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OPINION: OAU And Ife Deaf Gods (2)

Published

3 years ago

April 4, 2022

Tunde Odesola

Arole Oduduwa, my second mental image of you left me in pure dazzlement of your unfolding personality, which I thought was a perfect fit for the big shoes left behind by the departed Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. But William Shakespeare warns, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”

Kabiyesi, it’s true that Ooni Sijuwade had dragged you before the EFCC over alleged fraud and forgery, but for a larger-than-life personality such as OBJ to embark on a journey to Ile-Ife just to pay homage to you, I held my suspicion in check, in the hope that there could be more to royalty than the kàrá-kàtá of land buying and selling.

A stickler for promptness, Pastor Fasipe, Segun and I were shocked to discover that Baba Obasanjo wasn’t home when we got to his sprawling hilltop residence by 9am as scheduled.

But he had left word for us to wait for him as he had dashed to Ile-Ife to pay homage to you on the very first day you were to enter Ife as Ooni. “Baba said you should wait, he won’t be long gone,” one of OBJ’s aides told us. So, we waited.

While on the journey to and fro Ife, Baba Iyabo called repeatedly to ask about us, instructing his cook to serve us food and make us feel at home. Before the General returned in the evening, many visitors were already waiting for him outside his main building but we – Baba Fasipe, Segun and me – were in his sitting room all day.

When he arrived, we could hear him from outside, asking, “Pastor mi nkò? Awon journalists ni mo kò fè rì,” meaning: “Where’s my pastor? I want to see the journalists first.”

When Ebora Owu walked into his living room, the atmosphere sparkled in reverence to an enigma I never liked, but whom Segun admired on account of his numerous non-biological children that he was sponsoring at various levels of education.

After apologising, Baba Obasanjo clutched Segun’s hand and my hand in each of his armpits, and led us like captives into his beautiful kitchen that has a dining area, announcing in a hurried tone, “ebi n pa mi o! Ki le ni’le o?” “I’m famished, what food do you have?”

FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Ooni, OAU And Ife Deaf Gods (1)

His beautiful wife, Mrs Bola Obasanjo, who came in with him, said there was beans, and Baba said, “E ba ngbe e!” He was given some beans cooked without oil. He put some garri on the beans, and sliced some tomatoes by himself, which he added to the beans, garri and stew. He didn’t sit down all this while as he held his plate of food in his hand and was eating, asking about the wellbeing of some of his foster children.

Oonirisa, OBJ travelled out a few days after the visit. When he returned, he visited you again, and in a symbolic gesture, the then 79-year-old Owu-born former Head of State and former civilian President, hit the ground in prostration before your 42-year-old self. The picture of the almighty OBJ on the floor before you had set the internet on fire.

Oba Adeyeye, that OBJ gesture was a lesson in humility, and an acknowledgement of the father figure that the Ooni stool symbolises to ALL Yoruba. I remember that OBJ, in newspaper reports the following day, charged you to UNIFY ALL Yoruba.

Arole Oodua, it’s, therefore, unfatherly and divisive if the drumbeat from Enuwa today is ‘omo eni ki n se idi bebere, ka fi ileke si’di omo elomi.’ The OAU selection committee has found the waist of the VC-elect, Professor Adebayo Bamire, worthy of the beaded string; let Ife not waste time on frivolities, let Ife disembark from the ladder of clannishness and clownishness. If it pleases your Majesty, let Ife look inwards and put forward a candidate for the position of CMD, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, which would be vacant in six months’ time. If an Ife indigene fairly clinches the post, so be it; if not, better luck next time. However, one thing is certain, your Highness; the emergence of an Ife indigene as VC or CMD would only yield selfish benefits to a few, it won’t deliver OAU land to Ife or improve the fortunes of Ife as a collective.

Kabiyesi, if the Premier of the old western region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was cliquish, OAU would’ve been sitting in Ikenne today. Alayeluwa, the song the House of Oduduwa should be singing today is the Awo-inspired Yoruba anthem, “Ise wa fun ile wa.” Putting round pegs in round holes is the Yoruba maxim that says, “Ika to ba to, lo ye ka fi ro’mu.”

