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OPINION: Ibadan-Oyo War Of Supremacy Over Obas Council

Published

7 months ago

May 26, 2025

By Lasisi Olagunju

At the Alaafin’s Garden Hall in Oyo on 6 November, 1934, Alaafin Siyanbola Ladigbolu held a storming meeting with the Resident of Oyo Province, the Honourable Mr. H. L. Ward-Price. The Resident was the equivalent of today’s governor; the Province equated today’s state. That meeting was called to discuss the news filtering out that the white man was moving the capital of Oyo Province from Oyo town to Ibadan.

The meeting was held in a very tense atmosphere. The Lagos Daily News of 13 November, 1934 carried the proceedings verbatim. There is an excerpt here:

The Aláàfin: I summoned this meeting with a view to ascertaining whether the ugly rumour of your impending removal from Ộyó to ibadan was true or not as I have not been authoritatively informed by you.

The Resident: Who told you that I am removing to Ìbàdàn?

The Aláàfin: No one did but it is a general talk among my people that you are packing up.

The Resident: But who told you that? The Aláàfin should not believe foolish talks and rumours.

The Aláàfin: If you want to prove the veracity of my statement, just give three pence to a small boy in the street with the request to bring in as many persons as he can find talking on this subject. You will be surprised at the crowd that will throng this place in a minute. It is a common saying everywhere.

The Resident: Anybody can say what he or she likes but I do not think the Aláàfin believes everything he hears.

The Alâàfin: I do not believe everything but this is too general to be a lie. I and my people do not want you to go. But if you say that you are not leaving Oyó, I am satisfied.

The Resident: I am transferring my Provincial Office to Ibàdàn. That is, my clerks are going to Ibàdàn and I am going to make Ibàdàn my business place. But I shall be living in Ộyộ.

The Aláàfin: How is it then that you say just now that you are not leaving Ộyó? This is rather suspicious. I do not like it.

The Resident: But can’t the Aláàfin see the difference between the Resident and his staff? I am not removing from Ộyộ; my clerks are.

The Aláàfin: I do not want you or your staff to leave Ộyó. Why? I am not pleased at the mere suggestion of it.

The Resident: You see, at Ộyó I have so much work to do through my mails coming in in great abundance. The mails are received twice weekly. Replies to some letters are sometimes delayed through that cause. Whilst at Ibàdàn I can get my mails every day and writing can be reduced or facilitated by the use of phone messages. Letters come from Forestry Department, Agricultural Department, etc., etc. which can be answered at once.

The Aláàfin: But you are not the first Resident to experience the difficulties of which you now complain. How is it that your predecessors never complained of this and were able to satisfy all concerned? Besides, these difficulties can be easily adjusted. I am not pleased that you should go to Ibàdàn for that reason.

The Resident: As I have said, while my office remains at Oyó, I shall never have to know the people of Oyó very well. Even some of the chiefs before me now (referring to the Ộyó chiefs present) are not well known to me because I am constantly engaged upon my work at the Residency. But if I go to İbàdàn, then my work is over. I can come to Ộyo two or three days. I shall then be able to devote more time to Oyo affairs than I have hitherto done.

The Aláàfin: This sounds strange! But you are known and addressed as the Resident of Oyo not of Ibàdàn.

The Resident: I am also Resident for Ibàdàn, Saki, Ifè, etc., etc. as well.

The Aláàfin: Exactly so by virtue of my position as the overlord of the places cited. But Oyó is your home. You are my Resident.

The Resident: Yes, I admit that Ộyo is my headquarters and I shall continue to reside there when I finish my work at Ibàdàn. At least I wish to try it; if not successful, I shall bring back my office. I have no mind of changing my headquarters. Do you think I can change that without the sanction of the Governor?

The Aláàfin: All right. But I am not pleased.

The Resident: Yes, the Aláàfin and the chiefs need not entertain any fear as I shall continue to carry on my work as usual.

The Aláàfin : All right, let us hope so.

It happened. If Ibàdàn was the capital of the old Western Region and the old Western State and is the capital of Oyo State today, the above is how it happened, the story as told by J. A. Atanda in his ‘The Divisional Power Structure in the New Oyo Empire, 1914 – 1934’. The article deals with so many issues including the troublous Ibadan-Oyo relations.

