On 3rd May, 2025, Chief Samuel Ayodele Adebanjo, the leader of Afenifere and the last of Nigeria’s First Republic Political Titans, was finally laid to rest in his compound at Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State, after a funeral service at St. Phillips Anglican Church, Isanya Ogbo. The burial planning committee, headed by Dr. Biodun Shobanjo, OON, ensured that Pa Ayo Adebanjo received the burial he would have wanted and deserved. Many distinguished Nigerians from all walks of life, such as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, former President of Nigeria, and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, former Vice President of Nigeria, attended the funeral service. The leadership of all the major organizations that he belonged to or was associated with, like Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Pan Niger Delta Development Forum (PANDEF), and Middle Belt Forum, participated actively in his burial. The federal government and all the southwestern state governments were also involved.
As a close non-biological son of Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the family requested that I join them in putting the symbolic soil in his grave that signifies Return to Nature, Respect, Closure and Final Goodbye, which I felt highly honored to have had the opportunity to perform.
According to Pa Ayo Adebanjo – “The Nigeria of our dream is the Nigeria In Which The Child Of The Big Man And The Child Of The Masses Have Equal Opportunity”. Now that he is gone, it is now left for all Nigerians who share in his Vision of Nigeria to honor his memory by recommitting to the tough battle ahead for A NIGERIA THAT WORKS FOR ALL.
