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Sermon: Osoba’s Metamophorsis
By Babatunde Jose
Having read Chief Olusegun Osoba’s book; Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics, and my personal life journey with the author, my take away from the book is that it is a story of an unending adventure with fate. A man whose resilience, hard work, perseverance and belief in himself and service to God and man has paved the path for a successful life in what we could describe as the cauldron called the Nigerian post-colonial state. Born during the colonial era of the early constitutional development in Nigeria; precisely 1939, during the governor generalship of Sir Bernard Bourdillon 1935-1943 who laid the groundwork for the constitutional proposals which his successor Sir Arthur Richards (Lord Milverton) later submitted in 1944 and which became the Richard’s Constitution. He succeeded in convincing the Northern Emirs of the advisability of coming to join with the southerners in the Legislative Council of the country.
It is one of the mysteries of life that 80 years after, Osoba would be in the vanguard of progressive politicians who are bent on returning Nigeria back to its roots of ‘true federalism’. It has not been an easy task and it is still a work in progress. Whether it would succeed or fail is to be seen as the political climate of the country is in a state of ebullition.
Today, the gulf between the political elite widens by the day in terms of ethnicity, religion and a glaring lack of ideological persuasion. The Awolowo school of Hegelian philosophy and welfarism which Osoba belong to, has become divided and the unity of opposites which is the bedrock of Hegel’s dialectics has failed to produce a synthesis from the union of thesis and antithesis of Nigerian politics. Even within the political parties there is no unity of opposites. Hegelianism is the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel which can be summed up by the dictum that “the rational alone is real”, which means that all reality is capable of being expressed in rational categories. His goal was to reduce reality to a more synthetic unity within the system of absolute idealism .True to form; Hegel was criticized as being’ not a logical thinker but a master in the use of trenchant aphorisms’.
What we are witnessing today is a schism in the political class; a crack in the political pot and a return to primitivism, parochial and primordial tendencies. In all these however, Olusegun Osoba stands out as one political animal who has cut a distinct persona for himself and a different breed from the hubris of ‘come and chop’ political class; a collective of brigands and ruthless socio-economic barracudas, hell bent on robbing the national coffers of all that it contain.
His sojourn in journalism started during the time of his adopted uncle and godfather, late Alhaji Babatunde Jose. Being a good student of human philosophy, Osoba would imbibe the salient qualities of his mentor to rise and shine above his peers. Despite his apogee in journalism, he was not only cool headed but worked hard to maintain his comportment. This is attested to in the wide network of his associates, particularly in his youthful, clubbing and rascally days. He never lost focus and at the back of his mind was always the dictum: Remember the son of whom you are.
As it was in journalism, so had it been in politics. Having worked closely with the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the man with a mission, Osoba had no choice but to pitch his tent with the progressive elements of Nigerian politics. It worked and has continued to work for him.
In all these however, one trait that has been discernible in Osoba’s personality is his contentment in life. This is the takeaway from his book. Contentment is a sign of a true believer. The virtue of contentment is closely connected with the quality of putting trust in God. With contentment one feels inner peace and increase in spirituality. He does not compare himself with those who are in better conditions, but rather he remembers those who are in worse conditions. For example, if someone is one-handed, he should be content and remember those who do not have hands at all. It is said that a man complained about his old shoes until he saw a man who had no feet. “Contentment is not the fulfilment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.” Contentment and patience earn one Paradise in the Hereafter. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: “Allah will not accept other than Paradise for a believing person who is afflicted with the death of his beloved one from among the inhabitants of the world and shows patience.” (Al-Nasa’i) Allah said: The (material) things which ye are given are but the conveniences of this life and the glitter thereof; but that which is with Allah is better and more enduring: Will ye not then be wise? (Quran 28:60) The greatest cause for the lack of contentment is greed and avariciousness, covetousness and ‘long throat’. And I can attest to it that Osoba is none of these. These are very objectionable traits in any human being and they are the root cause of corruption; I can also posit that to all intents and purposes, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Akinrogun Egba is an epitome of contentment. May his days be long!
