Olodumare, Where Art Thou?: Indicting a Conspiracy of Silence Around an Abomination Print E-mail
Written by Aonduna Tondu   
Wednesday, 23 January 2008

Considered in Yoruba cosmogony as the “god of peace, purity and harmony”, Olodumare or Olorun is also known as the “sky father”, the progenitor of  Odudua, famed ancestor of the Yoruba nation.  As a symbol of the good and the upright, it is not unusual to hear Yorubas and non-Yorubas alike invoke this revered deity to make a moral statement or simply to show outrage at injustice or transgressions of cherished societal mores. In post-independence Nigeria toiling under the yoke of successive military tyrannies, it was the Afro Beat minstrel, the legendary Fela A. Kuti whose lyrics drew on the Olorun canon to denounce the debauchery and sleaze of the ruling elite and their allies, both local and foreign. 

Today,  Nigeria is witnessing unprecedented decadence and decay, thanks in part to eight years of a medieval autocracy led by a personage who has come to epitomize corruption, larceny and communal strife  in their most hideous  manifestations. In the past one week or so, citizens have been confronted with the sordid tale of sexual impropriety involving the former dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo and his daughter-in-law, Mojisola, the wife of  Gbenga, Obasanjo’s second son. In a sworn affidavit, Gbenga is seeking divorce from his estranged wife on, amongst other things, the grounds of alleged infidelity between her and his father, the ex-tyrant. Gbenga says that the sexual gratification by his wife was in exchange for huge, lucrative contracts, mainly in the oil sector. Dr. Gbenga has also attested that his wife has confessed to having an incestuous relationship with her own father, Mr. Onabanjo! There are said to be ritualistic undertones in this Sodom and Gomorrah saga.

 It is important to note that in their reported reactions, neither Olusegun Obasanjo nor Gbenga’s wife has denied the abomination. Crucially, the ex-dictator has preferred to blame his nemesis, the former Abia state governor, Uzor Kalu,. The latter is accused of being the brain behind Gbenga’s  troubling revelations! That is how absurd it gets. As for Mojisola, apart from seeking  a handsome monetary divorce settlement from her husband, her affidavit reads like a robust, if unconscious indictment of the unparalleled profligacy of her father-in-law whose pork barrel politics had helped turn the country’s treasury into a piggy bank for the insatiable appetites of predatory family members and acolytes.

Faced with this Olusegun Obasanjo-Mojisola sex scandal, apart from a few political voices rising to admonish the vile behaviour of the ex-tyrant and call for his removal as the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman, not to mention his probe by the EFCC, there seems to be, for lack of a better expression, a conspiracy of silence on the part of strategic segments of the Nigerian society. A key section of the national media, the Lagos-Ibadan axis of the press in particular, has generally been tardy and timorous in its handling of the alleged tawdry conduct by the ex-potentate. With very few exceptions, the coverage by the usually loquacious and sanctimonious media outfits has been dismal, to say the least. Remarkably, Thisday (through one of its most visible columnists) has, for instance, sought to minimize the gravity of the transgressions Obasanjo is said to have committed.

In his commentary entitled “A Rebel in the House of Odudua”, Dele Momodu  resorts to the straw of ethnocentric jingoism by presenting Gbenga as an angry and misguided young man who is being used by his father’s enemies! This insinuation, though irrational, has added an ethnic dimension to the public discourse around the mess. Momodu considers Gbenga’s decision to out his morally bankrupt father as being synonymous with an assault on the Yoruba tribe, a frontal attack against Odudua! Mercifully, a note of syrupy preachment is also injected into this claptrap: The supposed emotional scars that the children of Gbenga and Mojisola will  suffer as a consequence of Gbenga’s irresponsibility! Other soi-disant traditionalists have been harping on the theme of  “village elders” and chiefs or “egbas” as a preferred option to what they perceive as Gbenga’s irresponsibility. That way, everyone, it seems, will live happily ever after. Already, under the spell of necromancy, the pro-Obasanjo Denial Squad, also known as the Culture Brigade, it would appear, is furiously psycho-analyzing poor Gbenga.  The auguries are not good. An oedipal complex is at play in the dark recesses of the lad’s mind!

What many observers find bothersome, though, is the fact that there appears to be little or no outrage on the part of the Culture Brigade regarding what is in the best interest of the main victim of the abomination, that is Dr. Gbenga. How many people will tolerate their dads sleeping and perhaps bearing children with their wives? How many people will keep quiet and hypocritically treat such an evil thing as a strictly” family affair” knowing full well that the kids one is calling one’s biological children may in reality be one’s siblings? Or one’s in-laws, as the case may be? How many will obediently defer to “elders” after their lives and those of their loved ones around them have been ruined by their fathers?

