I hereby reproduce the Tribute I paid to Judge Bola Ajibola 5 years ago!

“Prince Bola Ajibola is a unique role model and his life is a study in academic brilliance, courage, perseverance, persistence, patience, patriotism, enterprise, focus, humility, selflessness, modesty, human decency and moral rectitude. A book for all ages and all generations! Bold, outspoken, courageous and kind hearted, Ajibola is one man whose door you knock with tears in your eyes and depart with smiles on your lips. His leadership and human relations skills are without compare and his patriotism and nationalism are beyond reproach.He takes his religion very seriously the same way he commits to humanity and services to both.”

This is a special tribute to a very special man. A very unusual man. A most under-celebrated icon of immense and immeasurable proportion. A man who towers well above several men and women who have unfortunately high-jacked national and international applause, much undeserved, to themselves.

I know many people may query my choice of the title for this tribute and may be wondering whether I was wishing Prince Bola Ajibola dead or insinuating that he had already collected his *Boarding Pass* to the other side of the *Continuum*. Far from it. It has always been my cardinal principle that people who are good should be told while alive and active that they are good, and those bad should be told so. Not elegies at the grave side which would be of no use to the dead.

One time Prime Minister of Canada Mr Jean Chretien was asked if he was bothered by what the press might write after his demise; the usually witty gentleman quipped “I won’t be there to read it!”

If one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, Michael Jackson had been shown the unprecedented love showered on him at his death, he would have died a happier man.

So, I declare that I wish Uncle Bola Ajibola more years of meritorious and active life in the service of Allah and humanity. He has not finished his mission. And he’s not about to by the special grace of Allah.

And those who may still be worried about my choice of title should find solace in the fact that I already drafted the pamphlet of the programme of proceedings for my funeral in addition to choosing the transparent plastic casket my remains would be cased in and the spot to be interred at my Ashi Bodija residence, whenever my body could no longer accommodate my *Breath of Life.*

Now back to our main subject. And I have *Wikipedia* as my reference:

Omoba Bolasodun Adesumbo «Bola» Ajibola KBE [The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] (born March 22, 1934)[1] was an Attorney General and the Minister of Justice of Nigeria from 1985 to 1991 and a Judge of the International Court of Justice from 1991 to 1994.[2] He was president of the Nigerian Bar Association from 1984-85. He was also one of five commissioners on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, organized through the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Born on March 22, 1934 in Owu, near Abeokuta, Nigeria, to the Owu royal family[3] of Oba Abdul-Salam Ajibola Gbadela II, who was the traditional ruler of Owu between 1949 and 1972, Ajibola attended Owu Baptist Day School and Baptist Boys’ High School both in Abeokuta between 1942 and 1955. He obtained his bachelor›s degree in Law (LL.B) at the Holborn College of Law,University of London between 1959 and 1962 and was called to the English Bar at the Lincoln’s Inn in 1962. He returned to Nigeriato practice the Law, specializing in Commercial Law and International Arbitration.

He was the chairman of the panel set up by the Plateau State government to probe the 2008 Jos riots.[4][5] He established *CrescentUniversity* in 2005 in Nigeria which is an Islamic and co-educational institution.

I had wanted to write this tribute since 2005 when Judge Bola Ajibola was appointed the Chairman of the 50-member Ogun State Elders Consultative Forum in Abeokuta. I found in that appointment a confirmation of the esteem I have held Prince Ajibola when I met him in his very active and articulate days as the fire-brand President of the Nigerian Bar Association [NBA] [1984-1985].

Ogun State Elders Consultative Forum paraded heavyweights like emeritus Professor Theophilus O. Ogunlesi, Nigeria’s first professor of Medicine, Justice Sogbetun, Professor Akin Mabogunje, Sir Kessington Adebutu, Chief AA Degun, Professor Adebayo Adedeji, Apena Adebisi Macgregor, Dr Ona Soleye, Ambassador Koleoso, Professor Anthony Asiwaju, Chief Olu Okuboyejo, Professor Biyi Afonja, Ambassador Segun Olusola, Olori Yetunde Gbadebo, Asiwaju S A Onafowokan, Ayora Kuforiji-Olubi, Dr Lateef Adegbite and Dr Sunny Kuku [ the youngest of the group listed] who was chair of a sub-committee. I kept postponing and postponing.

