Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu was born on October 24, 1927 at Oja-Oba, Ibadan, a member of the Olupoyi chieftaincy ruling house.
Born to a Muslim family in Ibadan, his father, Adegoke Adeduntan was from the Olupoyi chieftancy house and his mother was a kolanut trader. He earned the name Adedibu from a senior brother of his mother, Bello Adedibu. He had his education at Mapo Elementary and at the Ibadan Boys High School.
He started working for a government catering service in the late 1940s before branching out on his own and later entering politics.
He was introduced to politics during the pre-independence period and mentored by a leader of the Ibadan Peoples Party, Samuel Lanlehin who was also a former teacher of his; he became a member of the Ibadan People’s Party, and then joined the Action Group under Obafemi Awolowo.
During the Western regional crisis of the 1960s, he was arraigned on allegations bordering on thuggery along with his friend Lamidi Alasaro.
In 1954, Adedibu lost a local government election seat, however, two years later, he won a seat with the help of associates such as Busari Adelakun.
He subsequently became the chairman of the Action Group in Ibadan. He was in the party for much of the politics of the era.
During the second republic, he joined
the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) led by Adisa Akinloye and Richard Akinjide.
He became an increasing force in politics during the military reign of General Ibrahim Babangida.
He saw tremendous success in the third democratic dispensation of the early 1990s, where his group was able to win a number of seats in the local, state and federal elections. He also gained national attention when he was jailed prior to gubernatorial elections in December 1991.
In the mid 1990s, Adedibu earned considerable admonition from many members of his constituency for his romance with the Abacha administration which had little intention of solving the June 12 political crisis in favor of the presumed winner of theJune 12 elections. Though, he was allied with Arisekola Alao who tried to negotiate a conditional bail for the Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the election.
In 1998, he was involved in a 2 million man march for the prolongation of the Abacha dictatorship
In 2003, Adedibu backed Senator Rasheed Ladoja with logistics for the Oyo State seat in consideration for earning a say in government appointees. However, after the duo became victorious at the polls, a rift between Adedibu and Ladoja soon surfaced when Ladoja failed to honour most of Adedibu’s list of persons for consideration as commissioners. A Ladoja backed PDP executive council later expelled Adedibu from the party and allegations that Adedibu had demanded the sharing of a 65 million security vote also surfaced. By the beginning of 2006, Adedibu had garnered the support of about 18 loyal state assemblymen to seek the impeachment of Ladoja which was carried out after a panel investigated allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.
Being called “the strong man of Ibadan politics” nobody assumed any political post in Oyo state without Adedibu’s approval.
His son, Kamorudeen Adekunle Adedibu, was elected Senator for Oyo South in April 2007.Senator Teslim Folarin, elected to the Senate for Oyo Central was his protégé.[6] Rasheed Ladoja, who became governor of the state in May 2003, was another protégé, although by August 2004, Ladoja and Adedibu were locked in a fierce struggle over allocation of government appointees.
Adedibu died at the University College Hospital in Ibadan on 11 June 2008, leaving the chiefly rank and title of the Ekarun of Ibadan to be assumed by one of his subordinates in the clan’s royal line of succession.
Remi Feyisipo, Ibadan
