Olushola Omogbehin
The war of words between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, that started in the Fourth Republic seemed to have resumed on Monday when Fayose insulted the ex-president when he said “your comment were irresponsible”.
At the 65th birthday party of Fayose in Lagos on Saturday, the former president made some remarks over the former governor’s abuses on his personality but said he had forgiven Fayose.
The 89-years-old Obasanjo explained that in spite of asking for forgiveness from him many times, Fayose would still go ahead to arrogantly abuse him. He was surprised however that Fayose would be bold enough to invite him to the birthday.
”Some people called me and said that we heard that you are going to attend Fayose’s 65th birthday, have you forgotten how he abused you? But I said that they should not worry, irrespective of his character, he remains one of my children. The Yoruba will say ‘Won kii le omo buburu f’ekun paje’, meaning that you won’t say your child is bad and offer him to a tiger to devour.
Not stopping at that, OBJ said haunted by his past acts, Fayose could not first directly approach him to invite him to his birthday, but instead sent a former minister, Osita Chidoka, to do so.
“You could not come to me directly because you knew that you had not done so well by me, Bi iwo ba se rere, ara ki o a ya o’. So, I told Osita to tell you that he had delivered the message you sent him to me. You later phoned me and I said that you could come to see me at any time. Even at that, you could not come directly to knock at my door; you took precautions, you sent Foluso ahead of you, who came before you, to gauge my feelings and pulse, after which you arrived about an hour later.”
Launching into their past political relationship, the Ebora Owu said
“I didn’t know you from anywhere before that time; it was S. K. Babalola that I knew and was going to support for the 2003 governorship because of his track record with the Nigerian Union of Teachers.
“However, I later pitched a tent with you and dumped Babalola, who, in any case, was also not a member of our party, PDP, then. You remember that we were at Efon Alaye to campaign, and one of their challenges there was erosion, which we promised to fix, and we fulfilled our promise.”
Educating him further, Obasanjo said:
“There is also the virtue of humility, which goes with humility. Humility is one of the virtues that mark out our character in Nigeria, particularly the people of Yoruba land. Integrity is also another virtue. We had a campaign and, by the grace of God, you won the election.
“And when you won, you wanted to do a lot of good things. One of those things was to help the farmers. When you came to me, I said that if you wanted to help the farmers, one of the things you could do is to either subsidise the chicks or the feeds and not that, as a government, you will say you are establishing a poultry farm.
“I said that Gomboro could come, and within the time the memo to buy this and that was still going from the table of one government official to another, the disease would have cleared all the chicks. And you will remember this story, I came to your farm and I saw the chicks that were about two weeks old with their shavings very neat and asked, ‘Ayo, se awon adiye tiyin ki yagbe ni’ (Don’t your own type of chicks excrete?).
“And your brother, Oyinlola, the then governor of Osun State, was telling you right there, ‘I told you that if he (Obasanjo) doesn’t know anything, he knows about poultry’.
“You also remember that, before this issue about poultry, some came to say that you did not go to Olivet Baptist School, Oyo, but I knew that you went to the school and finished there. We can see those who were your mates and those who were your seniors, so that is unlike some people, who we really don’t know the school that they attended.”
After dwelling on so many issues about their past, Obasanjo told Fayose that: “Obviously, part of why you have called me to this occasion is to make things right with those whom you might have offended. I also want to urge you to still think about those people you have offended and call them for a truce. Forgiveness and repentance are quite important.
“You must repent from all misconduct because we must begin to prepare for heaven, because no one will escape the judgment of God. Please join me in singing this song, ‘Ope mi ko i to, ojojumo ni o ma dupe…’”
Fayose who clearly angered but did not reply during the occassion, later sent a message to Obasanjo which has since gone viral on social media platforms.
In a “Thank You” text message sent to Obasanjo as contained in a statement made available to reporters on Monday, by the Media Aide to the former president, Kehinde Akinyemi, Fayose expressed anger over the remarks.
Part of the message reads:
“Dear Baba Obasanjo, I trust this meets you well. Your coming to my birthday party, I appreciate it except for your very irresponsible comments at your age.
“You went so low but am not surprised because someone once said you are supposed to be kept away in the zoo. Sincerely that’s where you belong.
“I kept quiet or did not reply to you at the function so that the world will know the difference between a sane and a mad man that you are.It is also obvious that you have also lost your sanity OR should I say is the heightened stage of dementia.
“Not to worry Baba., I shall set the records straight in due course of time. Lastly, I shall appreciate it if you return my money since you publicly admitted you received it, but Dangote brought you back. Your leopard will never change its skin.”
Obasanjo’s aide, said after receiving the message, Baba swiftly replied:
“Ayo, thanks for your ‘Thank You’ message, which undisguisedly revealed who and what you are, unchanged and unchangeable.
“Your money has been sent back through Foluso Adeagbo, who brought it and in the same bag as he brought it, unopened by me.”
Fayose, first elected governor in 2003 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, initially enjoyed the support of Obasanjo, who was then President.
However, their relationship later deteriorated amid allegations of mismanagement and political disloyalty.
By 2006, tensions had escalated after a panel set up by the EFCC indicted Fayose for alleged financial misconduct.
Later in October of the same year, the Ekiti State House of Assembly impeached Fayose and his deputy, Biodun Olujimi, a development that triggered a breakdown of law and order and compelled Obasanjo to declare a state of emergency in the state.
