Thread by @LegendaryJoe

AREGBESOLA AND HIS STEADY MARCH ON THE WRONG TRACKS OF HISTORY 02

The 1st episode saw us triumphantly banishing that dangerous illusion - that the Yoruba man’s vote is eternally sealed by sacred oath in favour of Asiwaju, simply because he is Bola, one of our own. No! Sir.

This second and final episode takes us further, to hurl into the abyss another misguided belief: that because Aregbesola is among the greatest beneficiaries of Asiwaju’s benevolent machinery of mentorship, he is thereby condemned to a lifetime of perpetual servitude, his tongue forever tied in muted gratitude to the man who raised him in politics and in life. Again, I declare - No! Sir.

1/12

In truth, it is a grave insult to Asiwaju himself when anyone suggests in word or deed that he is some despot or slave-master who cannot abide dissent, one who sets himself upon a godlike pedestal, untouchable by criticism, even from those closest to him…

No! Sir. The Yoruba blood runs fiercely against the veins of slavery. By nature, it resists mindless bondage and by default will revolt against any arrangement that seeks to present chains as a gift. We are FREEBORN.

This is why it is unimaginable, unthinkable, indeed impossible for anyone - whether pauper or prince - to declare a sit-at-home on his street in the South-West; let alone decree silence over an entire state; much less attempt to impose paralysis on the whole region, without the backing of lawful authority. Such an idea is not merely strange, it is sacrilege. It is unfathomable. We are Yoruba. We are freeborn.

2/12

Fashola, Osinbajo, Alake, and others have testified to the heated fire of many of Asiwaju’s cabinet meetings as Governor. At that table, no one was gagged; all had the right not only to speak, but to vehemently disagree.

On Asiwaju’s table of leadership, it is the strength of your ideas, the sharpness of your reasoning, and the clarity of your vision that wins the day - not titles, not positions, not possessions. So, No! Sir. Aregbe is not being accused merely because he dared to disagree with his leader, mentor, and benefactor.

3/12

King Saul hunted David with unrelenting fury, seeking his destruction. And yet, on the rare occasions when providence placed Saul helplessly in David’s grasp - when he could have slain him without consequence - the man after God’s heart chose restraint, declaring: “God forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, or lay my hand upon him.” – 1 Samuel 24:6.

Disagree with your leader as you will - that is the right of a free man. And if your leader be noble, he must find the maturity to stomach dissent, as Asiwaju has always done. But it is a betrayal of godly conscience, of basic decency, and of virtuous character to cast yourself as the architect of your benefactor’s downfall. If Christ must indeed die on the cross, if Calvary was destiny, then woe to the man who chose to play Judas. – Matthew 26:24.

4/12

For the man upon whose shoulders you rose to the pinnacle of your very existence, your hand must never be found plotting his ruin. “Evil will never leave the house of one who repays evil for good.” – Proverbs 17:13.

Āyatu al-munāfiqi thalāthun: idhā ḥaddatha kadhaba, wa idhā waʿada akhlafa, wa idhā u’tumina khāna.

Shall I begin?

5/12

If asked, Rauf omo Aregbesola, what grievous sin has your mentor committed against you, worthy of open confrontation? What wrong has he wrought that deserves rebellion? What wound has he inflicted that demands retaliation?

On Aregbesola’s own unforced confession, he admitted: Asiwaju did not snatch his wife, neither did he strike down his son, nor even deny him further political elevation - for after two full terms as Governor, it was still Asiwaju who lifted his name for ministerial appointment.

6/12

And what then is the crime of Asiwaju, for which Aregbesola would demand his head and join in the dark conspiracy to see him fall? That he refused to conspire with him in the plot to unseat Oyetola after he fell out with his successor. That was the so-called offence. But truth be told, the roots of this skirmish had sprouted long before.

As the curtain was drawing on Aregbesola’s eight-year reign in Osun, he and his circle had painted succession plans of their own. But Asiwaju, ever the master strategist, had charted his own course. As whispers swelled and speculations thickened, Aregbesola sought him in Bourdillon for clarity. And there - before his very eyes - his grand design collided with Asiwaju’s larger vision of opposition consolidation. Against whatever blueprint he may have drafted, Asiwaju calmly announced Oyetola as his preferred successor.

7/12

And when Aregbesola attempted to argue, Asiwaju flung forward a question sharp as a double-edged sword: “In your eight years as Governor of Osun State, what have I ever demanded from you?” Silence filled the room like a heavy fog; Aregbesola’s spine chilled, and with cracked voice he muttered a single word: “Nothing.”

That moment shattered the myth - that Asiwaju’s politics is a marketplace of transactions, that he trades favours for returns. No! Sir. His eyes have never been fixated on the crumbs of immediate gain but on the banquet of lasting legacy - the rise of a formidable opposition, and the eventual historic triumph over the ruling power. Ajimobi once testified, “Other parties that approached me demanded slices of the budget. Only Asiwaju came, and in eight years demanded—Nothing.”

8/12

Eight years Aregbesola governed Osun, and Asiwaju demanded - Nothing. By what logic then could Aregbesola resist his wish for Oyetola to succeed him? What argument could stand, when the very ladder that lifted him was the same structure presenting another? He was not the most qualified, not the most popular, nor the most politically astute. Yet Asiwaju’s voice crowned him. What then, except selfish motives, could fuel his resistance?

So, albeit reluctantly, Aregbesola campaigned for Oyetola. But whether because his support was grudging, or because his own popularity had withered in Osun, Oyetola’s victory was a narrow escape from the jaws of defeat.

9/12

Soon after, Aregbesola fell out with his successor. He claimed betrayal, that despite his role in Oyetola’s emergence, he did not deserve the treatment he received. Oyetola, on the other hand, may have thought his triumph came not because of Aregbesola, but in spite of him. And in all this, Aregbesola’s charge against Asiwaju was this - that he did not intervene enough, that he refused to give Oyetola the “Ambode treatment.”

Then came the days before the 2023 Presidential elections. Aregbesola gathered loyalists in Osun, threatening to summon the fires of Elijah, to rattle thunder, to call down storms. He dared to beseech heaven against his leader, mentor, and benefactor. Afalā taʿqilūn? But heaven would not be mocked. God has no covenant with hypocrites.

10/12

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may consume it upon your lusts.” – James 4:3. His petitions fell silent, but Asiwaju’s supplications were richly honoured. Against all plots and machinations, Jagaban rose victorious, enthroned as President, while detractors were left to wail and gnash their teeth.

11/12

The day may yet dawn when father and son reconcile, when swords are sheathed, and grudges buried. The hour may yet come when Asiwaju and Aregbesola embrace again with warm smiles. But even when wounds heal, can flesh remain without scars? Can trust once broken be restored to its former purity? The man called him son, Baba Kabiru - why then attempt to have hands in his fall?

Subḥāna rabbika rabbi l-ʿizzati.

12/12