Former Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the Ninth National Assembly, Kola Balogun, has defended the role of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria’s evolving political landscape, insisting that the weakening of opposition parties is largely self-inflicted rather than orchestrated by the party in power.
In this interview, Balogun speaks on the lingering crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the debate over the health of multi-party democracy, and the need for stronger internal party processes. He also reflects on his political journey, his contributions to key projects such as the Ibadan Airport upgrade and the Olubadan Palace, as well as his relationship with Governor Seyi Makinde and his stance on the 2027 elections.
How would you react to the apparent stifling of opposition and the near-death of multi-party democracy, allegedly by the All Progressives Congress (APC)?
Would you say APC is the cause of the stifling of the opposition? APC, once upon a time, was in the opposition, and the party in power then was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
When the party begins to play politics, most of the time that is what you get, because it is all about who controls power. If you bring that down to individual aspirations of politicians, as you are planning and strategizing, whether as an opposition or the ruling party, so is the other party also planning against you. The PDP, as a party, was a strong opposition party. Was it APC that also led them to where they are today?
Fingers are being pointed at the FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, as the mastermind of the internal crisis in the PDP, allegedly with the backing of the Presidency…
But the FCT Minister is not in the APC. The internal crisis of PDP started when five governors ganged up against Atiku. I cannot see the hand of APC in that crisis at that time. It was a self-inflicted crisis. So if things begin to go the other way, for a particular party, whether it is a party in power or the opposition, and they brought it to a stage where party members who had aspirations were beginning to get worried, should we continue to hold on to this party?
Let me give you a personal example. If you recall, I was running for governorship under the APC. After myself and the late former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala defected, first from PDP, then to the Labour Party. I was the Director General of the campaign organisation of the late governor when he was running for governorship. Then we lost. And then we had a meeting with the then governor of Oyo State, the late Senator Ajimobi Ajimobi. We agreed to come together, and work together in APC. So I was one of those 13 aspirants at that time running for governorship.
Thinking that we will be given the opportunity to contest in a free and fair primary, so that whoever emerges, everybody will then rally round the winner. But before we knew it, of course, the leader of the party, then, the governor of the state, Ajimobi had his own choice. And we saw that as an attempt to impose that person. So about 60 percent of us withdrew from the party, and we went to align ourselves with the then Baba Olusegun Obasanjo’s ADC as we were still trying to push our aspiration, using that platform. There were 13 of us and the current Olubadan, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, also joined us at some point. We then discovered that he (Ladoja) also had his own preferred candidate which was Senator Femi Lanleyin.
So, 13 of us ganged up against, Sen. Lanleyin, Baba Ladoja’s choice. I remember, we used to hold our meetings at the chambers of Barrister Lowo Obisesan. And so, we also heard that they had reached out to the national leadership of ADC. The immediate past chairman, Nwosu, was the chairman then. He agreed with what they were trying to do, which was not right. All we were asking for was, let us go for what the party guidelines say namely, primary and we will support whoever emerged. But they refused.
And then we went to court. So at that point, I knew that there was not going to be an end to that crisis. You know, once you are in court, you go from the High Court to the Appeal Court and from there to the Supreme Court. So, everybody was already getting fed up. It was at that point that PDP reached out to me to come and take its governorship ticket. They had already had their primaries. Bayo Lawal, a former commissioner in the state, was the placeholder. But apparently, PDP was praying for the crisis to continue so that they can see who they can bring over. So, I happened to be invited to come and run. Looking at the narrative, would you say Party A or Party B was responsible? It was a self-conflicted crisis.
As long as party management and party administrators will not allow the process to take a normal course, so long you will continue to have internal crises.
Look, even the PDP we are talking about, remember that I was a member of the party. The crisis in the PDP did not even start with the G5. The crisis started with the fact that, look, you have a gentleman agreement. The presidential candidate was to come from a zone and chairman from the other zone. And, I recall when Senator Iyorchia Ayu was running for the national chairmanship. You know, when we were running, they were coming to address the National Assembly caucus. We were holding the meeting, one night, at the house of Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe –he was the PDP Minority Leader, and so we usually held meetings in his house.
