Duke of Shomolu writes
With glib intelligence, he weaves sweet anecdotes around his audiences, leaving them with a feel-good feeling but no real lessons learned, while meandering through a field of landmines so expertly that he comes off unscathed.
It is no wonder that the brilliant professor is usually the go-to person for sensitive events like the recent IBB book launch.
This was never going to be an easy task. The good professor cannot feign ignorance of the simmering anger Nigerians feel about June 12, its architect, and its continued negative effect on the polity.
A cautious reviewer might have thought twice before accepting the assignment, but not the sleek-tongued Yemo.
He jumped at it like a fish to water and delivered one of the most meaningless yet sweet-laced speeches, one that made his audience laugh and applaud when he finished.
Yemi Osinbajo has built a career in this genre of public speaking. His tenure as an ineffective Vice President saw him junket around the speaking circuit, delivering beautifully crafted speeches filled with brilliant anecdotes, spiced with well-timed jokes, and delivered with the smoothness of a Las Vegas playboy.
All the while, the economy was collapsing, insecurity was on the rise, and everything that could go wrong went wrong. Yet, he kept delivering speeches across the country, entertaining audiences to the annoyance of comedians and motivational speakers whose turf he was steadily encroaching upon.
So, who was better suited to review such a vile book?
A book that heaped insults on Nigerians, especially those who lost their lives in the struggle;a struggle from which he and his co-travelers were direct beneficiaries.
Prof. Osinbajo came highly recommended: a former Vice President, a Yoruba man, an eloquent speaker, and a brilliant mind. He was the event planner’s messiah.
And he delivered.
He took the podium and saw a gathering of contradictions before him. The Cicero of Ikenne, or wherever he hails from—went to work.
He first defined his thrust: “In Nigeria, there are no permanent…” as a justification for what he was about to say.
IBB installed Buhari and later overthrew him. He annulled June 12, while Tinubu protested and was jailed. Today, Tinubu celebrates with his erstwhile tormentor…
The hall erupted in laughter. The master had delivered once again.
But they had missed the underlying message in that speech: self-interest, not ideology, guides our leaders.
Someone overthrew you, jailed you, and thirty years later, you are smiling with him, donating billions as he launches a book that holds no real meaning for the average Nigerian.
Did Yemi Osinbajo know what he was doing? Was he poking them with sarcasm on an assignment he could not refuse?
My people, there is nothing in his career pedigree to suggest that. He has built a career on being politically slippery.
He is so sleek that he cannot be pinned down on anything, which is why, despite all his years in politics, he failed to build a base—leading to a humiliating defeat at the presidential primaries, the worst for a sitting Vice President.
His performance that day showed that he had learned nothing. He spoke to the audience, not to Nigerians.
He didn’t seem to care about posterity because there was nothing in that beautiful speech that took IBB to task. Instead of asking pointed questions about June 12, SAP, or any of the many controversies surrounding his leadership, he simply entertained the audience, just as a master comedian like Alibaba would.
Would it have been too much for him to remind IBB of Fajuyi, who chose to die with his principal, as opposed to IBB, who annulled an election because “he would have been killed”?
Would it have been too much to remind IBB that, as a General, he was not supposed to “step aside” in war but do the right thing by upholding the will of the people?
Instead, Yemo used this platform to deliver sweet sonatas, like a Grammy Award-winning artist celebrating a victory.
This character would not have a scene in my play, except in one where he is being reported to Olodumare for misusing the immense brilliance he was blessed with to the detriment of the people and for the self-serving benefit of his masters.
Yemo will never have a stage play, even if he comes to beat me.
He should just come and beat me, jeje.
Thanks.
Duke of Shomolu
