300 YEARS OF MIDLANDS DYNASTY EXPOSED!!!
BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU[IHIMA,KOGI STATE ,NIGERIA]
Facts are now emerging on the 300 years chequered history of the blood lineage of the Founder of
E.N.M.Paedia Express Multimedia Group of Lagos, Nigeria ,Mr Abdulmumini ireyi
Adeku to a period dating back to the year:1700s.
In an exhaustive and exclusive check by The News office Desk
of the brand in Ihima ,Okehi local Government Area of Kogi state in the
Nigerian Midlands,it was discovered that the family was actually a dynasty with
a strong hold on commerce and politics in period spanning at least 300 years
with key actors like Chief inono,Chief Idah[both tribal leaders]and the duo of
Badamasi and Abdulraheem completing the encore before the current generation
and all highly accomplished individuals by the standards of their days during
their respective pilgrimage on planet earth.
This reporter discovered through family historian ,Mallam
AbdulAzeez Musa Badams Adeku,a chieftain of the highly influential Kogi state
Elders Forum ,also fondly called Babangida by natives on account of his
flamboyance ,that Chief inono was a big stakeholder in the slavery business
where he was a force to reckon with as a merchant aside from this ,Chief Inono was also said to
have been an arms dealer who exploited a lot of gaps created in wars fought
among the various communities of their time to make brisk sales while
interfacing with gladiators on the frontline.
Babangida noted that Inono may have lived between 1700 to
around 1800 or some period before then even as he admitted that he did not know
who his siblings were.
His words:"i do not know his
siblings but it is those other history attached to him that is now called our
kindred or sub clan and this is referred to as Abara in native Ebira Language.
He was a worshipper of an African
traditional religion called Iso Oziete
and according to our tradition it is believed he died and was buried in
the Hills and Mountainous ranges of Okehi Mountains alongside the people of his generations as that was where the ancient Ebira people
lived before they relocated to the present abodes in modern times.
In a related issue,it was also
learned that another Paedia Express Founder's ancestor: Chief Idah would appear
to have inherited his father's trade as he is strongly believed to have treaded same path and like his father even
wielding a lot of political influence thus providing a platform for one of his
brothers ,the Late Chief Shaibu Obosi Opene to begin a flourishing political
career during the period just between the colonial times in Nigeria and First
Republic Nigeria.
It is strongly believed that Chief
Idah lived between 1800s to around 1930s,family sources say that he used to be
seen breaking Kolanuts for the gods of his days on top of a rock which was used
as an altar at a spot beside the evil tree just like his father before him and
this was done to prepare the family's masquerade called Arijenu .
It would be recalled that in a landmark
spiritual breakthrough for the entire family ,this tree came crashing after 300
years only very recently.
Chief Idah died and was buried at
a spot which now looks like has now being covered by the Ancestral Family Home
during reconstruction work at Ikinaro Quarters ,Number 8,Lagos
Road,Ikuehi-Ihima,Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi state of Nigeria.
In the same vein, Family sources
say that Alhaji Badamasi Adeku was a very rich cocoa ,coffee and kolanut farmer
and merchant who traded extensively on the West African coast and he lived between 1871 till 1978.
He had one of the biggest
privately owned commercial farms of his time at what is now called imesi in
present day ,Ekiti State of Nigeria.
He had been paid off from the land
he was using for trading believed to be under some rent or leased arrangement
with the host communities at the time.
He had lost possession of the land
due to the then Western regional Government 's decision to erect a dam in the
area as the expected flooding was going to displace the farmers at the time.
Babangida speaks:"Our grandfather
had Nine wives and well over 25 children and one of them was your father who
died in 2007,he once gave a gift of what was called 2 and 6 at the time to a
man who was on a trip to learn more about Islam at the famous institute in
Kaolak,Senegal and the man who was to later
become a well known sheikh prayed a famous prayer for him "
"That none of his children
and any of those within their bloodline will know any form of sorrow and that
whoever blessed them will be blessed and if it was a curse the heavens will
turn it into a blessing ,so long as they were innocent"
The gift of 2 and 6 which
Babangida said could build a house at the time in 1950s could be translated to
around 2 million naira looking at the inflationary indicators ,quality of civilization
and types of technology at their disposal at the time as the houses at the time
were usually built with mud and thatched roofs.
It was also revealed that Alhaji
Badamasi Adeku ,during one of his many trips abroad had brought a mirror as a
souvenir and many people from adjoining
villages trooped to his house on leg for several kilometers just to have a
glance of what appeared to be the plasma television of that era in the 1930s.
Chief Adeku was one of the
pioneers of the modern usage of cement for building construction in the Whole
of Ebira land .
when he brought his first
radio many people around him were said
to have behaved like cave men
It was learnt that out of the nine
wives the business merchant married,two of them were princess from royal homes
thus proving beyond every reasonable doubts that Alhaji[ Chief] Badamasi Adeku
was a key figure of Ebira nation during his life time.
One of his wives ,The Late Chief
Mrs Onyienne Adeku was said to have been a sister to the Late Alhaji Ibrahim
Atta ,Atta of Ebira Nation and the first paramount ruler of his people.
it would appear that some of his
marriages were struck to provide a cushion for his business empire at the time.