*Then came Sunday August 12 and the Punch of that day spurred me to action.*

*In reporting the wonders performed by Islamic Mission for Africa Model College, Abeokuta, the Punch* wrote: Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Prince Ajibola SAN has given glory to Almighty Allah on his immense joy at the overwhelming performance of excellence by the students of one of his educational establishments at the just concluded WAEC Examinations. Ajibola thanked God for strengthening him to have madeIMA International Model College happen and for the College’s feat which netted for it A1 parallel in Mathematics at the African standard examination. This is proof of Allah’s endorsement of the sacrifices of this global figure who served his fatherland as Minister for over six years without taking salary.

*The Crescent University* Abeokuta [CUAB] the peak of the educational establishments of the Olori Omo Oba of Owu Kingdom is today one leading private university in Nigeria with its excellent stride as ‘citadel of moral and academic excellence’ emphasized the Sunday Punch.

When *Crescent University* celebrated her 10th Anniversary [2005-2015] the elated Founder and Proprietor, former World Court Judge enthused: “This is a fulfilment of our dream of nurturing people of academic and moral uprightness in the sight of God”, adding “we do not want you [the students] to become educated beasts”.

The University which is a perfect reflection and image of its founder may be the country’s answer to all the problems facing other Nigerian universities. The University has never recorded a single day of strike or closure in the last twelve years and has not recorded a single case of cultism. From a humble beginning with accreditation in Banking and Finance the University now boasts over 20 accredited programmes with Colleges of Law, Social and Management Sciences, Natural and Applied Sciences, Information and Communication Sciences and Environmental Sciences topping the chart.

All these Prince Ajibola has accomplished without beating drums about them.
Because of his commitment to human capital development and enthronement of excellent morals in our youths Prince Ajibola sold virtually all he had to found the *Crescent University*.

I must add that Judge Ajibola is very rich in humour and jokes and if you do not want your ribs cracked up, you may be advised not to engage in dialectics with this bundle of wit, witticism, and syllogisms.

Brought up in the royal palace; dignity, royalty, elegance, comportment and decorum always ooze out of his usually well ironed agbada.

With contacts and connections all over the globe, and with a wide network of leaders of thought throughout Nigeria Judge Ajibola is at home in Kano as he is in Calabar and very much in good company as he is in Australia and in Austria.

Prince Bola Ajibola is a unique role model and his life is a study in academic brilliance, courage, perseverance, persistence, patience, patriotism, enterprise, focus, humility, selflessness, modesty, human decency and moral rectitude. A book for all ages and all generations!

Bold, outspoken, courageous and kind hearted, Ajibola is one man whose door you knock with tears in your eyes and depart with smiles on your lips. His leadership and human relations skills are without compare and his patriotism and nationalism are beyond reproach.

He takes his religion very seriously the same way he commits to humanity and services to both.

A man of unimpeachable integrity Judge Ajibola is one leader who would/could have pulled Nigeria out of its morass if he had turned his attention and immense talents and brilliance to politics. Unfortunately, Nigeria has no need for such an upright man who would not steal, would not lie, would not kill or get people killed for him and would not tamper with his female Ministers’ under pants!

The post-election conversations have been a putrid salad of prejudices, recriminations, and elevated provincialism. Our wits, resolve, temperance, capacitance, and stability threshold as a nation are being tested, and they will be tested further in the months and years ahead.

Our history is always ready ammunition to be dispatched in any ethnic combat in that ungoverned social media neighbourhood. Contending sides launch missiles from the war rooms with their own ‘’droppings’’ of history. I will not be a soundboard for those tiresome and unyielding conversations here. The duty of the citizen is to be a dispassionate arbiter, divining truth from untruth, and staying irrepressibly on the side of the nation’s interest. I believe instead of these contentions which re-emerge in our public discourse every now and then, we can learn from our past and forge a better country.

The truth is, history is subjective. Every group has their own version of history -- as regards their social and political existence in Nigeria. But we cannot keep recycling the epics of woes that have bogged us down as a people. We must move forward and look forward.

Nigeria’s past is not a very glossy one, yes. It is replete with tales of pain, sorrow, and blood – depending on who is telling the story. Fatal mistakes were made, but must we keep reliving the errors of our past? Are we doomed to remain a rendition of our past? Can we not move forward – beyond our past?

Nothing changes because the old ways remain the same. We must think a new Nigeria, and a new Nigeria begins with new progressive thinking. We cannot take a leap into a glorious future while we are still stuck in the rut of the past. Our past has become today’s pain, and tomorrow’s burden.

But does this imply we must abandon our history? Absolutely not. We embrace it, but learn from it as well, and stop repeating the same mistakes. The current confusion shows we have learnt nothing from our chequered history.

