His widely acknowledged selfless services to Osogbo, from his days as a young teacher at the Ifaki-Ekiti Methodist Girls High School, Ifaki-Ekiti between 1970 and 1975, were crowned in a space of few months when he was installed the Asipa and Asiwaju of Osogbo respectively in 2022.
The insightful Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun justified his choice of Chief Abdulfatai Ajadi Adekilekun Badmus, born on May 28, 1941, as holder of the two key titles on the moral ground that his antecedent in the growth of Osogbo worked in his favour for the unprecedented feat.
Badmus first shot at the service of Osogbo started in 1972 when the then Western State Ministry of Education appointed him as member of the Board of Governors of the St Charles Grammar School, Osogbo. Not minding the hazard involved on the bumpy road, he was regularly shuttling between Ifaki-Ekiti and Osogbo to either attend meetings of the board or undertake other duties assigned him.
In 1977, he was appointed secretary of the Osogbo Educational Advancement Committee (OEAC) headed by a retired Principal of the Osogbo Grammar School, Pa J.L. Omigbodun who explored Badmus’ enthusiasm to serve and his youthful energy to record a significant success in the establishment of what is today known as the Ataoja High School in 1978. The school was named the Urban Day Grammar School to join the existing six secondary schools in the town.
In a smart collaboration with the then Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Iyiola Oyewale Matanmi (1976-2010), Badmus turned to Osogbo Muslim community and preached to them a sermon on the need to have a muslim community-owned secondary school. The proposal received the blessing of the community, and the then Muslim Community Grammar School was founded in 1979 on the expansive acres now hosting the Fountain University, Osogbo.
The subsequent explosion in the figure of secondary schools in Osogbo had Badmus direct connection in his choice of locations and names of the new schools approved by the Bola Ige admnistration shortly after his sworn in ceremony inside the mainbowl of the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan on October 1, 1979.
Laro Grammar School, Timehin Grammar School, Ogidan Grammar School, Oroki Grammar School, Nawar-ud-deen Grammar School and Islaudeen Grammar School wear an imprint of Badmus on the spot each of them stand today.
Although he was not the pioneer principal of the Muslim Grammar School Osogbo (one Mr Ogunmeisa was briefly), Badmus arrived in 1980 and became the personification of the school for his undisguised commitment to its infrastructural, academic and extracurricular development that posed a threat to the first generation secondary schools in Osogbo and Oyo State as a whole.
In his tireless struggle to bequeath standard structures with beautiful layouts to the school, he effectively put into use his rare prodigy of a proud holder of Bachelor of Science degree from the elitist University of Lagos where he studied Geography from 1967 to 1970. He also studied Education and obtained Post Graduate Diploma from the University of Ibadan between 1975 and 1976.
In addition, this reporter was a member of the school Volleyball team that defeated others and won the Oyo State secondary schools Volleyball championship at the Liberty Stadium in March 1983.
Besides, quality and quantity of Muslim Grammar School facilities, he strictly supervised as principal, impressed the Nasiru-Lai-Faithi society (NASFAT), an Islam propagation group, to site their Fountain University in Osogbo in 2007. Till his transition on October 13, management of the university never downplayed his role at the foundational stage of the school.
Consequent upon his ground-breaking record of accomplishments at the Muslim Grammar School Osogbo, Badmus was transferred to Osogbo Grammar School in November 1991, thereby emerging the very first Muslim in that office.
Notwithstanding his term at the Osogbo premier grammar school, founded in 1950, was short, he made his usual mark as a dutiful principal with a unique blueprint to make the school more competitive among secondary schools in Nigeria.
That attainment between November 1991 and January 1992 earned him a sendforth during which teachers, one after the other, were pouring out their hearts on him as the indefatigable boss they loved to have for a long time.
Shortly after his inauguration as the first Executive Governor of the then newly created Osun State, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke appointed Badmus as his Special Adviser on Education based on his profile of achievements as a foremost school principal.
The reluctant Badmus, who needed to be tricked to the office of Governor Adeleke by Oba Oyewale to accept the offer, served in that capacity between 1992 and 1993 when the military led by the goggled General Sani Abacha struck on November 17, 1993.
Out of the government without any stain, another high profile job, however, found him most suitable. He was appointed the pioneer Executive Chairman, Osun State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM). From 1993, Badmus piloted the administration of the commission with his natural spartan approach that earned him friends and, of course, opponents in almost equal measure.
A military administrator in 1998 almost embarrassed him by visiting his office unannounced apparently to sniff an alleged infraction and expose Badmus as a corrupt chairman in contrast to the angel image he portrayed in the public. However, the stern-looking soldier had to bow to a comprehensive details with which the self-assured Badmus fed him on the spot.
