Professor Abass Aderemi Adedibu, the first Child of the late legendary political godfather and an acclaimed garrison commander of Ibadan Politics, Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu, in an explosive interview with Gbenro Adesina, delivered a fearless verdict on Nigeria’s 2023 elections. He argued that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was “imposed on Nigerians” rather than being genuinely elected, and explained why the country must rethink its political system before 2027. He also spoke on his father’s legacy, the future of democracy, and how regional government could save Nigeria.
Q: How do you describe yourself?
A: First, let me note that this is a post-coronation interview following the installation of Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, an event that lasted a week. For the record, on Friday, September 27, 2025, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State presented the instruments of office to the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland — my elder brother, Oba Rashid Ladoja. In the history of Ibadan, his coronation was the first ever to be attended by a sitting president — in this case, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Our prayer is that God grants him the wisdom and strength to govern the affairs of Ibadanland successfully. My name is Professor Aderemi Adedibu. I am the first and eldest son of the late High Chief Lamidi Akanji Ariyibi Adedibu, who passed away on June 11, 2008. I often say that he died a straightforward death, unlike many other politicians. I attended Children’s House School, Ibara, Abeokuta, and graduated in 1966. Afterwards, I proceeded to Ibadan Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan, where I finished in 1971 with distinction in all my subjects. I then furthered my studies at Indiana University, USA, from 1972 to 1981. I earned my first degree in Chemistry and Mathematics in 1976, followed by a Master’s degree in Educational Ecology in 1977, and a second Master’s degree in Biochemistry in 1978. I obtained my PhD in Chemistry Education in 1981. In June 1979, the Federal Civil Service Commission held job interviews for Nigerians in the United States. I was among those interviewed at the Hilton Hotel, Chicago. Our current president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who had graduated at the time, also attended the interview, but he was not interviewed because his certificate was not yet ready. He later obtained his certificate in July, but the job interviews had been concluded, and that was how he lost out.
Q: Do you know the job Tinubu applied for then?
A: No
Q: There are controversies surrounding his education. Can you say what you know about his education?
A: In politics, the opposition’s main interest is often to destroy your integrity and image. Many Nigerians have traveled abroad without pursuing formal education, but Tinubu is not one of them. How can somebody be the president in Nigeria without having a certificate?
Q: So, after your graduation in the USA, you worked before returning to Nigeria?
A: After completing my Bachelor’s Degree, I worked as a toxicology specialist. Afterwards, I served as a Chemist II at the Indiana State Board of Health. Subsequently, I was employed by the Nigerian government as a lecturer.
Q: Which school?
A: The Federal Government employed me as an Education Officer. However, when I returned, I first observed my mandatory NYSC programme at the University of Ilorin in 1981. After completing it, the university proposed retaining me, but my father rejected the idea, insisting that since I had been brought home by the Federal Government, I had to work with the Federal Ministry. When I told him that UNILORIN was willing to refund the government the expenses incurred in bringing me back home, he maintained that I must honour the agreement I had with the government. Upon reporting to the Ministry in 1982, I was posted to the Federal College of Education, Kontagora, Niger State (now University of Kontagora). The school appointed me as Registrar, Dean of Science, and Head of the Chemistry Department. In 1983, I was transferred to the Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River, as a pioneer Registrar, where I rose to the position of Chief Lecturer – the highest academic rank in Colleges of Education. In 1992, I was made Acting Provost. In 1993, I left the school and joined the Federal Ministry of Education, where I was appointed Deputy Director in charge of Nigerian universities. I retired in 2013. However, while in the Ministry, I also worked with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, as an Associate Professor. In 2014, I was made a substantive professor of Chemistry. While in the Ministry, I also established an NGO. In 2005, when Oby Ezekwesili was appointed Minister of Education, she merged my department – Technology and Science Education – with the Department of Basic and Secondary Education. I opposed the merger. Subsequently, she sent the names of some of us she considered uncooperative to the Head of Service. When I got to the HoS, he asked if I remembered him. I said no. He then told me he had been my student and that I taught him Chemistry. He said none of my students could ever forget me because I used to hold classes as early as 4 am. He was right because no student could afford to miss my classes. After each lecture, I would give them assignments, and in the next class, I would conduct a five-minute test based on those assignments, which also served as attendance. Students who missed class scored zero. They were all very serious and came to class with torchlights or candles, or lanterns, as the UNILORIN permanent site had no electricity at the time. A student who attended my classes regularly always performed very well.
Q: Did your students like you?
