Baba and his team just scored another own-goal! by Ademola Adeoye

Those who are advising president Buhari are clearly doing a very ugly job, though they are being paid handsomely for serving on his team. There is no president on earth that can succeed beyond the collective quality of his team. If his team is wishy-washy, He would be scoring goals against himself more than he scores against his opponents!

Yesterday evening, baba scored another own-goal! And it reminds me of Godwin Odiye’s Header, the infamous own goal that ended up defiling and defining his career as a footballer. Today, not many people know that Odiye was the best central defender we had in Nigeria in those days. As a matter of fact, he was one of those who helped us to win the first ever nations cup in 1980, but today, he is only remembered for the blunder he committed in 1977!


I was in a meeting about a year ago and I told them that baba would be remembered in the days to come, not for building bridges and constructing roads, but for disobeying court orders, because democracy is dead when courts of competent jurisdiction are trampled under the feet of the Executive arm of government. If someone had told me like a year before Buhari first came to power that we would experience what we witnessing today, I wouldn’t have believed him or her.


When baba defiantly refused to release Dasuki and Sowore even after local and international courts of competent jurisdiction moved that they should be released, so that they could have their day in court, I knew that real soon, he would score an own-goal. There is one thing about scoring an own-goal—it does not lead to victory, it usually leads to disgrace and defeat!


When the news of Dasuki and Sowore’s release did hit our dusty streets in Nigeria, I knew some buttons were pressed behind the scenes or why were they not released long before now? And when I saw, “the Federal Government of Nigeria orders the release of Sowore and Dasuki,” making it appear to the whole world as if it was not the Federal Government that was behind them being detained unlawfully, I shook my head, because the little that remains about baba’s credibility is fast grinding down.


PMB’s own-goal has made Sowore a cheap-hero! Those who did not like him before now like him. And as far as nascent-democracy is concerned today, Omoyele Sowore is the most popular emerging politician. On the condition that he is wise enough, he should be able to maximize this beautiful moment misguidedly given to him as an effect of baba’s gaffe. I advise he returns to his State to run for a political-office—either at the state or Federal Level. If he does this, he is going to win!



The most badly and terribly hit arm of government on the watch of baba is the Judiciary. And I will not toss the whole coin of blame in his pocket. The wig in recent times made a mockery of itself at one of their national conferences—where baba relegated them (as a football team) with his comment on the rule of law and they all funnily clapped for him. The wig of today is clearly not what it used to be in the days of yore.


We cannot desecrate and despoil our courts and at the same time say we are building a healthy-nation. It is not what those in the corridors of power say that the emerging generation of Nigerians are following, it is what they do. Our politicians are unknowingly raising a lawless generation of Nigerians, because they choose when to obey what courts of competent jurisdiction say. It is clear to even babies in Nigeria that the law is not truly ruling in our polity, it is merely reigning and it is very sad! We have already set a very terrible precedent for those coming behind us and in the days to come, Buhari’s name will be on the lips of everyone.


Omoyele Sowore should have been ignored by Buhari. He had no capacity to call for any bloody revolution. Nigeria is visibly not ripe for any revolution, because we are badly divided along ethnic, religious and political lines. Baba should have allowed just an agency in Lagos State to deal with him for defacing Lagos. The height of PMB’s own goal was the way Sowore was handled in a court of competent jurisdiction. Those president Buhari think love him actually hate him. And it is the same people, who are blindly worshipping him today, because of coins and food—who will return to tear him into pieces in the days to come when he finally leaves power for Daura.


Those who designed democracy that we are pretending to be practicing in their wisdom know that no nation can successfully run on a leg. When it comes to democracy, all the three arms of government must be honored and respected for their unique constitutional roles. When I hear what some folks, who are supposed to know better say, I cringe. They want baba to ignore our constitution and run the country the way he thinks it is right as if baba is always right. I know our current constitution is full of holes, but the truth is; that is what we do have for now and it must be obeyed and respected, always!