Our past should teach us to be respectful of one another; it should teach us caution; it should teach us tolerance; it should teach us understanding; it should teach discipline, and it should teach us the very essence of unity.

Like Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, said to Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe: ‘’Let us understand our differences. I am a Muslim and a Northerner. You are a Christian, an Easterner. By understanding our differences, we can build unity in our country.”

We must manage our diversity with ‘’care, mutual respect, understanding, caution and trembling’’. We cannot discount our points of divergence, but we must also recognise that we have solid arcs of convergence. What unites us should be stronger than what divides us.

It is unfortunate that to reinforce prejudices, some deploy self-archived ahistorical accounts. Our past as a country should not be a springboard for hate exchanges, but a source of learning to forge a better country. We hold on to "history", whether manufactured or inverted, to accent our biases. Evolving means we are better than yesterday.

No one can hold their own version of history as truth everyone must chow down. There are villains and heroes in every story. It is depressing that our much-vaunted past has become stuff of propaganda passed down from one generation to another. Hate transitioning from one generation to another. We must break this circle of hostility.

Really, we cannot make progress as a country if we remain on this treadmill. We must sanitise our conversations, discard epithets, and evolve into a wholesome whole.

We must deconstruct revisionist fabrications and pretensions to make good of the future. Knowing that we started off on a shaky foundation should thrust us into consciously working out our destiny. We cannot hold on to an acrimonious past as a precedence for the present and the future. As I said previously, we take the lessons from the past and forge a new path.

We dissipate so much energy on ethnic bouts of supremacy but leave very little to interrogate fundamental issues of governance. We must make our existence as a nation about jutting issues that govern our lives as citizens – economy, security, education, and health.

In conclusion, it is insalubrious to ascribe the actions of deviants within a certain pool to any group. I have maintained this position since the wave of baleful propaganda against the Fulani. I will not deviate from the path of unity and peacebuilding no matter how perilous the road becomes.

The invidious and menacing enterprise of Peter Obi’s ‘’Obidients’’ has driven the dagger deep into the national umbilicus. Sore points quickened, passions inflamed, and bottled-up emotions unlatched.

First, we need to address the ‘’Obidient’’menace full-frontal, and we need to strengthen national and community concord. We need new ententes brokered for national cohesion or unity. We need to talk. We need to have those difficult conversations in civilised and decorous fora with a view to healing our nation. We need to talk with one another, not at each other.

We need new alliances cementing the north with the south, and the east with the west in holy matrimony. But to achieve this, we need to talk.

The aftermath of 2023 General Election, without a shadow of doubt, have exposed some politicians and “celebrities” who have been masquerading as patriots and objective intellectuals.

“But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”– Romans 2:8.

“The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act” (The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, 2002).

The internationally acclaimed Nigerian novelist and essayist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, wrote and published an utterly biased piece titled “Nigeria’s hollow Democracy,” without providing any material evidence for her reprehensible and repugnant illogical conclusion. The ludicrous piece under microscope is a display of profligate arrogance which is not borne out of patriotism but embedded in self-serving, self-seeking, Igbocentric, and myopic reluctance to accept her own shortcomings. The totality of the piece, indeed, expose her hollow view of humanity. What is the point of being a much-hyped internationally acclaimed Nigerian novelist when you cannot positively promote, or be a good ambassador of your country of birth where you had your first foretaste of this world? This subliminal fact is akin to allegiance and patriotism. It is of note that there are over 176,000 polling units across Nigeria. In Lagos State, there are approximately 13,500 polling units. The pertinent questions to ask is; What is the percentage of the polling units where violence and malpractices actually occurred?

The unpalatable fact of the 2023 General Election is that the winner, Bola Tinubu, won in 12 States, Atiku Abubakar also won in 12 States, Peter Obi won in 11 States. In numerical strength, Bola Tinubu of All Progressive Congress (APC) scored 8,794,726 votes and came first, Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 6,984,520 votes and came second, Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) scored 6,202,533 votes and came third, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 1,496,687 votes and placed 4th. If Chimamanda genuinely have any issues with these election results, she should have directed her letter to our President, Muhammad Buhari, or wait for the Supreme Court final verdict.

