“Chief Omoboriowo is an example of those who would claim to be born again Christians and yet are unable to look at their past straight in the face and confess their sins as their religion dictates. He is an example of what is driving away people of genuine character from Christianity because of their inability to just be simply honest. He is an example of those who hide behind the cloaks of religion to foster falsehood and claim that they have seen Jesus Christ in a vision.”

As much as one is trying to forgive those who betrayed their people for the love of lucre, their inability to reflect on their sins, ask for forgiveness and move on, especially when they claim to be born-again Christians is very nauseating.

Looking back at how Nigeria in general and the Yoruba nation in particular got to its present predicament, it is difficult to divorce this tragic trajectory from those who have been morbidly ambitious, have no respect for the wishes of the people and have become certified traitors to the dreams of their people. One also thinks that because of the behemoth vampire country called Nigeria, it has been impossible for the individual nations trapped within Nigeria’s quagmire to clean house and take control of their own destinies. This, unfortunately has always provided lifeline for undesirable characters who have the temerity to be sanctimonious after they have insulted our intelligence, sense of decency and essence of our character.

Chief Akin Omoboriowo’s interview in the Sunday Sun of September 2, 2007 falls into this category. Going through the interview, one could see clearly a nihilistic revisionism at play. Even, if someone was completely in the dark about the events of the era he was describing, which is not the case, it is still difficult not to view Chief Omoboriowo in less than positive light given the contents of that interview. For him to still insist that he won the 1983 election is like an audacious thief caught in the middle of the act and still able to muster the effrontery to confront the rightful owner.

Yes, Pa Adekunle Ajasin may be dead, but not all the actors are dead. Our memories are still fresh. Hence this kind of nihilistic revisionism ought not be allowed to stand for the sake of posterity. The fact that we are presently finding ways to extricate ourselves from the tragedy of Nigeria does not mean that we should allow our sensibilities to be insulted. After what the people of Ondo State were privy to in the years leading to 1983 elections and how they resisted being taken for fools, for Omoboriowo to now assume that because of the passage of time he could befuddle our memories is dishonest, duplicitous, disgraceful and gratuitous.

Chief Omoboriowo claimed that the leaders of the party “re-wrote the result in the booth of a car in favour of Ajasin.” This writer would not claim to know every detail of what transpired, but Omoboriowo never won any election in Ondo State except when he was on the ticket with Pa Ajasin. Also, the strength of that statement by Chief Omoboriowo could only be attested to by the kind of grass root support he was able to garner during the primary and the general elections. This is because as at this point in time before he openly betrayed the party and the people, he was still an activist of the party in the state.

He tried to give the impression in the interview that because Chief Awolowo was fond of him then he ought to have been the flag bearer of the UPN in Ondo State. The Sunday Sun wrote:

“Recalling what happened, Omoboriowo described Awo as his mentor who was so fond of him that he was sending him on errands across the country. But he had to part ways with the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and Awo when he could no longer stand the contradictions in the party.

For one, he said he should have been the rightful flag bearer of the UPN in Ondo State in the 1983 governorship election because he defeated his then boss, Chief Adekunle Ajasin by 200 votes at the primaries.”

Chief Omoboriowo was also quoted to have said inter alia:

"I think God himself wanted me to see life through plain glass. Before I parted company with Awo politically, Chief Awo made a statement. At the last NEC of UPN that I attended in the National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos…he said that of all the UPN gubernatorial aspirants, the only person he could vouch for that he was not going to Government House to make money was Akin Omoboriowo. I was there, and I was dwarfed. It was not in the agenda. It is in the records. I knew he was studying me. He was having feedbacks on me, he loved me, but contradiction developed in the party, and I had to leave the party. In fact, they expelled me without trial. That was the situation. But I think it was the plan of God to bring me out from politics to his vineyard."