So, Olodumare, where art thou? Where is the national outrage regarding this latest scandal involving the Caligula of Nigerian politics? Where are the Ganis, the Soyinkas, and the Oshiomholes who, only a few weeks ago, made so much noise about the courageous sacking of Ribadu as EFCC chairman? This is the same individual who has been selectively hounding his political master’s foes.

Where is The Guardian? Whether they like it or not, the Olusegun Obasanjo-Mojisola sex scandal has been placed at the center of public discourse. Its profound ramifications should never be ignored. What this means is that we must reject the call of dubious provincialism seeking to turn this matter of utmost national and human significance into an ethnic palaver to be swept under the carpet in hushed up local idioms. Gbenga and his children deserve our sympathy. And they too, must know that it is in the interest of the country that, where necessary, the revelations emanating from the scandal be transparently investigated and appropriate action taken by the relevant authorities, secular or traditional.

 

Aonduna Tondu

New York

 





RobotRobot is offline 
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 # 1

var sbtitle4985=encodeURIComponent(Olodumare, ...Read the full article.

Posted by Robot| 23.01.2008 11:23

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ajis15ajis15 is offline 
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 # 2

I think you should check your motive for playing up what nobody has been able to prove. Gbenga do not deserve our sympathy. He is just a lousy boy that should SHUT UP and move on with what is left of his sorry ass. If you marry a bad wife, you do what men do: get a divorce and move on. That is what men do. A real man would not go about crying that somebody sleep with their wife when there is no real proof i.e., pictures. Gbenga provided a forum for people like you (Obasanjo haters) to do what you know best, destroy other human being. Hey, we have better things to do. Nobody wants to hear this anymore, we've heard enough.

Posted by ajis15| 23.01.2008 13:13

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purplepurple is offline 
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 # 3

" we must reject the call of dubious provincialism seeking to turn this matter of utmost national and human significance" ...???

If the OBJ alleged sexual escapades are of national significance, pray tell, what significance are Nigeria's rates of:
Infant mortality
Maternal mortality
Life expectancy
Literacy
Unemployment
Poverty
Automobile accidents ati bee bee lo

Posted by purple| 23.01.2008 13:28

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ajis15ajis15 is offline 
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 # 4

Aonduna Tondu

What is your motive here? Obviously to trash Obj. No, the boy called Gbenga do not deserve our sympathy. His is a lousy boy that need to SHUT UP and get on with his life. When real men find out they marry the wrong woman, they file for a divorce and move on. They do not go about making a fool o themselves with unfounded allegation peddled by an irresponsible tabloid. That is why you will not get serious newspaper like Guardian to carry unsubstatiated allegation.

We are tired of this trash, and you should find other ways to pursue your hatred of Obj. This is not worth your time and mine.

Posted by ajis15| 23.01.2008 15:34

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ifeolooniifeolooni is offline 
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 # 5

ds is nt a yoruba issue its a personal one so pls u ppl should stop ethnicising it just like u accused dele momodu's bootlicking writeup,let obj carry is cross,and gani,abati ,do not need to go into obj personal issue ,ribadus case is a national one.why dnt u go straight to the point ,everyone wants the neck of the yoruba in nigeria ,there is ds guy on leadership newspaper website who uses every opportunity no matter hw remote to express is disdain
as well and i guess he needs ppl of like mind,useful information for u i guess?

Posted by ifeolooni| 23.01.2008 17:22

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overdryvoverdryv is offline 
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 # 6


=ajis15;4294982948>Aonduna Tondu

What is your motive here? Obviously to trash Obj. No, the boy called Gbenga do not deserve our sympathy. His is a lousy boy that need to SHUT UP and get on with his life. When real men find out they marry the wrong woman, they file for a divorce and move on. They do not go about making a fool o themselves with unfounded allegation peddled by an irresponsible tabloid. That is why you will not get serious newspaper like Guardian to carry unsubstatiated allegation.

We are tired of this trash, and you should find other ways to pursue your hatred of Obj. This is not worth your time and mine.






ajis,

Its rather difficult to categorize your reply. Are you saying Gbenga has no right to seek redress in the face of unspeakable abomination from his father. Its very troubling that you now want to put Gbenga in the accuse corner. Have you asked yourself what has been at the centre of disagreement between Obj and his son all these years. There is no doubt that Gbenga has suffered this mental agony because he was helpless against his father. We are talking of a case of repeated incest by Obj. If it happened once, Gbenga could easily have forgiven his father. But the man extended his wickedness to his own blood, something akin to the disdain he showed to several people during his eight year reign. It is on record that Obj called people in some oil producing areas lazy, saying they only depended on oil money for a living.

No matter how people try to sweep this issue under the carpet it'd continue to rear its head. This matter is even stronger than the allegation of monumental corruption that is hanging on Obj's head. The call for Obj to relinquish the BOT chairmanship he secured illegally with his garrison chairman, Ahmadu Ali, confirms this.

