Babafemi Ojudu’s “Oyetola: When Temperament and Political Office Collide”: My Reaction

FEEDBACK:

Our Literature teacher at Fatima College, Ikire, was a man named Majolagbe, whom we fondly nicknamed “Major.” He was a man who truly saw tomorrow through his literature classes and prepared his students for it.

Major was that rare breed of classroom teacher whose brilliance sometimes made his students wonder why such a gifted mind should be confined to a small corner of the world like Fatima College. He was a walking encyclopaedia, particularly when it came to jaw-breaking grammar. He was highly versatile, intellectually profound and remarkably well-informed about global affairs.

For want of space, I will limit myself to just two of his classroom interventions that have remained with many of the more reflective students of my set, the class of 1986–1991.

I remember him entering our classroom one sunny afternoon, perhaps after returning from “School 2,” where a considerable quantity of “palming” must have quietly passed down his oesophagus. Fascinated by the events unfolding in Libya at the time, he asked the class to name the country’s leader. There was dead silence. Major was on the verge of unleashing his fury on the entire class when, perhaps through divine intervention, I opened my mouth and said, “Muammar Gaddafi, sir.”

Majolagbe’s reaction was overwhelming. From that moment, “Gaddafi” was added to my name and stuck as though it were one of the names given to me at birth.

On another occasion, Major entered the classroom and, without exchanging any pleasantries, went straight to the board and began writing a lengthy statement:

“Leaders must learn from history and avoid the evil machinations of sycophants, hypocrites and pretenders who, in the end, usually drive them into the garbage heap of history.”

Upon reading Uncle Babafemi Ojudu’s highly incisive, brilliantly argued, richly crafted and intellectually stimulating intervention titled “Oyetola: When Temperament and Political Office Collide,” the first thing that came to my mind was that quotation introduced to us by our unforgettable Major and attributed to the great ideological and revolutionary thinker, Karl Marx. It admonishes aspiring leaders to be seriously wary of deceivers in human form who may mislead them and set them on a journey to perdition.

The story of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR; Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola—my leader for life—and Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola fits that warning perfectly.

Let me state that I make this observation with the benefit of political training and experience that long preceded the relationship among the trio. My own political journey began in Chief Adebisi Akande’s classroom when he served as Governor of Osun State between 1999 and 2003. At the time, I worked under my uncle as a Personal Assistant in the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning.

That journey continued shortly after Ogbeni emerged as governor, when I served as Special Assistant to Alhaji Oyetola. I later joined Ogbeni as his Director of Protocol during his second term as Governor of Osun State and subsequently when he became a Minister of the Federal Republic.

We were truly schooled in Baba Akande’s classroom of frugality, discipline, honesty and the courage to speak our minds, regardless of whose ox was gored. Above all, we imbibed the principle that “he who goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.” Please do not ask whether the same can still be said of him today, given our political tendency’s perception of his recent roles.

As a conscious witness to history, it is appropriate to state at this point that the outcome of Saturday’s election—particularly as it affected my dearest egbon, Bola Oyebanji, AMBO, who incidentally hails from my hometown, Ikire—had long been foreseen.

To the best of our ability, as bystanders in the corridors of deeply intriguing and sometimes soulless political manoeuvring, we did everything possible to prevent the eventual catastrophe.

It may interest readers to know that I was one of Rauf’s young Turks who clandestinely championed the cause of Bola Oyebanji succeeding Ogbeni instead of Alhaji Oyetola. Funds were contributed among the young Turks, including money for the purchase of the Expression of Interest form.

We actively supported Oyebanji, even without Ogbeni’s knowledge, because of the differences already highlighted between a businessman and a well-trained politician, which Ogbeni undoubtedly is. We believed that whoever would step into Ogbeni’s enormous shoes needed to possess certain basic qualities similar to his.

We were deeply concerned about the future of Osun State and the investments already being made in that future through the combined efforts of Rauf, with the positive support of Alhaji Oyetola. Bola Oyebanji was also deeply involved in those investments, first as Managing Director of OSICOL and later in charge of its finances.

I say without equivocation that Bola was the preferred candidate of the younger elements. When the sycophancy began, involving the likes of Omowaye, Oyintiloye, Adebisi, Akinola and others, Bola Oyebanji, as a brother, was advised to remain faithful to his conscience and committed to the truth.

I remember telling him during our last encounter at Abuja Airport that Ogbeni did not deserve the treatment he was receiving from people who had benefited immensely from his generosity and largeness of heart.

I reminded him of a particular individual who, despite holding a doctorate, was gifted the leadership of one of the foreign-supported agencies but mortgaged his conscience at the critical moment when he should have spoken the truth. That individual now heads a regional agency under Asiwaju. I pity PBAT.

In conclusion, the greatest share of the blame lies squarely at the doorstep of PBAT. In seeking to prove that blood is thicker than water, he completely forgot the sacrifices Ogbeni made during the journey to the highest office in the land.

I remember Ogbeni, while serving as a minister, summoning an emergency meeting of all his aides to discuss the #EndSARS crisis while Asiwaju was out of the country. His opening remarks at the meeting were laden with anxiety and delivered in a deeply troubled tone:

“There is a crisis in our land, and Asiwaju is the target. My people, I need your advice and support.”

One of the decisions taken at that meeting led to the production of the Yoruba song, “Yorùbá Ronú, Asiwaju Kì í Ṣọ̀tá Yín.” It highlighted all the properties being destroyed, including TVC, the toll gate and hotels. I later learnt that Uncle Tunde Rahman forwarded the song to Asiwaju abroad.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Comrade Tiamiyu Abiodun
Director of Protocol to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola
Writes from Osogbo.