It is also doleful that a perceptible writer would advertently, through measured actions, seek to damage our international reputation and heighten the negative perception and downbeat narratives about Nigeria and Nigerians. This preposterous act of national betrayal is not some sort of magical intervention or revolution, it is insane to diminish your Country and fellow citizens because of bread crumbs and half-baked endorsement. This is exactly what her letter to the United States President amount to. At what point do we end our colonial mentality and adoration of foreigners?  A rational mind need to be cognizant of the fact that you do not demean your country and then hope to swim in celebrated honour. Eniti o ba ta arale e lopo, kole ri ra lowon.

As an impenitent Igbo woman, Chimamanda Ngozi is Igbocentric in all ramifications. I am constrained to remind her and other cohorts that the same Igbocentric mentality led to the devastated January 15, 1966 Coup d’état perpetrated by a number of Nigerian military officers of Igbo extraction, largely driven by mortification tendency, visceral hatred, and ethnicity-based agenda. The malignant ordnance act destabilized Nigeria and eclipsed the country for more than 50 years. We have also witnessed some primordial belligerence and pugnaciousness exhibited by some of her kinsmen. An Igbo leader, Eze Igbo of Ajao Estate in Lagos, threatened to mobilize and invite members of the proscribed IPOB to Lagos State. The Eze Igbo is now cooling off in DSS custody. Another kinsman overtly called the Yoruba’s “political rascals”. You exhibit malignancy at any slight opportunity while consciously attempting to ignite waning flames, yet you are desperate to rule Nigeria. With this deep-seated ethnocentric mentality, it will take a monumental supernatural occurrence to rule Nigeria again.

As overtly stated in my recent piece, there is no region or tribe in Nigeria that has the monopoly of bigotry and visceral hatred. The South East and South South are not the only composition of Nigeria, there are other four geo-political Zones meaning that Nigeria is a vast country with different idiosyncratic culture, religion and tradition, and blessed with natural resources and human capital by virtue of population and geographical size.

As virtuous citizens, lets encourage Chimamanda Adichie to concentrate on her perpetual hollow hairstyles and fictional storytelling, that is her calling.

Femi Amosun is a UK-based management professional and politico-economic analyst with distinctive zeal for sustainable development through responsible governance and accountability.

It seems to me that Prof Wole Soyinka did not take time to distinguish between Obidents and Obicracy.

Dear Readers

From KISS to Chaos.

In 2023, we are at a place where in the name of Keeping It Simple and Stupid as a mode of persuasion for the purpose of selling and recruiting we have ended up creating a conversational universe dominated by soundbites and headlines but worse still, inhabited and controlled by millions for whom text in context, detail and logic are tedious and unnecessary, facts and principles subject to personal positions and observed actors and interests.

In this conversational universe, where everyone in any conversation is primarily a sales person with one zero sum agenda, or the other, eager to persuade and to sell a position or an idea, it is easy to see why most members of the KISS conversational universe are warriors with little interest in or time to learn, understand or reason. Given that most of these warriors are neither professional sales people nor trained public speakers let alone rhetoricians, it is easy to understand how the KISS conversational universe eventually descended into Chaos.

Yes, a complex system with too many actors displaying unregulated, hence random, and uncoordinated reactions to inputs. It is a world in which I have seen comments on social media that has made me wonder, in the past, if it is possible for people to have learnt to write without going through the process of learning to read. I say in the past because we now know that we are dealing with mostly untrained sales people eager to sell and untrained warriors eager conquer. Mind you, all these considerations have little to do with the goodness of their hearts or the nobility their convictions, we are simply dealing here with their mode of assimilating and expressing information. Of course, some are good whilst others are bad, many are manipulated whilst others are manipulators, some are beneficiaries and paid operators whilst others are believers and passionate.

It is in this context of KISS to Chaos that we must situate the ongoing controversy that sees the revered and globally acclaimed activist, poet, playwright, teacher, writer and leader of thought, Prof Wole Soyinka, who is closer to 90 than to 88 years old. My apologies to the informed and the initiated, yes, I could have just mentioned his name without further qualifications like I normally do or, or just say Kongi, like we normally do or just said Nobel Laureate in Literature but these are peculiar times we live in. Clearly, repeatedly and with emphasis, is the way we consult the gods for the deaf. No one is deafer or blinder than those who for interests or convictions refuse to listen or see…

In a series of public intervention that are now very shared and highly commented but hardly analysed, Prof Wole Soyinka denounced what he sees as the fascist tendencies of the Obidient movement. He pointed the flaws of the members of the movement who seem allergic to correction, divergent views, complex positions and suggestions. Prof Soyinka also denounced what in his own view was wrong with the statement made by presidential running mate of the Obidient movement ticket, which he described as threatening, intimidating and blackmailing. He also denounced violence and many other things but that was lost in translation and this is part of where WS is wronged.