Still in the dining room with OBJ, his wife, and cook, we – Segun and me – decided to outfox the old General by killing two birds with one stone. There was a break during the interview when OBJ had to attend to something. “Segun, let’s take more than one interview out of this place,” I whispered. “Why not, if not?” Segun responded. “Ok, I’ll go ask Mama some questions, you just keep Baba busy,” I told Segun, who said, “Ok.”

Subsequently, I slipped out of Aremu’s view, and cornered his wife in the kitchen, asking her questions about the home front. But Okikiola was eagle-eyed, he looked beyond his shoulders, caught me, and asked what I wanted from his wife, “Iwo arakunrin yi, kilo nwa lodo iyawo mi?” When Matthew caught me beside Mama again, he warned sternly, saying, “Ma ni ki won ju e si’ta o,” meaning, “I’ll have you thrown out!” But I already got some insight from mama.

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I went down this memory lane, kabiyesi, because your name, Enitan, means ‘man with a history’. Kabiyesi Enitan, in the 61-year-old existence of OAU, Ife candidate, Adedoyin, would be the second Ife indigene who would vie for OAU vice chancellorship!

Kabiyesi, please, tell them to keep their mouths shut, those wailing that the office of the VC had been shut against Ife indigenes since the inception of the university! Isn’t it stupid to expect the OAU to give the mantle of VC to Ife indigenes who haven’t been contesting?

Kabiyesi Enitan, you attended a polytechnic; I attended a university. So, I know how the university system runs. I also understand the universality of the university. Ojaja Enitan, I wasn’t surprised when you said the first university in the world was established in Ile-Ife, and that it was called, “Ifa Fiti,” meaning “Ifa sets apart.” That assertion is laughable, kabiyesi. No archeological evidence supports that claim.

The 51st Ooni of Ife, true Yoruba sons and daughters would’ve stood solidly behind you if you had urged President Muhammadu Buhari to provide hostels for the over 35,000 OAU student population, whose 30% live in decrepit hostels, leaving out over 25,000 to rent houses in Ife town. This was what led to the death of the postgraduate student, Adegoke, and Heritage Ajibola, the undergraduate that fell into a soakaway in February. If both students lived on campus, they wouldn’t have died.

Kabiyesi, do you know Olamide’s hit song, Abule Sowo? Abule sowo means someone who sells land. In the song, Olamide said though he didn’t study Real Estate and Management, yet he’s stinkingly rich.

Oonirisa, do you know Eedris Abdulkareem’s Jagajaga. If Nigeria isn’t ‘jagajaga’, one expects the Presidency to have condemned the Ife shame, and queried the Inspector General of Police for having an inept Commissioner of Police in Osun, whose command looked away for many days while lives and property were threatened in a public institution. Your kingship, I heard the police were mobilised not to arrest the OAU invaders. Insensitively, federal and state lawmakers also turned a blind eye to the abomination.

Kabiyesi, please, permit me to ask President Buhari to investigate why soldiers drafted for the proposed pulling down of the illegal structures built on OAU land retreated at the last minute?

Ooni, please, help retrieve from private pockets, monies collected for the illegal sale of massive OAU land. Where’s the money? Oduduwa’s watching.

Concluded.

Tunde Odesola is a seasoned journalist columnist with the Punch newspaper and a writer here.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com
Facebook: @tunde odesola
Twitter: @tunde_odesola

Related Topics:#opinion OAU Ooni of Ife Tunde Odesola

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NDLEA Arrests Two Drug Kingpins, Seizes Cocaine, Heroin, Meth In Lagos

Published

55 minutes ago

September 28, 2025

Editor

Operatives of a Special Operations Unit (SOU) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two drug kingpins, Victor Nwosa and Felix Chika Obiegbu, after consignments of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine being prepared for export to Europe and beyond were recovered from their Lagos homes following weeks of intelligence and surveillance on their criminal networks.

