Ogun monarch blasts Fayose over ‘insulting’ message to Obasanjo

The Olu of Orile Kemta in Ogun State, Oba Adetokunbo Tejuosho, has condemned former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, for sending what he described as an insulting and disrespectful message to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Fayose had, on Monday, attacked Obasanjo in a thank-you message sent after the former president attended his 65th birthday celebration in Lagos last week. The ex-governor accused Obasanjo of making “irresponsible” comments at the event and even said the former president “should be kept in a zoo.” He also asked Obasanjo to return the money sent to facilitate his attendance.

In his response, Obasanjo said the money had already been returned untouched through the same person who brought it.

Obasanjo wrote, “Your ‘Thank You’ message has only shown who you are. The money has been sent back through Foluso Adeagbo, in the same bag it came in.”

But in a statement titled “A Royal Rebuke to Ayo Fayose”, Oba Tejuosho said Fayose’s message was reckless and showed “hollowness and haughtiness”.

The monarch said Obasanjo was not just a former military Head of State and two-term President, but a global statesman and a respected Yoruba elder whose achievements should not be belittled.

He said, “Mr Fayose, your recent message to Baba Obasanjo was not courage; it was simply reckless noise. Like Baba said, there is a difference between courage and foolhardiness.”

Oba Tejuosho added that Fayose’s words did not reduce Obasanjo’s honour but only exposed the former governor’s “poverty of wisdom.”

He continued, “You were only 16 when Baba became Head of State. You now want to challenge the legacy of a man who shaped nations. Your political relevance is already fading like a dying lantern, yet you choose to insult a lion the whole forest respects.”

The monarch also reminded Fayose that Obasanjo supported him early in his political career.

He said if Fayose felt Obasanjo offended him, he should have addressed the matter privately, the same way he approached him to invite him.

Oba Tejuosho concluded that elders must be respected, and that Fayose’s public outburst was unnecessary and embarrassing.