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[OPINION] Wasiu Ayinde: The Shame Of A Nation (2)

Published

2 months ago

August 22, 2025

Tunde Odesola

Welcome, the ancient Land of Akoko beckons, where man lived in peace with nature until the day when the king, OlúfimoÀkókó, decided to let his wife into the secrets of Orò, forgetting the stern warning, “A woman is free to partake in Egúngúnfestival, she is free to partake in Gèlèdé festival, but the day she sets her eyes on Orò, she’s doomed!” Juju music legend, King Sunny Ade, amplifies this forewarning in his 1974 chart-bursting album, ‘E Kilo F’omo Ode’, crooning, “Awo egúngúnl’obirin le se, awo gèlèdé l’obirin le mo, b’obirin f’oju d’oro, oro a gbe! E kilo f’omo ode…”

Anyone who commits an unprecedented abomination, his eyes will witness an unexampled calamity, goes a Yoruba proverb captured thusly, ‘Eni ba se ohun ti enikan o se ri, oju re a ri ohunti enikan o ri ri’. Wasiu Ayinde’s ignominy at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, was not a solitary case in the history of infamy. By its sheer repulsiveness, Wasiu’s àsàkasà ranks alongside the desecration of royalty by Oba Olúfimo Àkókó, a long time ago, when the eyes were at the knees.

But let’s be clear; the eyes were never located on the knees, literally. ‘When the eyes were at the knees’ is an imagery that explains the limited view, the eyes can see if they are embedded in the knees, as opposed to how far they can see when they are socketed in the head. ‘When the eyes were at the knees’ is a Yoruba expression which means ‘when there was little awareness’.

So, the story of Olúfimo Àkókó and his clingy wife, as documented in the Ifa corpus by Orunmila, dates back to ‘time immemorial’, with ‘time immemorial’ being the white man’s equivalent of ‘when the eyes were at the knees’.

According to the story rendered to me by the one and only Awise Agbaye, Prof. Wande Abimbola, the wife of Oba Olúfimo Àkókó knelt before the throne, saying, “My lord, I wish to know how the egúngún metamorphoses in the grove.” The bewildered king screamed, “Ha! No! Never! No woman sees the robing and the derobing of the egúngún. Èwò! Abomination!”

But the queen won’t take no for an answer. “Please, my lord,” she begged, cringing on her knees and blinking tears away from her eyes. For a minute, time and air froze between the king and the queen. “Uhmm!,” the kabiyesi exhaled, tilting his head to the left in thought as his horsetail sashayed in his right hand.

“Okay, my queen. You will hide in my footstool. From there, you can watch the egúngún metamorphosis,” the king said. “Thank you, my king,” the happy queen rolled on the floor to the right and the left, in gratitude.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:[OPINION] Wasiu Ayinde: Shame Of A Nation (1)

As planned, the ruler hid his queen in the footstool and placed his feet on it. The atmosphere was charged as different shades and sizes of egúngún sprouted in the grove and stormed out to the delight of the ‘moríwo’, egúngún adherents. The queen watched how the ‘visitors from heaven’ chanted and sang in guttural voices while performing the rites of passage from the grove to the outer world.

Paje-Polobi is an amazing egúngún in Oyo. Its chief priest, the Alagbaa, shouted, “Paje-Polobi o o o o!” The egúngún burst forth in its colourful attire, running and jumping, chasing and dancing…out of the grove. One after the other, various egúngúnemerged from the grove. Alapansanpa was resplendent, so also was Oloolu, followed by Ologbojo, a most fearsome egúngún.

No matter how long the egúngún festival lasts, the child of the Alágbáà will eventually return to eating cornmeal. So, the festival came and went. And, Akokoland looked forward to the egúngún festival next year, even as the incoming Oro festival looms around the corner.

The Akoko queen had long fancied the Oro festival. So, she went to the king and poured out her heart’s desire, cooing in soft tones the sagas that mythify Akoko in honour and glory. “Impossible!” the king boomed, “No woman sees the Oro!” The queen whimpered, “My lord, no one saw me in the grove of egúngún; how can anyone see me in the grove of Oro when I’m inside the protection of your footstool?”

“Woman, pray, this endeavour won’t kill you,” the king blurted out, “Ok, we’ll repeat the egúngún tactics.” “Thank you, my lord,” the daredevil smiled, eyed the king flirtatiously and sang his panegyrics.

