Greetings with love and with deference, as the Yoruba land dawns, may God guide us on the Path of Peace.
Baba Obasanjo, let us speak plainly, with the deep respect due to a man of your stature, one whose robe is untouchable, and whose head we dare not disrespect. Many sons and daughters of Yorubaland, and indeed Nigeria, have long looked upon you with admiration, hope, and pride.
But at this moment, Baba, there is a matter heavy on our hearts, a matter more pressing than any medicinal herb. We hear and see the unfolding events around you, and they are no longer befitting of the venerable elder you have become. In years past, we have seen how you have crossed others for personal gain; we have seen how you have stirred the political atmosphere like a whirlwind.
We observed your role in the betrayal of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1979. The heart cannot forget how you aided those who used treacherous means to shatter the bright political hope of a true son of the soil. A Yoruba man was harmed; by the schemes of a Yoruba son. The act of undermining one’s own home is not to be whispered abroad.
We remember Chief Bola Ige, the elder who was an Oro deity, a Poet, and one of our great minds. How you targeted his name and his legacy, especially after he bravely departed from your government. We do not bring strife into our own house.
We cannot turn away from June 12, 1993 and the matter of Chief M. K. O. Abiola, a friend, a brother, a Yoruba son who united all of Nigeria in love and hope. An Egba man, the one who won an election the whole world saw as just, only to have it seized. At that time, our people expected that you, a former military leader, would stand up as a wise elder should—to speak truth, to be the voice of courage, to defend the choice of your kinsman. But your voice was not strong enough, not loud enough. As you have told people today, it was “bad belle”—envy, malice—that sank Abiola. But where was the correct voice of an elder when the deed was being done?
We cannot turn away from the event of 2004, when the federal government withheld the statutory allocations due to Lagos State. The reason given was the creation of 37 new local council development areas, which was declared unconstitutional. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, then the state governor, dragged the federal government to court. The Supreme Court, in December 2004, ruled that the act was illegal and ordered the immediate release of all funds. However, the federal government under President Obasanjo continued the withholding until he left office in 2007. These court-ordered funds were only paid to the people of Lagos by the succeeding administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. This act of financial strangulation, aimed at crippling a state government, stands as a stark example of political vendetta.
We cannot turn away from Alhaji S.M. Afolabi, a man who served with loyalty, only to be treated as a pawn in the events of a certain sixteenth day. One who carries your load should not be the one whose back you break.
And now, you again, seek to undermine Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. As if there was no time to have reconciled, no length of time to have found wisdom. Our conscience tells us, “An elder does not stay in the marketplace till a newborn’s head is misshapen.”
Baba Obasanjo, we beg you, let it go. Be at peace. Reflect on the point you have reached. Yorubaland must not again witness a needless fight amongst neighbors; it must not again see that the one who was a chief antagonist to our great elders in the past, now seeks to do the same to the council currently steering our heritage rightly.
May God grant you health, grant you long life, and grant you many years. But please, step aside for the coming generations. Your vast political life, filled with steps both shadowed and lit, will be judged by history.
May God renew your heart, and give you the wisdom to know the time to rest, as a true elder should.
With profound respect and the fear of God,
A Child of Yorubaland,
A child looking at our land’s tomorrow with love and concern.
Written by Damilola Omosebi
