Fajuyi Memorial (July 29)
Lt.Col.Adekunle Fajuyi (1926-1966)
By Femi Alufa
Lt Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, BEM (26 June 1926 – 29 July 1966) was the first military governor of the former Western Region, Nigeria. Originally a clerk, the late Lt. Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi of Ado Ekiti joined the Army in 1943 as a Non Commissioned Officer, and he was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1951 for helping to contain a mutiny in his unit over food rations.
He was trained at the now defunct Eaton Hall OCS in the UK from July 1954 until November 1954 when he was short service commissioned Lieutenant, backdated to March 1952. In 1961, as the ‘C’ Company Commander with the 4QONR under Lt. Col. Price, Major Fajuyi was awarded the M.C. for actions in North Katanga and extricating his unit from an ambush.
On completion of Congo operations Fajuyi became the first indigenous Battalion Commander of the 1st battalion in Enugu, a position he held until just before the first coup of January 1966 when he was posted to Abeokuta as Garrison Commander.
When Major General Ironsi emerged as the new C-in-C on 17 January 1966, he appointed Fajuyi the first military governor of the Western Region.
He was assassinated by the revenge seeking counter-coupists led by Major T. Y Danjuma on 29 July 1966 at Ibadan, along with General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, the Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; who had arrived in Ibadan on 28 July 1966 to address a conference of natural rulers of Western Nigeria.
By dusk, he was through with the assignment and was prepared to head back to Lagos, but his host, Lt. Colonel Fajuyi, convinced him to spend the night at the Government House, Ibadan.
The bloody overthrow of the civilian regime of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s government had taken place six months earlier in which the Prime Minister and other top government functionaries especially of Northern Nigerian extraction were killed.
The coup (seen then as a revolution) was successful in the North but failed in the South. Ironically, Aguiyi-Ironsi who did not participate in the violent bloodletting inherited the pieces of a shattered Republic by virtue of his seniority in the armed forces.
Yet, he was a victim of the counter-coup that claimed his life alongside his courageous host, Fajuyi. Fajuyi did all he could to persuade Danjuma not to kill Ironsi but when he saw that Danjuma insisted, he told him that he could not allow him unless he (Fajuyi) was killed first. This Danjuma did before going after Ironsi himself.
“Those of us who have had the privilege of serving with Lieutenant-Colonel Fajuyi draw consolation from knowledge of the fact that his sense of honour and duty is such that he would not shrink from making the supreme sacrifice in their defence.
This brave son of Western Nigeria will for ever live in our memory as a beacon of light to generations of Nigerian Army officers and Statesmen. We will always remember him as a worthy and distinguished Yoruba Army officer whose act of bravery in war and peace are unmatched by any in the history of this nation. He was a gallant soldier, a true patriot and a most able administrator.
His outstanding military records notwithstanding, Lieutenant-Colonel Fajuyi was a man dedicated to the cause of peace and given to the spirit of tolerance and moderation in the Councils of State.
Wherever he served, within the Army or in civil administration, Lieutenant-Colonel Fajuyi’s character and authority commanded involuntary respect; he has a special place in the hearts of all of us and we will always remember him. I join with the people of Western Nigeria in doing honour to the memory of a truly great man and in giving expression, publicly, to our debt of gratitude and deep appreciation for the manner in which he conducted the affairs of this Region and for the supreme sacrifice which he made on behalf of us all. We owe him more than we can repay. May his soul rest in peace.”
Credits: Wikipedia, TRIBUTE to Lieutenant- Colonel Adekunle FAJUYI; By His Excellency Colonel Robert Adeyinka Adebayo, Military Governor of Western Nigeria. January, 1967.
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