As it turned out, the Resident moved the capital from Oyo to Ibadan without approval from Lagos. And he got away with it. The Aláàfin believed he did it because ‘rebellious’ Ibadan had won him over. The truth was that the Aláàfin had become too hot for everyone to handle and relate with. Ward-Price did it because he thought the Aláàfin was behaving as if he was the boss of everyone – including even the Resident. A month earlier (October 1934), the Aláàfin had reportedly declared that “I know that there is no (one) else besides me but God.” The Resident was supposed to be Alaafin’s boss; he was today’s governor. The man had powers and he used it to teach some lessons in power relations.

Earlier still in 1934, that same Resident had told Oba Aromolaran I, the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, in his palace in Ilesa that “white ants are eating the legs of the Aláàfin ‘s chair without his knowing.” It was interpreted in Yoruba to the Owa who did not ask the white man to explain what he meant. The oba knew that it was an official acknowledgement of a gradual setting of the sun of what historians call the New Oyo Empire which started with the founding of a new Oyo town in about 1830. Mr. Emmanuel Adedeji Kayode was the orderly (asojú) to the Owa Obokun from 1920 to 1942. He listened to that conversation between Ward-Price and Owa. He retold it to Professor J. A. Atanda in an interview held at his Ereja Quarters residence in Ilesa on 13 June, 1966.

I do not know in person the present Aláàfin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade. I have not met him but the first and the only newspaper interview he has granted since his choice as the Aláàfin was conducted by me – on the phone. He sounded calm and humble throughout that interview engagement. He spoke on his expectations and laid out his plans for his people. I think I was impressed. Although I know that like an aircraft, the take-off is always difficult, still I feel there are already too many negative vibes since this oba’s coronation. I am writing this today as my own incision in his occiput on how he flies his plane, particularly his handling of the current crisis over the composition and chairmanship of the Oyo State Council of Obas.

The contentious Oyo State Council of Obas bill was passed some days ago. The new Aláàfin and his townspeople are not happy with that bill. But the authors of the bill originally proposed making Aláàfin the permanent chairman; in his absence, Olubadan and Soun were to serve as concurrent chairmen in that order of ranking. Very loud protests by Aláàfin’s people that their king would not share the seat with anyone even when he is absent woke up the other side – Ibadan and Ogbomoso. They reacted by rejecting the bill as originally drafted, and demanded a rotation of the chairmanship. They will share the seat two years apiece. Now, they’ve won.

They would win. In particular, the Ibadan would win. They have so much resistance and activism in their checkered history to guide them. Besides, they are brave and daring in reaching for whatever they covet. Their ancestors had it. At the beginning of the Ibadan-Ijaye war in 1861, an Ibadan General who later in life became famously known as Basorun Ogunmola, was reported to have boasted a promise that: “After shaving the crown of the head (Ijaye), he would shave the occiput (Abeokuta).” That was the Ibadan warlord’s way of promising to destroy one enemy after the other. He did not mention Oyo and its king, the Alaafin, but it is there in history that when it was his time to be Baale of Ibadan, Ogunmola told the Alaafin that the title he wanted was that of Basorun, Oyo’s prime minister. And he had it even while someone was holding the title in Oyo.

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Professor Bolanle Awe in a 1965 piece wrote that Ogunmola and, much later, Aare Latosa while establishing an Ibadan empire stretching over the whole of Yorubaland “openly discarded the support and friendship of the Alaafin of Oyo. Of the two leaders, however, Ogunmola was the wiser, in that he replaced the Aláàfin’s friendship with that of the British government…” (See Awe’s ‘The end of an experiment: The Collapse of the Ibadan Empire, 1877-1893’). The effect of that foundational friendship with the new power, the British, is what we see later in the colonial government acknowledging Ibadan over Oyo as the new power centre.

