Ladoja: A little less wolf is no lamb, by Bamidele Johnson

I expect a reboot of the mockery of Obasanjo on the day of Rasheed Ladoja’s coronation as the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland. Everyone remembers how Obasanjo provided cover and muscle for the “wooligans” known as Lamidi Adedibu to illegally evict Ladoja from the Government House. On Ladoja’s emergence as Olubadan-in-waiting, that story was reheated, with one of his old interviews going viral again. I expect a repeat from those eager to polish ex-President Obasanjo’s “bad guy” medal while burnishing Ladoja as a man of destiny and a victim-saint of power politics.

Obasanjo’s repertoire of absurdities cannot be questioned. It is also certain that Ladoja was indeed both victim and survivor. But we need to cut out the saccharine in his story, as he was no choirboy. Ask one Dr. Joshua Akintaro, a chairmanship candidate of the now wilted Alliance for Democracy in Ibarapa East Local Government Area. The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission declared his opponent, Moses Kolawole of the People’s Democratic Party, the winner of the 2004 election in the council. Kolawole belonged to the same party as Ladoja. Akintaro contested the declaration, winning at the tribunal and the appeal tribunal. Yet, he was not sworn in as ordered by the courts. Why? Because Ladoja could do as he wished. His “gentle dove” feathers concealed some metal talons.

It was only after Ladoja’s own brief and illegal ouster from office by the Obasanjo-Adedibu political complex that Akintaro’s mandate was honoured. That was one and a half years later. In his desperate hunt for legitimacy, Adebayo Alao-Akala, Ladoja’s deputy installed in his stead, wasted no time swearing Akintaro in the moment he wore that counterfeit crown.

So yes, Ladoja may look like a man who would not hurt a fly, but power revealed that he was no tender lamb. He was more like a smaller wolf complaining about a bigger wolf. He may not have been as bad as Obasanjo, but he was still bad enough. While sharing his orisunbare story, we should remember his wooligans credentials.

When I interviewed Alao-Akala shortly after his illegal emergence as governor, he said Ladoja had no moral basis to complain about his removal from office and to file a legal challenge against it because he spat at court orders directing that Akintaro be sworn in. All the same, Kabiyesi o, k’ade pe l’ori, ki ileke pe l’orun.