“Same Aregbesola Tinubu Met As Struggling Party man, Made Him Commissioner, Later, Governor, Is Now Ganging Up Against Him” – Bayo Onanuga

By Adesina Soyooye

Bayo Onanuga, Presidential Adviser on Media and Strategy, is in shock over what has become of a former Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Onanuga’s shock stems from his realization that Aregbesola could, actually, be one of those who now is ganging up against President Bola Tinubu.

Considering what was thought by not a few people to be an unbreakable relationship between Tinubu and Aregbesola, Onanuga is not the only one in shock. To all those who knew the two, it is, both, at once, unbelievable and unthinkable that Aregbesola could be openly in the corner of those who want Tinubu out of office in 2027 – to the extent that he is the National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, the Party under which the opposition against Tinubu is fighting from.

Not able to bear the Aregbesola- about-turn much longer than he has already, Onanuga lamented in a post:

“This is the same Aregbesola that Asiwaju Tinubu met as a struggling party man in 1999 and made a Commissioner, and later Governor of Osun State. Now that Tinubu is President, should a man like Aregbesola be in a gang-up against his benefactor? Aregbesola is a religious man. He should know that no man can repay good with evil and get away with it.”

True, in 1999 when Tinubu was the Governor of Lagos State, he appointed Aregbesola his Commissioner for Works. Thereafter, Tinubu was instrumental to Aregbesola becoming a two-term Governor of Osun State.

But things went awry between the two former inseparable friends and political allies over  the Governorship seat of Osun State after Aregbesola’s tenure.

While Tinubu was in full support of Aregbesola’s Chief  of Staff, Gboyega Oyetola, now Tinubu’s Minister for Marine Economy,  Aregbesola, who later disclosed that Tinubu imposed Oyetola on him as Chief of Staff without as much as consulting him, was not comfortable with that. In a most controversial manner, however, Oyetola succeeded Aregbesola as Governor. He, however, failed in his second term bid by which time Aregbesola, as Minister for Interior under late President Muhammadu Buhari, publicly revolted against Tinubu and worked against Oyetola.

Since then, the relationship between Tinubu and Aregbesola has continued to go down hill. It got to its climax when Aregbesola quit the APC, declared for ADC, and is now its National Secretary.

The situation promises to be more messy than it is already because even though Aregbesola has not told his own side of the story publicly, as such, what reads like a response to Onanuga’s post has started trending.

It reads:

“Loyalty isn’t servitude. Aregbesola owes Tinubu gratitude, not lifelong submission.

Political growth means people evolve, not worship benefactors.

“Calling his independence “perfidy” is an old trick, emotional blackmail disguised as loyalty. Nigeria deserves principled leaders, not political slaves.

“Gratitude doesn’t mean eternal obedience.

“Aregbesola was helped by Tinubu, yes. But he also served, delivered, and contributed.

“Political independence isn’t betrayal. It’s maturity. This godfatherism lens is the principle why Nigeria struggles to grow.

“True betrayal isn’t disagreeing with your political benefactor. It’s betraying your conscience, your people, and your principles in the name of loyalty.

“If the President seeks unthinking loyalty from his allies, then he doesn’t want leaders around him, he wants servants and he must be a tyrant for that.

“Aregbesola is not a slave. He’s a leader in his own right.”