Potshots aimed at Oyo are Ibadan’s regular bugle songs of freedom. A conference of Yoruba Chiefs was to be held in Ibadan in May 1939. Then a storm ensued over a custom-made damask cloth for the conference. The cloth had the photograph of Olubadan Abasi Alesinloye holding a tiger on a leash. The Aláàfin protested vehemently and the government banned the cloth from being sold and worn throughout the province. Why did the Aláàfin protest? Ruth Watson explains in her ‘Civil Disturbance is the Disease of Ibadan’ (2003, page 159) quoting Olubadan’s driver: “Abasi was holding a tiger, that signifies Oyo under Ibadan because that tiger sign (symbol) belongs to Alaafin. He had rope tied around that tiger’s neck, it was pulled tight.” Between that time, 1939 and now, so many events have occurred which have served to relive that experience of a tiger on a leash. Many more will happen.

The present Ibadan-Oyo crisis over the chairmanship of Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs I find very vexatious and unnecessary. The new Aláàfin should shake off suffocating creepers from his orange tree and own himself. He should move closer to his ancestor, Atiba, and ask him how he used diplomacy to make the Ibadan serve his purpose; how his son, Adelu, got the Ibadan fight his wars, particularly the decisive one against Kurunmi of Ijaye in 1861-1862. The Aláàfin needs Ibadan and other Yoruba towns more than they need him. I pray for his success but the current noise so early in his reign is very distracting and unnecessary. In fact, if I were the Aláàfin, I would call a strategic, unilateral ceasefire on this council of obas thing; I would withdraw my troops while I reach out to rival kingdoms. There are greater things ahead to do together.

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others” (Jonathan Swift). Yoruba ancestors saw today and made it a rule of behaviour that obas must never leave their kingdoms. They also decreed it a taboo for obas to meet face to face. Throughout the period of obedience, no oba compared his height with another’s and none talked down on another. But the British broke the pot, first in 1886 to sign a treaty; second in 1925 at a durbar for the visiting Prince of Wales. The really bad one was in 1937 when the British called and held a Conference of Obas of Western Province. Since then, intrigues and fights over who sits where have combined to ruin the family.

What do our obas really do with the present so-called council of obas? What will happen if a state does not have that council? I do not want to ask what will happen if there really is no oba in a town. Should custodians of culture be found fighting over a council that is practically powerless and of no developmental value to the society? Besides, and this is important: Is there an oba today whose kingly arms reach out beyond his kingdom? There was an Oyo Empire at a time when there was no Ibadan. There was an Ibadan Empire which succeeded Oyo Empire at the demise of Oyo and its powers. Today, neither exists.

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From the epochal 1934 to date, Ibadan has not stopped insisting that the present Oyo is not the Old Oyo to which their ancestors belonged and which they served. The British in the 1920s set up a court of appeal for Oyo province and made the Aláàfin its chairman. What was the reaction from Ibadan? Ibadan people refused to take their cases to that court. I got an interesting paragraph from Professor Toyin Falola: “The Aláàfin ‘s Appeals Court only existed on paper as far as its connection with the Ibadan ‘native’ courts was concerned.” The people knew that the political implication of taking their case to Oyo would be “to offend all the (Ibadan) chiefs who held the Aláàfin in contempt.” (See Toyin Falola’s Ibadan, 2012, page 600).

Today’s Ibadan will not submit to today’s Oyo. Their fathers didn’t. Late Nigerian art historian, Professor Cornelius Adepegba, in a 1986 journal article did an extensive work on controversies such as the current one. Adepegba struck a cord in noting that “when the British were upholding the Aláàfin ‘s supremacy, a section of Oyo domain, particularly Ibadan, did not stop protesting until it was separated from Oyo native administration in 1934” (Read Adepegba’s ‘The Descent from Oduduwa: Claims of Superiority among some Yoruba Traditional Rulers and the Arts of Ancient Ife’, 1986).