What the above suggests is that Chief Omoboriowo was expecting Chief Awolowo to use his influence to install him as the flag bearer of the party in Ondo State. Yet in another breath he was complaining of “contradictions in the party.” When Chief Awolowo refused to peddle undue influence to his advantage, he was upset and decided to part ways with the sage and the party. This suggests that Chief Omoboriowo was and still remains a crass opportunist who never believed in the philosophy of the party and tried to get closer to Pa Awolowo for sundry political advantage.

In my view, for him to even suggest that he parted ways with Awo is an insult and height of traditional blasphemy. With due respect, I do not think that Chief Omoboriowo could even claim he parted ways with the likes of the giants that represented the core of the UPN in Ondo State, not to talk of the Great Awo. Even when we talk of those who were very close to Chief Awolowo in terms of intellectual ruminations, political organization, philosophical harmonization among others, Chief Omoboriowo did not even come close to be in the inner loop.

Where would people like Professor Samuel Aluko be? Where would people like Pa Ajasin be? What would seminally brilliant Professor Banji Akintoye claim? What about Senator Ayo Fasanmi and Professor David Oke?  What about the indefatigable Professor Hezekiah Oluwasanmi? Where would Professor Tunji Otegbeye, Professor Nathaniel Aina, Professor Agboola from Ipoti Ekiti and Wunmi Adegbonmire among several others be? These were intellectual giants and party gurus who laid emphasis on service to the people and expected nothing in return.

When these people were building the UPN where was Akin Omoboriowo? Where did he work for the party? He is an intellectual liliputian who believed that the best way to make political hay was through sycophancy. When he wrote his book on AWOISM, the intellectuals in the party were laughing at him. He can not claim not to be aware of this. The book was not only intellectually shallow, it was philosophically ridiculous. The book was a sycophantic attempt to get closer to Chief Awolowo but was tolerated for obvious reasons. The fact that he was not taken to the cleaners then regarding the book is a major reason why he is trying to fool the world that he was close to Chief Awolowo.

It also shows that Chief Omoboriowo is a poor history student who has failed to learn anything about the type of leader Awo was given the events of 1979. He could not claim to be oblivious of the strong support for Senator Ayo Fasanmi who would have given Ajasin a run for his money as an aspirant for the governorship of Ondo State before Chief Ajasin emerged in 1979. But Fasanmi and his supporters later worked together with Pa Ajasin for the good of the state.

He also forgot that the emergence of Chief Bola Ige in Oyo State was not the wish of Chief Awolowo who felt that Pa Emmanuel Alayande was a better candidate. Chief Bola Ige had connived with Alhaji Busari Adelakun to upstage Pa Alayande in the primaries. Thus democracy and the wish of the people prevailed against the wish of Chief Awolowo. If Chief Awolowo had insisted on Pa Alayande, he probably could have had his way, but he did not do that.

If Chief Fasanmi could be selfless and allowed Chief Ajasin to become the governor, why couldn’t Chief Omoboriowo follow that example for the cohesion of the party and the progress of the people he claimed he wanted to serve? Pa Alayande was actually the Principal of Ibadan Grammar School when Chief Bola Ige was the Senior Prefect in the same school. By implication, it means Pa Alayande made Bola Ige  the Senior Prefect. As anyone can see “the gap no be small.” But if despite this, Pa Alayande could subsume his ambition for the good and glory of the party as well as the well being of the people, why couldn’t Chief Omoboriowo do the same if he was “holier than thou” as he wanted the world to believe? Pa Alayande later served as an Adviser in Bola Ige’s cabinet. What a great and selfless man Pa Alayande was!

More so, everyone who knows the origin of Chief Omoboriowo on how he became the deputy Governor of Ondo State could not but run away from him to avoid being tarnished. Now that he is claiming to be “born again,” this writer is challenging him to come out and deny the fact that it was Pa Ajasin who picked him from the gutters politically. He was practically sleeping in Pa Ajasin’s house before the 1979 primaries and running his errands and not Chief Awolowo’s errands. He was an Akure based struggling lawyer who did not know what he was going to do with his life before he thrown himself on Chief Ajasin. He was practically Pa Ajasin’s “house help.” Others allowed his nomination as DG in deference to Chief Ajasin.

