A Rebuttal to Akeem Aderibigbe’s Misguided Tirade Against Senator Yayi
There is an old Yoruba saying: “When the lizard basks in the sun, it does not mean it is competing with the moon.” This wisdom comes to mind when reading Akeem Aderibigbe’s recent diatribe against Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, fondly known as Yayi.
Ordinarily, such a poorly constructed piece, dripping with petty malice and inordinate ambition, would not merit a response. But as our elders warn,
“If lies are left unchallenged, they grow fat and claim the throne of truth.”
Aderibigbe’s write-up, titled “The Beginning of the End for Yayi’s Guber Ambition in Ogun State,” is nothing more than a desperate attempt to smear a man whose political stature far outshines the writer’s credibility.
In Nigeria, we are all too familiar with “weak truths and strong lies,” where spectators cheer for winners, not facts. But let it be known—Senator Yayi is no political upstart. He is a seasoned leader with decades of service, a man who returned to his roots in Ogun West not out of opportunism but out of duty.
The attempt to question Yayi’s heritage is particularly laughable.
“A man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body,” the elders say. Senator Yayi’s lineage—paternally from Ilaro in Yewa South and maternally from Kemta Odutolu in Abeokuta—has been affirmed by no less than the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who recently appointed him Chairman of Ojude Oba 2025, and the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo. These royal endorsements speak louder than the scribbles of a political jobber.
Aderibigbe’s claim that Yayi is “shifting identity” is as baseless as “a calabash without water.” A true leader connects with all his people, and Yayi has done just that—bridging communities, empowering youths, and delivering infrastructure where others only made empty promises. His achievements in less than two years as Senator are staggering: over 272 infrastructure projects, 6,200 solar-powered streetlights, 71 transformers, and N8 billion in empowerment programmes touching market women, artisans, and job seekers. These are not the acts of a “brash and money-driven” politician, as Aderibigbe ludicrously claims, but of a leader who understands governance beyond mere optics.
As for the so-called “internal APC rumblings,” every political family has its debates. But “a tree does not make a forest,” and the voices of a disgruntled few cannot drown out the overwhelming support Yayi enjoys within his party and among the people. His developmental strides—like the Rounda-Imala and Ita Oshin-Ibara Orile roads—are not “federal projects to expand influence” but tangible dividends of democracy that benefit all Ogun State residents.
Aderibigbe’s piece reeks of the desperation of a man who, as the proverb goes, “points at the moon with his elbow because his fingers are too short to reach it.” Senator Yayi’s record is unimpeachable, his vision clear, and his commitment to Ogun State unshaken. Engaging further with such “paid social cancers” would be like wrestling a pig in the mud—a futile exercise that only dirties the wrestler.
The 2027 governorship race is still a distance away, but one thing is certain: “The lizard that jumped from the high Iroko tree to the ground said it would praise itself if no one else did.” Senator Yayi does not need self-praise—his works speak for him. And when the time comes, the people of Ogun State, tired of empty rhetoric and hungry for real development, will know who to trust.
Dr. Abayomi Arabambi (FBAU)
The Non-Controversial Political Voice of Reason (1999–2025)
Omo Olowu Oduru Egba Land
19th June 2025