In Olufemi Vaughan’s ‘Chieftaincy Politics and Communal Identity in Western Nigeria, 1893-1951’, we read that as early as 1914, Ibadan launched an association of elites called the Egbe Agba O’tan (Society of Elders Still Exist) to defend Ibadan against policies inimical to its progress. To clearly show its anti-Oyo/ Aláàfin stance, Vaughan reports that “the organization broadened its political base by appointing the Ooni of Ife as patron in 1923; in March 1928 it made the educated ‘crown’ prince of Ife, Adesoji Aderemi (who succeeded as Ooni two years later), as honorary member…By embracing the Ooni and its influential ‘heir apparent’, the Egbe posed a traditional counterweight to the political supremacy of the Aláàfin.” But the hand of fellowship to Ile Ife did not mean that Ibadan was trading one chain for another. We realize this when we fast-forward fifty-something years later. At a meeting of the Oyo State Council of Obas on Thursday 20 October, 1983, when the Ooni referred to himself as “the father of all”, Olubadan Yesufu Asanike was among obas who kicked and vehemently rejected that relationship. He was quoted as saying “O si wa npe wa ni omo re. Baba taa ni?” (He called us his children. Whose father is he)?”

Ironically, those things which Oyo did to Ibadan which Ibadan loathed and rejected, Ibadan at the height of its powers did worse to others. It took the people of the present Osun State generations of ‘anti-colonial’ struggles to stop listening to a crude refrain of exploitation from Ibadan chiefs: “Omo yín ó d’àgbà yíò tó ‘gbà sìn k’á tó tún wá (Your children would have matured enough to serve us before we come again).” When the people felt they had had enough, they finally found the right words to reply Ibadan: “Omo wa yíò ti d’àgbà yíò tó ìyà gbòn tí e bá tún wá (Our children would have matured enough to shake off your yoke if you come again).” Read this in ‘Oyinlola Olokuku: Every Inch A King’ by Lasisi Olagunju, et al (2005:78). The Ekiti/Ijesa/Ila people’s response to the same experience was violent; it was the trigger for the war that eventually ended all wars in Yorubaland in 1893. These experiences and responses can serve you if you feel sufficiently cheated and dispossessed by the Nigerian elite and the system.

Now, descendants of the past are fighting one another to recreate the privileges their ancestors enjoyed. Ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, told humanity that “you can’t step into the same river twice.” Power and privileges constantly flow downstream; like running water, they are in ceaseless motion. Neither Oyo nor Ibadan seems to realize the truth in that quote. They are fighting over the permanence or the impermanence of a presiding office which really presides over no one in the real sense. Beyond being symbols of communal unity and cultural pride, the political powers of the oba are in the graveyard of history. The point I make in all this is that if I were the governor of Oyo State today, I would cancel that council of obas and tell each oba to stay at home and limit his problem to his domain. After all, each of them has an instrument of appointment which clearly states the geography and limit of his suzerainty. Or should a man be made a king and still be hankering after money ritual? A kingdom should be enough for a king.

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Trump Places Nigeria, 14 Others On Partial Travel Restrictions To US

Published

5 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Editor

The United States has partially suspended the issuance of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to Nigeria and 14 other countries, citing concerns on radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operating freely in certain parts of the West African country.

Specifically, the classes of visas affected include the B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J Visas.

President Donald J. Trump, on Monday, signed a proclamation expanding and strengthening entry restrictions on nationals from countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the country from national security and public safety threats.

The United States also cited the Overstay Report, noting that Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 per cent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 per cent.

The Proclamation includes exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories like athletes and diplomats, and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests. It narrows broad family-based immigrant visa carve-outs that carry demonstrated fraud risks, while preserving case-by-case waivers.

While the proclamation continues the full restrictions and entry limitations of nationals from the original 12 high-risk countries established under Proclamation 10949: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, it adds full restrictions and entry limitations on 5 additional countries based on recent analysis: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria.

On October 31, the U.S. President Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” for the persecution of Christians by violent Islamic groups.

In a Truth Social post, Trump hinted that the US will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may very well go into the country, “guns-a-blazing,” and that the military intervention “will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians.

In his first term, President Trump imposed travel restrictions that restricted entry from several countries with inadequate vetting processes or that posed significant security risks.

The Supreme Court upheld the travel restrictions put in place in the prior Administration, ruling that it “is squarely within the scope of Presidential authority” and noting that it is “expressly premised on legitimate purposes”—namely, “preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices.”

Trump in recent weeks has used increasingly loaded languages in denouncing African-origin immigrants.

