing guns, why did you choose law?
I was in the university when the civil war started. I left secondary school in 1966 and entered higher school in 1968.I later went to the University College, Ibadan now University of Ibadan in 1969 for medicine. The war had commenced then. I later enrolled in the 13th short commission of the Nigerian Army. I was in Bonny Camp, Lagos, undergoing training when my mother heard of my decision. I think it was youthful exuberance that led me to join the army.
I was on camp one day when my name was called through the loudspeaker that ‘cadet Fajuyi’ should report at the commandant’s office. I was surprised. As I entered the commandant’s office, I saw a visitation panel led by an ex-member of the Supreme Military Council, Major. Gen. Olufemi Olutoye. I learnt that my mother went to speak with those close to her that I wanted to go and die when she learnt I went to join the army. May be that was what brought the Olutoye to the place I cannot say. Perhaps, he saw the list with my name on it and wondered what I was doing in training. Anyway, when he asked me what I was doing there, I told him I wanted to contribute my part for my country. He said I should return to school. I really want to thank him wherever he is today. Maybe I would have died in the Biafran war if he had not told me to return to school. I thank him with all my heart. I really do not regret that I did not join the army. I thank God today that I am alive today.
Did your father encourage you to be a soldier?
No, he did not. He only encouraged me to go to school. He was not even particular about the course I studied but was interested in my having quality education. He had doctors and lecturers as friends and he used to tell me that they were the kind of people I should emulate.
Who were the popular faces in your house in those days?
He was posted to many places and he made few friends anywhere he was. But the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was close to him. They were good friends. Odumegwu-Ojukwu always visited my father any time he was in Enugu. He was one of the regular faces in our house. I did not know much about him then but I recalled he always appeared charming. He used to visit us with some of his beautiful female friends. Even as a young child, I recognised that the women were beautiful.
I remember that in 1966 when my father became the first military governor of the old Western Region, he was the one who took Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s father to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, for treatment when he took ill. My father did not keep many friends.
When he became governor, how comfortable was his family?
There was no luxury of any sort. He was a lieutenant-colonel and a car was attached to him. As an officer, he had privileges but there was nothing extraordinary.
How did he like to dress apart from wearing his military regalia?
My father liked to wear native attire. He often wore clothes made from damask material. I later got to know that only privileged people wore clothes made from the material.
Was he into any sports?
Yes, he played hockey and lawn tennis. I learnt how to play lawn tennis from him.
What was his favourite drink?
He drank beer most times.
What was his favourite food?
He liked pounded yam with vegetable soup spiced with dried fish and shrimps.
What kind of music did he listen to?
Nigerian artistes were not many at that time. But he listened to King Sunny Ade’s songs in those days. He also enjoyed some western songs. He listened to the British Broadcasting Corporation too.
Where were you during the second coup in the country which claimed his life?
It was on July 29, 1966, I was at Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti. I could recall that it was a Friday because I was studying for my final examination then. The following day was a Saturday and I was listening to a portable radio which my father gave me when I heard the news that there was a coup in Ibadan, Oyo State a day before. I also heard that the Governor of the Western Region, Adekunle Fajuyi and the Head of State, Maj.Gen Johnson Agunyi-Ironsi were kidnapped. I was not bothered because I knew that my father’s men loved him well.
I could not imagine anybody trying to hurt him. It was later that some of my father’s relations came to the school to see me. I was surprised because they had never visited me in school prior to that time. I did not even know that my mother had travelled to Ibadan on Friday. There were stories about my father’s activities in the Congo that his men were ready to follow him anywhere because of his bravery. He also told me that some people believed that his swagger stick had magical powers which protected him from the bullets of his enemies.
He once told me that when he was in England on training, he saw that many people carried one swagger stick or the other and that was when he started using a swagger stick. Among the stories he told us was when he was in the Congo. The driver refused to start the vehicle on the excuse that my father forgot something. He said that day he did not take his swagger stick along and the driver together with his team felt he was leaving his powers behind. He told me that the driver did not start the vehicle until his swagger stick was brought. My father was a fearless soldier. He always placed service above self. That was exactly what he did in Ibadan that fateful day. My mother later came back home distraught. Maj. Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (retd) who later took over as the governor of the Western Region was very supportive to our family during the period of Fajuyi’s death. In all, we thank God for being there all these years.
At what point did the reality of his death dawned on you?
I was in school when the Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd) wrote to us that the government had recovered the body of my father. As I read the letter, tears trickled down my eyes because that was when the reality of his death hit me.
How has it been coping as an orphan?
It has been rough no doubt especially when my father died. My father was very prudent and his gratuities were pulled together to see his children through school. Many people actually thought we were on scholarship then.
How do you remember him annually?
We used to gather at the Fajuyi Park in Ado-Ekiti to remember him. But we had stopped doing that. Every July, we now hold a memorial church service for him and my mother, who, also incidentally died in July.
