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Ojude Oba: Farooq’s Far Look Beyond The Grave

Published

1 year ago

July 5, 2024

Tunde Odesola

The flamboyant Ojude Oba festival of flourish and colours is nothing but the cat’s pyjamas. The lavishness of the Ijebu and their thriftiness are bemusing contradictions. As a matter of fact, the Ijebu and their intimidating panache are just the cat’s meow.

Pomp, power, pleasure and pain, inscribe industry, grit and glamour in the Ijebu DNA. The Ijebu are different, so said their wise king, Awujale Sikiru Adetona, the Ogbagba Agbotewole II, when he traced Ijebu roots to Sudan, saying there was life before Ile-Ife. The Ijebu are just the bee’s knees, simple!

The làlà koko fèfè of the Ijebu headlined various Nigerian newspapers as the Ojude Oba festival climaxed in Ijebu-Ode last month. The Gen Z slang – steeze – an offspring of style and ease, became a national slogan. Some call it steaze or steez, either way, they aren’t wrong. The style and ease with which the Ijebu have steered the Ojude Oba festival to national consciousness is indeed steezy.

Yearly, many illustrious Ijebu sons, daughters and families come together in a display of love, unity, integration and sociability in Ijebu-Ode. One of such legendary sons of Ijebu is the honcho of Africa’s telecommunication giant, GLOBACOM, Chief Mike Adenuga, whose support for the Ojude Oba festival over the years is stupendous. Also, the popular Balogun Kuku family won the age-grade régbé régbé parade for the eighth time in a row.

From Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey to King Sunny Ade, to the late Chief Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, General Kollington Ayinla, and King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, there’s no big Yoruba musician, apart from Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B and Ragge artistes, that has not sung the panegyric of the Ijebu, with the latest being Buga sensation, Jesse King.

Horse riding at the festival is the historical preserve of the families of Ijebu war heroes known as the Balogun. For the Oreagba family, the 2024 edition of the Ojude Oba festival was another opportunity to display the tradition of horse riding to the admiration of the Awujale, indigenes and guests at the king’s forecourt. But little did their 58-year-old son, Farooq, who had been unnoticed riding his horse at the festival in the last 13 years, know that fate was scripting a celebratory chapter in his life. Note, for 13 unbroken years, Farook, the Ijebu cat with nine lives, was riding his horse and smoking his cigar without consequence. Ijebu and cats.

Farooq chatted and partied with family and friends at the Ojude Oba grand finale. He needed not a single word but just the click of the camera to announce himself to the world. Farooq’s newfound celebrity status is the reward for his fidelity to family values demonstrated by his untiring punctuality and execution of the horse riding chore of the Oreagba lineage at the Ojude Oba. If Farooq hadn’t attended this year’s festival, the epitaph on his tombstone might only have read, “Here lies the remains of Farooq omo Oreagba: a great man who lived life to the fullest in the jaws of death.”

Farooq the mortal played his part in the incredible story, which his life journey symbolises, before the gods took over, rewriting and redirecting the script to fulfill his destiny. While preparing for this life-long journey, the young Oreagba armed himself with a Diploma in Business and Finance and a degree in Combined Engineering Studies. He’s also a UK authorised financial representative and a registered trader on the New York Stock Exchange.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: How Oluwo Of Iwo Was Jailed In The US

Sad enough, the Tottenham Hotspur supporter suffers from an incurable strain of cancer called multiple myeloma. Speaking with me on the phone, Farook said, “Cancer made me realise nothing can be taken for granted. God will never give you a problem you can’t solve. My father died when I was two. My mother raised my sisters and I, and she did a fantastic job. My sisters went to Queens’ College and I went to Kings’ College, Lagos.”

Reflecting on the shifty nature of life’s sand, Farook said he experienced desertion when his life hit a rough patch. He revealed that discipline, focus and determination were life-saving tools needed for navigation on life’s weary road.

He said, “I was a director at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. When I left the Stock Exchange, the desertion began. When I was diagnosed with cancer, the desertion increased because many felt I would die. However, as some people were going out of my life, new ones were coming into my life in my hour of need; I got love from people I least expected just as I got ignored by some people I thought should give love.