A My students named me a warrior. My upbringing in the United States was quite different from that of my colleagues in Nigeria. In the USA, lecturers are expected to be closer to their students so that the students can understand the kind of person they are. In 1993, I was appointed a part-time lecturer in Chemistry at the Federal School of Arts and Science, Ogoja, – the last set of A-Level students. The man who had been teaching Chemistry spent too much time talking about history and preaching. But we don’t preach in Chemistry; you go straight to the point. You don’t laugh too much with your students; they must understand that what you are doing is serious business. After the HOD introduced me to the students, I then asked why only 13 students were in class and what happened to the remaining 19. They said they didn’t know I was coming. They wanted our classes to start at 9am, but I told them that my classes were fixed for 4 am. I also told them that only those who attended my classes would be allowed to sit for the subject in the A-L Examination. With that rule in place, no one could miss my class. In the end, they performed excellently, and the school emerged as the overall best in Chemistry that year in Nigeria
Q: How many children did your father have?
A: He had 19 – 10 females and nine males. Three have passed away. So, we currently have eight females and nine males.
Q: How many wives gave birth to the 19 children?
A: Seven wives.
Q: Growing up as the son of Chief Adedibu, how did that shape your perspective on leadership and service?
A: It has taught me that courage, contentment, refusal to be wrongly used, and the ability to fight for one’s rights are important virtues of good leaders.
Q: To what extent has your father’s influence helped you?
A: My father’s influence has not played a significant role in what I am today. His influence didn’t get me a job with the federal government. I earned it on merit.
Q: What was the political philosophy of late Adedibu?
A: He believed he could never lose. He used native intelligence to handle issues. You couldn’t go to my father and say you wanted to be a local government chairman; until you were endorsed by the people in your local government, you couldn’t have my father’s support.
Q: Do you think the leadership style of late Adedibu can work today?
A: No, it can’t. Most of today’s leaders can’t behave like him. He never spent money alone. He would spend every kobo given to him in a particular day without leaving a penny. Sometimes, he even used his personal money. People believed that he lived on political money, but that’s not true. He lived on contracts. He was a contractor who got jobs from the federal government – building schools, roads, and hospital construction.
Q: Why did he ask for a certain percentage of the state security vote from Ladoja?
A: People said so.
Q: I heard it from him.
A: Only politicians understand how to play politics. The usual agreement is that a wealthier politician sponsors another’s political ambition with the intent to recoup his money once the sponsored candidate gets into office. Let me tell you why my father refused to put me in politics. First, we never agreed on anything. Why? My father believed in dictatorship. If two people wanted the same political office, he would favour the less qualified because such a person could easily be controlled. He believed that a well-educated, knowledgeable, and exposed person can’t be controlled. For instance, if my father made you a local government chairman, he would appoint a less educated person as the chairman’s personal assistant – often against the chairman’s preference for a degree holder. The chairman couldn’t say no because my father was the one who put him there. With respect to my father and Oba Ladoja, no one truly knows what transpired between them. After my father’s death, I wanted to write a book in his honour, but I was advised against it. I was told to allow someone else to write it while I support with materials, I could lay my hands on. One of the documents I found revealed that Governor (now Oba) Ladoja wanted to appoint me as Commissioner for Education, but my father refused on the basis that I didn’t participate in their electioneering campaign. My father spent most of his life on people’s children with little consideration for his own. The only privilege we had from him was the opportunity given to my junior brother, Kamorudeen Adedibu, who was brought from the United States to become a senator. The late Otunba Adebayo Alao-Alao once told me that my father rejected his proposal to appoint me as a Commissioner for Finance because he believed I would not allow them to be reckless with government funds. In politics, only those who can be used by the kingmakers are usually given appointments.
Q: What has changed between the politics of now and then?
A: Things have gotten worse. Today’s politics is a politics of bitterness. The politicians of today are wicked. During elections, they will give out N5,000 to the electorates who will vote for them. If you divide N5,000 by the number of days in four years, it means the politicians have given you something like two kobo per day for four years. Yet, people will line up under the sun for N5,000. After collecting the money, they vote for the politician who has given them this money. After winning elections, the electorate can no longer reach them. They don’t care about the people who voted them into office. In 2019, I was invited to serve as the chairman of the Atiku Vanguard. I asked the group what their responses would be if Atiku Abubakar asked them to mention their needs. The women said they wanted sponsorship to Jerusalem and Mecca, while the men said they wanted money to buy rice. I told them they were not qualified to see Atiku. I added that, if given the opportunity, I would ask for the completion of the Ibadan airport and an increase in job slots for Oyo State. That was the end of that meeting – they never called for another one.
Q: People see your father from different perspectives – a thug, a strongman of Ibadan politics, and a garrison commander of politics, among others. How do you see him?
A: He was a loving father.
Q: What do you think people misunderstand the most about Chief Adedibu?