So, when Ayu came, he addressed us on his programme and what he intended to do. I remember it was the former governor of Ebonyi State, Senator Sam Egwu, that asked him that question. He said, “Okay, we have listened to you. Some of us have agreed with what you are saying, and we know that you are capable. But in the event that the presidential candidate emerges from the North, what is going to happen to you?” Ayu said, “I will resign.” I was there. Quote me anywhere. So Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerged as the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
At that point, what do you think is natural to do? Ayu should have resigned, and then somebody from the South should take over his position as the PDP national chairman. Look, party politics is about interest: It could be self-interest; it could be, for community interest; it could be zonal interest.
So, the G5 insisted on balancing of the platform. “Okay? Let us have the party chairman come back to the South.” They refused. That was the beginning of the crisis. And then you have the G5 ganged up and worked against the interest of the party. So, these things happen all the time.
But for me, as a person, what will solve the problem of defection is if we can amend the constitution, and allow for independent candidacy. It is because there are those politicians who have what it takes to win elections in their various communities, but you need a platform. Where the platform you are on is having problems and there is no way you can further your ambition unless you have a platform, so you have to defect. This is the reason for defections. You know, because they are in court –one faction is in court, the other one is on appeal. Before you know it, you are going to the Supreme Court, and before you know it, it will be 10 years before the judgement will be given. Who will wait for such a long time?
As regards the fear of death of multi-party democracy and emergence of a one party state, I believe in politics with strong opposition. No one is an island. The president cannot know it all; he is not perfect; the party in power is not perfect.
Look, if you cast your mind back to the days of the Western Region, or even days of the Action Group (AG) and the Northern Progressives Congress (NPC). Of course, I was just growing up, but I used to enjoy reading stories on politics. Each time, especially during the Second Republic, anytime the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) or President Shehu Shagari makes a pronouncement, the next day, Chief Obafemi Awolowo will counter it, and he will give his own clear position. So, you, as a people, will know where he stands. And what that does is to give the electorate the opportunity to choose and then to prepare the ground for the next election. You can now say, “okay, this is what NPN stands for and this is what UPN stands for.”
And, of course, if you have a president that is progressive in nature –I am not talking about being a progressive on the party platform, but progressive in nature, he might see some good things about what the opposition is talking about and he will borrow the idea.
So, I don’t think not having strong opposition is good for any society. But would you now say it is the fault of APC? No it is not. When President Bola Tinubu was the governor of Lagos State, you know by the time Chief Obasanjo came into power, the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) lost almost all the South-West states, except Lagos. Tinubu did not defect; there was one man standing. And then he started to take those states back, one by one, and took over the entire South-West.
Why can’t a political juggernaut like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar do the same? If General Shehu Yar ‘Adua was alive he would play the same. If he was running for president, I doubt if there was anyone who could beat him. You don’t wait until the election season before you begin to build and nurture your structure, building bridges, and making friends across the country. I saw some of our leaders now, who are seasonal, politically speaking.
No, you build that platform; you build a structure; you nurture it. So when you are ready, to take it later. When Sola Saraki was alive, he had what it takes to win the presidency. Even MKO too had what it takes to win. Because when NPN was launched in Jibowu, I was told that Saraki and MKO donated ₦1 million each. You know what that means at that time. They were the financiers and either of them had the potential to win the presidential election.
In 1998, I was in the APP. We had some governors. And PDP was the ruling party and we were the opposition. I was the Director of Finance of the campaign for our presidential candidate, But we knew Obasanjo was going to get it. It is a long story of how Obasanjo was lobbied to be the president. At first he was not interested. After some pressure was mounted on him, he agreed. Dr. Saraki was our own candidate, and of course, he was the leading aspirant at that time. We went for a convention in Kaduna to elect the presidential candidate. We were about to start going to the stadium to vote and we heard it on the radio that Chief Olu Falae and Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi have emerged as the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the same APP. No primaries.
Everywhere was in turmoil. We were advised to leave Kaduna by 3:00 a.m. because if, we were around, people would fight. We now found out what happened that if you don’t stop Saraki from contesting that election, he will win the primary, and might also win the election.
Some of these things happen because of different interests. At that point, it was not even the party; it was the government of the day, that said, look, we must allow power to shift, not just to the South, but the South-West to douse the tension of the June 12, 1993 crisis.
You know how long Dr. Saraki has been in the corridors of power. He built friendship. It was now easier for him to now leverage on the friendship. The same thing General Musa Yar’ Adua did. You don’t wait until when you will need the structure. The same thing MKO Abiola did.