At a rally last week he said that the United States was only taking people from “shithole countries” and instead should seek immigrants from Norway and Sweden.

In June 2025, President Trump restored the travel restrictions from his first term, incorporating an updated assessment of current global screening, vetting, and security risks.

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OPINION: Man-of-the-people, Man-of-himself

Published

6 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

By Suyi Ayodele

Whatever Comrade Adams Oshiomhole lacks in height and body volume, he makes up for in mischief. If you are not prepared for the mud, don’t engage the pint-size Edo senator in any combat.

His greatest weapon is his tongue. This is why he prefers to be called ‘Comrade’ – just an appellation he acquired in his hey days in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), when the masses thought that he was fighting their battles. His public persona tilts towards that of the man-of-the-people. But on a scrutiny, the man is a man-of-himself.

Comrade’s best strategy in any argumentation is sheer sophistry! His eloquence is top-notch, his argumentative prowess arresting and his rhetoric captivating. He can be sarcastic and can also be deadly acerbic! He speaks and gyrates at the same time. Give him a microphone stand a bit lower than his height; Oshiomhole still leaps forward to emit incomprehensible verbiage. He is a dramatist par excellence. No. He is the drama itself! He combines all the characterisation of a folklore as he quadruples as heroic, non-heroic; anti heroic and A-heroic figure – beating the trinity to a distant second place!

Oshiomhole is a man one cannot afford to hate. He is equally a man too dangerous to love. His basket of mischief remains inexhaustible, his repertoire of goodwill also bottomless! He disappoints when one expects wisdom; and equally excels just when one gives up on him. A master of confusion while he remains unperturbed, Comrade is a summary of the dysfunctionality of the Nigerian political system! He displayed that in good measure last week.

I would have made a huge cash-out last week if the childhood experience I had over gambling had not taken the better part of me. Someone, who was ready to put anything to it that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees like Reno Omokri, Fani-Kayode and Mahmood Yakubu, the former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would not make it through the senate, had staked a huge amount of money. I held a different opinion. He asked us to bet, not like the small finger-thrust displayed by Governor Monday Okpebholo on national television recently. This was real-time betting.

I was tempted to enter the ring especially when he was willing to double his stake while mine remained static. But I remembered that I must honour the solemn pledge I made to my late father. I assured the old man that I would never gamble again in my life. I had used the two Kobo he gave to me to buy Phensic, a type of analgesic medicine of those days, to play kàlòkàlò. It was an experience I never hoped for again. As the offer came, my father’s voice rang in my head: É s’ómo kèé hì ta tété kì ha jalè (a child who gambles will eventually steal). I declined and I lost what would have been a Christmas bonus!

Alas, the screening turned out to be a hollow ritual; a drama of the absurd with Oshiomhole playing the lead villainous character! The former governor of Edo State was at his sophistry best at the screening of the 68 rotten tomatoes and sweet potatoes President Tinubu packaged as ambassadorial nominees and sent to the Senate for screening and approval. Many of us were entertained by the charade the National Assembly displayed at the ‘screening’. The only people who were disappointed were those who expected the senators to ‘skin’ the nominees.

As it turned out, all the 68 nominees were cleared. Any moment from now, Reno Omokri will be presenting his letter of credence endorsed by Tinubu, to the president of his ambassadorial post. By then, Tinubu would no longer be a “drug Lord” and certificate forger as Omokri alleged when he ‘was in the world’! It was Omokri’s screening that provoked Comrade Oshiomhole to tackle one of the oldest senators in this political dispensation, Ali Ndume of Borno State.

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For Oshiomhole, who, in one of his numerous campaign frenzies, had once opined that once a politician decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), all his sins are forgiven, one cannot put anything past the Iyamoh-born politician. No cause is too dirty for him to defend, no candidate is too unpopular for him to support, project and vow for.

A short voyage to the Comrade’s political shenanigans. In 2016, as the out-going governor of Edo State, Oshiomhole, while projecting the chairman of his economic team, Godwin Obaseki, as the governorship candidate of the APC, said that Obaseki was the “compressor” of the air conditioning of the state economic successes under his watch. He told the people to vote for Obaseki because Obaseki was the one who brought all the funds the government used in achieving feats for the people.