Yet to repay the old man for picking him up from political gutter he became treacherous. One also challenges him to come out and deny publicly if on the day of swearing-in in October 1979 he did not invite Laywer politician (name with held) who later became a commissioner in Ajasin’s cabinet to the Deputy Governor’s residence to recruit him for his (Omoboriowo’s) governorship ambition for 1983 that was still 4 years away! Yes, this was the day he was sworn-in with his mentor, Pa Ajasin.

Chief Omoboriowo claims he is a born again Christian. This means he ought to be viewed as honest man with integrity. Can he honestly swear with his God that he did not confide in some people that he was sure Pa Ajasin would not last 4 years because he (Ajasin) has a serious sickness that would kill him and pave way for him (Omoboriowo) to become governor?

Can Chief Omoboriowo publicly deny his discussion with a prominent Ekiti son and politician (name with held) on the road between Ayedun and Ikole Ekiti in October 1979 on how he planned to supplant Pa Ajasin less than 30 days into the office as the DG?

It is one’s belief that Chief Omoboriowo was engaging in deliberate obfuscation and falsehood when he said the following:

“..I had to leave the party. In fact, they expelled me without trial. That was the situation. But I think it was the plan of God to bring me out from politics to his vineyard."

How could Chief Omoboriowo reasonably expect the UPN not to expel him after he has declared for the NPN? How could he possibly stand trial in the UPN as an NPN stalwart?

If Omoboriowo was that popular as he was trying to make the world believe in that interview, how come he had to escape lynching form the people who so much loved him? How long did it take him to return to his home town and birth place in Ijero after the 1983 fraud he tried to impose on the people of Ondo State? How come he could not even count on the support of his blood relatives in Ijero during this crisis if he actually had their support for his perfidies?

Though, Chief Omoboriowo claimed in that interview that he used to be “lawless” before he met Jesus Christ, it is evident that he has become “incorrigibly lawless” since then. The evidence that his lawlessness has taken a turn for the worse since he met Jesus Christ is for someone who agreed that he lost his petition in the Appeal and Supreme Courts to continue to insist that he still won that 1983 election. And he was, probably still is, also a lawyer! Unless he can give evidence of political tampering with the court as Olusegun Obasanjo-Onyejekwe did with the Supreme Court in 1979, he needs to make a more serious case for his victory that never was.

It is very ridiculous and ignominious for a “born again” like Chief Omoboriowo not to understand what is called atonement. There is blood not only on his hands, but all over his body for the death of the innocents. Here is someone whose malicious and morbid ambition via the rigging of elections led to the death of so many men, women, and children of Ondo state. Here is a man who has become a political pariah after escaping lynching. He does not have the courage to apologize for what he caused either directly or indirectly. Yet he still has the temerity to insult the rest of us and claim victory in an election he lost so openly. 

Chief Omoboriowo is an example of those who would claim to be born again Christians and yet are unable to look at their past straight in the face and confess their sins as their religion dictates. He is an example of what is driving away people of genuine character from Christianity because of their inability to just be simply honest. He is an example of those who hide behind the cloaks of religion to foster falsehood and claim that they have seen Jesus Christ in a vision.

Personally, it is one’s belief that the less number of “born-again” believers that we have, the better this world would be. This is because if as “born-again” they are like this, one wonders what they would have been like if they were actually Satan off-springs.