I was a delegate in the SDP Convention in Jos. I remember that before the primary, we were already at the stadium. I went to speak with some delegates from Taraba State. Before I started to talk, their leader told me not to worry myself, that the biggest farm in Taraba was owned by MKO, and the products of the farm were also sold at a subsidised rate and they were going to vote for him.
Baba Adedibu asked me to go and talk to another group of delegates from one of the states from the South-East; I think Abia or so. Their leader was a medical doctor. He said “the delegates are with me. I’m going to vote for you.” He said he was the president of the NMA. I think they had an issue with the government. They were arrested and locked up. After their release, Abiola sent him to the UK for further studies and paid for it.
“So, for me, this is pay back time. Abiola has laid the foundation,” he said to me.
There are one or two ways you can become president in this country. It is either you are favoured by destiny or you work for it. We have had children of destiny. President Goodluck Jonathan was one; Obasanjo was one and so was Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua. But there are those who work for it, including President Tinubu. MKO Abiola worked to be the president. Though he was not allowed to rule but, at least, he won his election.
So, look, if you intentionally choose to contest for the president, it is a lot of work; you cannot just wake up to take it. If destiny wants to give it to you, that can happen, but anything short of the destiny factor, you have to work for it.
It is almost three years now that you left office as a senator. What have you been doing politically?
I have been a party man. You know I’m in APC now. I have been attending party meetings, even the local government level where my people also accept me as a leader. Even though I don’t really have that much time going to meetings with them, they do come to me and then we discuss on how to move the party forward, even at the state level.
During the last APC National Convention, I was a member of the New Digital Media Sub-committee and I actually participated fully in that committee. So, I have been active in party politics.
Do you have any ambition to contest in 2027?
I don’t have any. My ambition is just to see that the system, the process, throws up credible people into different offices. Whoever that is, because the country must move on. Let’s put the round peg in the round holes.
As a politician, you don’t really have to contest for election to be active in politics. See, when I came back from the US in 1990, I kept stretching to join politics, to play politics. My brother, the late Olubadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, and I agreed, I was coming back home and I was prepared for it. But I didn’t come to contest election for any office.
Yes, I studied Political Science but I wanted to use that opportunity to really understand what you got in the field in our kind of environment. Of course, you will struggle to put your hand on it as far as what the book says. Alright? So, I was with them. I started from Lagelu Local Government Area. I was involved; I was active; I was attending meetings. You know, of course, when they had factions, naturally, I belonged to a faction. And they got themselves arrested by the police. So, I was just doing things. Then, at a point, the leadership of the party, and even the membership were asking me to come and contest for the post of local government chairman. I said “no, I am not interested.”
This is usually because what most people don’t realise –or maybe they do, or maybe they just have a different agenda –every time they ask me to take over an appointment, whether it is elective or appointed, I get worried. I get worried because I always realise the enormity of the demand of that office. And I would not want to fail.
And, of course, there is a lot of sacrifice involved. And when they ask me to come and contest and I have seen those who have been local government chairmen; the demand of the office, outside the normal governance, the party politics demand, was always enormous. And this is why, by the time they all leave that office, usually, most people don’t have positive things to say about them. But it is not their fault because most of the time, people were asking them to do what they had no power to do.
Even when I was a state auditor of the SDP in the old Oyo State. In fact, that was the first party office. I didn’t want it. When they zoned that office to the Less City, then my party leader, my party chairman, and all those who were experienced politicians, they had a meeting at the Lalupon Town Hall.
When you are playing politics, you also have something you are doing to make a living. I went to Lagos, for a business trip. By the time I came back, because of my activity, because of my support, because of what I have been doing, unanimously, they said, let us give it to Kola Balogun. But I said “no, I just want to play politics.”
When I was to be elected as the National Secretary of CNC, during the General Sani Abacha regime, it was Dr. Sola Saraki who made me take it
Again, I had a business I was doing on the side; in fact, I had traveled to Cotonou then. Before I came back, our mama, Iyalode Aminat Abiodun, was also our leader in CNC. Dr. Saraki had phoned to inform her that he wanted Kola Balogun for the position. Iyalode Aminat Abiodun said “but Kola Balogun is very busy now. He also has his business, but we will beg him.”