Lest we become guilty of what we accuse of others, it is important to clearly point out where I disagree with Kongi and where I think he is wrong. For the records, I think Obidients are extremely partisan, very unruly, intemperate and with a vexatious sense of self-righteousness but I disagree with WS when he describes Obidients’ as the most repulsive, off-putting concoctions ever encountered in the political arena. It can be rightly argued that WS was referring to term “Obidient”, not the essence of the “Obidient Movement”, but most people did not see that difference; what most people understood is that he thinks the Obidient movement is the most repulsive, off-putting concoctions ever encountered in the political arena.

Why blame WS and not those that misunderstood or choose to misunderstand him? I do so because he is a teacher and he should take his time to be understood in matters of national concern where the audience are not just the lettered part of the population. Prof Soyinka is neither a struggling local teacher nor a Nollywood producer or writer known for self-published works, he is an international figure that is known and that knows the world of today and the past.

In terms of designation, “stomach infrastructure” coined in 2014 is worse than Obidient, the “Chop I Chop group” of 1964 is worse than the Obidient movement, the Fronte Uomo Qualunque, (UQ) of 1946 is worse than the Obidient movement. In terms of action and factually speaking, insolent as they are, the Obidents have not been so far indicted or suspected of a single act of violence. In terms of mode of operation, the violent ways of the NNDP of the first republic was clearly worse than what Obidents have dared so far, the blatant corruption and abuse of power of the NPN in the second republic is clearly worse than what Obidents have dared so far, and till we get media or individual report there is nowhere Obidents have been accused of violence or voters’ intimidation.

It seems to me that Prof Soyinka did not take time to distinguish between Obidents and Obicracy.

Obidents (movement) is a motley collection of disgruntled Nigerians (mostly but not only young) that are unhappy with the status quo especially the two major parties. They are children of anger that grew up from the transition from KISS to Chaos. They don’t know how to say “I disagree”, they tend to say “shut up, you stupid fool”. They express themselves mostly namelessly and facelessly in the cyber space and they have convinced themselves that anonymity shields from responsibility and the care of empathy or duty of logic and facts.

Too many times, even they cannot express their anger and pain but if you take time to listen to them you will readily see that they feel like eagles trapped in the bodies and lives of chickens by bad leadership in an unfulfilling land. True or false, many of them have tales of seeing those less capable than them do better than them not because of what they know but because of who they know, they have seen political thugs ride luxurious cars past them whilst they with their hard-earned certificates in hand struggle to get into overcrowded buses on their way to meetings with miserable prospects. They have mental picture of those paid to manage their health system go abroad for health care, they see children of those who have destroyed their state education send their children to private and foreign schools.

These children of anger have no regard for institutions nor trust in the state because they consider their country a place where the wind of the good God does not blow because it is too busy fanning those with air conditioners. They have no respect for the older generations because they think the older ones failed them by allowing things to go this bad.

It is not the way in our (Yoruba) culture for the young to correct the old but I strongly believe and humbly submit to Prof Soyinka that I think a teacher and a father should spend more time understanding and educating rather than attacking those in pain and in need of knowledge. They need care understating and hope.

Obicracy is the management of the Obident movement, their origin is mostly in the third force movement that was in the making before the arrival of Peter Obi from the PDP. The Labour Party (LP) on which they presented themselves for the 2023 electoral contest is a party to which they have neither ideological nor historical link, it is just a means to an end. While they have been strong on propaganda, these Obicrats (Obidient managers) have turned to be mediocre administrators, incapable of reading the nuances of the country and unable to field candidates in every possible position let alone deploy polling agents in every polling booth. They have reaped more than they have planted, their strength lies in the discontent of the people not their own ideas or organisational skills. They can talk and sell illusions but they are weak at doing. I think it is wrong to spend time fighting or labelling them.

Prof Soyinka is also wronged because his views were oversimplified by the media and those that used his statement as a validation of their position. Shame on all those who rushed to insult this old respected, knowledgeable and accomplished man. That unfortunately is the kind of politics we have chosen to play today. Too many of us have become partisan fanatics that cannot handle complex or complete thoughts anymore so I will not be surprised if some people genuinely think saying “Soyinka is wrong and wronged” is hard to understand or simply “fencsist”. Time will tell…

Join me if you can @anthonykila to continue these conversations.

Anthony Kila is Centre Director at CIAPS Lagos. www.ciaps.org.