“I’ll be 58 in a few days. My phone number has not changed in the last 18-20 years. I now get calls from people who have not said hi to me in the last 10 years. They’re now coming back in droves. To this kind of people, I greet them back by saying hi but I can’t rely on them; the door is closed.”

I asked Farook if his sickness had affected his sex drive. “I don’t have prostate cancer. My sex drive is perfect,” he said. I also asked him about the reaction of the Awujale after this year’s Ojude Oba blew the internet. “We haven’t spoken yet,” he responded. Did you ever contemplate suicide or suffer depression? I fired. “No, why would I contemplate such? Would you? Neither have I had depression,” came his cool answer.

Cautioning men not to fight their ex-wives, Farook said his ex-wife, a medical doctor based in the UK, was the one who made him go for a routine MIR test which revealed his cancer status. “It was her birthday and I flew to England. At some point in England, my ex-wife advised me to go for a test. Hitherto, I had done a prostate test in South Africa, and I was given a clean bill of health. I did the MIR test in the UK and flew back to Nigeria.

“After a few days, my ex-wife was on the phone crying. She asked if I was alone, I said yes, and she delivered the news. I said it wasn’t possible. I got a second and a third medical opinion. Then, reality set in. It’s good to have regular medical check-ups. Luckily, my cancer was discovered at stage one.”

Do you have a will, I asked Farook. “I did my will a week after I was diagnosed,” he replied.

Asked if he saw the hand of God in the turn of events in his life, Farook said yes. “I never looked for this (new) role. I’ve been riding the horse and smoking my cigar at the Ojude Oba festival for 13 years. I’ve been with my tattoos. The photographer, Fola Stag, has long been participating in the festival. Some people said my horse was the biggest but I’ve been riding the same horse since. The difference is that this time, Fola Stag got a perfect shot from a great angle and the rest, like they say, is history. I see the hand of God in it all.”

The scion of Oreagba had special meals at a stage in his cancer battle, “but those days are over, I go to buka and eat anything now.”

Surely, cancer has changed the view of Farook about life. “I now look at life differently. I appreciate life more now. Each day is a gift. So, I ensure I live my life to the fullest, live life as normally as possible. I drink whisky. Caution is the word: chemo is a problem and so is hangover. So, if you drink and have a hangover, the two are very painful. I smoke my cigar four days a week, no cigarettes, no pipe. I’ve been playing squash since I was 11. I run at least three times a week. I wake up by 5 a.m. Before I go to work, I run 10 kilometres.

“I run half marathon, that is, 21 kilometres on weekends. I use the money I raise for my charity work, we have built a school and done some interventions,” the two-time divorcee said.

I called the Ojude Oba festival the cat’s pyjamas and described the Ijebu as the cat’s meow. If you called me names for this, it’s likely you don’t know the adjectives mean exceptionally excellent and very appealing. I forgive.

What’s your greatest wish, I inquired from Farooq. “My youngest child is 12 years old. My children are the centre point of my life. I want to be around for them. If I could live for another 20 years, I would say being diagnosed with cancer is the best thing that happened to me.”

Farook represents the resilient Nigerian spirit in the face of adversity. His is the telling tale of one lucky survivor who never thrust his fate to the dilapidated healthcare centres and infrastructure littering the Nigerian landscape. Instead of labelling Nigerians, especially the youths, as lazy, what governments at all levels should do is stop the crazy looting and make the commonwealth work for all.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com
Facebook: @Tunde Odesola
X: @Tunde_Odesola

Headline

Prosecutors Seek 11-year Sentence For Diddy, Citing ‘Lack Of Remorse’

Published

6 hours ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

Prosecutors urged a federal judge Friday to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than a decade behind bars for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts, saying the music mogul had shown a lack of remorse.

“This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the New York court at Diddy’s sentencing hearing.

“His remorse was qualified. It’s as though he thinks the law doesn’t apply to him,” Slavik said in arguing for an 11-year prison sentence for the 55-year-old hip-hop innovator. ” “His respect for the law is just lip service.”

Combs’s lawyers have asked the judge for a 14-month sentence, which would effectively be time served.

Slavik said Combs had booked speaking engagements in Miami next week in anticipation of a light sentence, which she called “the height of hubris.”

Judge Arun Subramanian for his part said federal sentencing guidelines suggested a prison term of between six and seven years although he has the latitude to impose more or less.