Robot  Villager

# 1 “Chief Omoboriowo is an...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 03.09.2007 16:22

Exxcuzme  Villager

# 2 In my view, for him to even suggest that he parted ways with Awo is an insult and height of traditional blasphemy. With due respect, I do not think that Chief Omoboriowo could even claim he parted ways with the likes of the giants that represented the core of the UPN in Ondo State, not to talk of the Great Awo. Even when we talk of those who were very close to Chief Awolowo in terms of intellectual ruminations, political organization, philosophical harmonization among others, Chief Omoboriowo did not even come close to be in the inner loop. Softly, softly, Awo is just a human being not God. Can Chief Omoboriowo publicly deny his discussion with a prominent Ekiti son and politician (name with held) on the road between Ayedun and Ikole Ekiti in October 1979 on how he planned to supplant Pa Ajasin less than 30 days into the office as the DG? What is it with us Nigerian that we are afraid to reveal the truth. If you have an inside info that you do not want to share, please don't tantalize us. This is why my hero is Soyore, he tells it like it is. Let it rip, let it rip, F it, let the rain fall on Cocoyam leafs, let it rip! He also forgot that the emergence of Chief Bola Ige in Oyo State was not the wish of Chief Awolowo who felt that Pa Emmanuel Alayande was a better candidate. Chief Bola Ige had connived with Alhaji Busari Adelakun to upstage Pa Alayande in the primaries. Thus democracy and the wish of the people prevailed against the wish of Chief Awolowo. If Chief Awolowo had insisted on Pa Alayande, he probably could have had his way, but he did not do that. What goes around , comes around! Posted by Exxcuzme| 03.09.2007 22:48

ariteni  Villager

# 3 Excellent nihilistic diatribe! "jisi-ike" mai buroda! Posted by ariteni| 04.09.2007 00:34

godfather  Villager

# 4 Mr. author, is that the best you could come up with?:eek: What is it with Naijas running away from the truth! Talk about head in the sand situation.:redface: Posted by godfather| 04.09.2007 01:09

falcon  Villager

# 5 Remi Oyeyemi Thank you for this insightful and well written piece. A lot of us suffer from lack for memory and no respect or interest for history and many politicians and cool bloodedly try to take advantage of it. Your observations and the way you presented them are of great service to those willing to reason and I daresay the nation. Well done! This place is meant to be a market place of ideas, some of the above comments to this piece do not, in my view, stand up that that aspiration; but this is just my view. Let others judge. Posted by falcon| 04.09.2007 06:25

JAJAMARK  JJC

# 6 I believe this write-up could have been very interesting and educating considering the journey down the memory lane(though those names sounded strange to me anyway). But the writer wanted to create a wrong impression about some group of people he believes are hypocrites - 'born-agains'. I should think that matters as sensitive as religious inclinations should always be mentioned with great caution on this square considering the religious diversity of the entity called 'Nigeria'. Personally, I felt attacked as a christian reading an article that tended to mention 'born-again' more than the real protagonist(especially when it was mentioned in ridicule and in sarcasm). All the same it was a nice article. Posted by JAJAMARK| 05.09.2007 05:00

JAJAMARK  JJC

# 7 I believe this write-up could have been very interesting and educating considering the journey down the memory lane(though those names sounded strange to me anyway). But the writer wanted to create a wrong impression about some group of people he believes are hypocrites - 'born-agains'. I should think that matters as sensitive as religious inclinations should always be mentioned with great caution on this square considering the religious diversity of the entity called 'Nigeria'. Personally, I felt attacked as a christian reading an article that tended to mention 'born-again' more than the real protagonist(especially when it was mentioned in ridicule and in sarcasm). All the same it was a nice article. Posted by JAJAMARK| 05.09.2007 05:03

RAYNOSA  Villager

# 8 The only reason politicians in Nigeria who claim they are christians become born again are 1.When facing trial for a crime delibrately done (enriching themselve with public fund) 2.When they are broke and become irrelevent politically. It should not surprise anybody if Omoboriowo becomes a General overseer of a church,who cares the sad thing about all these born again politicians is that they actually swear with the BIBLE when taking the oath of office.It would have been different if they have belong to other faith while in office. I like to ask these born again politicians what kind of BIBLE they read,for us to take them serious let them come out openly to confess their sins and return whatever they have stolen at least this is what JESUS CHRIST told the tax collector. Omoboriowo,Kalu and Alams are the lasted born again politicians yet they still hold on to ill gotten wealth. Great poeple of their likes i.e OYENUSI & ANINIH ought to have been given the chance to live to become born again too at least they are all theives.The BIBLE SAYS THOU SHALL NOT STEAL. STEALING IS STEALING either by force or ease. Posted by RAYNOSA| 05.09.2007 11:17