“That was Governor Bamigboye on September 11, 1998. It was a special Friday for me. He came and complained of salary and also accused me of hoarding ghost workers. I was angry but I kept my cool; I explained the procedure and told him how I was returning unspent fund to the state accountant general office. He left,” Badmus revealed.
Done with the TESCOM assignment with mixed reactions, he also emerged the National President of the Osogbo Progressives Union (OPU) Chairman as successor to a legal practitioner, Barrister Kunle Odetoyinbo who was said to have persuasively asked him to receive the baton from him.
Convinced by Odetoyinbo’s intention, Badmus stepped into his shoes and served for two terms with an array of credits and controversies, a few of which accompanied him to his grave. He was accused of being an accomplice to the fractured OPU after his tenure, an allegation he would always deny with the name of God and his integrity.
Until his death, Badmus was chairman of the rejuvenated Osogbo Action Council (OAC), a task force-like body that comprises Osogbo intellectuals and professionals to address general issues about development of Osogbo.
Before it entered inactivity, the OAC was founded by Oba Oyewale in 1981 with Badmus as foundation secretary on whose table laid information and correspondences about operations of the body.
When President Sheu Shagari was on an official visit to Osogbo for the commissioning of the now snoring Osogbo Steel Rolling Mill on April 30, 1983, Badmus it was that read Osogbo welcome address to the president.
Lately, in his capacity as chairman of the OAC and the Asiwaju of Osogbo combined, Badmus was at the forefront of sustained efforts that restored the sitting of the Airforce Base in Osogbo, according to the recommendation of the Nigerian Airforce authorities in the Federal Capital Territory then headed by Air Marshal Isiaka Amoo, the Chief of Air Staff till 2023.
Though he is no longer alive to see his unrelenting efforts on the Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) transformed to his wish, his commitment to it has challenged Osogbo to ensure the town is not denied the institute.
In 2012, when Osogbo Muslim community decided to complete the construction of the Central Mosque and Osogbo Central Prayer Ground, they looked out for Badmus, their trusted son of high-voltage integrity, to pilot what they called the Osogbo Central Mosque Management Council. Badmus graciously accepted the offer spelt out in a letter of appointment dated February 22, 2012.
In a military alacrity, he hit the ground running, passionately investing his strength into the execution of the project, even though, according to him, he faced a certain circumstance that tested his patience and consequently prompted him to resign his post.
“I didn’t prepare for the incident that happened after they had specified the terms of reference of the management council. I later rescinded my decision but it is on record that I reacted accordingly to what went in contrast to what I was there to do,” he replied this reporter during a no-holds-barred conversation.
Being a revered community leader who would not compromise adherence to orderliness, till a week to his departure, his modest GRA residence was a confluence where individuals and groups met in search of his assistance in either signing letters of recommendation for opportunities or seeking clarification on important issues among other purposes, not excluding holding meetings with him.
Married to his wife, Mrs Gbelewande Bolanle Badmus at a marriage registry on December 3, 1977, Asiwaju, father of Kamila, Jumoke, Bukola, Ladi and Tobi, was a family man with a non-discriminatory disposition between paternal and maternal members. His two houses (on Osogbo-Ikirun highway, his resting place, and the GRA, Osogbo) conspicuously bear his paternal and maternal identities-Ayogun and Ogboriefon respectively. In these two families, he was a bridge builder between the old and the youths, the latter who found him accessible for their needs.
Once asked by this distraught reporter over a widespread innuendo about an alleged cracked relationship with his younger brother who doubles as the Asiwaju Musulumi of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta States, Alhaji Tunde Badmus, in a solemn tone, he expressed his distress over the subject and stated that he was also always embarrassed by it.
However, he admitted that he was not always on the same page with his brother just as he added that he expected his brother to also exercise his independent mind on issues of his interest.
Nonetheless, he said, “it is not possible for me to fight with my brother. Our mother didn’t have more than two of us for our father. And I happen to be the eldest. You can see the reason I can’t afford to fight with him. But mind you, we can disagree. That is natural, and there is nothing we can do about that. But we disagree on principle, we don’t disagree on sentiments. If he comes around now, you will see how he would greet me with full compliment according to our culture. I am open to him and I am even prepared to end all these speculations which are not good for us as brothers and the town.”
This much is further confirmed in his book titled ‘My Archive’, in which
Badmus reveals how he went to his brother’s residence and both drove in one car to their Ayogun family compound in Isale Osun and locked themselves inside a room during which they talked over the controversy and returned to the GRA immediately. That was in 2019, according to him.
Just like individuals who lived and died for development of their towns and communities but faced persecution, Badmus also had a taste in 1983 despite his innocence of the reason his opponents went after him.
