Shouldn’t Messenger And Message Deserve Equal Attention?

By Bolanle BOLAWOLE

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I was taken aback by the flurry of rejoinders to last week’s former Osun State Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola’s “love letter” to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Believe me, it was far beyond my expectations, even though an eye-opener in its own right. Virtually none of the respondents saw the point I was trying to make: that the message is as important – perhaps more important – than the messenger and that we throw the baby away with the bath water at our own peril.

I am certain there are those who should have responded in the direction that I expected – but why did they elect to keep mute? It was another lesson learnt in the political behaviour of our people. One can understand the vitriol poured on the former governor by his political opponents and those who were at the receiving end of his sojourn in the corridors of power. But what of those who benefitted from him? Why are they not ready to come out in the open now to identify with him?

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All the defenders of Aregbesola’s policies and programmes while he was in office (“O-This”, “O-That”); all those who sang his praises; all those who clutched and grabbed the limelight with him – where are they now in Aregbesola’s hour of need? If they cannot write simple rejoinders to support or defend him, what else should we expect from them? Could it be because they have nothing to gain from the former governor any more? Or they are afraid to be marked down by the new sheriffs in town?

And what do you think of the relentless and vitriolic assault being hauled at President Tinubu by former President Olusegun Obasanjo? The former president has turned himself into the country’s unofficial Opposition Leader, brushing aside Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party to the bargain. Presidential aides like Sunday Dare and Bayo Onanuga have responded in kind. But who of the two sides do we accuse of demeaning and diminishing the prestige and status of the office of the President? Is it the white cock that does not recognise itself as leader or the shrimps tugging at a whale?

At issue here is the same problem of the messenger and the message. Should we, because of the messenger, discontenance the message? Shouldn’t we dispassionately side-step the messenger and painstakingly consider his message? I agree with Onanuga and Dare that Obasanjo’s temerity and audacity rankle. If there is anyone who has contributed the lion share of the country’s problems, it is Obasanjo. In saner climes, here is a man who should be cooling his heels somewhere. I am sure you know what I mean. Insultingly, he flaunts it in our face, shoves it down our throat and makes the loudest noise, mocking us to the bargain!

I love the way Onanuga, for instance, catalogued the many woes Nigerians suffered during the watch of Obasanjo both as military Head of State and as civilian president. The list of the atrocities were near-endless. Onanuga even forgot to mention Odi and Zaki-Biam – or did he deliberately excluded those ones? What a cruel, senseless and wicked annihilation of whole communities for the sin of a few!

But you must return and respond to issues raised, even after taking the messenger to the cleaners. Not doing that, you only answered one question out of two and cannot possibly score anything more than 50 percent of the available marks at the very best. You abused the man because he abused or irritated you – so what? Tell us your achievements. Rekindle our hope in your leadership. Your mantra is Renewed Hope – where lies the hope as we speak? Tell us!

Let me stop here before I am accused of trying to prove that I know the job better than the motley crowd of strange bed-fellows already saddled with the responsibility!

Back to Aregbesola. Let’s learn useful lessons from some of the rejoinders to the former governor’s “love letter” to President Tinubu. Those in the corridors of power at the moment, who are carrying themselves as if their tenure will never come to an end, need this more than Aregbesola himself:

“Once beaten, twice shy, so they say! Any message from a person like Aregbe may not carry enough weight with his political benefactors-turned foes. Aregbe, more or less, made the ruling party lose Osun State. How effective was he as the Minister of Interior? Even when he was the Commissioner of Works in Lagos State representing Alimosho local Government, what benefits accrued to Alimosho his constituency? Lagos State money was wasted on him to get his mandate in Osun. How did he pay back the magnanimity of Lagos? Having ruled in Osun for eight years, did he not try to become a senator from Lagos? He succeeded in making Ambode, the person who developed many roads in Alimosho, to lose favour from their benefactor. Ambode eventually lost his bid for a second term and was tagged ‘a good Governor but a bad politician’. Aregbe, to my mind, deserves the cold shoulder he is receiving from Tinubu. – Pa EK Odeleye.

