The Many Implications Of The G-Wagon Gift To Bar. Niyi Ajewole | Chief Yemi Soladoye

Nothing is wrong with an Ibadan Man giving a gift to another Ibadan Man. However, when the giver is at the apex of the political authority of the state and the receiver is at the apex of the civil populace of Ibadanland, a prior consideration of the denotative and connotative implications of such a gift becomes imperative. Since the news broke three (3) days ago, there have been reactions as to it being a Greek Gift, disrespect to the Olubadan and so on, but all of these pale into insignificance when placed beside the potential erosion of the Values which the CCII has struggled to uphold in its 44 years of existence. Serving Ibadanland through the CCII is meant to acquire fame and glory and not a platform for acquisition of material wealth.

Point blank, a gift of a brand new G-Wagon Mercedes Benz 500, even from personal purse, from the Governor of Oyo State to the President General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) will definitely hurt the recipient in his public outings while still in office and hunt him for the rest of his life thereafter. It will go further to damage the reputation, integrity and authority of the CCII, and it will mitigate the position of CCII as the Voice and Face of Ibadan People. To Bar. Ajewole and the CCII, this Gift is simply a Trojan Horse.

Once upon a time, the CCII President used to summon Oyo State Governors to his house to come and account for their stewardship to Ibadanland and also hear their People’s grievances. A time there was, when the CCII directed its members to boycott serving in a particular government that was believed to have betrayed an Ibadan man.

Bar. Ajeniyi Ajewole still has eight (8) months to be in office. The Governor has seven (7) months to go. This is the time when Bar. Ajewole is expected to stand firm to retrieve the promises made by the out-going government to the people of Ibadnaland and defend Ibadan’s position on some rights that might have been breached and may soon become time-barred.

There is no doubting the fact that this enormous gift for a belated birthday must have been embarrassing to Bar. Niyi Ajewole that we all know.

Apart from the impressive achievements recorded so far by Bar. Ajewole during his tenure, he should just be content with the fact that he is the one who has taken most of the glory as the CCII President General to complete the New Olubadan Palace being the greatest achievement of the CCII in its 44 years of existence.
For this, Ibadan has rewarded him with the tittle of Aare Atunluse of Ibadanland. The Credit for the New Olubadan Palace Complex belongs to 8 other Ibadan Indigenes both dead and alive – Chief Dosu Babatunde and Gov. Kolapo Ishola for securing the initial parcel of Land for the CCII; Chief Bode Amao and Gov. Rashidi Ladoja for increasing the initial parcel of Land to 13.5 Acres; Chief Bayo Oyero and Gov. Abiola Ajimobi for starting the Construction of the Palace; Chief Yemi Soladoye for securing the commitment to complete the palace, and the Health Centre from the then Engr. Seyi Makinde (on 1st Feb. 2019) and Dr. Adesola Adeduntan respectively. The Police Post was built by Chief Yemi Soladoye while the Olubadan Guest House was built by Chief Yemi Soladoye and Prince Yemisi Adeaga. It is to Bar. Ajewole’s glory that the Subsidy windfall came which enabled the Governor to fulfill his earlier promise during his tenure.

Now that the Gift has been given and accepted, this piece can only give an honest but bitter piece of advice to Aare Niyi Ajewole on the way out. As Napoleon Hill wrote in his Best Seller Think And Grow Rich “Every Adversity sows with itself, the seeds of equal or greater benefits for those who can see with Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)”.

First at play here is the “Doctrine of Proximate Cause”. Knowing the fact that the level of the relationship between Gov. Seyi Makinde and Bar. Niyi Ajewole was nothing more than superficial before Bar. Ajewole became the PG of the CCII, also realizing the fact that the CCII had earlier requested an official vehicle for its President General from the Governor, it is very clear that without being the PG of the CCII and without the precedence of the CCII request, that vehicle would not have come as personal Birthday gift to Bar. Niyi Ajewole. A 360⁰-turn-around of donating the G-Wagon to the CCII and the CCII selling the vehicle (which at today’s market price will fetch at least ₦250.0m seems to be the only way out. The solution is not in Bar. Ajewole retaining the vehicle or in selling the vehicle to buy another brand in order to obliterate the circumstance of the gift from public memory. The CCII cannot equally afford the cost of maintaining such a high-valued vehicle.