Then he went after the jugular of Obaseki’s opponent and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Comrade Oshiomhole said that in his entire life, I quote him: “I have never seen a pastor who lies effortlessly like Ize-Iyamu.” He went further to label Ize-Iyamu as a violent pastor “who carries Bible in the day and gun at night.” The crowd cheered. He added so many other unprintable expletives and Ize-Iyamu lost the election.

Four years later in 2020, Obaseki and Oshiomhole fell apart. As the National Chairman of the APC, Oshiomhole denied Obaseki a second term ticket. Obaseki, who had earlier got Oshiomhole suspended from the APC, changed to the PDP and picked the party’s gubernatorial ticket.

On the other side, Ize-Iyamu left the PDP and picked the APC ticket. Edo people waited to see what Oshiomhole, who had been disgraced out of the APC national chairmanship office, would do. Brazenly, Comrade took over the campaign machinery of Ize-Iyamu. Oshiomhole on several occasions knelt to beg the people to vote for Ize-Iyamu!

Oshiomhole told bewildered audiences from town to town that he was misinformed of Ize-Iyamu’s character! He said so, jumping from one end of the podium to another without any modicum of remorse! According to him, after the practice of dipping Agege bread into a hot beverage, the next best thing that has ever happened to humanity is Ize-Iyamu! Fortunately, the people could see through the Comrade’s hypocrisy! His candidate was beaten blue-black at the count of the ballot.

That was the Oshiomhole that spoke last week in defense of Omokri’s nomination as an ambassador. In his warped reasoning, now that Omokri had weaned himself of his infantile perennial attacks on the character of President Tinubu, ‘all his sins are forgiven’ and he is worthy to be an ambassador! His argument, if projected further, is that once a man becomes transformed, his past would no longer count!

That argument did not sit down well with Senator Ndume, and possibly some others who would rather get Omokri to explain how he saw the light and heard the voice on his way to Damascus to persecute Tinubu! Oshiomhole’s response was his sophistry of “when I talk, those who have not been governors should listen”, as if we have not seen governors and former governors as witless as the next-door fatuous Gardner in this dispensation.

The elders of my place said when a song is bad, nobody justifies it as being a palace song. That is exactly what Oshiomhole did in his defence of the irritation that Omokri and his ambassadorial nomination have constituted. Who would ever think that a day would come when a once fascinating character like Comrade would rise to defend a figure like Omokri!

The response by Ndume that he had been senator before Oshiomhole ever dreamed of becoming one took the argument to the highest buffoonery! What has been the impact of the decades Ndume has spent in the senate on his people? How many of his constituents are in captivity? How many of the people he represents are working as slaves on the farms of bandits so that they can live? Beyond the numeric of his years in the senate who Ndume epp?

Things happen. One of the things that have happened to Nigeria is the current senate – a dump site for former governors. No sane mind will not be scandalised by the conduct of the senate under Godswill Akpabio! The upper chamber has turned into a stinking chamber pot of anything goes. Last week, the chamber took the perfidy of “bow and go” to another annoying level when virtually all the ambassadorial nominees were cleared without any serious questions asked.

What, for instance, are the wives of former governors nominated as ambassadors bringing to the table? What are their pedigrees? Are they not the same peacocks we saw when their husbands were governors? Beyond rubbing pancakes and spending our patrimony as non-state actors, how else can we assess those ex-first ladies?

Without sounding pessimistic, except for the career diplomats among them, the rest of Tinubu’s ambassadors are disasters packaged in golden wrappers. The qualities of the figures nominated by the president and endorsed by the senate speak to the quality of those in power today. Sure, no man gives what he does not have. President Tinubu has given us his best men and women as our ambassadors. We wish them diplomatic successes!

Adibe Emenyonu and Michael Adeleye: It is hard to say goodbye

We lose those dear to us. That is what nature dictates. Every loss is painful. But when it doubles, it becomes very painful. I experienced double losses this last weekend. Two souls, very dear to me, were lowered to their graves. The reality that I would not see or talk to them again hurts!