So when I returned, Iyalode Aminat Abiodun said let us put someone here. But pressure was mounted on me. In fact, by the time we got to Kaduna, where we had the SDP Convention, they took me to Dr. Saraki at Hamdalah Hotel and, before I knew it, they had started printing my banner. And then I contested against Dr. Jelil Amoloye and I won by landslide.
About the commissionership under the late Chief Alao-Akala, it was given to me through my late brother because he knew I would not take it. You see, commissioners are mostly errand boy of the governors. And unless you’ are serving with a governor who has vision, he will ruin your career. When you leave the position, people will say “he was a commissioner, but what did he do?” They will not know that you are limited by what your principal allow you to do. When Governor Ladoja (now Olubadan) became the governor, if I wanted it, I would have gotten it. The one that was given to Chief Bayo Okeyode, it was my late brother that did it.
There was a long story but I don’t want to talk about it. You know somebody else wanted it, and we didn’t think he was good enough for the office. I don’t want to mention his name. When I now finally accepted to serve under Alao-Akala, again, I was put under pressure to accept it.
After the impeachment of Ladoja, Baba Lamidi Adedibu, and my brother, the late kabiyesi, went to visit President Olusegun Obasanjo. While they were driving from the airport to the Villa, they discussed the constitution of the cabinet. My brother suggested Jide Adeniran, who was the chairman of Lagelu Local Government Area, before becoming my brother’s Personal Assistant. But Baba Adedibu said “no, why not my son (that is me)? I want credibe people in this government.” So, the pressure was mounted, I was worried if I would be able to perform.
But, thank God, I served under Alao-Akala, first as the Commissioner for Works. When your principal trusts and believes your ability, and he gives you the free hand to perform, you will also have a sense of satisfaction. I started from the Ministry of Works.
I hope you have read Governor Alao-Akala’s book, Amazing Grace. I didn’t go for the launching; I think I was out of the country then. But people were calling me, especially from the media. They were asking if I had read the book? I said I have not read it. The late former governor mentioned my name in two different places that I was his best commissioner. So, for me, there is more to just being appointed into an office.
Oyo State has been witnessing some physical infrastructural developments in recent times. An example is the Airport Upgrade. What is your link to the project?
Well, the first motion that I moved when I got to the Senate was the Ibadan Airport Upgrade Motion. And you know, a lot of things, deals go behind the scenes when we are moving and passing motion. Because I wanted that motion to be passed. So you will have to identify among your colleagues, those who are likely to speak either for or against. So you will lobby them. That is the parliamentary practice.
I remember the first person that I went to meet in respect of the Ibadan Airport Upgrade was the former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah. Because I knew if she was in the chamber, that day, she would have something to say, either for or against? Another person I talked to was Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah.
So, I went to Oduah, being a former Aviation Minister. I told her that during her time, the Enugu Airport was upgraded. I think Kaduna Airport was upgraded. I asked her “why did you leave my house? Kaduna was the capital of the Northern Region. Enugu was the capital of the Eastern Region. What is our offense in Ibadan, the capital of the Western Region? She said, there was no heavy traffic count in Ibadan; like Ibadan is a civil service state. I say that was wrong. I asked her, is there traffic counts in Lagos?” She said yes. I said: “Do you know where the traffic counts come from? Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo stayes. So, an Ibadan International Airport would make me cut that Lagos traffic by half, and I would also relieve Lagos of the burden of traffic.” That is one.
Secondly, I said, “Here in Ibadan you have all models of federal institutions. People travel, they travel all the time, they travel to Abuja and to some other places. I said, we have a major market, the Bola Ige International Market. I said, Ibadan is not a civil service state and it is wrong for anyone to give me that kind of assumption. So, please, we need to upgrade the Ibadan Airport. Ibadan deserves it, Oyo State deserves it… So, if you give us, it will serve all the way to Delta, Edo and Kwara. Nobody wants to go to Lagos and get stuck in the traffic.” She said, “don’t worry, I will support you. I agree with you.” I also lobbied a few other colleagues. And so we got it passed. That is the beginning.