A: People don’t believe that he has high-calibre children like me, a professor, and a senator like Kamorudeen. Many people saw my late father as a stark illiterate, without appreciating his native intelligence.
Q: What lesson from the political life of Adedibu is still relevant for today’s leaders?
A: Today’s politicians are not straightforward; they can’t be controlled, and there is no unity among them. Some of them are confusionists. When my father was alive, if there was a disagreement, he would wake up very early in the morning and go to the house of the person creating the problem. If money was the problem, he would give the person money for peace’s sake. But if, after collecting the money, the person continued causing trouble, my late father would order that the person be brought, and he would teach him a lesson.
Q: Is that the story behind “go and bring him here”?
A: Yes. The political leaders of today are greedy, and they have lost their senses. They collect money from many aspirants vying for the same position and end up playing double standards. I’d like to talk about late General Shehu Yar’Adua and the Zero party. There was a time Chief Olu Falae came to my late father with ₦4 million. He wanted to run for president. My father told him that he would get votes, but not sufficient votes to make him the president. He advised him to take his money back, but Falae refused. He was there when my father shared his money. Later, Yar’Adua, who also wanted to contest, came and gave my father ₦10 million. Yar’Adua also bought four vehicles for four states – Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, and Ondo. Out of those four states, Yar’Adua won three. Late Lateef Jakande lost in Lagos, while Falae won only in Ondo State. What many people don’t know is that it was based on that election that my father was able to convince Yar’Adua to support MKO Abiola during the SDP primary in Jos. When the primary election was approaching, Segun Osoba, Jakande, and other progressives came to my father and accused him of selling out the Yoruba to Yar’Adua, which they said made them lose the presidential election. They then asked him to speak to Yar’Adua to support MKO Abiola’s candidacy. My father eventually spoke to Yar’Adua, who agreed to back MKO, secure the SDP presidential ticket, and eventually won the June 12 Presidential election, which then President Ibrahim Badamasi Babngida later annulled.
Q: How do you assess President Bola Tinubu’s administration?
A: Tinubu may be a nice man, but the people working with him may be creating problems for him. If a president fails, those working with him would have played a major role in his failure. Tinubu has good intentions for Nigeria, but the people around him are not telling him the truth. Only a few APC members say things as they are. Another question is, even if you tell him the truth, will he listen?
Q: During Tinubu’s electioneering campaign, Nigerians feared that he would tax the life out of them. Isn’t that what his administration is doing now?
A: Of course, yes. We pay for what we don’t use. We are paying tax on electricity – but where is the light now? Things have to be done gradually.
Q: What is your opinion on the police tinted-glass permit??
A: What business does the police have with tinted glass? Why is the police turning itself into a revenue collector? Why should I be charged for buying a car with factory-fitted tinted glass? All the money this government is forcing us to pay, what are they using it for? Where is the money going? We don’t have electricity, there’s no water, and most of our roads are in terrible condition. Tinubu keeps increasing taxes in different forms. How many politicians are paying taxes? How much are they paying? The only way Tinubu can win the 2027 presidential election is by reducing the pay of the political office holders, including the legislators. The American system that our government claims to be copying is not being practised the way it should be. The legislature has become a mere rubber stamp – everything the executive sends to them is approved without thorough scrutiny. Government policies favour those in power and their allies. What happens to the ordinary Nigerians? It’s now difficult for the average person to afford even one meal a day. By next year, they will start their political games again. They’ll begin to reduce prices. Fuel may even go back to ₦200 per litre, and we will be happy. But after the election, the price will rise again, maybe even to ₦2000.
Q: So, how do we put an end to poor governance in Nigeria?
A: There is no democracy in Nigeria. The election we had in 2023 did not produce a democratically elected president for Nigeria. In fact, we don’t even have a president.
Q: What about President Tinubu?
A: He is not our president. Tinubu was not voted for. We either elect or select a president. Tinubu was not elected by Nigerians – he was selected and imposed on us. Nigeria’s population is over 200 million. According to the analysis, about 70 million people registered to vote across the federation, but only 30 million actually voted. Those 30 million voters represent less than 40 percent of Nigerians. So, how can we say someone who emerged under such circumstances is our president or a democratically elected one? Our major problem in this country is tribalism. Nigeria can’t progress until we remove tribalism from our hearts. In the United States, the government doesn’t build houses for legislators. But in Nigeria, public funds are used for lawmakers who still collect housing allowances. For what purpose? That is why you see them killing one another during the elections.
Q: How do you react to the agitation of ordinary Nigerians demanding a negotiation of the country’s continued existence – to determine whether we should remain together or not?