I joined a group of other journalists led by Patrick Ochoga of the Leadership Newspapers, who doubles as the Chairman, Edo Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council, to Obibiezena community in Owerri, Imo State, for the funeral rites for Adibe Augustine Emenyonu.

Emenyonu, whom I called Adibs, slumped and died on October 18, 2025, at the age of 62. He was – imagine Adibs now being referred to in the past tense – until his death, the Edo State Correspondent of ThisDay Newspapers. Our paths crossed over two decades ago in Benin City where we plied the ‘he-said’ and ‘he-emphasised’ trade of journalism together. Adibs was a fearless and colourful writer.

Even when I left journalism for the corporate world, we continued to bond. On my return to the pen fraternity after 16 years, Adibs received me warmly, opening his contacts to me like many others did. We became closer, turning friendship to brotherhood!

I was devastated, when on the morning of Saturday, October 18, 2025, Ochoga called to announce: “Leader, I have bad news for you. We have lost Adibe!” The news was hurtful and seeing Adibs, naked in the morgue when I visited alongside the Edo State NUJ Chairman, Festus Alenkhe, and others, broke me.

Talk of a man who laboured and did not eat the fruits thereof; talk of Adibs. He was a good father to his four beautiful daughters. Three of them are university graduates today and the last baby of the house is a sophomore. Two of the three graduates attended private universities, and the last girl is also in a private university. But the man who toiled to ensure the girls got good education is no more. This is a tragedy!

Travelling to Obibiezena to pay my last respect to a wonderful friend was an eye opener. I saw Adibs’ modest country home bungalow. I saw his bust, commissioned by Genevieve, his first daughter, with Adibs’ traditional ishiagwu cap. I dared him on several occasions to wear the cap to Igbo land, and I felt sad. I became sadder with the reality that Adibs’ 93-year-old mother was inside a room in the house while the rites of passage were being performed for the son who travelled home every month to attend to her!

The entire Obibiezena mourned Adibs! The wailing, when his body arrived for the traditional lying-in-state was infectious. The old, walking with the aid of walking sticks turned up. Everyone spoke well of the departed. When I was asked to talk to his Obibiezena Development Union (ODU) executive, I gave a new name to Adibs – Adáraníléadáraníta. It means he who is good both at home and outside. Adibs was. His people testified to his goodness, his kindness, his generosity and his commitment to the community. He was, for many years, the Secretary General of ODU!

Adibs was a devout Catholic. He never joked with his creator and faith. In his ‘mischief’ whenever we talked about our religious inclinations, he would ask: “Are you sure you are a Pentecostal or a penterascal?” Adibs had a deep voice, and he equally had a deep character. Like all humans, he had his flaws. But his greatest strength was his inability to betray a trust. He was dependable, he was reliable!

I could not bring myself to go near his grave as Adibs’ remains were lowered. Coincidentally, Adibs was buried under the same avocado tree he used to taunt his friends, anytime he was in the village saying: “I am sitting under the avocado tree.” Now, Adibs sits no more, he rests, permanently, under the avocado tree! Fare thee well, Adibs!

As we journeyed back to Benin, my mind was in far away Canada, where another friend and brother, Michael Adeleye, simply Mike, was being committed to mother earth.

The news of Mike’s demise was broken to me by another friend, Tunde Laniyan. I met the duo during my voyage to the corporate world. Mike adopted me as his elder brother and all through, he called me “Oga Suyi”. His respect for age and experience remain inimitable. There was no time of the day Mike could not call to ask: ‘Oga Suyi, ki ni kin se’ (Oga Suyi, what should I do?). Mike resigned and left for Canada with his family. I was in the know of the plan to relocate from incubation to fruition. And while over there, we maintained that line of communication.

On October 9, 2025, at about 3.09 pm Nigerian time, I sent a message to him thus: “Hello. How are my people? Can you get this book for me: “For One More Day”, a novel by Mitch Albom.” Six minutes later, Mike responded with a screenshot of the book and asked for confirmation, which I did. “Okay, I will order it now. I should get it latest tomorrow. Then we shall discuss how to send it to you.” He responded and the following day, he had the book.

