Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Monday renewed their old enmity, with Fayose raining insults on the 89-year-old ex-president, whom he declared โbelongs in the zooโ.
The feud between the duo dates back to the beginning of the Fourth Republic, when Obasanjo was president and Fayose was governor in Ekiti State.
Obasanjo had sent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after Fayose over a poultry project embarked upon by Fayose, which Obasanjo declared was fraught with corruption.
The relationship between them has been frosty over the years, with Fayose seizing any chance to lash out at Obasanjo, alleging his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Ogun State is a product of corruption.
Fayose repeatedly demanded that Obasanjo return his N10m contribution to the building of the library.
However, in a dramatic twist, ahead of his 65th birthday last week, Fayose had visited Obasanjo in his Ogun home and invited the ex-president to the birthday.
At the birthday party in Lagos, however, Obasanjo, who was the Special Guest of Honour, recounted howย Fayose had abused him severally in the past without batting an eyelid.
He explained that despite asking for forgiveness from him several times, Fayose would still go ahead to abuse him in a display of arrogance.
The former President said he was surprised that Fayose would be bold enough to invite him to the birthday.
Addressing the gathering,ย Obasanjo said, โSome people called me and said that we heard that you are going to attend Fayoseโs 65th birthday, have you forgotten how he abused you? But I said that they should not worry, irrespective of his character, he remains one of my children. The Yoruba will say โWon kii le omo buburu fโekun pajeโ, meaning that you wonโt say your child is bad and offer him to a tiger to devour.
โBut you are not the best of my political children, youโre not, but you have made achievements that must not be ignored.โ
Obasanjo said, haunted by his past acts, Fayose could not, at first, directly approach him to invite him to his birthday, but instead sentย a former minister, Osita Chidoka, โto come and sound me out.โ
โYou could not come to me directly because you knew that you had not done so well by me,โ Obasanjo said, โโBi iwo ba se rere, ara ki o a ya oโ. So, I told Osita to tell you that he had delivered the message you sent him to me. You later phoned me and I said that you could come to see me at any time.
โEven at that, you could not come directly to knock at my door; you took precautions, you sent Foluso ahead of you, who came before you, to gauge my feelings and pulse, after which you arrived about an hour later.
โWhen you came to me, you called your wife, and while on the phone with your wife, I said that the two of you have not done well. Mo ni eyin meejeji kii sโomoluwabi; and your wife completely disarmed me.
โShe said, โYes, Baba, you are right, please forgive us,โ and what else can I do? You have asked for forgiveness, and I have forgiven you, but the right lesson must be learned.โ
Obasanjo then launched into his past relationship and feud with Fayose.
Quoting Romans 12 vs 15, Obasanjo said the Bible enjoins Christians to โmourn with those who are mourning, while we should also rejoice with those rejoicing.โ
He said, โLike I said, that we are here to thank God for his mercy and faithfulness, you must always understand that youโre who you are and where you are by the special grace of God, and so you must always give praise to him.
โI also said that we are here for stock taking, part of what you yourself have said. I knew you, and I was with you because of the initiative you took to give water to the people of Ekiti State at that time; you will remember this vividly. It was this initiative that set you apart and made me fall in love with you.
โI didnโt know you from anywhere before that time; it was S. K. Babalola that I knew and was going to support for the 2003 governorship because of his track record with the Nigerian Union of Teachers.
โHowever, I later pitched a tent with you and dumped Babalola, who, in any case, was also not a member of our party, PDP, then. You remember that we were at Efon Alaye to campaign, and one of their challenges there was erosion, which we promised to fix, and we fulfilled our promise.
โAyo, there is a difference between being courageous, being bold and being foolhardy. Courage, boldness and foolhardiness do not go together.
โThere is also the virtue of humility, which goes with humility. Humility is one of the virtues that mark out our character in Nigeria, particularly the people of Yoruba land. Integrity is also another virtue. We had a campaign and, by the grace of God, you won the election.
โAnd when you won, you wanted to do a lot of good things. One of those things was to help the farmers. When you came to me, I said that if you wanted to help the farmers, one of the things you could do is to either subsidise the chicks or the feeds and not that, as a government, you will say you are establishing a poultry farm.
โI said that Gomboro could come, and within the time the memo to buy this and that was still going from the table of one government official to another, the disease would have cleared all the chicks. And you will remember this story, I came to your farm and I saw the chicks that were about two weeks old with their shavings very neat and asked, โAyo, se awon adiye tiyin ki yagbe niโย (Donโt your own type of chicks excrete?).
