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Gbenga Obasanjo: Lifting The Veil On An Abomination By Aonduna Tondu
Considered in Yoruba cosmogony as the “god of peace, purity and harmony”, Olodumare or Olorun is also known as the “sky father”, the progenitor of Odudua, famed ancestor of the Yoruba nation. As a symbol of the good and the upright, it is not unusual to hear Yorubas and non-Yorubas alike invoke this revered deity to make a moral statement or simply to show outrage at injustice or transgressions of cherished societal mores. In post-independence Nigeria toiling under the yoke of successive military tyrannies, it was the Afro Beat minstrel, the legendary Fela A. Kuti whose lyrics drew on the Olorun canon to denounce the debauchery and sleaze of the ruling elite and their allies, both local and foreign.
Today, Nigeria is witnessing unprecedented decadence and decay, thanks in part to eight years of a medieval autocracy led by a personage who has come to epitomize corruption, larceny and communal strife in their most hideous manifestations. In the past one week or so, citizens have been confronted with the sordid tale of sexual impropriety involving the former dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo and his daughter-in-law, Mojisola, the wife of Gbenga, Obasanjo’s second son. In a sworn affidavit, Gbenga is seeking divorce from his estranged wife on, amongst other things, the grounds of alleged infidelity between her and his father, the ex-tyrant. Gbenga says that the sexual gratification by his wife was in exchange for huge, lucrative contracts, mainly in the oil sector. Dr. Gbenga has also attested that his wife has confessed to having an incestuous relationship with her own father, Mr. Onabanjo! There are said to be ritualistic undertones in this Sodom and Gomorrah saga.
It is important to note that in their reported reactions, neither Olusegun Obasanjo nor Gbenga’s wife has denied the abomination. Crucially, the ex-dictator has preferred to blame his nemesis, the former Abia state governor, Uzor Kalu,. The latter is accused of being the brain behind Gbenga,’s troubling revelations! That is how absurd it gets. As for Mojisola, apart from seeking a handsome monetary divorce settlement from her husband, her affidavit reads like a robust, if unconscious indictment of the unparalleled profligacy of her father-in-law whose pork barrel politics had helped turn the country’s treasury into a piggy bank for the insatiable appetites of predatory family members and acolytes..
Faced with this Olusegun Obasanjo-Mojisola sex scandal, apart from a few political voices rising to admonish the vile behaviour of the ex-tyrant and call for his removal as the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman, not to mention his probe by the EFCC, there seems to be, for lack of a better expression, a conspiracy of silence on the part of strategic segments of the Nigerian society. A key section of the national media, the Lagos-Ibadan axis of the press in particular, has generally been tardy and timorous in its handling of the alleged tawdry conduct by the ex-potentate. With very few exceptions, the coverage by the usually loquacious and sanctimonious media outfits has been dismal, to say the least. Remarkably, Thisday (through one of its most visible columnists) has, for instance, sought to minimize the gravity of the transgressions Obasanjo is said to have committed. In his commentary entitled “A Rebel in the House of Odudua”, Dele Momodu resorts to the straw of ethnocentric jingoism by presenting Gbenga as an angry and misguided young man who is being used by his father’s enemies! This insinuation, though irrational, has added an ethnic dimension to the public discourse around the mess.. Momodu considers Gbenga’s decision to out his morally bankrupt father as being synonymous with an assault on the Yoruba tribe, a frontal attack against Odudua! Mercifully, a note of syrupy preachment is also injected into this claptrap: The supposed emotional scars that the children of Gbenga and Mojisola will suffer as a consequence of Gbenga’s irresponsibility! Other soi-disant traditionalists have been harping on the theme of “village elders” and chiefs or “egbas” as a preferred option to what they perceive as Gbenga’s irresponsibility. That way, everyone, it seems, will live happily ever after. Already, under the spell of necromancy, the pro-Obasanjo Denial Squad, also known as the Culture Brigade, it would appear, is furiously psycho-analyzing the poor Gbenga. The auguries are not good. An oedipal complex is at play in the dark recesses of the lad’s mind!
What many observers find bothersome, though, is the fact that there appears to be little or no outrage on the part of the Culture Brigade regarding what is in the best interest of the main victim of the abomination, that is Dr. Gbenga. How many people will tolerate their dads sleeping and perhaps bearing children with their wives? How many people will keep quiet and hypocritically treat such an evil thing as a strictly” family affair” knowing full well that the kids one is calling one’s biological children may in reality be one’s siblings? Or one’s in-laws, as the case may be? How many will obediently defer to “elders” after their lives and those of their loved ones around them have been ruined by their fathers?
So, Olodumare, where art though? Where is the national outrage regarding this latest scandal involving the Caligula of Nigerian politics? Where are the Ganis, the Soyinkas, and the Oshiomholes who, only a few weeks ago, made so much noise about the courageous sacking of Ribadu as EFCC chairman? This is the same individual who has been selectively hounding his political master’s foes. Where is The Guardian? Whether they like it or not, the Olusegun Obasanjo-Mojisola sex scandal has been placed at the center of public discourse. Its profound ramifications should never be ignored. What this means is that we must reject the call of dubious provincialism seeking to turn this matter of utmost national and human significance into an ethnic palaver to be swept under the carpet in hushed up local idioms. Gbenga and his children deserve our sympathy. And they too, must know that it is in the interest of the country that, where necessary, the revelations emanating from the scandal be transparently investigated and appropriate action taken by the relevant authorities, secular or traditional.
Aonduna Tondu
New York
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