So, once you pass the motion, they refer it to the committee for further legislative action. So, it was referred to the Senate Committee on Aviation which was then chaired by Senator Smart Adeyemi, I went to meet with him, and I said “my brother, we have to really work together on this thing.” It was Senator Dino Melaye who was initially the chairman. The court took the seat from him and then it fell on Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, who was vice chairman. So later, Senator Smart Adeyemi became chairman after he had replaced Melaye who was from the same senatorial district with him.
But before then, I went to Senator Na’Allah. Fortunately, the day I was meeting Na’Allah, the Ministry of Aviation people were having a meeting with him. I didn’t know. I just walked into that meeting. And so they paused to attend to me. I told him, “look, I am here to talk to you about the Ibadan International Airport. You have to support it.” He was just looking at me. He responded, “see this Ibadan man, you’ are very lucky. These are people that you need.” And then he told me, “look, aside from the economic, and other factors that you’re espousing, there is also a technical factor I should also be talking about.” He said, “God forbid, if an aircraft is coming from London or somewhere else and it developed issues somewhere around, after leaving Kwara, and it is going to Lagos. The next place should be Ibadan.” So, Senator Na’allah aligned and agreed with me, and he also supported the idea.
And then Senator Smart Adeyemi took over as chairman. He also agreed to support it. Then two House Committee on Aviation met and then they agreed to come to Ibadan on a fact-finding mission, proposing that we could have some funds in the budget of that year? So we came, they gave us a bus. We drove right through the Ibadan Airport. That was when I knew that the land is massive there, and then we also spoke with some aviation officials.
Then we visited Governor ‘Seyi Makinde in his office. He was quite happy with that visit. In fact, that day, we met Chief Bayo Oyero and Chief Lekan Alabi; they came for something different. So, really, the idea of the Ibadan Airport Upgrade was my baby.
Having stated all this, why is it that Governor Makinde has never recognised you, given the fact that you were once very close?
I won’t be able to answer that question of why I was not recognised as the originator of the upgrade. But I think the governor should be asked that question.
Yes, it is a fact that we were very close, really close. It is also a fact that by the time he chose not to give me the ticket for a second term, even a lot of people who knew were very close were also shocked. This was because he was always saying there’ was no vacancy in Oyo South Senatorial District.
So, if you’ are saying there is no vacancy in Oyo South, that senator must be doing something right. For example, we used to hold the meeting PDP Oyo State Caucus of the National Assembly, with him once a month. I think he usually comes to Abuja. At the meeting, myself, Agboworin, Odidi-Omo, Muraina rub minds, to see what we can also do to support what he is doing.
And I remember during one of the meetings in Abuja, he proposed that we should have the next one in Ibadan. They had just finished renovating the Governor’s Office, we should come and see it. So we came. And it was a formal meeting. There was a media coverage. And I had to speak on behalf of members of my caucus. So, when I finished, he responded that there is no doubt about the fact that if there is any one senator in Oyo State who is the working senator, it is you. And what does that mean?
He was talking to the governor of Akwa Ibom State to give us an additional aircraft, because, at that time, Overland Airline was monopolising the route. The Akwa Ibom State governor now said somebody from Oyo State had made a similar request. He added that the person is a senator from the PDP. Makinde said “don’t tell me, it must be Kola Balogun.”
I didn’t know that he was actually thinking about getting an aircraft, to add to those that we have, but I was also thinking about that. And so there was a lady, former senator from Akwa Ibom, sitting next to me. And I said, “my sister, can you please, talk to your governor to give us one aircraft to supply Ibadan route that there is traffic counts there?” She said “no, put it in writing and I will give it to him.” So I wrote a letter. She gave it to the governor who minuted on it and sent it to the MD of the company.
The MD said they were expecting two new aircraft at the end of that month and he promised to give us one. Of course, when the aircraft came, they were diverted to some other purpose, of course, a business decision. So, that is how Governor Makinde got to know that I was already working.
So, if somebody had written your report card to the point where he even said it before the media, you have to ask him, not me, what happened between us. As far as I am concerned, I have nothing against him. I was still, myself, I was still very friendly with him. So, you have to ask him. But all that is history now.
What can you say about Ibadan State?
As regards the Ibadan State, the CCII under the Chief Bayo Oyero presidency, had done something about that. I think it was under some military government. But during my time in the National Assembly and the Senate, then there was another opportunity for constitutional amendment. They were calling for memos. So, I now said okay, this is another opportunity and another position for us to push our request for the creation of Ibadan State.