The judge also noted an apparent lack of remorse, saying Combs has “challenged his factual guilt full-throatedly.”

Combs was expected to address the court at the sentencing hearing after submitting a letter to the judge on Thursday pleading for mercy and saying he had “lost my way.”

Following two months of often searing testimony, jurors in July rejected the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering against Combs, sparing him the prospect of life in prison.

Combs’s mother and six of his children were in court on Friday and have submitted letters to the judge in his support.

In his plea to the judge, Combs apologised for his conduct, saying he was “scared to death” to be away from his family and vowing he “will never commit a crime again.”

“I lost my way,” he wrote. “I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess.”

Combs’s former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, asked the judge in a letter of her own to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”

– ‘Humbled and broken’ –

Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, testified for days while heavily pregnant.

She described in wrenching detail physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered while in a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.

Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called “freak-offs”: sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.

“The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016,” Ventura wrote.

“People watched this footage dozens of times, seeing my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from the worst blows,” she said, noting she has nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis.”

Ventura said she and her family had left the New York area for fear of “retribution” from Combs if he is released.

The defense didn’t deny Combs’s sexual activity but insisted it was consensual.

They also didn’t deny Combs’s years of violence against both romantic partners as well as employees — but they said it didn’t meet the legal threshold for the grave charges he faced.

Jurors took their side.

The conviction on lesser if still serious counts stemmed from a federal statute that makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution.

Combs has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.

He said his time in prison has left him “reborn.”

“I have been humbled and broken to my core,” Combs wrote.
AFP

Headline

Madagascar’s President Denounces ‘Coup Attempt’ As Gen Z Protests Escalate

Published

6 hours ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina condemned on Friday what he said was an attempt to topple his government as fresh protests flared against the political elite and years of misrule.

The poverty-stricken Indian Ocean island has been rocked by near-daily demonstrations called on social media by a movement called “Gen Z”, to which security forces have responded with arrests, tear gas, and bullets.

The protests forced Rajoelina to sack his government on Monday and invite dialogue to restore order.

But that was not enough to placate the anger, and demonstrators have demanded the president’s resignation over his failure to deliver basic services, including water and electricity.

“They have been exploited to provoke a coup,” the 51-year-old said in an online video on Friday in reference to the mostly young protesters.

“What I want to tell you is that some people want to destroy our country,” he said, without naming who he alleged was behind the move.

“Countries and agencies paid for this movement to get me out, not through elections, but for profit to take power like other African countries,” Rajoelina continued in a live video on his Facebook page.

“That’s why I tell you to be very careful,” he said.

He also blamed a “cyberattack” for “mass manipulation”.

– ‘Contempt’ –

The Gen Z movement rejected Rajoelina’s speech as “senseless”, deploring his “contempt” for young people.

“We represent an angry people who can no longer be manipulated,” they said in statements on social media.

They demanded to be “consulted and heard” in the choice of a new premier, and called for an investigation into the police crackdown.

The group, which announced its spokespeople and outlined its motivations the day before, vowed to take “all necessary measures” if the president did not “respond favourably” within 24 hours.

At least 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured since the protests started, according to the United Nations, a toll the government has denied as based on rumours or misinformation.

Protesters mobilised again on Friday in several neighbourhoods of the capital Antananarivo after a 24-hour “strategic” pause.

But the city centre remained under strict gridlock and a heavy security presence.

Police pickups sped through the city centre, AFP journalists saw, and security forces fired tear gas sporadically while shops stayed shut along the capital’s main Independence Avenue.

Students who were demonstrating in the northern coastal city of Mahajanga were also dispersed, according to local media.

In the south, protests were seen in Toliara and Fianarantsoa.

– Strike –

Customs personnel and prison staff unions announced a three-day strike on Friday afternoon, following previous calls for a general strike by several unions, including those representing national water and electricity workers.

In a rare show of unity, the political opposition has also thrown its support behind Gen Z.

The youth-led movement has adopted tactics seen in recent movements in Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines, including the use of the pirate skull symbol from the Japanese anime “One Piece”.

The protests, which started on 25 September, are the latest bout of unrest in Madagascar since independence from France in 1960, posing the most significant challenge yet to Rajoelina’s tenure since his 2023 re-election.