While 64-year-old Nwosa paraded himself as a successful textile merchant, 49-year-old Obiegbu was known to many as a businessman in wine distribution, but beneath their outward appearance lay their hidden illicit drug business, unearthed by NDLEA operatives after months of intelligence gathering on the syndicates led by them.

According to a statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, at the time they were preparing their consignments for export, NDLEA-SOU operatives, who had kept them under surveillance for months, swooped on them in different parts of Lagos.

Nwosa was arrested on 17 September 2025 at his home at 16, Femi Kila Street, Okota, where 4.33 kilogrammes of heroin and 448 grammes of cocaine were recovered during a search of the house.

In Obiegbu’s case, he was arrested on 11 September at his home at 5 Shada Shonefun Street, Aguda, Surulere, where, in the course of a search, 2.902 kilogrammes of methamphetamine were uncovered and seized.

Attempts by suspected suppliers of illicit drugs to terrorists and bandits in Borno and Yobe to move narcotics concealed in the engine compartment of a Mercedes-Benz jeep and in a woman’s travelling bag were also thwarted by NDLEA operatives during stop-and-search operations in the two states.

In Borno State, following weeks of intelligence, NDLEA officers on Saturday arrested Baba Kaka Ibrahim at Njimtilo village while driving a Mercedes-Benz GLK marked JRE 987 AE along Damaturu Road. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 39,380 pills of tramadol 225mg and Exol-5 stuffed in the engine compartment of the jeep.

That same day in Yobe State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a woman, Halima Adamu, along the Damaturu-Maiduguri Road, where 39 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 1.4 kilogrammes, were found concealed inside the casing of her travelling bag. A swift follow-up operation led to the arrest of another woman linked to the consignment, Habiba Muhammad, at her Baga Road, Maiduguri home.

Two suspects, Aliyu Sani and Yahaya Tata, were arrested on Saturday by NDLEA operatives along the Zaria-Kano Road, Gadar Tamburawa, Kano State, with 30,030 pills of tramadol seized from them, while three suspects – Friday Elebechi, Tobin Godgift and Aya Clement – were arrested by NDLEA operatives at Swali Jetty, Yenagoa, Bayelsa, on 22 September after 12 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, and 50 Diana AAA cartridges were recovered from them.

A 45-year-old ex-convict, Femi Owoeye (aka Do Good), was arrested on 25 September by NDLEA officers at his home at 24 Oke-Igele Street, Ikere Ekiti. He was found in possession of 32 kilogrammes of skunk and 10.5 grammes of tramadol. He had previously been convicted and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for a similar drug trafficking offence in 2016.

In Kaduna, a suspect, Adedamola Olayeni, was arrested on 22 September with 404 blocks of skunk weighing 262.6 kilogrammes at the Abuja-Kaduna tollgate. The consignment was found in his Honda Pilot jeep marked MKA 499 TT, coming from Osogbo, Osun State, and heading to Katsina State.

Another suspect, Zubairu Haruna, was found on 24 September with 506 grammes of methamphetamine at the Gwantu-Fadan Karshi checkpoint, Kaduna, while a follow-up operation in Gombe State led to the arrest of the intended receiver of the consignment, Babangida Mohammed.

No fewer than 85,100 pills of tramadol and other opioids were seized from the trio of Dauda Abubakar, Abdullahi Umar and Ismaila Muhammed in the Apapa area of Lagos on 22 September, while NDLEA operatives in Abuja, the following day, 23 September, arrested Opeyemi Ogundipe with 2.1 kilogrammes of Colorado along the Abaji-Gwagwalada Expressway.

In Edo State, NDLEA officers on 23 September destroyed a total of 12,115.6 kilogrammes of skunk on 4.846244 hectares of cannabis plantation at Uromi Forest in Esan West LGA, where two suspects, Ernest Uche and Felix Mugorga, were arrested and 345.5 kilogrammes of processed substance evacuated.

At Ogu Forest, Igueben LGA, no less than 12,031.245 kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substance were destroyed on 4.438442 hectares of cannabis farm on 24 September, with 106.1 kilogrammes of processed consignment evacuated. A truck conveying 82 bags of skunk concealed in bags of charcoal, with a total weight of 1,025 kilogrammes, was intercepted by NDLEA operatives along Wareke-Auchi Road, Etsako West LGA, on Friday, while two suspects, Kabiru Abdulahi and Anas Safiyanu, were apprehended in connection with the seizure.