Of course, I talked to my brother, Senator Teslim Folarin who didn’t think much about it, because he didn’t think it would fly. But for me, “whether it flies or not, it can’t be something or nothing. Let us just put something there.”
I couldn’t get the kind of support that I needed. But I wanted to push something in for them to consider. So, I thought about what I have to do. I talked to Chief Bayo Oyero; he was in Abuja, and I said I know that CCII has got some memo. He said yes. Then I said “can I have what you submitted at that time?”
You know, Chief Bayo Oyero, a respected Ibadan elder. He believes so much in the progress of Ibadan, and he would do anything. By the time they sent the copy of the memo, it was that memo that I used, and I brought in my own request. I had to use the then local government chairmen, who had signed the document. So, I wrote my own memo, and then I submitted. That was during the era of the then outgoing Soladoye CCII presidency, and Adeaga was coming in. They all came to Lagos and they defended it very effectively.
So, I played that role, because my thinking was, “look, if we had something in there, we deserve a state of our own.” But it is politics at that level. When Ekiti State was created. I know those who help them, and I was close to one of them; I know two of our respected, elder statesmen; one is still alive, the other one is late. I asked my leader then, I said, “sir, you helped them to secure Ekiti State, and you left Ibadan.” He Ibadan people didn’t approach me. I don’t know that you have interest in splitting your state.” So, I felt that, “look, whatever it is, let us push it. If it works fine, if it doesn’t work, you have not lost anything.” So that’ was as much as the creation of Ibadan State and was the role that I played at that time.
What about the new Olubadan Palace?
As regards the new Olubadan Palace. You know, they’ve been working on it. A lot of money had gone into it. I must give it to our babas, Chief Bode Amao and Chief Bayo Oyero, and even the Ibadan family that gave us the land, They had worked on it. Even the late former Governor Abiola Ajimobi also assisted to raise some fund. But it was a kind of work in progress. It got to a point, I guess, probably everybody was tired, no more funds. It was abandoned. It was like a den of criminals. In fact, they said that people go there to throw their trash, you know?
So, when Kabiesi Oba Saliu Adetunji was on the throne, I was not even thinking of my own royal family; you never know who is going to get to the position of Olubadan. I just felt that Ibadan deserves befitting palace. So, I drove there one day. I saw those hoodlums, and, of course, we drove them away. I also knew they would come back. I won’t be there forever. After that, I went back to Abuja. I was thinking about how to assist in mobilising federal resources to support the building of the project. I was a member of the Culture and Tourism Committee. So I knew that we could also hide under that, to mobilise some resources, to fix the palace. So I put some money to start. And that is how we got started.
But, you know, another thing that happened. The lady that handled that portion of my contribution, is also and Ibadan woman. She is Chief Bode Amoo’d daughter, Hon. Bunmi Amoo. She was the DG of CBAAC, an agency under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. We are both from Ibadan, but she never met me. She was hearing my name but she never met me, even when I ran a case. She was once the SA, Culture and Tourism under Governor Ajimobi.
So when they came for budget defence, I was only trying to push the new Olubadan Palace project into another agency headed by Professor Haruna or somebody from the North. So when they came for project defense, you know, they all sit across from us. It was during the introduction, that she now knew that this is the man called Kola Balogun.
When they finish, usually, they will come to our side and then to say hello to us before they leave. She now said “sir, I am Ibadan too, Chief Bode Amoo’s daughter,” I said “a daughter of the soil, I would like to meet you.” When she came to visit me in the office, I said this is the thing I am proposing, I’m trying to push it in the budget. She said she will handle it for me. I said, I would rather she do that, because if anything goes wrong, we will know where to go to. So, she took over the responsibility and she did a good job.
So, at the end of the day, we brought in over ₦350 million. We started, and then I started pushing money, not knowing that my brother would become the Olubadan. I was still working, and then my brother inaugurated what they called the Ibadan Royal Committee. A number of Ibadan elite you know, were coming up with ideas on how to strengthen the institution of obaship. Bunmi Amao was also a member; Wole Arisekola was a member.
When my brother was coronated. I actually met with the committee and told them that I wanted to give them the assignment. So it was at that meeting too that the number one agenda was what to do to have it.