Aregbe should keep shut! He swindled Osun people for eight years, paying salaries on a percentage basis for the first time in our country’s history. He has nothing to offer. Tinubu may not be my hero but Aregbe could possibly have been nobody till today if not for Tinubu. I am surprised you are wasting your time discussing (someone who) held us to ransom for eight years with impunity as if there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately for him, there is tomorrow…and it is here! – David Onilede.

I beg to differ a bit on Aregbesola. I am someone who puts a lot of weight on loyalty and decency. I am not a politician but even in politics, there should be some basic rules of decency. Aregbesola forgot about loyalty and all Tinubu did for him, he threw decency to the winds (the internet is awash with his activities). I believe he never thought Tinubu could win. The seemingly impossible came to pass. Tinubu will be extremely unwise to allow Aregbesola to come anywhere close to him again. That will be like courting disaster. It will be like putting a viper under your robe and covering it close to your bosom. A snake can shed its skin but it still remains what it is – a snake. His second coming will be like the return of Abija. I am a strong advocate of: when a person shows you who they really are the first time, please believe them! Aregbesola is just seeking attention and relevance, there are routes he could have taken to pass on the message without his ‘signature’. – Prof. Obilade.

Rauf, according to Oyinlola, was the architect of the woes of my generation of retired CPS’s. Jagaban has already become president; of what relevance is Aregbesola to Tinubu? Like you rightly said, it is when they leave office that they become ‘oniwaasi agbaye’! – Oludoye.

If you were in the shoes of Tinubu and faced what Aregbesola did and said to him publicly, would you open your doors for him to come and do the maximum damage? The likes of Aregbesola who knew and benefited well from Tinubu but went back to betray him are worse than Brutus and Judas. They do not deserve any form of reconciliation. Ask Julius Caesar and Jesus Christ and they will tell you that they never had the second chance to learn from their mistakes. – Prof. Kolawole.

Only a foolish man will open his door to his foes. Why invite death when it is not one’s turn yet? Is Aregbesola not one of the few in whose hands the nation’s wealth is concentrated? In other countries, he would be in jail for the number of jail-breaks during his tenure as Minister of Interior. Who is he to talk about worsened insecurity? Under his watch, criminals were let loose in the name of jail-break. While I am not in support of the Jagaban’s harsh economic policies, I do not think he should embrace a betrayer. – Funmi Jolaoso-Komolafe.

Why is Aregbesola afraid of a revolution? Is it to save his head, having joined the class of the nouveau riche (the oppressors)? Aregbesola used to be a comrade at The Polytechnic, Ibadan those days where he railed against rapacious capitalism as we have it in the country today. Having lost the chummy relationship with Tinubu after a big hug with capitalism, which made him an all-round success and beneficiary of the system, why worry now? Is he afraid of the people now or he wants to worm himself back to relevance and cuddle power once more? – Dipo Onabanjo.

What advice did Aregbesola give Buhari when he, Aregbesola, was Buhari’s minister? Did he not benefit under this system? Why not say all this then? Surely, he is looking for access at all costs. – Toyin Olakunri.

Are you technically begging for the adoption of Aregbesola into Tinubu’s political family? You know that will be difficult to achieve as long as Oyetola is still close to Tinubu and the Lagos political mafia is against Ogbeni. I am yet to figure out how Aregbe hit his head against the wall. I guess he was over-ambitious. I really love Aregbe and felt disappointed that he went against Tinubu. You don’t bite the fingers that fed you. His supposed letter is to remind the public that he is still around. Remember his outbursts that offended Tinubu’s political family? How do you forget that? Aregbesola fumbled, period! He should politically rest in peace! – Alhaji Ore Salako.”

Whaaooh! Space constraints will not allow us to print more rejoinders but the lessons are as clear as daylight. One: Be careful what you say or do today. Life is all about twists and turns. Aregbesola is not the only one guilty of this. I wonder how some of our leaders feel when they are reminded today of statements they made yesterday! But it happens also abroad! Two: The jesters milling around you in the corridors of power today will not be there to look your way, not to talk of defending or standing by you, tomorrow! When the chips are down, you will be ON YOUR OWN (OYO)!

Importantly, I think former Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State should reach out to President Tinubu with tips on how to overhaul relationships gone awry and turn adversity into unthinkable opportunities.

* Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of The WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday TRIBUNE and TREASURES column in NEW TELEGRAPH newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.