The Olu of Orile Kemta in Ogun State, Oba (Dr) Adetokunbo Tejuosho, on Tuesday, lambasted former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, over the insulting “thank you” message he sent to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday.
Oba Tejuosho’s statement, titled “A royal rebuke to Ayo Fayose”, condemned the Fayose’s remarks as unguarded, uncultured, and unwarranted, warning that the ex-governor would have to contend with the law of karma in the near future.
Fayose had on Monday lampooned Obasanjo over the remarks he made at his 65th birthday celebrations in Lagos.
Fayose described Obasanjo’s comments as irresponsible, adding that the 89-year-old ex-president “belongs in the zoo.”
He also demanded that Obasanjo should promptly return the money sent to facilitate his attendance at the event.
Reacting on Tuesday, Oba Tejuosho said Fayose’s message revealed “his hollowness and haughtiness against nothing,” and emphasised that Obasanjo is not only a former military head of state and two-term president from 1999 to 2007, but also a global statesman and father of Yorubaland whose legacy extends across Africa.
“Mr. Fayose, your recent message to our Baba Obasanjo was not courage, it was simply a reckless and unguarded noise,” the monarch said. “It is a confession of your own moral confusion. There is a total difference between being courageous and full hardiness, as Baba rightly said at the event of your 65th birthday. Your action was a restless echo of a man who forgets that elders are the pillars of our civilization. You dare speak to a general while standing on ground his service, sweat, discipline, and sacrifices helped secure. You throw stones at a colossus while standing barefoot on a hill he built. You spit toward the sky forgetting that the heavens will send the rain back upon your own face tomorrow.”
According to the monarch, Fayose did not wound Obasanjo’s honour but “you have only amplified your own irrelevance.”
“Your words show not bravery, but a staggering poverty of wisdom. Do you think the elders in Ekiti State will be proud of you as their product? Baba Obasanjo is a chapter of our national story, a pride of the Yoruba race, and a sentinel of the republic. You were just 16 when Baba became Head of State, and now you seek to challenge the legacy of such a legend,” the monarch said.
a Tejuosho further highlighted that Fayose had benefited from Obasanjo’s mentorship, noting:
“You were barely 43 when Baba gave you all in his care to support your ambition, which made you a governor in 2003. You now have the impertinence to rebuke a man who carried Nigeria through storms you could never comprehend. You had the audacity to send such a message to the idol of the entire Yoruba race.”
The monarch criticised Fayose for publicly insulting Obasanjo instead of addressing any disagreements privately, and concluded with a warning about the consequences of such behaviour.
“Hear this truth clearly: General Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo is an institution, a legacy, and a chapter of Nigeria’s story that cannot be edited by the pen of your weightless bitterness. I wonder what ethical legacy you want to leave behind for your children. Posterity will not forgive you, and karma will call at your door in your old age,” the monarch said.