When they now saw what I was already doing, they also wanted to come in. Wole Arisekola paid the security for a whole year so hoodlum could allow workers to work. We went to meet Chief Tunde Afolabi, Dapo Afolabi’s brother, in Lagos. He actually pledged ₦10 million and gave us ₦5 million immediately. He said he had given money earlier but it wasn’t accounted for. So, everybody was doing one thing or the other to support the project.
But, you see, some of these things, if you don’t announce it, people would not know. But in my own case, it was not a hidden fact, because the CCII knew my contribution, the Olubadan-in-Council knew. I remember my brother led the council members to visit the palace, two or three times. So they all knew my contribution.
When Governor Makinde came also to play his own part, to support it, with local government funds, I said fine; for me, as long as we have this project done, I was very happy for what he was doing.
But, you know, sometimes, I don’t pay attention to some of these little things, let God give me credit.
When they were commissioning the palace, it was a day after Oba Olakulehin was coronated, I was there. And CCII president made a speech, everybody was talking, not a mention of my name, including the CCII people.
But later, Hon. Bunmi Amoo, because she also spent her own personal money; all the chandeliers there in the new Olubadan Palace, she spent her money to fix them there. She was very angry, and upset. She now sent a message to the CCII President. She told him, “if would you not recognise, or even talk about me, but talk about this man, for God’s sake. Of course, the CCII president replied; he even called me to tell me why they were handicapped. The thing is this; records don’t lie, history will not forget.
Even the governor, I am sure, he wouldn’t pretend he didn’t know what we have been able to do. You know that, magnificent entrance. It was done with the Federal Government fund. We had done some POP; we have done some flooring. So, but when he came to support the project with local government funds, fine.
Even the premises, the driveway, it was the project of the late Honourable Akinremi Jagaban of Ibadan North Federal Constituency. I saw it in the budget, and I called him, I said, “look, bro, this is your Olubadan Palace rtoad, can you help us do some things on the property?” He said anything you want. So I linked him up with the CCII president. So he also made his contribution, God bless his soul.
But everybody spoke. Governor Makinde spoke, and I left shortly before the end of the programme as I had somewhere to go. People were calling me, Professor Soji Adejumo and several others; they were furious. Nobody actually gave us credit for what we have done, especially you. So, Professor Adejumo now called me, and he said, “my brother, call Oba Adebimpe and thank him.” Oba Adebimpe was representing Oba Olakulehin; he actually came with a prepared speech. He now recognised what I did there, because he was a member of the council that I visited with, two, to three times. While the governor was seated, he recognised me in a prepared speech.
Sometimes, there are some things you cannot bury. When the governor was announcing, the day he said he got the approval of Mr. President, to upgrade Ibadan Airport, the news story was carried by the Punch. I don’t know anyone in Punch. The same Punch said but Kola Balogun was the first to move the motion.
What was the role of Senator Soji Akanbi?
If he played a role, it is not a public record. Maybe, I don’t know; maybe he had some private conversations somewhere, however. See, the kind of role you play in support of this kind of project cannot be hidden from the public as a senator. That is a concrete role. I was his successor. I didn’t see anything he did in that respect, by way of record. We should see what he must have done or failed to do? So, as far as I can see, if he played any role at all, you can ask him.
You were conspicuously absent during the Oyo @ 50 and you were omitted from the list of recognition. What happened?
That question is not for me. It is for those who organises the event. But see the new Olubadan Palace, they have enough monuments there and my name is there. You can’t take that away from me.
So, if a government does not recognise you for whatever reason, another government will come, because one government will not be there forever, but history will not forget you. This is why, when you get to an office, elected or appointed, from day one, start working for a legacy that nobody can rubbish.
We are talking about just the Olubadan Palace, but all is not just the palace. I also renovated some historical family palaces, namely, Irefin, Latosa, Ibikunle, Ogunmola, Aliwo, about 11 of them all within Ibadan. And then I went outside of Ibadan; we did Onido, Olu of Igboora, Asegangan, Eleruwa palaces. We renovated them. So, these are real things. People will forget the empowerment programmes, but they will not forget the road.
So, as for your question, I was not even invited anywhere, let alone to be recognised. But that’ is up to them. Also, it is not a question for me. You have to ask them why. For me, I would have carried everyone along. It is not my property and this is something that is historical. If they don’t remember me, history will remember me.
