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A former chairman of the Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, has revealed how the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, decided to end his feud with Governor Abiola Ajimobi over the chieftaincy review.
Olaosebikan, who was also a media aide to late former governor Lamidi Adesina, said the monarch decided to end the feud because Ibadan people don’t keep malice.
Speaking on the reported commendation of Ajimobi by Oba Adetunji, Olaosebikan said he ”I did not only read the Olubadan’s comments and those of the Alaafin’s too in the print alone, I watched them on the television as well. Both the verbal and non-verbal cues of the great monarchs depicted absolute seriousness and conviction. Nothing in the indicators suggested deceit, sham or deception of any sort. They expressed their genuine feelings and wishes.
“As someone, who is fully on the ground and that has been sufficiently involved since the beginning of this democracy, I would say without any fear of contradiction that the obas have said the truth and declared what is in the minds of the vast majority of the people of the state.”
Contrary to insinuations that there are deluge of problems in the state, Olaosebikan explained that “what we have in the state is peace and unprecedented level of progress in virtually all the sectors. If you go round the state now, you would marvel at the huge construction works in the cities and hinterlands. With the massive capital projects, the economy of the state has improved tremendously, translating to new jobs for the skilled and unskilled workers, good businesses for contractors and consultants. Not to talk of agriculture and industry where the government, through the ministries and the state Bureau of Investment Promotion, is giving out almost interest free credit facilities to the people.”
He noted that “I don’t really like the idea of governors referring to salary payment as an achievement. It is their responsibility, not just to pay salaries but to pay as and when due. They must also give other motivations to workers as well. In Oyo State, the last information I heard about salary payment is that the government has paid up to last December, meaning that the government owes them January and February salaries. To me, this is not good enough. But comparatively, in the present-day Nigeria, it can be regarded as excellent compared to the situations in some states that collect huge sums in derivation but still owe up to 10 months.
“I am not the Olubadan; so, I don’t know his feelings regarding the chieftaincy tussle or his feud with the governor. But let me tell you about the peculiarities of the Ibadan people which you can subject to any test. An Ibadan person hardly keeps malice. If you offend an Ibadan person, he responds sharply and it ends there. He may be harsh or even very abusive in his reaction; Ibadan man moves on and that is the end of the whole issue. And when it comes to real fighting, a typical Ibadan man fights quietly. Ibadan man is an adakeja (silent fighter).
He said that there is no scientific way to know whether the monarch is displaying his own adakeja style during his encounter with Ajimobi, adding that “but from my experience and interactions over the years, Ibadan people generally do not hide their feelings. At 56, I think I am old enough to know this. Another important virtue of an Ibadan person is that they are heavily bonded. They are all mostly related one way or the other; so, you can’t actually come in between them. A tribe that is close to them in this line is the Ebira in Kogi State. They are ever united in dealing with intrusions.
He said that was why the Ibadan people were able to come together against a former governor of the old Oyo State, the late Chief Bola Ige, with their ‘Omo wa ni o se’ message.
“There are many things you can do to an Ibadan person and go scot-free but not abusing or denigrating them in anyway. Like you rightly said, the well performed Governor of the state then, the late Chief Bola Ige, did that and paid dearly for it. In spite of the fact that he was married to a well-read lady from Ibadan, (a high court judge for that matter) he still denigrated Ibadan with that ill-conceived falsehood on the low-level of literacy and capability of people in Ibadanland. His provocation was only effective in places inhabited by non-Ibadan people.”
Affirming that the chieftaincy dispute has been laid to rest, at least outside the court, he said: “That is the reality. Recall that when our highly-respected monarch lost his wife recently, the governor of the state was among the first callers at the palace. Remember too that as a mark of respect for him and his late wife, the governor went to the palace with his entire cabinet. Recall also that at a function at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, where protocol was turned upside down when the dispute was at its peak, it was Senator Abiola Ajimobi that personally welcomed Oba Adetunji and accompanied him to his seat. There have been many occasions like that. It all points to one fact that Ibadan indigenes don’t keep malice and we love ourselves dearly.”
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