By Abubakre Ajao
The Yoruba have a saying, which seeks to warn against deceit or sycophancy, as the case may be. They tell a sycophant or whoever he or she is deceiving; “iro npa’ro fun’ro, eke nb’eke s’oro, won nyo ara won l’enu…”
This saying applies to one Yaqub Adesola, who recently advertised the 2027 governorship ambition of Engr. Rauf Aderemi Olaniyan. You don’t remember Olaniyan? Of course, it’s not a particularly popular name! He was indicted and impeached as Deputy Governor of Oyo State in 2022. You still don’t remember him? He joined APC while still serving as Deputy Governor; teamed up with opposition to work against Governor Seyi Makinde. He ran to Lagos and Abuja with his tail behind his legs to get Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s and the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s attention. He worked desperately to prove a point that he was relevant in Oyo State, but he failed woefully at it.
He sank with the APC Gov Candidate, Teslim Folarin. His desperate fight to be seen by Tinubu and the APC hierarchy paid off in 2024 and his life-long dream of being relevant was fulfilled, as he became CHAIRMAN of the Governing Board of a College of Education! Isn’t that post bigger than that of a Minister? Enough about Olaniyan; the impeached deputy governor has really not done much to deserve your attention.
The focus of this rejoinder is Mr Yaqub, who I would like to describe as a sycophant seeking crumbs from Olaniyan.
In that piece, Yaqub laid a weak foundation for his intention to declare the governorship ambition of Engr Olaniyan. He said: “The good people of the pacesetter state should do everything humanly possible to rescue the state from vultures. Our founding fathers would be in a state of sadness with the present situation of the legacies they struggled to build.
“All indices to measure good governance have shown that the state is in a mess.”
He then went ahead to build on his lies by trying to dress Olaniyan in borrowed garments by insinuating that the indicted former Deputy Governor was a saint while in office. Meanwhile, all evidence presented before the House of Assembly and the Judicial Panel, which led to his removal from office, indicate otherwise. So far, the Court of Appeal has upheld the impeachment. Could that mean that Olaniyan was guilty as indicted on issues of gross misconduct, abuse of office and financial recklessness?
Though Yaqub claimed that he lives in Abuja, he went ahead to heap lies after lies about the state of the education, health and other sectors and then concluded that Olaniyan is the solution to all the problems and the best thing to happen to the world after electricity. Yaqub has a right to hold opinions and to paint anyone in whatever colours with his paint of sycophancy. But he should not have attempted to paint Governor Makinde’s administration with a coal tar.
But who could this Yaqub Adesola be? A little background check exposed him badly. He was appointed as Personal Assistant to Engr Olaniyan in 2019 and was later nominated as the Oorelope Local Government Caretaker Chairman. By 2021, Yaqub was out of office as Caretaker Chairman, as he was not allowed to fly the PDP flag for the local government election. Of course, that would be a kick in the teeth for an individual so good in sycophancy to Engr Olaniyan. He did have an axe to grind with Governor Makinde, but more importantly, he had a boot to lick for Engr. Olaniyan.
Mr Yaqub, hungry and probably still angry that as a political parasite, he could die off if Olaniyan does not get another big thing, has come out to declare a dead-on-arrival governorship ambition. Isn’t it clear that Mr Yaqub must have become so hungry, since the post of Governing Board Chairman is not big enough to allow hangers-on like him to have a field day? In order to make the declaration popular, he had to resort to rubbishing Governor Makinde’s efforts, knowing that his write-up would gain traction from the teaming lovers of the government.
Could Olaniyan, who is still in court battling to clear his name, have sent Abuja-based Yaqub to tell all the lies in that declaration? One doubts. But one is also sure that Oyo State residents know the truth and the truth has since set them free and will continue to set them free. No amount of lies will erase the records of achievements Governor Makinde has as the Engineer of Modern Oyo State. No amount of lies will also sway them to return the state back into the hands of charlatans and anti-people politicians, who are only desperate to become governor to prove unnecessary points.
Yaqub’s lies won’t sit well with thousands of Oyo State residents who are still hailing the mass recruitment of teachers; neither will the falsehood hold water before residents who continue to give thumbs up to the governor for rebuilding infrastructure and expanding the state’s economy.
If one may advise Engr Olaniyan; he should be wary of the likes of Yaqub. The Engr should heed the warning in the words of popular writer, Gimba Kakanda, that one should never confuse sycophancy with loyalty, because the person who always praises one and underplays one’s transgressions is not loyal.
Also, if one may advise Yaqub; he should stop behaving like mistletoe, which cannot survive independent of trees. He does not need to deceive Engr. Olaniyan; Oyo State and its people are moving forward with Makinde and would never return to bondage. In any case, who is afraid of Olaniyan and what party platform would he even use to prosecute the comic governorship ambition? Over to you, Yaqub!
Ajao writes via abubakreajao1@gmail.com
