By; Prince Adedapo David

I have read with utter shock and disappointment the opinion of one Deji Osibogun as published in some media earlier this week. With the way the publication is unwittingly crafted and desperately concocted, one cannot but feel very disturbed that what could have been a normal, inoffensive and somewhat interesting advocacy for the interest of some people in the 2027 governorship race in Ogun State was unfortunately marred by an unwarranted and premeditated attack on the towering personality of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola YAYI, as if he has been identified as the only obstacle that must be pulled down at all cost for the interest of Osibogun’s group to ever materialize.

Indeed, readers of Osibogun’s opinion would be confused and wonder what exactly he is set to achieve by the acerbic write-up. If he was genuinely advocating for the Ijebus to have a go at the governorship, he could have done that without dragging any politician outside Ijebu into it so uncharitably, a misguided step that would offend the sensibilities and pride of many Ijebus who are vintage Omoluabis who believe in fair contest and fair pursuance of their goals without resorting to open character assassination of anybody, more so, somebody of Senator Adeola’s status and goodwill. Ironically, Osibogun, as an Otunba in Ijebuland, has acted without caution, restrain, and the dignity that the exalted office of an Otunba deserves.

 Apparently, Osibogun’s opinion and approach do not represent the opinion and dispositions of many well-meaning Ijebus, not only on the issue of the 2027 governorship but also on the personality of Senator YAYI whom many reputable Ijebus hold in high esteem and are already collaborating with. 

Invariably, there are many tangible reasons why an average Ijebu man or woman, and indeed the people of Ogun East who are aware of the subsisting relationship and understanding between the Yewa people and the Ijebu/Remo people of Ogun East, will readily believe that the Yewa people deserve the 2027 governorship.

In 1979, the Egbado, now Yewa people, in apparent loyalty to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, supported Late Olabisi Onabanjo to become the governor.  Late Soji Odunjo, himself an Egbado man from the Ibara/Isaga axis which is administratively part of Abeokuta North Local Government who lost the contest readily resolved to work with late Onabanjo, in the interest of the party and in his respect for Chief Awolowo. Some Egba politicians, up till today, have not forgiven the Yewa people for their support to the Ijebus in 1979.

In 2003 and 2007 governorship elections, the Yewa people again supported Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the Obalofin of Ijebuland and now Senator representing Ogun East. Again, in 2019 and 2023, many Yewa Leaders, including Senator Adeola, worked and delivered majority votes of the people of Ogun West for the incumbent Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun. Suffice it to say that the people of Ogun West and their political whizz-kid, Senator Adeola, have related in good faith with Ogun East and their good turn surely deserves reciprocity come 2027. 

In all these political trajectory, no separation was made between Ijebu and Remo of Ogun East. In 1979, it was Late Awolowo, a Remo man who nominated Onabanjo, an Ijebu man. Otunba Gbenga Daniel is both a Remo and Ijebu man from both paternal and maternal parentage respectively, while Prince Dapo Abiodun has received support from the Ijebus who voluntarily adopted him as their son. One can only wonder where Osibogun now got his idea that “the Ijebus too have so far so long been denied the governorship of Ogun State” and why he is now hell bent on disowning the Remos who have been governors or downplaying the political reality that the Ijebus are part of the Ogun East Senatorial District that has jointly produced three governors for Ogun State, just as Ogun Central has produced two governors while Ogun West has not produced any in the 45 years of existence of Ogun State. 

Why has Deji Osibogun become so desperate to distort history and create unnecessary dichotomy between Ijebus and Remos for sheer political gain which apparently is more of a punctured idea that cannot fly, ab initio. Again, why is Osibogun trying to blame Senator Adeola, whom he has paid glowing tribute to as “an esteemed and erudite politician”, for the adoption of Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Prince Dapo Abiodun by the Ijebus as their sons! 

