Becoming the governor of Oyo State is not a matter of saying, “I just woke up and it is my turn.” Far from it. The race for the Agodi Government House is shaped by strategy, influence, alliances and, sometimes, the unseen calculations of political kingmakers.
In 2017, I was at my Abuja home when Alhaji Isa Funtua called and asked me to meet him at about 11 p.m. in a suite at Transcorp Hilton.
Because of the role he played in my life, if I were even on top of my wife and saw a missed call from him, I would jump down immediately to return it. That was how deep our father-and-son relationship was. He was one of the few people whose contributions I can never write the story of my life without mentioning.
Our last meeting was almost destined to happen. On the very day he died, I was among the last people to see him. I was walking out of a barbershop when he walked in. We spoke for about 35 minutes. A few hours later, the news came that Baba had returned to his Maker.
He loved journalism and, as a publisher, understood the terrain very well. He often teased me about my height and would say that I looked more Fulani than he did.
Whenever I published an article, he would advise me to be either assertive or diplomatic because, in his words, readers believe whatever they see in print.
“We must be careful with what we write on the internet,” he warned me repeatedly.
But that is not the story for today.
By 10:45 p.m. that night, I arrived at his hotel suite. I met him with another elder statesman, the late former First Bank chairman, Chief Ajibola Afonja.
Alhaji Isa Funtua opened the conversation almost immediately. Governor Abiola Ajimobi had less than two years remaining in office, and they were already thinking about who should succeed him.
He asked for my opinion on Bayo Adelabu, who was then a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria under Godwin Emefiele.
I nodded. Bayo was my junior at Lagelu Grammar School and was two years behind me at Obafemi Awolowo University. I had also seen him frequently with the late Aare Arisekola Alao, who was his mentor.
I asked Baba whether they had informed Bayo and his boss, Emefiele.
He laughed.
“Who is Emefiele to stop us if we want something?” he asked. “The boy is brilliant. His CV is intimidating.”
I then asked whether Senator Ajimobi was aware of the plan.
“Not yet,” Baba replied. “It’s not time.”
I asked which other major political figure they needed to bring into the project.
Without hesitation, I mentioned former Governor Rashidi Ladoja.
I reminded him that although Ladoja and Ajimobi were politically at odds, a conversation involving Baba could potentially help bridge the gap. Baba smiled. Ladoja was his close friend, and their relationship had grown into one of brotherhood.
I then asked: “What about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?”
Baba replied that they would send someone Asiwaju could never refuse — Oba Otudeko.
By 2018, Bayo Adelabu had resigned from the Central Bank of Nigeria. In my view, the move was influenced by the interest of Alhaji Isa Funtua.
To be honest, I do not think Bayo had any political ambition before then. He was a technocrat with an impressive résumé. Why a powerful northern political figure wanted him to become governor of Oyo State was not disclosed to me.
However, I knew there was also a broader political calculation around the possibility of making Emefiele president. Perhaps, in that emerging political arrangement, they wanted people they trusted in strategic positions, including governorships.
At the time, whenever there was news about Adelabu, it often broke first in my newspaper or on my Facebook page. What I did not know then was that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was closely monitoring developments from Lagos.
One early morning in 2018, he sent for me.
He asked directly what I knew about the plan to make Adelabu governor. He also wanted to know whether Ajimobi was aware.
I told him that, based on what I knew, Ajimobi had not been informed. I also explained that Ladoja, who had by then become Olubadan, had a commitment with Engineer Seyi Makinde and might not support whoever Ajimobi eventually presented.
Asiwaju sighed.
“Wole, my problem is with you Ibadan people. Your parapo politics is impenetrable. If I call Ajimobi, he will talk in parables. If I call Ladoja, it is almost impossible to change his mind.”
I then asked him a question.
“Are you sure Adelabu will even be loyal to you? He is the candidate of a group that does not want you to become president. And are you sure they will give you the APC ticket?”
He admitted that he was not sure.
“Let’s keep praying and pushing,” he said.
The following morning, while jogging on the Ikoyi-Lekki Bridge, I ran into Engineer Seyi Makinde, who is now the incumbent governor of Oyo State.
We have been friends since primary school, and our relationship has always been one of mutual respect.
During our conversation, he told me that the APC candidate would likely be Olasunkanmi Tegbe.
I told him plainly: “No. Tegbe will not be the name on the APC ballot.”
We both laughed.
Later, he said he would visit me at home.
Back in Ibadan, some respected egbon came to tell me that Tegbe would be the candidate. They insisted that Ajimobi had assured them.
I simply told them: “In a few days, the EFCC Chairman will tell Ajimobi who the APC candidate is.”
People later accused Ajimobi of deliberately sabotaging Tegbe. I do not agree with that interpretation.
Buhari was president, while Isa Funtua was a member of the presidential inner circle. What could Ajimobi have done under those circumstances?
Ajimobi’s political leader was Tinubu, and at that point, both of them were uncertain about what the future held politically.
Adelabu was not Ajimobi’s candidate. In my assessment, he was the candidate of Isa Funtua and the political movement around the emerging presidential calculations.
At the book launch of Kabiyesi Oba Tajudeen Ajibola, I was asked to sit in the front row with some of the gubernatorial aspirants.
I quietly declined and chose to sit somewhere else.
To become governor of Oyo State is not simply about sitting in Ibadan and erecting giant billboards. The politics is much deeper than that.
That is why I have maintained my position that I will never contest an election again in my life. I have no business sitting in the front row with Oyo State gubernatorial hopefuls.
The journey to Agodi requires more than ambition. It requires the backing of God, the support of the incumbent governor, the calculations and alliances of Abuja power brokers, and, most importantly, the acceptance of the good people of Oyo State.
As the Yoruba saying goes:
“Eni tí ojú rẹ̀ kò bá rí ọ̀ràn rí, ló máa ń pè poison ní banana.”
He who has never experienced trouble is the one who calls poison a banana.
Politics, especially the politics of who occupies the Oyo State Government House, is rarely as simple as it appears from the outside.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola, Publisher of The Street Journal Newspaper, writes from Ibadan.
0 Comments