Barka Juma’at and happy weekend
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the appearance of suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs and other questionable entries in its preliminary voter register to irregularities allegedly introduced by some registration officers.
The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this during an interview on Arise Television on Friday.
Bayode explained that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their login credentials to introduce irregular records into the voter database.
He said INEC uncovered the questionable entries through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which was deployed to examine the registration records.
“We have registration officers on the field. And these registration officers, they have login details to log into the system.
“So what we have found is that some of these registration officers, not all of them now, some of them across the states nationwide, they’ve done different things to bring these irregularities onto the register,” he said.
The ICT director explained that while some of the suspicious photographs were generated using AI, others were products of poor registration procedures.
“Some of these pictures are AI-generated. Some of them not AI-generated, but very bad registration. And this thing got into the register by the registration officers and because they have access to register people,” Bayode said.
“When the ABIS was run on the system, we saw these people. We know what they did. We know how they did it. But honestly, I don’t know why,” he added.
Bayode said INEC has begun cleaning up the voter register before making the preliminary version available to the public, noting that the exercise is being carried out within the statutory 90-day period.
His disclosure follows concerns raised over suspicious photographs and other discrepancies after the commission uploaded its preliminary register of voters to its website on October 26.
Screenshots circulated on social media had shown photographs suspected to be AI-generated attached to voter records in parts of Edo State.
Other complaints involved alleged duplicate entries and reports by some registered voters that their details were missing from the online register.
INEC had earlier explained that the online version was the same preliminary register displayed physically at Registration Areas across the country from October 9 to 15 for the Display, Claims and Objections exercise.
In a statement issued on October 27, the commission said it had identified and flagged some questionable records during the physical display and had commenced a review to correct the irregularities.
It also clarified that the published document was not the final certified register, adding that the online release did not capture all the data-cleanup activities still underway.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to replace Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma with former governor Rochas Okorocha as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order on Thursday, ruling that Uzodinma did not win the APC senatorial primary election conducted on May 18 and monitored by INEC.
Egwuatu consequently directed INEC to remove Uzodinma’s name from the list of candidates for the senatorial district and publish Okorocha as the winner of the primary.
The court also ordered the APC to submit Okorocha’s name to INEC as its candidate for the Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 elections.
Osun State governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has dismissed reports suggesting he reached an agreement with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to share legislative and local government positions, insisting that his political alliance with the Presidency is focused on the 2027 presidential election.
The governor’s position was contained in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, following social media reports claiming that the alleged deal would see the Osun Accord and the state APC share positions in the Senate, House of Representatives, State Assembly and local governments.
Adeleke reaffirmed his commitment to the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, but described reports of an agreement to share offices with the APC as “mere fabrication and fake news”.
He said negotiations to resolve the local government crisis in Osun were aimed at protecting the interests of both APC chairpersons and elected Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen and councilors.
“As the governor of all Osun indigenes and residents, we are working to resolve the local government matter by ensuring that all interests are protected and cared for. As at now, all stakeholders agreed that restoring grassroots governance is a condition for our successful campaign ahead of the 2027 elections,” the governor reportedly said.
Adeleke expressed confidence that the local government crisis would be resolved before the end of the year.
He, however, maintained that the political alliance with the Presidency did not extend to legislative elections, stressing that candidates of different parties would compete for those positions.
“As I said while inaugurating the Presidential Campaign Council, the coalition is targeted at the presidential election. Partners agreed to join hands to ensure our dear president is re-elected. All other legislative positions are open for competition. I will work and campaign for Accord candidates for Senate, House of Representatives and the State House of Assembly,” he said.
The governor urged political parties to campaign for their candidates, insisting that the electorate would determine the outcome of the legislative contests.
“I urge all political parties to campaign for their candidates as I will do for Accord candidates. We have no deal on the National Assembly and the State Assembly elections. All our candidates will face the electorate who has the final say,” Adeleke added.