The title given to the write up itself actually gave out the real intention of the writer as being more of a hatchet job unwittingly targeted at the person of Senator Adeola than genuinely advocating for an Ijebu governorship. With the title; “Why YAYI can’t be the Governor of Ogun State” (instead of “Why Ijebus should be Governor of Ogun State”), one would wonder why the writer of the article chose to use more than half of the content to pay glowing tribute to YAYI and his esteemed attainments in Lagos and Ogun State politics for which he deserves to be governor, but suddenly came up with the position that one of the debilitating factors why the esteemed YAYI can’t be governor is that the Ijebus too want to be governor as another political opportunity beckons! Of course, one will wonder why Osibogun is trying to play God who is all knowing as to who can and cannot be governor.

Moreover, it would sound farfetched to hinge why YAYI can’t be governor on the premise that the Ijebus are also interested in being governor, bearing in mind the political antecedents, dynamics and realities of the governorship being rotated between the defunct Ijebu Province and the Abeokuta Province. Osibogun and his co travelers need to be told that according to these indices, an esteemed candidate from the defunct Abeokuta Province, nay Ogun West, of Adeola’s standing and reckoning stands more chances of being favoured.

Strategically, the trend of voting pattern by the three Senatorial Districts in Ogun State will also justify why the All Progressive Party (APC) will do well to pick its governorship candidate from the Senatorial District where it has comparative voting advantage and strength. Needless to say that, that district is Ogun West. 

One is also bewildered at another reason given by Osibogun why YAYI cannot be governor. According to him, this is because YAYI’s present high level of performance is too overwhelming to be real! Yet, this is the same man who had praised YAYI in his mumbo jumbo article for maintaining a track record of performance for 24 years. Again, his line of thought and argument falls flat and sounds illogical. Why should any right thinking personality abandon a performer with track record for any imaginary aspirant presently known only to Osibogun and his cohort; and why would a Senator with YAYI’s passion for the development of his constituents not do better when he now has the political powers of superintending over the resources of the State as governor. It is only envy that can make someone begrudge a representative because his performance is too good to be true!

As if all these desperate and sadistic moves to defame the Senator whom he ironically acknowledged in the same write-up as a “hononourable, esteemed and erudite politician”, Osibogun also went libelous with his innuendos where he threw his ethical caution as a journalist to the winds when he tried to pooh pooh Senator Adeola’s empowerment programmes and projects. He wrote that some people known to him are even insinuating that they could not find the tricycles, motorcycles, hair dryers, etc distributed by YAYI, because “some people say there is round tripping”!  Of course, when some blind, unintelligent and jaundized people say something very far from logic, only people of their kind will believe and share such myopic views. A case of the blind leading the blind. For anyone of Osibogun’s professional and social status to believe such balderdash and go ahead to publish it as his opinion is not only petty but also very uncharitable and he needs to apologize to the Senator, other Senators/Representatives doing empowerment programmes and also all the innocent people he is accusing of fraudulently collecting items and going to return them. I wonder what kind of right thinking person will choose not to see the benefits of the empowerment programmes to vulnerable people nor hear from those beneficiaries. Anyway, the vulnerable Otunba does not live in Ogun West and his ears are only open to what he sets his minds to hear. When next Oshibogun is in Ogun West, let him be on the lookout for the many school buildings, roads, hospitals, police posts, erosion control works, training programmes, transformers given to communities, etc and hang around to wait for when those communities will return the projects to YAYI. 

Honestly, I feel right thinking people who know Deji Osibogun need to call him to order. If he doesn’t have anything worthwhile to say or write, he should simply keep his mouth and thoughts from running wild. He should avoid denigrating his social status as an Otunba who is supposed to be above board in professing his thoughts. He certainly is not the right foot the promoters of the Ijebu agenda, if really there is anything like that, should put forward. His case is that of a bad messenger or marketer who is more of a liability than asset to the project being promoted.

As the race for the 2027 governorship hots up in Ogun State, Senator Adeola remains the candidate to beat. This is why he is the target of aspirants who are serious, those who are pretenders simply looking for relevance and their promoters. Senator Adeola is the ripe fruit on a tree that will attract stones thrown at it. In all these, the more haters and detractors plot, conspire, and run their mouths against him, the more his goodwill and popularity shall soar.

Prince Adedapo David M.Ed, AISMN, ACICN is from Ijebu Igbo,

Ijebu North LG.