Abdul Azeez Kolawole Adeyemo, popularly remembered as “Alhaji How Are You,” occupies a meaningful place in Ekiti and Yoruba political memory. His nickname suggests the kind of public figure people recognised not only by formal title, but by personal warmth, public familiarity, and grassroots connection. In many Nigerian communities, such names often preserve a person’s relationship with the people more powerfully than official records do.
Public biographical records list Adeyemo as having been born on 14 June 1941 in Ado Ekiti and as having died on 12 March 2002. He is remembered as an Ekiti born politician associated with Yoruba progressive politics, especially the political tradition shaped by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the movements that influenced south western Nigeria from the colonial period into the post independence years.
His story should be read within the larger history of Nigeria’s political changes. Adeyemo lived through the late colonial period, the First Republic, military rule, the Second Republic, the attempted Third Republic, the June 12 crisis, the creation of Ekiti State, and the return to civilian rule in 1999. These periods shaped the careers and memories of many regional political actors whose influence was often felt through party networks, community mobilisation, and local political loyalty.
The Yoruba Progressive Tradition
The political tradition with which Adeyemo is often associated began before independence. Chief Obafemi Awolowo founded the Action Group in the early 1950s, and the party became one of the major forces in Western Region politics. Its influence was tied to federalism, regional development, education, welfare policy, and Yoruba political mobilisation.
After years of military rule, political activity resumed in 1978, and Awolowo later led the Unity Party of Nigeria during the Second Republic. The Unity Party of Nigeria was not a simple continuation of the Action Group as a legal organisation, but it inherited much of its ideological spirit. This distinction is important because Nigerian party history is often simplified in public memory. The Action Group belonged to the First Republic era, while the Unity Party of Nigeria belonged to the Second Republic.
Adeyemo’s remembered association with this political current places him within a broader south western tradition where party loyalty, ideology, community reputation, and political mentorship mattered deeply. His importance rests less on a nationally documented office and more on the way he is remembered within Ekiti political networks connected to that tradition.
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Politics in the Second Republic
Nigeria’s Second Republic began when Shehu Shagari became civilian president on 1 October 1979. This period restored electoral politics after years of military government and reopened the political space for regional actors, party organisers, and local representatives.
Public accounts associate Adeyemo with political activity during this era, but the exact details of his offices and level of authority require careful treatment. What is clear is that the Second Republic gave politicians across Nigeria, including those in the old Ondo State area, a renewed platform for electoral participation. Present day Ekiti was then part of old Ondo State, and many Ekiti politicians operated within that wider state structure.
The Second Republic was short lived. It ended after the military coup of December 1983, which removed the civilian administration and returned Nigeria to military rule. For many politicians of Adeyemo’s generation, this meant that political work continued through informal networks, ideological loyalty, regional associations, and later party realignments.
Old Ondo State and the Ekiti Political Space
Before Ekiti became a separate state, it was part of old Ondo State. This historical fact is central to understanding Adeyemo’s political environment. Political identity in Ekiti developed within a broader Ondo State structure, but Ekiti people also maintained a strong sense of cultural and historical distinctiveness.
Bamidele Olumilua, an Ikere Ekiti politician, governed old Ondo State from January 1992 to November 1993 during the attempted Third Republic. His administration came during another brief civilian opening before General Sani Abacha seized power in November 1993. Olumilua’s tenure is remembered as part of the political history linking old Ondo State to present day Ekiti.
Adeyemo is often remembered in relation to Ekiti political organisation during this wider period, but his specific role should be described with care. It is fair to present him as a remembered political elder within Ekiti circles, but claims that he personally determined major electoral outcomes should be avoided unless supported by stronger records.
Ekiti State Creation and a New Political Chapter
Ekiti State was created on 1 October 1996 during the military administration of General Sani Abacha. The new state was carved out of old Ondo State, with Ado Ekiti as its capital. Its creation fulfilled a long standing aspiration among Ekiti people for a separate administrative identity.
The creation of Ekiti State changed the political landscape for Ekiti leaders, activists, elders, and party organisers. It gave the people a state structure of their own and opened a new chapter in local governance, representation, and political competition.
Adeyemo is remembered in some Ekiti political circles as part of the older generation whose public life overlapped with the agitation and identity politics that surrounded Ekiti’s emergence as a state. The most historically careful way to express this is to say that he belonged to the wider Ekiti political generation that witnessed and participated in the political environment from which the state emerged.
The Return to Civilian Rule in 1999
Nigeria returned to civilian rule on 29 May 1999, beginning the Fourth Republic. In Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo became the first elected civilian governor, serving from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2003 under the Alliance for Democracy.
This period was significant for the Yoruba progressive tradition because the Alliance for Democracy became a major party in the south west. It carried elements of the older Awolowo political culture into the Fourth Republic, especially in states where progressive politics had deep historical roots.
Adeyemo’s remembered place within Ekiti politics should be understood against this background. He belonged to the political generation that linked earlier Yoruba political movements with later democratic structures. His legacy, therefore, is not best described through exaggerated claims of personal control, but through his remembered role as an elder figure within a long political tradition.
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A Legacy of Memory, Not Myth
Alhaji How Are You’s story shows how Nigerian political history is often preserved through both records and memory. Some figures are documented through official archives, government pages, and election records. Others survive through community remembrance, political testimony, family accounts, and local reputation.
Adeyemo belongs largely to the second category. His name remains known, but many details of his political career still need fuller documentation through newspapers, party papers, family archives, interviews, and state records. This does not make his story unimportant. It means his memory should be preserved responsibly.
He should be remembered as an Ekiti political elder associated with Yoruba progressive politics, the Awolowo tradition, old Ondo State political life, Ekiti identity, and Nigeria’s return to democratic government. His life reminds readers that history is not made only by presidents, governors, and ministers. It is also shaped by organisers, elders, loyalists, speakers, community figures, and political bridge builders whose work often remains outside the most visible pages of official history.
Author’s Note
The life of Abdul Azeez Kolawole Adeyemo, remembered as Alhaji How Are You, reflects the quieter side of Nigerian political history, where influence often lived in networks, community trust, party loyalty, and regional memory. His story is best preserved with dignity, not exaggeration, because the value of his legacy lies in showing how Ekiti and Yoruba political life were carried across changing republics, military interruptions, state creation, and the difficult return to civilian rule.
References
Ekiti State Government, About Ekiti.
Ekiti State Government, Past Governors.
Ekiti State Government, Government’ll Honour Ekiti Founding Fathers.
Ekiti State Government, How My Profile, Book Won Olumilua’s Heart, By Governor Fayemi.
Federal Ministry of Information, Nigeria, 1979 October 1, Alhaji Shehu Shagari Was Sworn In As President.
Public biographical records on Abdul Azeez Kolawole Adeyemo.
