Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria

Case Study A: Oyo State
This is where democracy starts in Nigeria. This place hosted the first
university in West Africa. Everything started here. But the situation is
deteriorating and now we have a government of illiterates, we have a
politics of hooliganism, of violence, of moneybags. These are the
kinds of people Adedibu brought into all levels of government.
—Senior Advocate of Nigeria (name withheld), Ibadan 157
Nigeria’s southwestern state of Oyo calls itself Nigeria’s “pace setter,” reflecting a
deeply held pride in the state’s reputation as a leader in the fields of commerce and
education. Oyo’s capital city of Ibadan is one of the largest commercial centers in
West Africa and the University of Ibadan is Nigeria’s oldest and one of its finest. But
in recent years, Oyo has also pushed the frontiers of violence and corruption that
characterize Nigeria’s nascent “democracy.”
The Godfather of Ibadan
Chief Lamidi Adedibu has been involved in Oyo politics since the 1950s. His many
detractors allege that he got his start as a small-time organizer of political thugs for
the Action Group party of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. 158 By the late 1980s, however, he
had emerged as a powerful political force through a combination of populist politics,
patronage, violence, and extortion. 159
Adedibu is an iconic figure in Nigerian politics, an example of the kind of power to
which political godfathers aspire. 160 When Human Rights Watch visited Adedibu’s
Ibadan compound in the run-up to the 2007 elections, he held court sprawled across
a large chair underneath a tin roof adjacent to his car park, which was crowded with
157 Human Rights Watch interview, Ibadan, February 9, 2007.
158 Ebenezer Obadare, “Lamidi Adedibu ou l’État Entre Contraction et Sous-Traitance,” Politique Africaine, No. 106 (June 2007),
pp. 115-116. Chief Awolowo was Nigeria’s most prominent Yoruba politician at independence and one of three men commonly
thought of as Nigeria’s triumvirate of political “founding fathers” along with Ahmadu Bello and Nnamdi Azikwe.
159 Ibid, pp. 116-117.
160 While Adedibu’s statewide political influence is immense, many analysts argue that he is a truly dominant force only in
Oyo’s capital of Ibadan. Human Rights Watch interviews, Ibadan and Lagos, February and April 2007.
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