Pa Adama Aduku: Last moments of Nigeria’s oldest WW2 veteran, by family
Why he was nicknamed ‘Head of Snake’ He washed his clothes despite old age Except for the two enlarged photographs and a condolence register on a table suspended by the wall of a building on the edge of the family compound of Pa Adama Aduku in Abejukolo town, the headquarters of Omala Local Government […]
- Why he was nicknamed ‘Head of Snake’
- He washed his clothes despite old age
Except for the two enlarged photographs and a condolence register on a table suspended by the wall of a building on the edge of the family compound of Pa Adama Aduku in Abejukolo town, the headquarters of Omala Local Government area of Kogi State, there is hardly a sign to indicate that Nigeria’s oldest World War II veteran has passed on.
The compound was devoid of the usual long faces and pensive mood that would have ordinarily characterized such passing when Daily Trust Saturday visited the town on Thursday, two days after his demise. Few of the children who were around were seen exchanging banters and jokes among themselves. “Daddy wouldn’t have wanted anyone to mourn him having lived a very fulfilled life,” Mrs Pauline Alhassan Adama, one of the daughters, noted.
“By the way, to him, showing emotion was a sign of weakness which he never condoned,” another of the kids, Mr Oke Adama, added.
This tough disposition was well captured in a message of condolence scribbled by an anonymous mourner who described the late veteran as a “resilient, principled and uncompromising gentleman” in the register already filled up by many glowing tributes. But his nickname itself exudes fears and sends jitters down the spine of strangers. He referred to himself as “Oji ejo” meaning “Head of Snake” in his native Igala dialect. It is believed that the snake’s venom is stored in part of the head and the snake uses this venom to debilitate and immobilize its prey. To the veteran therefore, anybody who dared him was bound to suffer the same fate.
The name “Oji ejo” as he was fondly called by his contemporaries came about his resistance to any form of oppression, Samuel Adama, one of the sons explained. This resistance to oppression, according to an interview he granted to a newspaper, provoked him into joining the Army even when the thought of that line of career never crossed his mind. “I was coming back from the farm one evening when I saw a man who was younger than me at the time beating our village head.
“The man named Salikawa was a soldier who resorted to beating up our chief for refusing to carry his bag and seeing him off to his house, which was 10 miles away.
“When the matter was reported to the District Officer, the chief was advised to obey the soldier in his own interest or face whatever consequences that resulted from that.
“I was very angry and bitter and I made up my mind to join the military so that I could go back to the village and also beat up Salikawa for humiliating our chief,” he had told The Punch newspaper in the interview.
He succeeded in enlisting in the Army but his wish of coming back to exert revenge on Salikawa for manhandling the village head never came to pass because, according to Samuel, Salikawa died before Pa Aduku could return from the war.
According to the family account provided by Samuel, Pa Aduku was born at Odomagu, a remote community in Odo district in Omala Local Government area in 1918 and he joined the Army, then called Royal West African Frontier Force, in 1942, in Makurdi, Benue State. He was said to have trained at Auguwan Shanu in Kaduna State and was deployed to India during the Second World War where he fought at Calcutta. He exited the Army after the Second World War in 1946, discharged in Lagos, rejoined again in 1950 in Zaria and finally exited in 1957.
He told the story of how at his dad’s point of discharge on return from India, he had to trek from Apapa to in Ikeja at time when most parts of Lagos were bushes.
After he finally exited the Army, the late veteran became a trader, buying yams from Lafiyan Barebari, in current Nasarawa State and taking it to Onitsha for sale. “I actually grew up to know him on that trade for years before he came back home and settled for agriculture. He was a renowned farmer and was noted for harvesting his yam before any other farmer in Omala Local Government.
“He also participated in politics. He was a staunch member of National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in Abejukolo when it produced Governor Apeh Aku in 1979 and Sule Iyaji in Buneu State assembly in 1979 also. His contemporaries were Alfa Okpanachi, James Omada Ita, Usman Akuta Awodi Ashetu and Oga Agege.Till his death he was a member of qua Ibo Church Abejukolo and participates actively well in every Church activities and developmental projects,” Samuel recounted.
Mrs Pauline told our correspondent that he took ill last week. “We suspected he had malaria and it was treated but his condition got worse two days later. So we decided to take him to Grimmad hospital in Ayigba where he died of typhoid,” she said.
She said although he was quite old, they never suspected that the brief illness would claim his life. “He hardly fell ill in spite of his age. He was amazingly strong and walked around unbowed by age,” she added.
Also, his youngest daughter, Miss Edna Adama, attributed their father’s good health to his cleanliness. “He abhorred dirt in all ramifications. You can feel from his physical appearance, his dressing and the way his rooms were always kept.
“He was always on white attires and immaculately dressed. And he did his laundry himself because you can never satisfy him. Even if he, per adventure, allowed you to assist him with the laundry, he would rewash them all over. So also were his rooms; he did the cleaning himself,” she explained.
According to her, one of the late veteran’s indulgences was his attachment to tea. It was the regular beverage for him. “He took tea before breakfast and after launch and dinner especially green tea without the milk. Sometimes his menu for dinner is tea only and he always insisted we imbibed the habit of taking tea regularly, saying anybody who takes tea regularly rarely falls sick. Some of us have understandably developed this habit and found it to be one of the healthiest ways of living,” she averred.
For Oke Adama, one of those things he cherished about his late father was his love for his children and wives. The late veteran though a Christian, had four wives, 12 children and 33 grandchildren. The eldest child, Mr Josiah Adama, was born in 1949, while the youngest, Amos Adama was born in 1984.
Oke said although the children are from different mothers, their father loved and threat them equally. “He never showed preference for any particular wife or child over another and that was what further united and kept us going. He also ensured that his children both males and females are well educated,” he noted.
As the youngest daughter, Edna said her father adored her. “He would make tea for me and bought gifts for us whenever he was returning from his many business trips. When I finished from the Kogi State College of Education, he bought a motorcycle for me for having successfully completed that tier of education and that’s the depth of his love and encouragement which has spurred us to put in our best in all we choose to do,” she said.
The late veteran’s remaining sibling, Ageji Aduku, also attested to his love and generosity towards his family. “When he was returning from India after the war, he bought me jewelries and other gifts. Also even though I’m married, he always felt I’m his responsibility and always ensured I had the best things in life,” she averred.
She said as one of the topmost farmers in the area, her brother ensured she benefited from the first harvests. “He was always the first to harvest yams and this happened in July of every year and he ensured he held the yam festival during the period.
“After the festival, my share of the yams would be delivered to me before any other and that’s the kind of life we shared,” she said.
She said she was restless when her brother was rushed to the hospital for the illness that later claimed his life. “He hardly took ill and even those few times he suffered from malaria and headache, he simply took his tea and herbs and got well in no time but this one took him as far as Ayigba and I was apprehensive.
“I asked them to take me to him. I needed to see how he was doing and on the eve of his demise, he spoke to me through the phone. He said I shouldn’t bother coming to see him and that he was okay and will return home tomorrow to see me, only for them to informed the day he was to return to me that he had passed on,” she lamented amidst sobs.
The nonagenarian who clocked 99 years late last year said longevity runs within the family and hoped that her elder brother had lived longer. But as she reminisced on the beautiful moments they both shared together as siblings amidst tears, family members have started preparing for his final interment which date is yet to be determined.