Lamidi Ona-Olapo Adesina (20 January 1939 – 11 November 2012) was a Nigerian politician and educator who became

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland States of Nigeria, state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is b ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

on 29 May 1999 after winning the 1999 Oyo State gubernatorial election as a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) party.

Early life

Adesina was born on 20 January 1939. He attended

Loyola College, Ibadan Loyola College, Ibadan (LCI) is a Boys only Government-owned College in Oyo State, Nigeria founded by the Catholic Missionary in 1954. It is located within old Ife road, Agodi area in Ibadan. Since being established, the school has produced lumi ...

. then studied at the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has th ...

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively re ...

from 1961–1965 and obtained a BA (Hons) in History. Later he attended the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

in 1971 and obtained a PGDE.

Career

Lam Adesina was an educator. He was a teacher at Lagelu Grammar School Ibadan where he taught History, English and Literature. Among his students at the school was Abiola Ajimobi, who would later become the Governor of

. He rose through the ranks and assume the role of school administrator (principal). Lam later worked in private educational institutions and established a bookshop before entering politics. Lam Adesina was also a popular newspaper columnist. His writings under the "search continues column" in the

Nigerian Tribune The ''Nigerian Tribune'' is an English-language newspaper published in Ibadan, Nigeria. It was established in 1949 by Obafemi Awolowo and is the oldest running private Nigerian newspaper. In the colonial era, the newspaper served as the mouthpi ...

were uncomfortable for successive military regimes and he was detained several times.

Political life

Lam Adesina was elected to the federal house of representative for Ibadan south 1 constituency in 1979 under the platform of the

Unity Party of Nigeria The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic (1978-1983). The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical politician ...

established by the late Chief

Obafemi Awolowo Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Yoruba nationalist and Nigerian statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement (1957-1960). Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe O ...

. He returned to private business after the military took over in 1983. Lam was elected to the constituent assembly in 1988. Lam Adesina was a leader of the National Democratic Coalition popularly known as NADECO in Oyo State, Nigeria. The coalition was formed to bring an end to the military government of

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

and the regime to honour the electoral mandate given to MKO Abiola who won the presidential elections and was later detained In 1998, Lam Adesina was arrested by the military government of Abacha along with other activists, imprisoned and tagged a "prisoner of war".

Later career

Lam Adesina was a sponsor of Abiola Ajimobi in his bid to be elected to the senate for Oyo South in 2003. Later the two men fell apart, and Ajimobi moved to the

All Nigeria Peoples Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party ( abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...

(ANPP), but in October 2009, Ajimobi returned to the Action Congress of Nigeria under the leadership of Lam Adesina in Oyo State the two were reconciled. Lam Adesina supported Ajimobi and campaigned for his election as the Governor of Oyo state under the Platform of the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several othe ...

in 2011.

Death

Lam Adesina died on 11 November 2012 at the private St. Nicholas Hospital on

Lagos Island Lagos Island (''Ìsàlẹ̀ Èkó'') is the principal and central local government area (LGA) in Lagos, it was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a p ...

. It was thought that the cause was related to diabetes, from which he had suffered for some time. He was buried at his Felele residence according to Islamic rites.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adesina, Lamidi 1939 births 2012 deaths Yoruba politicians Governors of Oyo State Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria) politicians All Nigeria Peoples Party politicians Action Congress of Nigeria politicians University of Nigeria alumni Burials in Oyo State Loyola College, Ibadan alumni