It will not be anything new in the annals of the CCII if Bar. Niyi Ajewole sacrifices the pleasure of a Motor Vehicle for the good name of his family and progenitors. It is on record that a serving President General of the CCII was given appointment to serve as the Executive Chairman of the Oyo State Finance and Investment Company (OSFICOL) but because Ibadan people begged him to serve the 2nd Term, he declined the appointment. The same PG was recommended for automatic entry into the Olubadan Line by the then High Chiefs of Ibadanland but he immediately declined same at the Palace of the Olubadan so as not to be interpreted as the reward for defending their HRM Crowns. Contentment is the biggest wealth in this world.

At the moment, rather than serving the intended purpose of a brotherly gift for a birthday that took place some 7 months ago, people have really tagged the gift as the Reward for the Silence of the Ajewole-led CCII Executive in the face of 1) Over 140 Ancestral Villages of Ibadan People that have now been wiped out in the name of the Circular Road, 2) the inadequate compensation for the Bodija Explosion and the Circular Road Victims, 3) the Conversion of Agodi Gardens and many Ibadan Lands to Commercial Estates, and the complete neglect of roads and other Amenities in Ibadan Outer-City Local Government Areas. The only credible way for Bar. Niyi Ajewole to prove the non-complicit of the CCII in the cries and loss of lives that had followed these incidents is to treat this “Gift” with “Solomonic Wisdom”. The reputation of the past PGs who have laboured to build credibility and authority for the CCII to the current height should also be respected.

To our Governor, especially at this delicate period, the passionate appeal here is that he should ensure that his personal gifts to individuals or institutions are not capable of attracting mob attack on the individuals or destroying the foundations upon which such Institutions are built.

The CCII is for Voluntary, Patriotic and Free Service to Ibadanland where members even spend their personal monies and time for the progress of Ibadanland. The CCII Board of Trustees, the Consultative Forum and the General Assembly should resist a precedent which is capable of making subsequent Governors of Oyo State to see the Post of the President General of the CCII as one that has a “Price” and where future contestants for the post will be pushed by the desire for Material Reward rather than Glory.

Our Governor also needs to be reminded of the fact that spending his personal money to dish out these controversial gifts falls flat in the face of logic and his antecedents before becoming the Governor of Oyo State. It is really very difficult to reconcile the then Engr. Seyi Makinde who donated millions of his personal monies towards so many community projects of the CCII, Ibadanland and the rest of Oyo State and the now Gov. Seyi Makinde who feels that his personal monies cannot be spent on many public amenities that beg for repairs on Ibadanland and Oyo State. An embarrassing example is the zig-zag driving lessons that motorists are subjected to on the road from the Post Office building of his place of work through the Agodi Gardens, to Premier Hotel Junction leading to Queen Elizabeth Road at Agbadagbudu River. His personal money for a G-Wagon 500 will repair that road and also repair the broken bridge between Agugu and Ode-Aje and the benefits will accrue to millions of Ibadan Residents. The next seven (7) months should be spent on giving back to Ibadan People their Seyi Makinde of the pre-2019 years.

In the interest of the strength and respect which the whole of Yorubaland accord the CCII, in consideration of the Labours of the likes of Chiefs Simeon Amole, Olatunji Bello, Dosu Babatunde, Bode Amao, etc in building this unique Institution called the CCII, any attention-attracting Gift to Bar. Niyi Ajewole would have been more appropriate (if at all necessary) after the end of his tenure as the President General of the CCII but definitely not now.
Thank you.

Chief Yemi Soladoye
Member 6 Affiliate Clubs of the CCII
President-General, CCII (2017 – 2021)