Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana
Being the speech delivered by Femi Falana SAN to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, first military governor of Western Region at the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos)
The life and times of Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi
Francis Adekunle Fajuyi was born on June 26, 1926 at Ado, Ekiti. He was a clerk when he decided to join the West African Frontier Force in 1943. As a sergeant in the colonial army he was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1951 for containing a mutiny in his unit over food rations. He trained at the Eaton Hall Officer Candidate School in the United Kingdom and was commissioned in 1954. He served in the Congo where he distinguished himself and was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery in North Katanga in the Congo. Upon the completion of his service in the Congo he was appointed the first indigenous commander of the 1st Battalion in Enugu. He also served as the Garrison Commander at Abeokuta.
Colonel Fajuyi was a professional to the core. He did the country proud wherever he served at home and abroad. He never took part in the treasonable act of removing governments which was the pastime of military political adventurers in Africa. Unlike governors who acquire billions of naira within days of their election or appointment Fajuyi never stole a dime. He is being celebrated today because he served the nation with his integrity intact. As a patriotic professional he never took part in the violent January 15, 1966 coup by a handful of majors which claimed the lives of some political leaders and military officers of northern and western extraction. As the killings did not reflect federal character it was alleged that it was nothing but ethnic cleansing!
As …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
