I have received this question from over a dozen well-meaning friends who read my posts on here in the last few days.
Well, some disclosures:
1. Alhaja Sariyu Olawoyin J14, a.k.a Iya L’Odoo’ye. She was my grandmother. But if there was any such ideology like Ladoja-ism, Alhaja Sariyu was the staunchest ‘Ladoja-ist’ I knew before her death. Humans generally have the tendency to develop sympathy for the underdog, so at the height of his struggle with Adedibu who had OBJ’s conspiratorial support, Senator Ladoja was widely considered the underdog and enjoyed public sympathy. But beyond that, there were individuals who believed so much in Ladoja that they cut off valuable relationships.
Alhaja Sariyu J14 was among them, and the circumstances of how she did it made it all dramatic. Some context.
Alhaja Sariyu hailed from Ile Iponriku, a spot not far away from Ladoja’s Arusa Compound in Isale-Osi. Ibadan of the 1960s and 1970s wasn’t this big and people had close relationships across Agbo-Iles. So in effect, Ladoja was Alhaja Sariyu J14’s “area brother” in Isale-Osi.
But there was another twist: Alhaja Sariyu’s husband and my grandfather, Alhaji Folarin Olawoyin J14, was Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu’s close friend, together with Alhaji Alasaro, Oba Saliu Adetunji, and others. They were the Gbajumos of downtown Ibadan in their days, and I understand that Oba Adetunji even attended my naming ceremony.
Meanwhile, in the run up to the 2003 election, the complexity of that relationship didn’t throw up any tension: Alhaja Sariyu J14 only needed to support her “area brother”, Senator Ladoja, who in effect was being supported by her husband’s very close friend, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu. No tension. She did, and Ladoja emerged winner.
But tension arose when Adedibu and Ladoja were at loggerheads: in whose direction would Alhaja J14, a grassroot mobiliser in her own rights, go? Was it towards Molete in solidarity with Baba Adedibu, her husband’s friend, or Isale-Osi in solidarity with Ladoja, her “area brother”. Dilemma.
She and others tried to manage the complexity in the early days, with the expectation that the Wahala would be resolved. But one afternoon, upon hearing that Alhaja Sariyu was loyal to Ladoja, Baba Adedibu telephoned her to stay put at Isale-Osi. And she did, severing the relationship she built with her husband’s ally.
So in some ways, perhaps Alhaja Sariyu J14’s love for Ladoja may have influenced mine, who knows? 😏
2. Again, at the height of the Chieftaincy crisis when Ajimobi instituted his reform, Oba Saliu Adetunji had little support from the council but Ladoja stood behind him, gallantly. Oba Adetunji was my grandpa’s closest ally and he even prayed for Olubadan Ladoja in those days of turbulence (I was pleasantly surprised that Oloye Adeola Oloko who was spokeperson for Oba Adetunji, is also Olubadan Ladoja’s spokesperson but Buoda Maroof Asudemade educated me about that on Friday). So the love for Olubadan Ladoja may have been influenced by Oba Adetunji’s via my grandfather’s, Alhaji Folarin J14. 😎
3. In any case, folks gifted cars to the Olubadan, my friend Mogaji Oloye Abiola Oyeyemi has spent money and body, as we say in local parlance. Buoda Dare Adekanmbi ‘s billboard (pictured) adorns part of Molete, too. What does a poor man have to donate? Maybe the jabberwockies I put here are my own donations.
So there you have it. 😏
Kaabiyesi o.