A: A clause in the amalgamation agreement stated that after staying together for 100 years, we could decide whether we want to continue as one nation or not. It’s been over 100 years now, yet we have not sat down to determine whether we want to continue to stay together. For me, I believe we should return to the regional system of government. In 2027, the Yoruba will not allow someone from another region to take the presidency from them. The Igbo are also agitating. Why this agitation? Because if an Igbo becomes president, his cabinet will be dominated by Igbos; the same goes for a Hausa, Yoruba, or Fulani. Whoever becomes president tends to favour his tribe. That is why I believe we should return to the regional system of government.
Q: What is your assessment of Governor Seyi Makinde?
A: He is a God-fearing man, an achiever, and a very diplomatic being. People are saying he wants to run for president. If he does, it will be a tough battle.
Q: Does he have a chance?
A: He has a chance. The people we should fear now are members of ADC because they know a lot about Tinubu. Some of the ADC members are from APC. They know certain things about Tinubu that some of us don’t. By 2026, sensitive information will start coming out. People will be shocked by some of the despicable things that these ADC members may reveal about Tinubu. Only God knows who will become Nigeria’s next president in 2027.
Q: Can you vote for Tinubu?
A: If he changes, I will vote for him.
Q: Will you vote for Peter Obi?
A: No
Q: Will you vote for Atiku Abubakar?
A: I may vote for Atiku
Q: Will you vote for Seyi Makinde?
A: Why not? I will vote for Seyi Makinde.
Q: Between Atiku and Makinde, who will you vote for?
A: I will vote for Seyi Makinde. The problem with Atiku is that he has been contesting for so long. Nobody is clean; not all politicians are clean.
Q: Compare Atiku with Tinubu?
A: They are the same. Atiku and Tinubu are not different. Since Tinubu came into power, our economy has not improved. The situation now is worse than before. The nation’s debt under Tinubu is higher than what Muhammadu Buhari left behind. Ordinary people are suffering under Tinubu’s administration. Tinubu needs a new formula that will favour common people. If you tax ordinary people two percent, you should charge the wealthy five percent. But now, both the rich and the poor are taxed the same way. For instance, in the USA, there are cheaper government houses for low-income earners. Tinubu ought to properly examine any foreign system he wants to adopt to see whether it is suitable for Nigeria or not. You don’t just bring in foreign policies or law and impose them on your people overnight. Why are we borrowing educational systems that are not suitable for Nigeria? Why can’t we create our own curriculum? We adopted the 6-3-3-4 system in the 80s, and it failed. Only one county in the U.S. operates the 6-3-3-4. In 1984, I said that within 10 years, the 6-3-3-4 would fail – and it did. Why? I am a product of Indiana. Indiana has 92 counties, and each has a different educational system. In Nigeria, the government keeps changing the syllabus and the curriculum indiscriminately. Why? This is sad.
Q: As a seasoned civil servant, who is more corrupt – the politicians or the civil servants?
A: Politicians are more corrupt than civil servants. As a civil servant, you take an oath of allegiance to be faithful to your place of work. If you are found guilty of misconduct, you will be dismissed. That is why civil servants are usually very careful. Once a civil servant is dismissed, no matter how many years they have spent, they lose all their entitlements and benefits, including pension and gratuity. But for politicians, it’s different. If a politician spends public money recklessly, nothing happens. The most that will be done is to recover the money, and that ends the matter.
Q: If your father was alive, what do you think would have been his position regarding the lesser Obas?
A: God knows why some of the high chiefs died before this thing happened. When you are in a position, many people will come around to advise you – often wrongly. Because you don’t want to lose them, you end up listening to them. Ibadan has a culture, but some traditional rulers want to become emergency obas.
Q: What do you think your father would say if he were allowed to speak from his grave?
A: He would say, “Let there be peace in Nigeria.” He would also advise Nigerian leaders to work together, move the country forward, and stop creating enmity among themselves.
Q: As a member of the governing council of Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, how is the school faring, and what plan does your council have for it?
A: The school is growing very well. We have good students, and our student population is about 10,000. Our students are going into their third year this year. We also have a committed academic staff. Recently, we concluded a promotion interview for staff who were absorbed from the defunct College of Education. As the youngest university of education in Nigeria, I assure you that we are on track to become better than the older universities in the country. However, we still face many challenges. First, most of our structures are incomplete, and we need assistance. Recently, a letter was sent to my family requesting that we complete a building that will be named after my late father, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, and we are working on it. We are appealing to well-meaning Nigerians to come to our aid by helping us complete these structures. The governing council is doing its best to ensure that the university performs better than others academically. Our main responsibility is to maintain a high academic standard, and we don’t condone indiscipline.
