Between Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Professor Yemi Osinbajo — by Kayode Oyedeji
They have some things in common. Both were Comissioners under the then Governor Bola Tinubu in Lagos State.
They worked meritoriously under Tinubu and accepted his political leadership.
The two men moved to higher callings with the support of Bola Tinibu. With the support and endorsement of Bola Tinubu, Professor Osinbajo became Nigeria’s number two man. Aregbesola, in spite of his limited education, was supported to become the governor of one of the highly educated and sophisticated states in Nigeria. He was later made a Minister of the Republic.
The two leaders have close relationship with their political mentor and leader, Asiwau Bola Tinubu. They were brothers, allies, and family members.
Politics is a game of interest. You win some, and you lose some. You hardly win at all times. Their ambitions must have created some hitches in their relationship with Asiwaju.
Here is what matters.
No one gets it all in politics. A moment, you win, the next moment you are out of relevance. People manage disappointments differently.
Vice President Osinbajo and Aregbe may have some things in common. But they are two distinct individuals and leaders.
Osinbajo, after what may be his political disappointment, has moved on and has carried himself with grace and equanimity, maintaining a dignified distance from the current system.
Aregbe has carried on in a garrulous, rancourous and reckless manner, deriding the very system he benefitted immensely from. The same system that obviously elevated him beyond his capability and competence.
In Yoruba Land, relationship is everything.
It is a sacred law that you may disagree, you may feel discontented or even maltreated, yes, you can protest, you can hold on to your different independent position, you can exercise your right to dissent, you can can keep a distance, but you are forbidden from bitting a finger that once fed you. It is a sacrilege, a taboo.
Education has played a big role here. Professor Osinbajo is a fine gentleman, a professor of law, urbane, and with a strong family and social pedigree. These have been reflected in the way he has managed his political circumstances. He obviously has reasons to breath down on the current government’s neck on insecurity, energy, etc, he has the language, the power of oration as well as ability to deliver flawlessly to run government down, but has maintained a dignified stance, obviously mindful of his history.
The same can be said of the highly cerebral Babatunde Fasola. They are instances when his body language may indicate discontentment. But you hardly see him setting his history files on fire. He is a wise man. Like Osinbajo, he has carried himself well. It will not be a surprise to know that the former vice president will have a way to quietly express his concern to his former boss, now the president, whenever he seems it fit without rancorous publicity.
The problem with the former governor is obvious. Outside his natural political habitat, he is very uncomtable. He has no one to reign in him and help him maintain a realistic boundary. He has yet to come to terms with the fact that he was only privileged and that nothing is actually extraordinary about him. He is nice and amiable, dogged, and resilient, no doubt. God has been kind to him. Whatever he has achieved so far is not as a result of his archaic Cuban ideology or fake, outdated socialist principles he has totally violated . God just favoured him using one man that rightly or wrongly believed in him.
He may not have the adroitness and brilliance of Osinbajo or Fashola. He has his own strength, too. He is a natural politician with relentless zeal. He may not be a wonderful administrator. He is a versatile politician. He can be exhuberant. His extremism and excesses nearly destroyed the good works he tried to put together as Governor of Osun. He has great skills for political mobilisation. However, that is not enough for enduring leadership. He must know where to draw the lines. He should avoid setting his history files on fire.
There are times when silence is golden. He must understand that fidelity and fraternity are not limited to when our desires are met or only when the going is good. They must be binding when things are good and when they are not very good. He must learn to curtail his excesses and brittle his tongue when trends are not in his favour.
