June 15, 2026
Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, the United States–based daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, came visiting Nigeria. An academic, she appeared to be on sabbatical and decided to spend it as an elected leader in the country.
Ms. Obasanjo had been out of the political scene for fifteen years. So, she dropped in like a political exile but with a firm demand to be governor of Ogun State.
The mandate she stood on was a claim that the people of the state demanded her recall to lead them at this critical period. She emphasized that she was answering a sacred call: “I am back because the people of Ogun State asked for my return.” She did not present any evidence of such a call or how it was done; was it through a referendum, petition, mass rally, short message service, dream or some clairvoyance?
If she had asked, I would have suggested that she investigate whether “the people” who called her were the masses or political hustlers. That is, people who think she should on-load some of the dollars she had made in the last decade and a half for them to eat Ofada rice.
