I’m no longer interested in struggling for political positions – Former Ogun deputy gov, Kaka

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Former Ogun State Deputy Governor, Senator Adegbenga Kaka, discusses his childhood, education, political journey, and why he is no longer interested in pol Read More:…

Former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Senator Adegbenga Kaka, tells PELUMI KAZEEM about his childhood, family, career, political journey and the lessons life has taught him

I give glory to Almighty God for what He has done in my life. Let me share something about my early life that was beyond my comprehension.

My mother was my father’s third wife. The first three children she had died as toddlers. When the third child died, two days before Eid al-Fitr, my mother was so devastated that she decided to leave my father’s house. She packed some of her belongings and went to her father’s house because she could not understand why she should remain in a household where the other women were nursing their children while she had lost all three of hers.

When my father returned from the Eid celebration and discovered that she was no longer at home, he went to my maternal grandfather to plead with him to allow her to return. My grandfather insisted that she should go back to her husband, saying that God would give her more children in that same house.

She eventually returned, and I was born afterwards. However, my childhood was not easy. I suffered from various ailments, and several interventions were made. Local remedies, Quranic interventions and even Christian and Aladura interventions were tried before I eventually grew strong enough to attend school.

I was not particularly conscious of what was happening around me when I started primary school. I kept getting promoted on trial until I reached Primary Five. My father eventually said the practice had to stop and insisted that I repeat the class instead of proceeding to Primary Six.

After completing primary school, my father insisted that I must finish reading the Holy Quran before going to secondary school. My mother, however, was determined that I should further my education. Eventually, I completed the Quran and gained admission into three schools: Ijebu College, Ijebu-Ode; Ijebu Muslim College; and Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode.

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