Arapaja-Agboworin Feud: The Politics of Mentorship and Gratitude | Ademola ‘Bablow’ Babalola

To this day, Ibadan South-East Local Government remains widely regarded as one of the nerve centres or melting pots of politics in Ibadan and, by extension, the South-West of Nigeria. Historical accounts suggest that no political gladiator enjoys an exclusive claim over the control of the council, even at this moment.

One unique feature that distinguishes Ibadan South-East Local Government from others is its political dynamism. The people of the council are largely republican in their political disposition, a feature that explains the reason no single political tendency or faction can legitimately claim a grip on the local government. Its political landscape is shaped by shifting alliances, political interests and the influence of different political actors. This definitely makes it difficult for any individual or political bloc to exercise absolute control.

Going back in history, Ibadan South-East LG has produced several political gladiators whose political interests and ideological leanings differed considerably. One notable example was the late Adegoke Adelabu, popularly known as ‘𝑷𝒆𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒊’, who served as first National Vice-President of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) which was later renamed National Council of Nigerian Citizens after Cameroon exited in 1959.

Despite Adelabu’s ethnic background, his political allegiance transcended ethnic boundaries, as he chose to align himself with the former President of Nigeria Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, a prominent politician of South-Eastern Nigerian extraction. Adelabu distinguished himself from many of his contemporaries in the South-West, who had aligned themselves with the Action Group (AG).

Apart from a few politicians of the earlier republics such as the late Kilani Kunle Adisa, popularly known as K.K. Adisa, who served as Majority Leader of the Oyo State House of Assembly between 1991 and 1993 during the Third Republic, on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ibadan South-East has also produced prominent political figures who have occupied highest executive positions in Oyo State, including the former Governor of Oyo State, Lamidi Onaolapo Adesina (LAM), and the former Deputy Governor of the state, Ambassador Taofeek Oladejo Arapaja.

As a bona fide indigene of Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, my interest in the political affairs of the council did not start recently; it dates back many years. Since I first exercise my civic rights to vote in 1993, I can hardly recall an occasion when I failed to turn out to cast my ballot in the local government.

Beyond my interest as a public commentator, my concern about the local council where I was born, where I grew up, and where I had both my primary and secondary education prompts me to want to express my view on the political face-off between the two current political gladiators in the local government area.

While the strained relationship between the member representing Ibadan North-East/Ibadan South-East Federal Constituency, Abass Adigun Agboworin, and the former Deputy Governor Taofeek Arapaja, has persisted for quite some time, the recent altercation between the two political figures, coupled with the inflammatory remarks emanating from their respective camps, is a source of serious concern.

Recently, Arapaja’s loyalists accused Agboworin of rising through their political godfather’s structure only to pay him with disrespect, thereby biting the fingers that once fed him.

In his rebuttal, Agboworin rejected Arapaja’s loyalists’ accusation, saying that his rise in politics has nothing to do with their leader’s political influence. The lawmaker credited his emergence in politics to God and the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, who, despite his unpopularity in 2019, trusted him with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket.

Indeed, the exchange of bitter words between the two political figures does not come as a surprise me, as I had anticipated such a development long before now. The skirmish between them had merely remained dormant for some time, only for the time bomb to begin ticking again, with the possibility of an explosion becoming increasingly apparent.

The beginning of the hostility can be traced to the time when Arapaja and his group defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to PDP in 2020. I remember that I predicted what Arapaja’s return to PDP would do to Agboworin’s political ambition. I pointed out that the former deputy governor’s return was a sign to Agboworin that a formidable rival, who would challenge his position and seek to take over the political structure he had built in the South-East Local Government Area, had arrived.

I presumed that what Arapaja and his group would do to Agboworin would be a reminiscent of what they ostensibly did in 2015 in the Accord Party, under the watch of the former Oyo State Governor, Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, when Ladoja allegedly allowed some of Arapaja’s loyalists to appropriate some party tickets from the aspirants who had worked tirelessly for the party right from the scratch.

It was strange when Ladoja supposedly cold shouldered his loyalists, including Olubunmi Ajaja, Ibrahim Olaifa, Agboworin and some others and replaced them with his newly-found political associates. Without a doubt, that political miscalculation completely ruined Accord Party in Oyo State. Ladoja and most of the candidates, who contested the 2015 elections performed woefully. This is a story for another day,

The mistake Ladoja made in 2015 appears to be the one the incumbent Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, avoided in recent times. Makinde nominated mostly his long-time loyalists, apart from a few other candidates, to secure themp APM tickets for 2027 election. He did not follow Ladoja and Afonja’s footsteps.

Afonja, the Oyo Empire warlord, disbanded his warriors. He constripted Fulani soldiers into his army – a move that facilitated his downfall, thus handing over Oyo-Ile to foreigners. That single act birthed the emergence of Emir as the traditional ruler of Ilorin, where Yoruba kings formerly ruled.

I also believed that Arapaja would not find it easy to usurp Agboworin’s position, considering the latter’s strong presence in both Ibadan South-East and Ibadan North-East Local Government Areas How would anyone, in the first instance, expect Agboworin to willingly surrender the structure to Arapaja who was nowhere to be found when PDP was struggling to find its footing ahead of the 2019 elections? Who would spend years planting in the rain and under the scorching sun, only to voluntarily hand over the harvest to those who stood akimbo and watched from a distance during the turbulent years?

True to my prediction, some forces reportedly influenced by Arapaja vehemently opposed Agboworin’s intention to return to the Federal House of Representatives for second term. The gang-up against Agboworin was so fierce it almost crippled PDP in Ibadan South-East in 2023. However, with the support of political figures, among whom was Dare Adeleke, Agboworin eventually secured the party ticket. How he managed to sail through remains untold.

Perhaps he acted in accordance with the dictate, or there was an agreement between his camp and Arapaja’s faction. The agreement could be that, “We will support your second-term ambition, but you and your supporters will support our preferred candidate to secure the Ibadan North-East/Ibadan South-East Federal Constituency ticket in 2027.”

As 2027 elections drew closer, another feud between the two prominent politicians reared its head again. Agboworin might have begun to perceive that honouring the purported agreement could affect his political influence in Oyo politics. Maybe this explains his determination to declare his intention to go for third term inasmuch as the constitution allows qualified individuals to vie for both House of Representatives and Senate seats as many times as possible unlike the presidential and governorship seats which allow for two-term tenure of eight years only. Besides, Agboworin might thought it an act of political misstep if he had allowed what he painstakingly built over the years to slip through his fingers, hence risking his political relevance.

Now, the issue of contention is whether or not Agboworin rose through the structure of Arapaja in his political journey. Did Arapaja truly make Agboworin? This will be addressed in the next edition of this essay.

𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙙…

Ademola ‘Bablow’ Babalola
babalolaademola39@gmail.com