Rajoelina said earlier he had met Madagascan religious leaders in a bid to quell the crisis, after seeing diplomats and representatives from the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations.

The former mayor of Antananarivo first came to power in 2009 following a coup sparked by an uprising that ousted former president Marc Ravalomanana.

After not contesting the 2013 election under international pressure, he was voted back into office in 2018 and re-elected in 2023 in contested polls.

Despite its natural resources, Madagascar remains among the world’s poorest countries.

Nearly three-quarters of its population of 32 million were living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.

Corruption is widespread, with the country ranking 140th out of 180 in Transparency International’s index.

AFP

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White House Threatens Mass Firings Amid Stalled Shutdown Talks

Published

1 day ago

October 2, 2025

Editor

Efforts to swiftly end the US government shutdown collapsed Wednesday as Democrats in Congress went home without resolving a funding stand-off with President Donald Trump and the White House threatened public sector jobs.

Federal funding expired at midnight after Trump and lawmakers failed to agree on a deal to keep the lights on, prompting agencies to wind down services, while the White House warned of “imminent” firings of public sector workers.

Senate Democrats — who are demanding extended health care subsidies for low-income families — refused to help the majority Republicans approve a House-passed bill that would have reopened the government for several weeks while negotiations continue.

Voting in the Senate is now adjourned until Friday, frustrating hopes for a quick resolution.

Around 750,000 federal employees are expected to be placed on furlough — a kind of enforced leave, with pay withheld until they return to work.

Essential workers, such as the military and border agents, may be forced to work without pay and some will likely miss their checks beginning next week. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association voiced fears for air safety as more than 2,300 members were sent home.

The crisis has higher stakes than previous shutdowns, with Trump racing to enact hard-right policies that include slashing government departments and threatening to turn many of the furloughs into mass firings.

Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters the administration was “working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can be made… and we believe that layoffs are imminent.”

The Department of Energy announced plans to terminate clean energy projects, all in blue states, according to White House official Russell Vought, who said the slashed funding had been used to advance “the Left’s climate agenda”.

The Department of Transportation also froze nearly $18 billion in federal funding for major infrastructure projects in New York, which Governor Kathy Hochul called “political payback”.

– ‘Ridiculous’ –

Shutdowns are a periodic feature of gridlocked Washington, although this is the first since a record 35-day pause during Trump’s first term in 2019.

They are unpopular because services used by ordinary voters, from national parks to permit applications, become unavailable.

“I think our government needs to learn how to work together for the people and find a way to make things not happen like this,” said Terese Johnston, a 61-year-old retired tour guide visiting Washington from California as the government shut down.

“You compromise. You find ways. So everybody gives a little bit, everybody takes a little bit, and things work.”

Democrats — spurred by grassroots anger over the expiring health care subsidies and Trump’s dismantling of government agencies — have been withholding Senate votes to fund the government as leverage to try and force negotiations.

As the messaging war over the shutdown intensified, Vice President JD Vance took center stage at a White House briefing normally headed by Leavitt to upbraid Democrats over their demands.

“They said to us, ‘we will open the government, but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health care for illegal aliens.’ That’s a ridiculous proposition,” Vance said in a rare appearance in the briefing room.

US law demands that anyone who presents at a publicly funded emergency room is treated, regardless of their ability to pay. But it bars undocumented immigrants from receiving the health care benefits Democrats are demanding, and the party has not called for a new act of Congress to change that.

– No compromise –

Republicans in the House of Representatives have already passed a stop-gap funding fix to keep federal functions running through late November while a longer-term plan is thrashed out.

But the 100-member Senate does not have the 60 votes required to send it to Trump’s desk, and Democrats say they won’t help unless Republicans compromise on their planned spending cuts — especially in health care.

Senate Republican leaders, who have just one rebel in their own ranks, need eight Democrats to join the majority and rubber-stamp the House-passed bill.

They got three moderates to cross the aisle in an initial vote Tuesday and were hoping to peel off five more as the shutdown chaos starts to bite. But Wednesday’s result went the same way.

Congress is not voting Thursday out of respect for the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday but the Senate returns to work on Friday and may be in session through the weekend.

The House is not due back until next week.

AFP