He also practiced Iso Oziete
before he left it for Islam at a time believed to be around the 1920s but it is
not known when he abandoned the worship of Arijenu ,a masquerade for which was he was said to have been the
Chief Custodian at some point in history
but for sure he did leave it.
When he died he was buried in his "Abara",
a native word for a living room and today it is now a spot at the centre of the
family's ancestral compound.
In a related issue ,Babangida also
shed the light on the strength of
Character of the late Alhaji Makanjuola Yisa Obanyin ,the maternal grandfather of
this reporter.
He recalled that Alhaji Yisa was
the first Ebira citizen to challenge Atta of Ebira land at the time ,Late
Alhaji Ibrahim Atta over his style of
governance which he saw as anti-people.
It was said that at the time Ebira
people were so cowed by Atta's glory that they started to think he was invincible
but Alhaji Yisa had his personal reservations and he made them public
appropriately but this was considered a taboo before he came to their rescue.
He continues:"You know the
people were always very much afraid of him and could not speak out against him
even if they perceive he had done anything wrong"
"Your grandfather on mother
side was an activist and a great social crusader and this made him very famous
among our people and he was very much loved and respected for all over"
it would appear that Alhaji Yisa
Obanyin was born at some time in between 1900 to 1910 or thereabout but he died
in 1982 and was buried at his home in Obeiba ,Ihima and till this day his house
at Shiaba Street in Agege ,Lagos .Nigeria
which was also previously called by his names stands as a testimony to
his resourcefulness during his lifetime.
Their descendants are to be found
doing great exploits in various fields of human endeavor ranging from
law,media,commerce,medicine,aeronautics,accountancy,engineering,politics,administration,architecture,pharmacy,agriculture
amongst several other fields of human endeavor.
While explaining the 2 and 6
phenomena to The News office Desk of E.N.M Paedia Express Multimedia Group of
Lagos,Nigeria ,Elder [Chief]Sunday Ogunyale of the African Church worldwide ,Ifako
Ijaiye ,Lagos State Chapter agreed that
Chief [Alhaji ]Badamasi Adeku must have been a wealthy man by the standards of
his days if he could just throw away 2 shillings ,6 pence for a ride without
feeling a pang.
He revealed that while he was
schooling in England in 1982 ,The British Pounds Sterling and the Nigerian
Naira were running parallel to each other with the West African nation having
an upper hand in value.
Ogunyale now in his 70s noted that
at the time he could not spend one pounds
sterling to feed in a whole month.
By today's standard,an average
Nigerian will need at least N80,000 to N100,000 to feed in a month.
His words:"Your grandfather
was not paid much compensation on the land since he did not own it but the
people of imesi in Ekiti State under the land use act owned the land and so
they paid him based on the capacity of his crops"
"So they will only pay him
for his crops ,but for a man who had a massive farm which he was paying for on
rent and lease for cash crops like cocoa,coffee,kolanut and who was a merchant
on the West African trade routes,he was an exceedingly rich a man"
Chief [Alhaji]Badamasi Adeku now
deceased ,died on the 21st November,1978 and was the direct paternal
grandfather to the Founder of E.N.M.Paedia Express Multimedia Founder.
His second wife,Aishat who grave
is to be found at the entrance of the family's ancestral home at 8 Lagos Road
,Ikuehi-Ihima ,Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State ,who after repeated
misfortune with still births after giving birth to a female child then gave
birth to the politician,Right Honourable Abdulraheem Adeku who died on 2nd of
June,2007.
In confirmation of this family 's
status as one of the most prominent in the Nigerian Midlands ,a first cousin to
this reporter: His Royal Highness ,Alhaji Ahmed Abdulraheem Ogido ,Ohi of Ihima
,was previously married to Hajia Laila Ribadu,the elder sister to the present
first lady ,Hajia Aishat Buhari who does
not need further introduction.
The duo had a daughter:Halima in a marriage that lasted at least 8 years or
thereabout .
Well for the avoidance of any
doubt ,President Muhammadu Buhari is a Distant in law to the Family.
Finally the last in the blood line
but not the least under examination in this special report is the Right
Honourable Abdulraheem Adeku ,the father of this reporter.
An Administrator ,a politician ,educationist
,maritime/shipping tycoon, community leader and an elder statesman during his
lifetime, The devout Muslim lived between 1939 till around 2007.
Again it was not by accident that
it was during his time that Ihima people saw the first colored television ,a
Phillips Television and this was soon
followed by a Sony Television all in the 1970s.
The rest of his acts and
chronicles can be found in Paedia express archives of June,2017 during the
celebrations of his 10th year memorial services
by surviving siblings ,family members ,children ,associates ,well
wishers both at home and abroad.
By today's standards his private
estates will be valued between N1 to N2billion but he was a poor man as compared
to his ancestors with the quality of wealth of their days when measured with
the civilization of their time.
He however found a greater success
in politics than in commerce as compared to his ancestors.
His second son:Abdulmumini would
appear to have however compensated in
the areas where he did not succeed in commerce.
