Dr. Lateef Adegbite: Oral evidence of a family man

It is inconceivable that there can be a dearth of credible sources for Dr. Lateef Adegbite’s biography. In fact, it is acknowledged that several pages have, at different times, been written about him by scholars, researchers, journalists and others in the business of writing. Yet, certain aspects of his life story have received more coverage than others in the contributions of the writers. One of such underrepresented themes is his family life as a father and a husband during his heydays. That explains the rationale for the piece which covers the hitherto unpublished aspect of the life of the worthy man who transited eight years ago. The piece relies essentially on oral evidence collected by the writer during his close engagement with members of Dr. Lateef Adegbite’s immediate family about two decades ago.

During their three-year courtship in the United Kingdom, young Lateef Adegbite and his fiancee, Tayyibat Yetunde Carew pursued their different professional trainings with all sense of commitment. And by the time their marriage was consummated in the Kingdom in 1961, they had already grown into one as much as two souls ever can.

Young Adegbite was dark, with regular features, fine bright eyes, and a beautiful countenance full of animation, and it was difficult to identify a correlation between his youthful appearance and his great reputation as a young scholar. His wife was a dignified young Muslim lady and an illustrious daughter of the prestigious Carew Family of Lagos from where one of their forebears moved to establish himself in Ibadan. She was the daughter of Mr. Zanzaliu Carew, an elder brother to the late founder of Green Spring Hotel, Ibadan, Alhaji Yekini Carew.

It is remarkable that his children’s opinions about him were not too different from their mum’s. Each of them saw him as a great lover of his family whose welfare he was passionate about. The Bashorun further describes his dad as a man whose primary service in life is to the Almighty Allah. “My dad aspires to be the best in everything he does and he believes in the call to leadership as opposed to the search for it. He however sees his service to humanity as a service to Allah.”

In her own description of her dad, Mrs. Fatima Morenikeji Folawiyo who started by declaring that, “He is my father and naturally I should be biased about him, and more so that he is a wonderful father, I should be more biased. He indeed is kind, gentle, very committed and very idealistic. He is a great and inspiring labourer who, though always busy, is always ready to attend to his children. He is a hard man to offend, so easy-going that one may not know when he is offended. Generally speaking, he is quiet and cool-tempered.” My father, Mrs. Folawiyo continued, “believes in the unity of Islam and that all people are one from whatever part of the country. At times, he is blind of the extent of how dubious people could be for he trusts many. Mrs.” Folawiyo herself a lawyer added that Dr. Adegbite as a legal luminary is painstakingly thorough, and has a liberal approach to Law.

“My father is a great lover of tradition and holds the Kabiyesi, Alake, in high esteem. He enjoys telling us stories about Egbaland and his position as Seriki of the Society”, she concluded.

Hajia Turfa Adetola, another daughter of Dr. Adegbite, also has much to say about her dad. She started cheerfully, describing him as “a very concerned and lovely father who is very much interested in knowing about the progress of his children from time to time. He believes in persuasion rather than imposition. I had thought my father would be upset by my decision to study Arts but he was not. He rather gave me all the fatherly encouragement that I needed throughout my studies. But one thing is certain about my father: he is undaunted and never jokes with his faith notwithstanding that he lacks a fanatical mind. He is an undogmatic thinking person who employs a modern approach to many things”, remarked Turfa. “He, she continued, ‘naturally does not believe in amassing wealth at all cost and is so kind and generous that nothing is too big for him to give out.” “I must also tell you’, said she, that I have never heard or seen my father hurt my mother verbally or otherwise. He is a very accommodating type.”

The commonalities in the views articulated above are unmistakable. Dr. Munna Adebimpe Sadiku, another daughter of Dr. Adegbite was not in the country at the time of the collection of the oral evidence contained in this piece. However, her younger sister, Mrs. Saudat Bisoye Olorunnibe, sees her dad as very loving and caring. “He, to my mind, always appears to be an understanding type”, said Mrs. Olorunnibe who stressed that “Daddy takes his religion seriously. He is happy seeing his children attend to Islam.”

His wife, Alhaja Yetunde Adegbite, stated for the umpteenth time that her husband is a loving and responsible father who doesn’t want conflict in the family for that doesn’t make him happy. “He is not impulsive, quarrelsome or abusive. He indeed believes in consultation either with me or his children”, Alhaja said. He is not a harsh disciplinarian. Yet, he has beaten some of his children on only two memorable occasions. He doesn’t tolerate irresponsibility from them, yet doesn’t threaten to prove harsh to them. Instead, he talks to them using his own childhood experience.

Dr. Lateef Adegbite is a man with rich sense of humour. He cracks jokes where necessary and is capable of a healthy laughter which he sometimes does with all his body anatomy. He talks at length only where necessary and is not known to be a flamboyant speaker even in informal discussions. He cherishes correctness and appropriateness and will not even hesitate to correct grammatical mistakes committed on the dining table. He is a charismatic personality and walks in humble but stately manner. His dressing always calls to mind Alfa Bisiriyu Giwa’s colourful appearance on Eid days.

May Allah be merciful to Dr. Lateef Adegbite and his wife, the late Iyalode of Egbaland.

-Saheed Ahmad Rufai, immediate past Dean of Education, Sokoto State University, is a Development Education and Curriculum-Pedagogy expert.