Veteran broadcaster, Alhaji Abolade Salami, has stirred a fresh political debate in Oyo State following his remarks on Aroba, a segment of his popular political programme, Agbami Oselu, aired on Fresh FM, Ibadan, on Sunday.
Salami’s intervention, built around the Yoruba expression “Iyan Ogun Odun”, literally evoked the enduring lesson that political actions and decisions of today can have consequences long after the actors believe the matter has been forgotten.
His extensive historical excursion into Nigeria’s political evolution, coupled with his references to Governor Seyi Makinde, former governor Rashidi Ladoja, the 2019 Oyo governorship election and the emerging political calculations ahead of 2027, has since generated mixed reactions among political watchers and listeners.
At the beginning of the segment, Salami drew attention to a recent warning reportedly emanating from the palace of the Olubadan, cautioning politicians against using social media to disparage Oba Rashidi Ladoja for personal, political or partisan interests.
He appeared to place the warning within the broader context of Oyo’s current political realignment, urging politicians and their supporters to be mindful of what they say and do today because political circumstances can change rapidly.
Salami also challenged attempts to use the recent outcome of the Osun State governorship election as a template for predicting what will happen in Oyo State in 2027.
He questioned whether the political realities that produced the Osun result were exactly the same as those obtainable in Oyo, insisting that anyone drawing such a comparison should first establish the similarities between the two states.
His message was reinforced with a familiar Yoruba admonition against digging an enemy’s grave too deep, warning that tomorrow remains unpredictable and that today’s political adversary could become tomorrow’s ally.
For Salami, another enduring rule of Nigerian politics remains relevant: there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests.
He also invoked the popular saying that “a tree does not make a forest,” apparently underscoring the importance of collective political strength and alliances in determining electoral outcomes.
Salami subsequently took his audience back to Nigeria’s First Republic, demonstrating that political alliances are not new inventions but have historically shaped the country’s political direction.
He recalled the alliance between the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) after the 1959 election, which enabled Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to emerge as Prime Minister while Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe became Governor-General.
Historical records confirm that neither major bloc had enough parliamentary strength to govern alone, making coalition-building central to the formation of the federal government.
He also referenced later political formations, including the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) and the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA), as further evidence that Nigerian politics has repeatedly been shaped by alliances cutting across party and regional boundaries.
A major point in Salami’s argument was his distinction between an alliance and an endorsement.
According to the thrust of his submission, political parties and actors can temporarily come together around a shared objective without necessarily abandoning their individual identities, structures or interests.
That distinction, he suggested, is important in understanding contemporary political manoeuvring in Oyo State.
He then moved to the political developments that preceded the 2015 general election, when opposition forces converged to challenge the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the federal level.
The eventual emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) followed the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The party was formally registered by INEC in 2013 and subsequently defeated the PDP in the 2015 presidential election.
Salami’s broader point was that political arithmetic cannot always be understood simply by examining individual candidates or the strength of a single political party.
He connected that lesson directly to Oyo State’s 2019 governorship election, describing the alliance that produced Makinde’s first-term victory as another demonstration of how political forces can combine when their interests converge.
That alliance was not merely a matter of rhetoric. Five political parties eventually adopted Makinde, then the PDP candidate, as their consensus governorship candidate, while their separate identities and structures remained relevant, particularly in the House of Assembly contests. The coalition involved PDP, ADC, ZLP, SDP and NPM.
At the centre of the arrangement was Ladoja, then Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland, who publicly presented Makinde at a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Ibadan.
Among those associated with the arrangement was the current APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who was then the governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Others in the alliance included Senator Femi Lanlehin of ADC and Bolaji Ayorinde of SDP among those present at the presentation.
Salami recalled that the alliance was forged against the backdrop of widespread opposition to the perceived attempt by the administration of the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi to produce a successor.
Makinde himself, at the time, argued that voting for APC candidate Adebayo Adelabu would amount to giving Ajimobi an indirect third term.
Reports quoted Makinde as making precisely that argument during the coalition gathering at the NUJ Press Centre.
In another account of the event, Makinde thanked Ladoja for helping make the political arrangement possible and framed the election as a contest against the continuation of Ajimobi’s political influence.
It is this historical comparison that has given Salami’s latest intervention its political sting.
His argument, in essence, is that the same political environment that appears settled today can be dramatically rearranged tomorrow, just as alliances that once appeared unlikely became decisive in previous elections.
Consequently, his warning against drawing premature conclusions from the Osun experience appears directed at political actors who may be tempted to treat current alignments as permanent or assume that today’s advantage automatically translates into victory in 2027.
Salami’s remarks have consequently been interpreted differently by listeners and political observers. While some have praised the veteran broadcaster for bringing historical context into the increasingly heated 2027 conversation and reminding politicians of the unpredictable nature of alliances, others have viewed his references to Ladoja, Makinde and the 2019 election through the prism of current political interests.
Yet, beneath the political interpretations lies a historical fact: alliances have repeatedly altered Nigeria’s political landscape, from the NPC-NCNC coalition of the First Republic to the NNA and UPGA blocs and, decades later, the opposition realignment that produced the APC.
Oyo’s own 2019 experience provides perhaps the clearest local illustration. A coalition of previously separate political forces helped propel Makinde from the position of one of several governorship contenders to the eventual winner of the election, defeating APC’s Adelabu.
That history is precisely why “Iyan Ogun Odun” has resonated beyond a mere Yoruba proverb in the current political conversation.
For Salami, the lesson appears simple but politically consequential: never assume that today’s alliance, enemy, advantage or disadvantage will remain the same tomorrow.
As the race for 2027 gradually gathers momentum in Oyo State, the veteran broadcaster’s warning may well become one of the most quoted reminders of the political season — that in politics, yesterday’s opponents can become tomorrow’s partners, while today’s certainty can quickly become tomorrow’s uncertainty.
•Dare Adeniran, the Publisher of TrendscopeNews, writes
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