 He was a dedicated Awoist (this being the term for a disciple of Awolowo's).He led a team of lawyers that defended Chief Awolowo against the Nigerian Federal Government's charges of treason in 1962.In the aftermath of the deaths of Obafemi Awolowo and Adekunle Ajasin, Adesanya assumed the honorific title ' Asiwaju of Yorubaland ' and simultaneously became more active politically, allying with Bola Ige, Ayo Adebanjo, Ganiyu Dawodu, and Bola Tinubu to fight their way to victory in six states of the defunct Western region with their political party, the Alliance for Democracy.