The Oro deity is chauvinistic and patriarchal. On the first night of the Oro festival, spirits and gods are evoked to commune with the sons of man. In the custom of the grove, young oros engage in call-and-response chants. The first oro booms, “Ewe meje-meje ni ege ni! (Cassava has seven leaves)” But, instead of the chant reverberating in and outside the grove, it hardly left the mouth of the oro. “What is going on?” Oro disciples began to wonder. A second oro chants, “Ewe meje-meje ni…,” but the second oro couldn’t finish the chant. Clearly, something was amiss. The third Oro burst into the chant, “Ewe me…,” and stopped abruptly like a rat caught in a gum trap.

The gods are angry. The chief priest rose, looked up and down, and brought out his kola nuts for divination. He threw them on the ground. None looked up. “There’s an intruder in the grove,” he declared. Wizened with age and wisdom, the chief priest sang, “Baye ba ye won tan, iwa ibaje ni won n wu. O difa fun Olufimo Akoko ti o fi aya re mo oro, a pe ita, ita o je, a pe oro, oro o mi titi; e jeka ye inu apere oba wo, e je a ye inu apere oba wo. Translation: When they become successful, they begin to misbehave. This is the Ifa tale of Olufimo Akoko, who showed the secret of Oro to his wife; we called ‘ita’, ita didn’t respond, we called oro, oro didn’t vibrate – let’s look into the footstool of the king!)

Therefore, the footstool was flung open. The queen was brought out. A sword was unsheathed before her eyes, but she never lived to see it sheathed – ‘won ti oju e yo ida, won ti eyin e kiibo’.

Abimbola, a former vice chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, concludes in Yoruba, “Wasiu has become successful; he is now misbehaving. When you become successful, you should be careful. The plane would have cut his head off like the wife of Olufimo Akoko was beheaded. May our land not witness evil. Wasiu should be careful.”

What is in a name? Wasiu calls himself Arabambi, a name similar to Olubambi, the name of Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning, whose death was wrapped in mystery and controversy. Some say Sango committed suicide by hanging, but some say he never did. Abimbola said, “It’s a lie. Sango never committed suicide. It’s not in the Ifa corpus. The lie that he committed suicide was spun by the Anglican Mission to malign the memory of Sango. Sango’s name was not Arabambi; he was Olubambi.”

Well, Wasiu is a music icon and cultural asset to Nigeria, but may he not use his hands to undo himself, I pray. I say this prayer because a psychoanalysis of Wasiu’s actions reveals an expert in the art and science of arrogance and bootlicking. In the video of his disrespectful telephone conversation with President Tinubu, Wasiu put his left hand behind him – a sign of respect – when he talked to the President respectfully, using the pronoun ‘e’, but he put the same hand in his pocket when he talked to the President disrespectfully, using the pronoun ‘o’, like he was talking to his band boy.

In his unbashful character, Wasiu, in an old video, boasted on stage that he could stop a traveller from landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos: “Emi gangan, walahi, ti n ba ni o ni de Murtala, o le wo Murtala; eniti o mo oba lo n fi oba sere o.” Jatijati.

The conciliatory way the police, NCAA, FAAN and Keyamohandled Wasiu’s case, in contrast to the way authorities hurriedly bundled the daughter of a nobody, Emmanson, into prison, paints the picture of tigers tearing at the godfatherlessand a pride of lions caressing a bull. The Federal Government’s appointment of Ayinde as aviation security ambassador without the conclusion of the investigation amounts to an abuse of justice.

Some argue that Wasiu should not be brought to justice because he had tendered an apology. If an apology were the price for freedom for offenders, there would be no convicts in Nigerian prisons. R. Kelly and P. Diddy, by music achievements and success, are far better than Wasiu. But they are behind bars in the US today for criminal offences. If ‘I’m sorry’ could fetch them freedom, both would churn out Grammy-winning monster hits. If ‘I’m sorry’ could fetch ex-CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, freedom, the 64-year-old banker would use numbers to write “I’m sorry”. Despite saying sorry, the troublemaking singer, Portable, was arrested and made to pay fines when he beat up Ogun State environmental officials. He also corrected the building infraction he committed.

With a brand of Fuji relying more on beats than pearls of wisdom, Wasiu has endeared Fuji to the younger generation who prefer form to substance, but with his airport show of shame, he has dragged Fuji into the mud of shame.

Can Wasiu ever change? I doubt it. In his first show after the meltdown, Wasiu, in a most unrepentant manner, referenced the airport saga as ‘isele kekere’ (a minor incident), in a song in which he was begging for forgiveness. To say Wasiu cannot replicate his Abuja dishonourable display in countries such as the US, UK, Canada, etc., is far-fetched. He cannot do such in the Republic of Benin. I doubt if he could do that in Anambra, Abia, Rivers, etc. Cowards bully in their areas of influence.