While commending the officers and men of the SOU, as well as those of the Borno, Yobe, Edo, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, FCT, Ekiti and Bayelsa Commands for the arrests, seizures and their dexterity, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts.

He noted that “the success of the various operations across the country underscores our commitment to safeguarding Nigeria from illicit substances that threaten public health and national security. Every gramme of these dangerous drugs we seize and remove from our streets and communities reinforces our determination to protect our youths, disrupt criminal networks, and strengthen national security.”

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Insecurity: Army HQ Directs GOC Ibadan To Relocate To Kwara

Published

1 hour ago

September 28, 2025

Editor

The Army Headquarters has directed the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division of the Nigerian Army in Ibadan, to immediately relocate to Kwara State to further coordinate and boost military response to the insecurity in parts of the state.

This was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Kwara State Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, on Sunday.

It was gathered that the directive of the Army Headquarters followed the killing of no fewer than five forest guards and local hunters by suspected bandits early Sunday morning in Oke, Ifelodun Local Government Area.

It was also learnt that members of the local vigilance team neutralised an unspecified number of the bandits in the early morning attack.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, who mourned the deaths of the hunters, “urged our brave residents to remain calm and avoid the temptation to turn on ourselves,” saying, “We will forever be grateful to all of them as our heroes.”

The Governor also called for increased security deployments to the state to rout the criminals involved in attacks in parts of the state.

In a statement following the attack on the positions of the forest guards and the surrounding areas of Oke Ode, the Governor said the state requires more military deployments to roll back the activities of criminals in parts of the Kwara South and Kwara North senatorial districts.

He regretted the loss of innocent civilians and the forest guards who, he said, mounted a spirited resistance to the assailants in the early morning incident out of patriotism and love for their communities.

“My heartfelt condolences go to the families. No word can adequately capture the depth of my sadness and nothing can compensate the bereaved families for these incidents, in spite of our efforts and the investments in enlisting and training the forest guards to bolster the conventional forces.

“Our people are understandably concerned about the situation, and I wholeheartedly share in this grief,” the Governor said in the statement on Sunday.

“While we appreciate the efforts and unquantifiable sacrifices of the security forces as well as the successes so far, we definitely need to do a lot more until we are completely out of the woods.”

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Retired DIG Parry Osayande is dead

Published

4 hours ago

September 28, 2025

Editor

Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Parry Osayande is dead!

Osayende died on Sunday in Benin City, a day to his 89th birth anniversary.

His death was confirmed in a condolence statement released by the president of the Immaculate Conception College Old Boys’ Association (ICCOBA), Engr. Ighodalo Edetanlen.

The announcement, made on behalf of the association’s National Executive Committee, described Osayande as an “exemplary old boy” of the college, located in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The statement, titled ‘CONDOLENCE: DIG. PARRY OSAYANDE (Rtd),’ reads: “The President, ICCOBA Worldwide, Engr. Ighodalo Edetanlen, on behalf of the National Executive Committee and the entire Old Boys of Immaculate Conception College, Benin City announce, with total submission to the will of God, the peaceful repose of an exemplary old boy, DIG Parry Benjamin Osemwegie Osayande (Rtd) earlier today at the age of 88 years.”

Born on September 29, 1936, Osayande would have turned 89 on Monday.

His decades-long service to the Nigeria Police Force included high-level postings as Commissioner of Police in Benue and Cross River States. He also served as Chairman of the Police Service Commission, playing a vital role in the country’s law enforcement and administrative reform.

The association expressed deep sorrow over his passing and called for prayers for the bereaved family.

“While we mourn, let us also uphold the family he left behind in prayers in this moment of grief,” the statement added.

“Details regarding funeral arrangements are expected to be announced in due course.

“May God grant him and all the faithful departed eternal rest in Jesus Name, Amen,” the statement concluded,