For two days, he was a captive inside a dark, stinking cell at the Oke fia Divisional Police Headquarters after he had been successfully set up for arrest over a political allegation, of which he knew next to nothing.
In his account, he recalled, “The small cell was not a place for any decent human being. It was permanently dark and filled with offensive body odour of eight of us packed together like confirmed criminals.”
Likewise, he had, a year earlier, suffered a bout of misinterpretation of intention as principal of Muslim Grammar School Osogbo. In 1982, some parents and guardians dragged his name to an Ibadan-based television ombudsman programme over an evening class Badmus organised to increase students study hours for better performances.
Provoked and frustrated, Badmus, who was a former A Level student of Chief Afe Babalola, the legal lion and founder of the fast-rising Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) Ado-Ekiti, had to close that extra class with immediate effect. Against expectations to see him sanctioned by the Oyo State Government, permission of which he didn’t seek before his extra lesson discretion, he was spared and even given a pat in the back behind the curtain, though.
Regrettably, he told this reporter, “Effect of that disruption of the evening class was damaging as we later witnessed in the performances of the first set students at the West African School Certificate Examination in May/June 1984. Only 8 students had above five credits. 21 had above five passes. 18 had above three passes and 6 had less than three passes. These results pained me to the marrow. But I am happy today that some of the students are doing well in their various callings.”
Badmus was an advocate of fairness and social justice such that he never used his status, as man of the people, to oppress or appropriate public benefits to himself. There is no record that he lobbied for positions or put his hard-earned money down to buy titles.
This is evident in a number of offers thrown at him but which he declined. He was tipped to be chairman of the old Osogbo Local Government and a member of the Constituent Assembly. No! At different times too, he was also pushed forward for a seat in the House of Representatives and the defunct Oyo State House of Assembly. He rejected them. Similarly, he was offered commissionership in Oyo State and a honorary doctorate at the Bradley University, USA. As usual, he turned them down.
Rather than chasing recognitions about, his landmark in his chosen profession won him a prestigious honour exclusive to very exceptional school principals in Nigeria.
On August 28, 2001, at its Annual General Meeting hosted at the Kangiwa Square in Sokoto, the Sokoto State capital, the All Nigerian Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPS), conferred on Badmus the Principal Emeritus of Nigeria (PEN).
His ‘obstinacy’, particularly on Osogbo affairs pushed him against the establishment. But he would always laugh last. He stood his ground against the Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration (2003 and 2010) on the approval of the Osun State University. It was a war of mental muscle between Badmus and the retired General.
Oyinlola and Badmus, however, would later become friends with the former governor often attending his private functions in his compound and drop complimentary words about him. At the three-day fidau for Badmus on October 15, the Okuku Prince explained that he had to alter his schedule for the day to attend the programme in honour of the Asiwaju.
Nonetheless, Badmus was not created an angel who was unerring and next to God; his 83 years and four months sojourn on the soil of earth witnessed a few known and probably unknown slips that reconfirmed him as a mere mortal.
In words and actions, he was as intolerant to anything he considered frivolous as he was inflexible even when he should have bent to achieve more results. His subordinates would need to be strong mentally, physically and emotionally to cope with his way and pace. He wouldn’t create a space for manipulation or exploitation.
When he should be relaxing his bones and brain in his room, sipping from a cup of coffee, he was on the site with his artisans, for instance, critically monitoring and meticulously taking records of materials and prudent use of the materials.
Occasionally, he inadvertently put up a flash of an insensitive fellow who could delay his guests beyond the guests alloted time for their visits to him, especially when the topic was about Osogbo, Osun State and education, in that order.
Indisputably, Badmus loved Osogbo, and Osun State Governor, Asiwaju Ademola Adeleke noted this, attesting that he was an instrument to the ongoing physical development of the state capital, once mocked by a military administrator as a glorified local government headquarters.
The governor affirmed, “As a lover of his people, the late Asiwaju would regularly reach out to me reminding me of one thing or the other to do about the project for his people.”
Badmus also loved the Ataoja whom he maintained is a child of destiny, in reference to his voyage to the stool of his forebears in September 2010 and his unprecedented conferment of two titles on him under four months.
Less than 24 hours to his journey to Abuja where he eventually passed on, despite his silent feeling of discomfort, Badmus made it to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, as a member of the Ataoja’s circle at his son’s wedding graced by dignitaries, including representatives of Osun State Government.
“Naturally my loyalty must go to Kabiyesi as his chief on whom he reposed much confidence on matters concerning Osogbo development. I thank him for being a vehicle for the fulfilment of my destiny at the latter part of my life,” he submitted in an emotion-laden voice.
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