One thing still beats me in all of this Fuji House of Commotion; it is the shocking realisation that some passengers on the Value Jet plane have not come together to file a class action lawsuit against Wasiu for endangering their lives. If I were on that plane, I would personally and jointly sue Wasiu, who needs to be taught a lesson.

Can Wasiu ever change? Yes, when the cock grows teeth.

* Concluded.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

Facebook: @Tunde Odesola

X: @Tunde_Odesola

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NB: This column goes on a break from next week.

See you!
…

News

Why Sowore Was Taken To Prison After Bail – Police

Published

2 hours ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

The court granted bail to Sowore with N500,000 and two sureties, which his legal team was working to perfect at the time of the police action.

Speaking to newsmen in Abuja shortly after the incident, human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, accused the police of violently attacking and removing Sowore moments after his bail was granted.

Adeyanju alleged that more than 50 armed officers stormed the court premises, descended on Sowore, and took him away by force while refusing to present a valid remand order.

“Sowore had just been granted bail, and while we were conferring with him here, the police suddenly launched an attack. More than 50 officers violently descended on him and took him away by force. We don’t even know where they have taken him,” he said.

He said the officer who led the operation briefly displayed what he claimed was a remand order but refused to allow Sowore’s lawyers to inspect it.

Adeyanju said, “The officer flashed the document, and when we insisted on reviewing it, he pocketed it and ordered that they must go.

“When we asked where they were taking him, he said Kuje Prison. We demanded to see the remand order as endorsed by the court, but he refused.”

He further alleged that during the scuffle, the police accused Sowore of insulting the Inspector General of Police, saying, “Because Sowore called the IG useless, they must deal with him.”

News

FIFA’s Use Of Kebbi Stadium In Banner Sparks Outrage, Funding Row

Published

2 hours ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

Global football body FIFA has stirred a storm of reactions across Nigeria after showcasing the Birnin Kebbi Stadium project in Kebbi State — a facility co-funded with the Nigeria Football Federation — on its official social media pages.

FIFA on Saturday used an image of the project, dating back to 2023, as the new profile banner on its official X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts.

The image, showing a half-furnished stadium in Birnin Kebbi, quickly went viral.

Built under the FIFA Forward Programme, the stadium was meant to symbolise progress in grassroots football. But as the photo circulated online, fans flooded social media with outrage and speculation.

Some netizens interpreted FIFA’s post as a subtle jab at the NFF, following recent allegations of fund mismanagement.

The uproar comes just days after football critic Chinedu Mobike, via his official Instagram handle #c_mobike, on October 23, 2025, accused the NFF of squandering millions of dollars meant for infrastructure projects, including its twin project in Delta State.

Mobike, in his viral video, claimed that FIFA gave the NFF “1.2 million dollars for two stadiums” — one in Kebbi and another in Ugborodo, Delta State — which, he alleged, “till today did not see daylight.”

Comparing Nigeria’s FIFA-funded projects with those of other nations, Mobike alleged that while “other countries used the funds to truly develop football, Nigeria produced nothing to show.

“The NFF should sit up…There are no active projects promoting football or sports in Nigeria,” Mobike said.

According to The PUNCH, the next day, Friday, October 24, 2025, the NFF issued an official statement, which it described as a “fresh clarification to misinformation” by some social media users (names not mentioned) who claimed the NFF “collects millions of dollars from FIFA annually to misappropriate.”

The statement, retrieved from the NFF website, was titled: “NFF: Monies received from FIFA & CAF are for specific purposes, and audited in every cycle.”

While Mobike’s video reignited calls for reform, the hashtag #SaveNigerianFootball has been trending on X, as users express frustration and hope that collective pressure might finally bring transparency to Nigerian football governance.

In its October 24 statement, the NFF firmly denied any wrongdoing, explaining that every dollar received from FIFA or CAF is tied to a specific purpose and audited annually.

“The monies meant for development purposes are tied to specific projects.

“FIFA Forward funds are properly specified and under strict adherence to financial regulations, compliance, monitoring, and auditing at every stage,” the NFF said.

The Federation cited ongoing FIFA Forward projects such as the NFF/FIFA Players’ Hostel and new training pitches at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, stressing that every phase is verified before funds are released directly to FIFA-approved consultants.

Dismissing the viral reports as “fictitious figures,” the NFF added that those spreading misinformation “would find no reason to seek clout if they had any idea how much it costs to organise a single match of any of the national teams.”

But the clarification failed to calm the storm.

Instead, FIFA’s quiet profile update on Saturday reignited debate, with many Nigerians reading it as a silent but deliberate signal.

Many questioned how long it would take to fully complete a mini-stadium project that came to light in May 2023, after the groundbreaking event in September 2020 by the former Kebbi governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.

