When the definitive chronicle of Nigeria’s political evolution, media resistance, and cultural renaissance is written, few names will appear as boldly, as defiantly, and as enduringly as that of High Chief Tola Adeniyi -Jagun Oodua – whose life has been a relentless testament to courage, conviction, and unyielding integrity.
Today, May 29, 2025, as he turns 80, the moment is not merely a personal milestone -it is a national occasion. A celebration of intellectual fearlessness. A homage to artistic excellence. A salute to a life of courage.
For over five decades, Akogun Adeniyi has stood tall and firm – undaunted by power, undistracted by privilege, unbroken by persecution. Journalist, poet, dramatist, actor, administrator, cultural revivalist, nationalist, and unrelenting critic of authoritarianism – he is many things, but above all, he is Nigeria’s undying conscience. In a country known for its short memory and elite betrayal, he remains one of the few living icons who never abandoned the people for the comfort of power. In his youth, he fought injustice with fire. At 80, the fire still burns bright, refusing to be dimmed by time or disillusionment.
To speak of Chief Adeniyi’s bravery is to begin an epic. A story of endless confrontation with tyranny, hypocrisy, and the daily betrayals of public office. From the dark days of military dictatorship to the murky waters of Nigeria’s failed democratic experiments, Adeniyi has never flinched.
He stared down dictators and called their bluff. He wrote truth into existence in a time when truth was costly. While others trembled under the weight of censorship or ran into exile, he stood his ground. “During the repressive military regimes of the 70s, 80s, and 90s,” he once recounted, “when many journalists fell silent, I wielded my pen like a sword.”
Indeed, it was not just a metaphor. At a time when press freedom was an illusion, Tola Adeniyi made the pen a dangerous weapon – deadly in precision, unstoppable in intent. His columns were not mere words; they were acts of defiance. As Aba Saheed—his pseudonym adopted during the most repressive periods – he fired shots of satire and searing truth that haunted powerbrokers in Dodan Barracks and beyond. He was detained, harassed, and trailed, but he never capitulated. No price was too high for a man who believed that silence in the face of oppression was treason.
That rare breed of courage was evident even in his student days. As he recalled in a recent interview with this writer, “In the university, I led the group to a professor’s house and forced him to carry a bag of rice on his head because he stole our rice… It was 2am. We frog-marched him with a 50kg bag of rice.” It was not a prank; it was a protest. A symbolic stand against theft and betrayal from authority figures who were supposed to be caretakers. That same rebellious streak, that refusal to accommodate impunity, has defined his entire life.
But courage, in Chief Adeniyi’s case, is never blind. It is matched with astonishing intellect and a literary depth that dazzles. Born May 29, 1945, in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, to a devout Muslim family, his early education in Quranic schools instilled discipline and philosophical grounding.
From those humble roots emerged a linguistic maestro who wove together the grandeur of Yoruba oral tradition with the elegance of classical English. His essays and oratory possess both the ferocity of thunder and the music of poetry. Whether addressing academics, traditional rulers, or market women, he delivered his message with clarity, humour, and conviction.
This literary heritage found form in his prodigious works. From Teenagers Must Repent (1964) to Soul Fire (1974), The Lunatic (1976), Deaths in the Thighs (2001), and the haunting In the Belly of Vultures (2018), Akogun has chronicled the Nigerian condition like a surgeon with a penknife. His prose bleeds truth. His fiction mirrors our dysfunction. His plays are sermons of the soul, daring society to confront its hypocrisy. Even his biography of HID Awolowo, The Jewel, is more than a tribute – it is a masterclass in dignified storytelling.
Yet, it is not just what he wrote but what he stood for that sets him apart. Tola Adeniyi was never content to merely diagnose Nigeria’s ailments – he shouted solutions from rooftops, long before they became mainstream. As far back as 1983, he convened a press conference in Ibadan warning the Shehu Shagari regime that the country was perched on the edge of an abyss. “Unless the national question was addressed,” he said, “Nigeria was sitting on a time bomb.” The government ignored the warning. Months later, the military struck. But Akogun had already read the signs. He was not a prophet; he was simply paying attention.
And he has not stopped. Even at 80, his clarity of thought remains unsparing. “Looking back,” he said recently, “we are a hundred miles backwards. In other words, we have retrogressed by 100 percent instead of progressing by 100 percent. So, we’re not where I thought we should be. It’s just not it.”
Such brutal honesty is rare among Nigeria’s ageing elites, many of whom pretend, out of convenience or guilt, that the nation is still on course. Not Akogun. He doesn’t deceive himself. He understands that a country founded on falsehood and sustained by injustice cannot have a future. “As far as what is called Nigeria is concerned,” he insists, “there’s no future. It is going to collapse. No country run this way can ever survive.”
Such declarations are not born of despair but of deep understanding. He has watched Nigeria squander generation after generation. He has seen hopes dashed and dreams trampled. He fought for a better Nigeria with the fire of youth, but time has made him a realist. Not a cynic, but a prophet of truth. He is not afraid to admit what many won’t whisper: that the foundational rot of Nigeria is too deep for cosmetic reforms. It is either restructure or rupture.
And still, even in pessimism, he remains purposeful. While others have given up or sold out, Chief Adeniyi continues to mentor, to write, to inspire. He is a moral compass for a generation drowning in opportunism. His commitment to Nigeria’s cultural heritage remains undiminished. As a trained actor, choreographer, director, and cultural advocate, he has invested time and resources in preserving Yoruba and African traditions.
Through initiatives like the Tola Adeniyi Foundation for Theatre and the Arts, he has championed African identity without slipping into bigotry. His Yoruba pride is not exclusionary – it is a gateway to Pan-African solidarity.
This balance – between ethnic rootedness and national unity, between firebrand activism and refined art, between street wisdom and intellectual finesse – is what makes Akogun unique. He is not just a columnist. He is not just a dramatist. He is not just a cultural elder. He is a force. A movement. A reminder that one man’s life can be a continuous resistance against the moral decay of a nation.
At 80, many retreat to comfort. Chief Adeniyi presses on. He still writes. He still agitates. He still lends his voice to those silenced by oppression. He still believes in honesty, probity, and justice – those ancient virtues that he once fought for as a student and now still insists upon as a sage. His memory is sharp. His voice, commanding. His laughter, infectious. His moral clarity, blinding.
In an age when heroes are scarce and compromise is currency, Tola Adeniyi stands apart – a living legend who has never bartered his convictions for survival. He could have taken the easy path. He could have joined the corrupt cabals he critiqued. But he chose the harder road. The one that made him a target. The one that kept him up at night. The one that made him a legend.
Today, as Akogun turns 80, we do not merely mark the passing of time. We honour a lifetime of resistance. A legacy of fearless truth. A heritage of cultural pride and intellectual depth. We honour the boy from Ago-Iwoye who became the sword of the oppressed, the voice of the voiceless, the conscience of a troubled nation.
And we must not only celebrate – we must reflect. What have we done with the gifts of men like him? What have we made of the Nigeria he fought for? How have we treated our truth-tellers, our cultural guardians, our journalistic warriors?
Chief Tola Adeniyi deserves more than praise. He deserves a country that finally listens. That finally heeds the warnings. That finally honors the blood, ink, and years that men like him have poured into the Nigerian dream.
But whether Nigeria listens or not, one thing is certain: the name Akogun Tola Adeniyi is etched in gold. In our history. In our culture. In our conscience.
Happy 80th Birthday, Chief. May your courage continue to burn paths for generations yet unborn. Nigeria may have failed your dreams, but your dreams have not failed Nigeria.
