Bolaji Abdullahi: The paradox of loyalty, by Kayode Adebiyi

Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC Publicity Secretary, recently launched his book titled Loyalist. The event attracted several ADC frontline politicians including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, Peter Obi, David Mark, and many others.

What makes this moment deeply ironic is not the book itself, but Bolaji’s sudden epiphany that loyalty must always be to one’s country and never to any political personality, an awakening he now presents as moral authority.

One cannot help but wonder where this philosophical clarity was when Bolaji was a bolekaja journalist hustling for stories on the streets of Lagos while also doing part time teaching at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos.

Perhaps one of the reasons I have always vacillated about fully immersing myself in politics is my visceral hatred for disloyalty and betrayal. Politics may be ruthless, but character should not be disposable.

Regardless of how excessive one may find some aspects of Nyesom Wike’s political style, it is impossible, at least for me, to romanticize Sim Fubara’s disloyalty. To the one you owe your rise, relevance, and opportunity, even if it were the devil himself, there is an unwritten moral code. You do not bite the finger that fed you.

I remember vividly the day the Rivers State gubernatorial election results were announced. A video circulated showing Fubara in the Government House, Port Harcourt, surrounded by jubilant supporters.

In the midst of the celebration, he brushed past everyone, ran to Wike, knelt before him, and said thank you. That image was not staged. It was instinctive. It was an unfiltered acknowledgment of truth, that someone carried you on their shoulders before you could stand on your own.

This reality is not exclusive to politics. No man rises alone. In business, in the corporate world, and even in academia, there are ceilings that brilliance, degrees, and years of experience cannot break.

Many people possess the same credentials, some even superior. What differentiates elevation from stagnation is often the invisible hand of a mentor. These mentors are gatekeepers of destiny, men and women who open doors you cannot force open by merit alone.

That is why I find it amusing, and frankly insulting to collective intelligence, that Bolaji Abdullahi abandoned his mentor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, only to suddenly discover that loyalty is to the nation and not to any man. Say that to the marines. Did this realization descend from heaven after relevance began to slip? Did he always know loyalty was only to the nation when he was a struggling journalist trekking Lagos streets in search of scoops?

Yes, no man becomes anything except God ordains it. But history and scripture agree on one truth. God always uses men to fulfil His purpose. God used Senator Bukola Saraki as an instrument in Bolaji Abdullahi’s life. Saraki picked him up and gave him access, platform, and visibility, first as Special Assistant on Strategy and Communication and later as Special Adviser on Policy in Kwara State.

The same Saraki appointed him Commissioner for Education in Kwara State. The same Saraki facilitated his appointment as Chairman of the National Sugar Development Commission. From there, Saraki again nominated him for the ministerial slot, leading to Bolaji’s appointment as Minister for Youth and Sports Development under Jonathan.

Yes, Bolaji resigned as minister when Saraki fell out with the PDP government and moved to APC, and Bolaji followed him. That is not victimhood. That is the cost of loyalty. Loyalty is not proven in seasons of comfort but in moments of inconvenience. When the position of APC National Publicity Secretary was zoned to North Central and then to Kwara, Saraki nominated him.

If you enjoy all the privileges of being a godson during sunshine, you must also endure the storms with your benefactor. That is the minimum moral requirement, not heroism, just decency.

It is therefore shocking to many that Bolaji Abdullahi would abandon his benefactor at this critical moment, only to mount a public pulpit to lecture the nation on loyalty. He has since wandered politically, seeking relevance, looking for where next to pitch his tent.

He attempted to return to the APC-led Kwara State Government under Governor AbdulRasaq but was rebuffed. Eventually, he pitched his tent with ADC, without consultation, without courtesy, and without even the pretence of gratitude to the man who made him.

Disloyalty is not strategy. Betrayal is not enlightenment. A man who forgets his ladder will never climb with honour again. Destiny helpers may not demand eternal allegiance, but they deserve remembrance, restraint, and respect. History is unkind to ingrates, and power is allergic to traitors.

You do not bite the finger that fed you, not because the finger owns you, but because ingratitude corrodes the soul.