In December 2023, it was reported that Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris unveiled the FIFA/NFF-backed stadium project, saying it was designed to “boost the morale of youths in the state.”

He noted that the project cost $1,183,000, with the state government donating four hectares of land and paying ₦19 million in compensation to landowners.

Earlier, in May 2023, FIFA described the Kebbi project as part of its commitment to grassroots football, writing on its website InsideFIFA: “It is no surprise, then, that Birnin Kebbi, the capital of Kebbi, was chosen back in 2020 as the site for the construction of an artificial football pitch now available for young boys and girls to use.

“Meanwhile, a second pitch is under construction in Ugborodo… these two ambitious projects have received around USD 2 million in funding from FIFA through its Forward Programme.”

Online Reactions
Social media erupted with interpretations and comparisons.

Some users viewed FIFA’s action as subtle recognition rather than mockery. One X user, @Poka741997, wrote: “FIFA updating their header is symbolic. It’s recognition for Nigeria, even if the stadium’s budget is modest by international standards.”

Others saw it as a global embarrassment.

User #_AsiwajuLerry commented: “FIFA changed their Twitter header to the $1.2m stadium built by the NFF. Global shame.”

Echoing that sentiment, #OyokunyiOkon added: “This is embarrassing. The NFF should be ashamed that FIFA is showcasing a $1.2 million ‘stadium’ in Kebbi that clearly reflects misplaced priorities and poor accountability.”

Comparing Nigeria’s project to Senegal’s 50,000-seat Stade Abdoulaye Wade, user #FemiOguntayo2 remarked: “Nigerians want to build a world-class stadium with $1.2m… Haba! We know NFF is corrupt but haba na…

“This is Stade Blaise Sené (also known as Stade du Sénégal or Abdoulaye Wade National Stadium) in Diamniadio, Senegal. Its total construction cost was $270 million, funded largely by the Senegalese government and built by Turkey’s Summa Construction Company. FIFA’s way of mocking the NFF. How did they spend $1.2m on that stadium? Exposing the kwaruption in the NFF?”

Another user, #mario99amr29, suggested FIFA’s post was deliberate: “We know what’s at play.

“If FIFA can display this at the expense of other successful projects, maybe it’s a subtle callout. Nigeria vs Kenya: A case study.”

As of press time, FIFA had yet to issue any official comment explaining the use of the Kebbi stadium image on its banner. PUNCH

News

Police Arrests Principal Supplier Of Weapons To Bandits In Delta

Published

4 hours ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

The Special Assignment Team of the Delta state Police Command has arrested a key supplier of weapons to bandit groups in the northern part of Nigeria

The suspect, one Ahmed Ibrahim (31) male, resident of Ekpan in Uvwie local government area, has long been on the command’s watch list for his alleged role in several high-profile kidnapping and armed-robbery operations.

The Commands Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Bright Edafe, in a statement disclosed that acting on credible intelligence from the Force Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU), Abuja, operatives of the CP Special Assignment Team (CP-SAT), led by ASP Julius Robinson, arrested a female suspects, one Jamila Abubakar, at Conoil Filling Station, Warri–Patani Road, Effurun.

The statement revealed that upon her arrest, officers discovered the cash sum of ₦550,000 neatly concealed beneath her bag and suspected to be proceeds from illicit transactions.

According to DAILY POST her apprehension provided a crucial lead that set off a well-coordinated follow-up operation.

“Buildin on that intelligence, the operatives stormed Niger-Cat area of Warri, where they successfully arrested a notorious arms peddler, one Ahmed Ibrahim (31) male, resident of Ekpan in Uvwie Local Government Area, at about 0725 hrs on 22nd October 2025.

“A search led to the recovery of a bag containing one hundred and fifteen rounds 115 rounds of 7.63mm AK-47 live ammunition, 220 rounds of SMG rifle ammunition, and 32 live cartridges”.

Edafe further noted, that preliminary investigations revealed that, the suspect is a key supplier of weapons to bandit groups in the north and has long been on the Command’s watch list for his alleged role in several high-profile kidnapping and armed-robbery operations.

According to the statement, Ahmed Ibrahim, is also linked to the kidnap and murder of one Ogheneovo Onemu (female), who was abducted on May 27, 2024 at Edjekota community in Ughelli North LGA, and later murdered after a ransom payment of ₦4,000,000.

Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, described the breakthrough as another testament to the Command’s unwavering commitment to stemming the flow of illegal arms, dismantling criminal syndicates, and bringing offenders to justice.

The CP urged residents to remain vigilant and continue supporting the Police with timely and credible information to aid the fight against crime, assuring the public that the Command will sustain its momentum against criminal elements and remain resolute in protecting the lives and property of all law-abiding citizens.