Nigeria, July 6 -- Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo became a lecturer in the University of Ife at 28, founding head of English at Kwara College of Technology at 32, Commissioner of Education at 35, a federal senator at 38, when he could still have passed as a member of most youth organisations. However, he came fully prepared for all these roles and had already received state-wide notice that enabled him to become a governor at 42. More significant is that in each of these positions, he displayed an ideology that abided with him till 84: a passion for the politics of amelioration, which consistently included life-long learning that made him an enviable ideology-driven politician of the Awolowo school of politics for the common good.

Plato's id...