What manner of people are Nigerians? When Bill Clinton had an affair with Monika Lewinsky, something which is classified as normal in our part of the world, it nearly cost him the presidency and the whole world condemned it. Now we are being told that Gbenga, a sane adult, is making baseless allegations. How can one blame a tabloid that published an article about a divorce case which is now in court? Where is the irresponsibility? If a case like this should only be published after being substantiated and divorce granted, then we have no need for tabloids. No matter how we try, Nigeria can never be a viable nation. There are too many sectional interests. How can you practice democracy in a nation when the egbas always infuse heavy juju and rituals into the system?

As for the author, more grease to your pen for remaining steadfast in your principled condemnation of Obj arguably the worst demon to appear on Nigeria's political landscape. We should also endeavor to always remind Nigerians of the key players who imposed Obj on us. Two people that stand out are IBB and Danjuma.

Posted by overdryv| 23.01.2008 17:24

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K_StationK_Station is offline 
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 # 7

First of all, Mr. Tondu, I think whatever point you are trying to make in this article ended up warped and muddled in your apparent dislike for the Yorubas as a people (or what’s up with the ‘Culture Brigade’ thing?), your personal hatred for OBJ, your inability to discern between a national political matter and what happened inside one man’s bedroom, or all of the above.

The truth is everything we know about this scandal is what “Gbenga said…”, and if you cared to be objective, you would have read in the same newspapers that Moji has denied these allegations. Now Gbenga may be right, but we may never know. Most people chose to be cautious because like in most marriages, the truth is only known to the players in this case. Let’s not forget that Gbenga and Moji have been married for seven years, and whatever they got going after 2 kids is mostly their business.

The mainstream media (Lagos-Ibadan axis media as you like to call them, not minding that many of the media houses are not owned or controlled by Yorubas), the Ganis, the Soyinkas, and the Oshiomoles are smart people who don’t run to the market based on one-sided bedroom allegations. I also think the ‘ethnocentric jingoists’ and ‘culture brigades’ that you refer to only exists in your imagination, and if you put your personal hatred of OBJ aside you will realize this is an Obasanjo family matter. If this is what qualify as a matter of “utmost national and human significance” to you, well good luck because really, I don’t care!

And how can any sane person even try to equate this to Bill Clinton’s ML affair? Clinton was President and OBJ is an ex-President; how his son’s sex life crosses his own is not my palaver. So if you are waiting for Olodumare over this matter, you better take your mat and blanket because you go tay well well!

Posted by K_Station| 23.01.2008 17:49

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MrOneNaijaMrOneNaija is offline 
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=overdryv;4294982982>ajis,

Its rather difficult to categorize your reply. Are you saying Gbenga has no right to seek redress in the face of unspeakable abomination from his father. Its very troubling that you now want to put Gbenga in the accuse corner. Have you asked yourself what has been at the centre of disagreement between Obj and his son all these years. There is no doubt that Gbenga has suffered this mental agony because he was helpless against his father. We are talking of a case of repeated incest by Obj. If it happened once, Gbenga could easily have forgiven his father. But the man extended his wickedness to his own blood, something akin to the disdain he showed to several people during his eight year reign. It is on record that Obj called people in some oil producing areas lazy, saying they only depended on oil money for a living.

No matter how people try to sweep this issue under the carpet it'd continue to rear its head. This matter is even stronger than the allegation of monumental corruption that is hanging on Obj's head. The call for Obj to relinquish the BOT chairmanship he secured illegally with his garrison chairman, Ahmadu Ali, confirms this.

What manner of people are Nigerians? When Bill Clinton had an affair with Monika Lewinsky, something which is classified as normal in our part of the world, it nearly cost him the presidency and the whole world condemned it. Now we are being told that Gbenga, a sane adult, is making baseless allegations. How can one blame a tabloid that published an article about a divorce case which is now in court? Where is the irresponsibility? If a case like this should only be published after being substantiated and divorce granted, then we have no need for tabloids. No matter how we try, Nigeria can never be a viable nation. There are too many sectional interests. How can you practice democracy in a nation when the egbas always infuse heavy juju and rituals into the system?

As for the author, more grease to your pen for remaining steadfast in your principled condemnation of Obj arguably the worst demon to appear on Nigeria's political landscape. We should also endeavor to always remind Nigerians of the key players who imposed Obj on us. Two people that stand out are IBB and Danjuma.



Aptly stated, Overdryv! Thanks!

Those who want to silence the debate around the sex scandal are desperately (and futilely) trying to present Dr. Gbenga Obasanjo as an unstable character. They also pretend not to see why this issue is of interest to Nigerians generally. The hypocrisy on display on the part of these individuals is quite telling. It is indicative of a sadistic temper à l'Obasanjo and his confederates in the Adedibu and Andy Uba hue.

