The Olu of Orile Kemta in Ogun State, Oba (Dr) Adetokunbo Tejuosho, on Tuesday berated former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, for what he described as an insulting “thank you” message sent to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday.
In a statement titled “A royal rebuke to Ayo Fayose,” Oba Tejuosho condemned Fayose’s comments as uncultured, unwarranted, and lacking in restraint, warning the former governor that the law of karma would catch up with him eventually.
Fayose had criticised Obasanjo over remarks made during the former governor’s 65th birthday celebration in Lagos.
He labelled Obasanjo’s comments as irresponsible and went as far as saying the 89-year-old elder statesman “belongs in the zoo,” while demanding a refund of money allegedly sent to facilitate Obasanjo’s attendance.
Responding, Oba Tejuosho said Fayose’s outburst exposed “his hollowness and haughtiness against nothing,” stressing that Obasanjo is not just a former military head of state and two-term civilian president, but a global figure and Yoruba elder whose influence stretches across Africa.
“Mr. Fayose, your recent message to our Baba Obasanjo was not courage, it was simply a reckless and unguarded noise,” the monarch said. “It is a confession of your own moral confusion. There is a total difference between being courageous and full hardiness, as Baba rightly said at the event of your 65th birthday. Your action was a restless echo of a man who forgets that elders are the pillars of our civilization. You dare speak to a general while standing on ground his service, sweat, discipline, and sacrifices helped secure. You throw stones at a colossus while standing barefoot on a hill he built. You spit toward the sky forgetting that the heavens will send the rain back upon your own face tomorrow.”
The monarch asserted that Fayose’s remarks did not dent Obasanjo’s honour but instead exposed “your own irrelevance.”
“Your words show not bravery, but a staggering poverty of wisdom. Do you think the elders in Ekiti State will be proud of you as their product? Baba Obasanjo is a chapter of our national story, a pride of the Yoruba race, and a sentinel of the republic. You were just 16 when Baba became Head of State, and now you seek to challenge the legacy of such a legend,” he added.
Oba Tejuosho also recalled that Fayose enjoyed Obasanjo’s support in his early political rise, saying, “You were barely 43 when Baba gave you all in his care to support your ambition, which made you a governor in 2003. You now have the impertinence to rebuke a man who carried Nigeria through storms you could never comprehend. You had the audacity to send such a message to the idol of the entire Yoruba race.”
He criticised Fayose for choosing public confrontation rather than addressing any grievances privately, and he ended with a stern warning.
“Hear this truth clearly: General Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo is an institution, a legacy, and a chapter of Nigeria’s story that cannot be edited by the pen of your weightless bitterness. I wonder what ethical legacy you want to leave behind for your children. Posterity will not forgive you, and karma will call at your door in your old age,” the monarch said.
