By
Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN
I have never been taken in or deceived by the grandstanding and pretentious nature of the majority of the Nigerian elites, especially the arm-chair theorists among them who are common faces on our national and global media spaces including the new media or social media. Those holier than thou elites usually but assumingly pride themselves as being the custodians or know all of all the problems bedeviling our country and also the solutions thereto which they, from time to time, gleefully reel out in the media space, the print and electronic media inclusive.
The truth of the matter, however, is that their interventions are in most cases theoretical and very impracticable . To them, all the problems of this country are caused by the politicians and the political class only, whereas they are the major architects of most of the problems due to their apathy and non-participation in political activities of the country.
Last Saturday, the 4th November 2023, my APC Ward 5 leaders and executive members brought to our law firm, the APC Councillorship candidate for our Ward 5 in Ibadan South-East Local Government in the forthcoming Local Government elections in our Oyo State in 2024.
A cursory look and glance at the candidate revealed to me that he is not well educated, and I snapped at them ” Why will you field this person who doesn’t even possess a School Certificate and who won’t be able to converse in English at the Council’s parliament in Mapo”? They all replied to me in unison that, ” Our SAN, he is literate enough to vie for the post, but above all, he is the only person who can defeat Tegbe’s anointed PDP candidate”.
Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe (JT) is a fine gentleman, a consummate politician and the best professional turned politician I have ever come accross since our paths met in the government of my principal, unarguably the father of the modern Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi of blessed memory. JT and I are from the same Ward 5 in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of Oyo State and we are all hopeful that beyond partisan politics, JT would succeed Engineer Seyi Makinde, FNSE as the Governor of Oyo State if the mantle of leadership of the state would continue to be in Ibadan and for the Ibadans only in this world-wide Oyo State.
Lest I lose my thought, I prodded my party leaders further and told them that they can still field a more literate candidate and ask the sponsored candidate to support that person. They replied to me by speaking to the candidate in English Language as follows “Councilor, please go there and he went. Again, they said, please come back and he came back”. They faced me thereafter and said “Baba SAN, can’t you see that he understands workable English Language perfectly.”
And that reminds me of the story told about the strongman of Ibadan politics, Papa Lamidi Adedibu of blessed memory when he said that Civil Service and Public Administration make use of 2 (two) important and vital words to wit: “Approved” and “Not Approved” and that beyond those two words, no other lexicon or grammar is necessary for the running and administration of any government affairs.
I also recall the case of our Brother Luku of Anlamole Compound in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of Oyo State. Brother Luku was improvised as the Legal Adviser of the defunct Alliance for Democracy in the Local Government for several years in this very ongoing republic and he was popularly known and called ‘Luku Legal’, yet Brother Luku did not possess a School Certificate and he was the Legal Adviser of the then ruling party in a cosmopolitan local government where the Governor of the State then, Alhaji Lam Adesina (the great Lam) of blessed memory also hailed from.
Nigerian elites should stop their unnecessary wailings and lamentations including their shedding of crocodile tears endlessly. Nigeria politics and its elites should just hold their breath and join the political process.
Bishop Desmond Tutu said that Politics is too sensitive to be left in the hands of charlatans. In Nigeria, our elites have yielded and conceded our political space majorly to mediocre and charlatans, and they should blame nobody for their misfortunes because the maxim of “Nemo dat quod non habet” applies”. Power is never served ala carte. Or do they expect those in politics to perform beyond their mental abilities and capabilities? There is no magic wand that any human being can invent, we cannot discharge any function beyond our level of expertise. And as my late Dad used to say, “Except we are deceiving ourselves, a goat can never give birth to a sheep or a lamb”. Our elites should participate actively in politics and go there to make remarkable and positive differences. Enough of being arm-chair critics.
In the Oyo State House of Assembly as it is presently constituted, I doubt if there is a single member of the learned profession in the whole house. Ask me what the main function of the parliament is and who are the best to enact laws for peace, order and good governance in any state, other than lawyers.
Williams Shakespeare aptly captured it all in his great book, “Julius Caesar” that the fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our Stars, but we are the underlinings.
To most Nigerian elites, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the perceived Architect of all their imaginary and real misfortunes and would rather prefer a Lucifer to rule and lead Nigeria rather than a Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Many of them will indefintely fail to adjust to the naked reality that the man they love to hate morbidly is now the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and realise that the earlier they cooperate with him, the better it is for them , for all of us and for the overall good and development of our country, Nigeria.
DATED at Ogbomoso, Oyo State of Nigeria, this Wednesday, the 8th day of November, 2023.
JCI Senator Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo,SAN
Asiwaju of Ita-Ege & Idi-Aro,
Agba-Ofin of Orile-Igbon Kingdom,
Ward 5,
Ibadan South-East Local Government Area,
Oyo State,
Nigeria.
+2348033275495
+2348181585848
Email: adebayoojo90@gmail.com