The Olusegun Obasanjo-Mojisola sex scandal has revealed, amongst other things, the corrupt and compromised posture of the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu. Faced with the monumental profligacy of Ali Baba and his family, the blackmailing mercenary at the EFCC mounted his discredited pulpit by pursuing an egregious vendetta against perceived enemies of his mentor and master. In the face of the sordid revelations emanating from the divorce saga, what do the shrill pro-Ribadu, pro-Obasanjo voices like Wole Soyinka, Gani, Oshiomhole and The Guardian do? Nothing so far. Their silence speaks volumes.

Posted by MrOneNaija| 23.01.2008 17:58

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ifeolooniifeolooni is offline 
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=K_Station;4294982990>First of all, Mr. Tondu, I think whatever point you are trying to make in this article ended up warped and muddled in your apparent dislike for the Yorubas as a people (or what’s up with the ‘Culture Brigade’ thing?), your personal hatred for OBJ, your inability to discern between a national political matter and what happened inside one man’s bedroom.

The truth is everything we know about this scandal is what “Gbenga said…”, and if you cared to be objective, you would have read in the same newspapers that Moji has denied these allegations. Now Gbenga may be right, but we may never know. Most people chose to be cautious because like in most marriages, the truth is only known to the players in this case. Let’s not forget that Gbenga and Moji have been married for seven years, and whatever they got going after 2 kids is mostly their business.

The mainstream media (Lagos-Ibadan axis media, not minding that many of the media houses are not owned or controlled by Yorubas), the Ganis, the Soyinkas, and the Oshiomoles are smart people who don’t run to the market based on one-sided bedroom allegations. I also think the ‘ethnocentric jingoists’ and ‘culture brigades’ that you refer to only exists in your imagination, and if you put your personal hatred of OBJ aside you will realize this is an Obasanjo family matter. If this is a matter of “utmost national and human significance” to you, well good luck because really, I don’t care!

And how can any sane person even try to equate this to Bill Clinton’s ML affair? Clinton was President and OBJ is an ex-President; how his son’s sex life crosses his own is not my palaver. So if you waiting for Olodumare over this matter, you better take your blanket because you go tay well well!



big up k man

Posted by ifeolooni| 23.01.2008 17:58

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MrOneNaijaMrOneNaija is offline 
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 # 10


=K_Station;4294982990>First of all, Mr. Tondu, I think whatever point you are trying to make in this article ended up warped and muddled in your apparent dislike for the Yorubas as a people (or what’s up with the ‘Culture Brigade’ thing?), your personal hatred for OBJ, your inability to discern between a national political matter and what happened inside one man’s bedroom.
The truth is everything we know about this scandal is what “Gbenga said…”, and if you cared to be objective, you would have read in the same newspapers that Moji has denied these allegations. Now Gbenga may be right, but we may never know. Most people chose to be cautious because like in most marriages, the truth is only known to the players in this case. Let’s not forget that Gbenga and Moji have been married for seven years, and whatever they got going after 2 kids is mostly their business.

The mainstream media (Lagos-Ibadan axis media, not minding that many of the media houses are not owned or controlled by Yorubas), the Ganis, the Soyinkas, and the Oshiomoles are smart people who don’t run to the market based on one-sided bedroom allegations. I also think the ‘ethnocentric jingoists’ and ‘culture brigades’ that you refer to only exists in your imagination, and if you put your personal hatred of OBJ aside you will realize this is an Obasanjo family matter. If this is a matter of “utmost national and human significance” to you, well good luck because really, I don’t care!

And how can any sane person even try to equate this to Bill Clinton’s ML affair? Clinton was President and OBJ is an ex-President; how his son’s sex life crosses his own is not my palaver. So if you waiting for Olodumare over this matter, you better take your blanket because you go tay well well!



I'd like to address the more outrageous of K_Station's comments. "Hatred of the Yorubas"! Here we go again! So, any rational criticism of the attitude of those harping on culture as a way of avoiding to deal with the substance of Dr. Gbenga's affidavit are haters of Yorubas? I have dealt with this kind of emotional blackmail before and am not in the least bothered whenever it rears its ugly head.

And any attempt to reduce the profound ramifications of the revelations arising from the divorce mess to a "personal" or "family affair" shows the kind of blinkers the author of the above quote is wearing. As I have stated elsewhere, the dramatic revelations in the Gbenga and Mojisola affidavits point, once again, to the level of truancy and criminality that permeated the murderous kleptocracy of the Obasanjo despotism of the last eight years. The public discourse around this grim legacy is just beginning and it is not about to be wished away any time soon. Those who'd rather play the hypocrite have only themselves to blame.

Posted by MrOneNaija| 23.01.2008 18:40

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