โAnd your brother, Oyinlola, the then governor of Osun State, was telling you right there, โI told you that if he (Obasanjo) doesnโt know anything, he knows about poultryโ.
โYou also remember that, before this issue about poultry, some came to say that you did not go to Olivet Baptist School, Oyo, but I knew that you went to the school and finished there. We can see those who were your mates and those who were your seniors, so that is unlike some people, who we really donโt know the school that they attended.
โIf you remember, you and your wife came to me at Oyinlolaโs house and begged for forgiveness for all that you had said to me, and I said that I had forgiven you, but you never stopped. You also came to my house and apologised. I said that I had forgiven you, but you still didnโt stop.
โAyo, I did not ask you to contribute to my library, or did I? The governors decided, and you joined them. I never begged you for money for anything except when you came last week, on Tuesday.
โI told you that since you will make me abort my trip from Kigali, Rwanda and come back on Saturday when I was supposed to be back on Sunday, you would be the one to pay for that because I canโt be using my retirement money for such.
โBut if it will be of interest to you, it was Alhaji Aliko Dangote who sent the plane that brought me back to the country. So, the money you sent through Foluso is still with me. I have kept everything intact.
โObviously, part of why you have called me to this occasion is to make things right with those whom you might have offended. I also want to urge you to still think about those people you have offended and call them for a truce. Forgiveness and repentance are quite important.
โYou must repent from all misconduct because we must begin to prepare for heaven, because no one will escape the judgment of God. Please join me in singing this song, โOpe mi ko i to, ojojumo ni o ma dupeโฆโโ
Clearly angered by Obasanjoโs remarks, Fayose, on Monday, sent the ex-president a โThank Youโ text message, filled with insults.
The insulting text message was shared with newsmen by Obasanjoโsย Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.
In the message, Fayose said that though he appreciated the fact that Obasanjo attended his 65th birthday, he was surprised by the ex-presidentโsย โirresponsible commentsโ.
He stated that he initially decided not to say anything during the occasion so that โthe whole world will know the difference between a sane man and a mad manโ.
Fayose also urged the former president to quickly return the money that he had sent to him to facilitate his coming to the birthday ceremony.
The โThank Youโ note read:ย โDear Baba Obasanjo, I trust this finds you well. Youโre coming to my birthday party, and I appreciate it, except for your very irresponsible comments at your age.
โYou went so low, but I am not surprised because someone once said you are supposed to be kept away in the zoo. Sincerely, thatโs where you belong.
โI kept quiet or did not reply to you at the function so that the world will know the difference between a sane and a mad man that you are. It is also obvious that you have also lost your sanity, or should I say itโs the heightened stage of dementia.
โNot to worry, Baba, I shall set the records straight in due course of time. Lastly, I shall appreciate it if you return my money since you publicly admitted you received it, but Dangote brought you back.ย Your leopard will never change its skin.โ
According to Obasanjoโs aide, after receiving the message, the octogenarian ex-president swiftly replied that he had returned Fayoseโs cash.
โAyo, thanks for your โThank Youโ message, which undisguisedly revealed who and what you are, unchanged and unchangeable.
โYour money has been sent back through Foluso Adeagbo, who brought it and in the same bag as he brought it, unopened by me.โ
Fayose, first elected governor in 2003 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, initially enjoyed the support of Obasanjo, who was then President.
However, their relationship later deteriorated amid allegations of mismanagement and political disloyalty.
By 2006, tensions had escalated after a panel set up by the EFCC indicted Fayose for alleged financial misconduct.
In October of that year, the Ekiti State House of Assembly impeached Fayose and his deputy, Biodun Olujimi, a development that triggered a breakdown of law and order and compelled Obasanjo to declare a state of emergency in the state.
Fayose later accused Obasanjo of orchestrating his removal, while Obasanjo maintained that due process had been followed.
The former governor also accused the former president of defrauding the governors at the time to build the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
Their strained relationship persisted for years, marked by periodic exchanges and political criticisms.
To mark his 65th birthday, Fayose visited Obasanjo in Abeokuta and invited him to the celebration.
The former President, who attended alongside Vice President Kashim Shettima, Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, former Senate President Bukola Saraki and others, publicly rebuked Fayose and declared that he had forgiven him for past grievances.
