Ti oju ba n se ipin, a fi si ọwọ, a fi han an – When the eye discharges rheum, it is removed and shown to it.
Dear Abisoye Oshodi,
It is with the utmost respect for your person and your right to air your views that I pen this message, but I must express, in full candour, my deep disappointment at your latest commentary on the encounter between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
While your delivery was, as always, passionate, your submission this time was not only misleading but deeply troubling – both in its selective memory and in its intentional disregard for unfolding truths that many Lagosians have neither forgotten nor forgiven.
Let us start with the claim that Governor Sanwo-Olu “helped” Asiwaju during the last general elections. If that were true, how did the President lose Lagos to the opposition while the same Governor comfortably cruised to re-election barely a week later? Does that sound like a team player, or more like someone who, behind closed doors, ensured that his own house was in order while the President’s was left vulnerable?
Your reference to “ingratitude” is, quite frankly, misplaced. Gratitude, Abisoye, must be rooted in truth and loyalty, not deception and betrayal. You of all people should remember how loudly you once warned that Asiwaju would punish those responsible for the coup that nearly cost the APC its moral compass in Lagos. That coup – executed on January 13th – was not orchestrated by faceless elders. It was Governor Sanwo-Olu who initiated it, and it was under his directive that the lawmakers moved against the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, until interventions reversed their actions. You know this. We all do.
Even if the world chooses to heap the blame on old GAC members, we are not deluded. We were here. We saw it happen. The Governor led the ambush, and he did it with audacity.
More disheartening is your sudden silence on the deeper allegations swirling around the Governor – allegations that deserve the voice of a true activist like yourself. What happened to your usual fire when reports emerged linking Ms. Aisha Achimugu to the siphoning of state funds allegedly on behalf of Sanwo-Olu to fund opposition interests? Why have you remained mute? Where is the activist in you?
And what of the swirling talk about the Governor’s continued secret alignment with Asiwaju’s known adversaries – Aregbesola and others? Would you also claim ignorance of the widely circulated account that the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, once pleaded with the President on Sanwo-Olu’s behalf, only for Asiwaju to say: If I tell you half of what he’s done to you, you’d be the one to finish him off? That wasn’t written in fiction, Abisoye – it was whispered from within.
The hard truth, my dear brother, is that no one pats a known enemy on the back in public, especially one who remains unrepentant. Asiwaju has been too blessed, too discerning and far too informed to be deceived by pleasantries or handshakes. He sees through the veil, and if he chooses to withhold his hand from a man whose loyalty has repeatedly been in doubt, who are we to question his wisdom?
It is disingenuous to accuse the President of ungratefulness when it is Sanwo-Olu who must account for the broken trust. This is a Governor on his final lap – unbound by future electoral obligations and free to dance with opposition forces as he pleases. The same forces that almost toppled the integrity of our party in Lagos. If Fashola and Ambode – despite all they did – were not tolerated after certain excesses, why should we turn a blind eye now, simply because of your personal gains or sentiments?
Let me remind you, Abisoye, that loyalty is not a thing to be purchased with gifts, houses or political favours. You, who once stood as a voice of accountability, should not reduce yourself to a cheerleader for the very characters you once condemned – especially when that transformation appears to coincide with sudden material elevation.
I say this with love, but also with firm conviction: this fight for the soul of Lagos, and by extension, the APC, is too important to be clouded by emotional attachments or transactions masquerading as loyalty. It is time to recalibrate your lens and look beyond your immediate benefits.
Asiwaju did not make a mistake. He made a statement. A bold one.
May wisdom and courage return to those who once had it in abundance.
With all due respect,
DONRASH,
A Party Faithful and Jagaban Disciple
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