After the initial plan of sending the book by hand through someone travelling to Benin failed, Mike put the book in the mail on November 1, 2025. At my last tracking shortly before I dropped off this piece, the information on the tracking platform was to the effect that the book is with the Nigeria Customs having been presented to the agency on November 20, 2025, at 11.04 am! The country we live in!

We kept chatting and then the news came. Mike is dead! How? What killed him? Just like that! Mike, gone like vapour! Mid this year, Mike called to announce that he had completed his house in Lagos. “Oga Suyi, it is your project o”, he gleefully announced. I answered by saying that I was looking forward to being hosted to a meal of pounded yam whenever his family visited Nigeria. Now, Mike is gone and gone forever! What is this life!

As I penned this, my mind raced to Mummy Oyin, Mike’s wife. The two were inseparable; they were more than a husband and wife. How is she coping, herself? What about the two beautiful daughters? Why should nature be this cruel! Mike was industrious. He had hopes and aspirations.

They caution us in Christendom not to mourn as unbelievers. I will keep to that doctrine.

Rest on Mike; sleep from all your labour! May the good Lord comfort your wife and children. Good night, Mike, fare thee well!

News

Okpebholo Presents ₦939.85bn ‘Budget Of Hope, Growth’ To Edo Assembly

Published

7 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State on Tuesday presented a ₦939.85 billion 2026 Appropriation Bill christened ‘Budget of Hope and Growth,’ to the state House of Assembly.

Presenting the budget, Okpebholo said the 2026 fiscal plan was carefully designed to build on the foundation laid in 2025, while expanding the reach of government programmes to directly impact the lives of Edo people across all sectors of the economy.

The governor said the budget prioritises critical areas of sustainable development, including security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, job creation and healthcare.

He stressed that his administration remains committed to delivering “development the people can see and feel.”the governor, the budget prioritises critical areas of sustainable development, including security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, job creation and healthcare, stressing that his administration remains committed to delivering “development the people can see and feel.”

A breakdown of the proposal shows a total expenditure of ₦939.85 billion, with capital expenditure standing at ₦637 billion, representing 68 percent of the budget, while recurrent expenditure is pegged at ₦302 billion, accounting for 32 per cent.

Okpebholo explained that the strong emphasis on capital spending reflects his administration’s determination to fast-track development through strategic investments in roads, schools, hospitals, water supply, housing and other high-impact economic projects across the state.

He disclosed that the 2026 budget would be funded through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) estimated at ₦160 billion, Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations projected at ₦480 billion, capital receipts and grants of ₦153 billion, ₦146 billion from Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), as well as other viable revenue windows available to the state.

The governor, who assured Edo residents that his government would not impose unnecessary financial burdens on citizens, noted that the administration would instead intensify efforts to strengthen revenue systems, block leakages and improve public finance management.

Under sectoral allocation, the economic sector received the largest share with ₦614.2 billion earmarked for agriculture, roads, transport, urban development and energy. Priority areas include rural and urban road construction, completion of two flyovers, drainage works, urban renewal, and expansion of farm estates and irrigation facilities.

The social sector was allocated ₦148.9 billion to cater for education, healthcare, youth development, women affairs and social welfare.

Planned interventions include extensive school renovations, recruitment and training of teachers, expansion of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities, as well as investments in youth skills, sports and entrepreneurship programmes.

For governance and service delivery, the administration sector received ₦157.7 billion to drive civil service reforms, staff training, deployment of digital tools, improved revenue collection systems, support for ministries, departments and agencies, and the full rollout of e-governance platforms.

The justice sector was allocated ₦19 billion to strengthen the courts, improve justice delivery and support legal reforms and access-to-justice programmes, while regional development and local government support will focus on grassroots empowerment, community road construction, rural electrification, water and sanitation projects, and security outposts in border communities.

Governor Okpebholo said the 2026 Budget of Hope and Growth is anchored on his SHINE Agenda, built on five pillars—Security, Health, Infrastructure, Natural Resources/Agriculture and Education—with the overarching vision of creating a prosperous and united Edo State where every citizen feels the impact of governance.