celebrity radar - gossips
Odumakin Bombs Opadokun
Chief Ayo Opadokun, former Secretary – General of Afenifere has been taken to the cleaners by Yinka Odumakin…
“Well, I think Opadokun is not telling the truth. In Yorubaland it is not cultural to say an elderly man lied, so I will not say he lied. I think either out of malice about the circumstances of our parting or possibly because he hangs around Tinubu too much and he is getting influenced. What he said totally negated the true account of how we met.”
“My joining Afenifere, myself and my colleagues were received at an open rally into the group by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, late Ganiyu Dawodu and other leaders at Oworonshoki at a rally. If we were nonentities coming from nowhere, they definitely will not receive us at a rally.”
“Before coming to Afenifere, some of us are fully formed politically, we have led students movements, we were involved in various kinds of struggles and before then I was the Publicity Secretary of National Conscience Party (NCP) formed by the late Gani Fawehinmi.”
“I had cut my teeth. I was part of a team that has been working with leaders like Chief Abraham Adesanya in Joint Action Committee of Nigeria (JACON), which was a conglomeration of pro-democracy forces, Afenifere, while he, Opadokun was in Abacha’s detention. I enjoyed perfect working relationship with Afenifere leaders like Adesanya, Bola Ige and others.”
“So, for him to now say he was watching me for six months and the rest is total fallacy. After receiving us into Afenifere, I remember that time Chief Adebanjo said myself and Omoseyinde should go and collect form to go the House of Representatives in 1999. But we humbly rejected the offer and respectfully told him that we didn’t join Afenifere to seek positions but that our aim is to build the organization.”
“The first assignment we were given was to go and conduct the AD primaries in Ondo state to pick the governorship candidate. Myself, Dr. Omoseyindemi and others led the team to go and conduct the primary that led to the emergence of late Adebayo Adefarati as AD candidate in 1998. In that process, Mr. Opadokun said I should go work with him.”
“He may be right that I wrote minutes for him but I can remember vividly that the first minutes I wrote for him, after that day, Chief Adebanjo openly said ‘I like the language of this minutes’. That was the minutes of Afenifere that I wrote but which he Opadokun read. Let him deny it.”
“Most of the press briefings that he was signing, I was the one writing them, both minutes of meeting and press releases, but I don’t want to take the credits. But Mr. Opadokun was taking credits as if he wrote them. Taking credits for those things doesn’t matter to me. What is important to me is the collective interest of the group. One thing I saw in Opadokun was that he has a very large ego.”
“He feels big when he cuts other people down. To him, everything is about ‘ I, me, myself’. I did this, I did that’. Everything about him is in the first person pronoun ‘I’. Let us even assume that his account was correct. How old is he today and how old am I? if myself and him were contemporaries, I can never assist him in doing anything, maybe he will assist me because he is not a man of better intellect than I am.”
“I am not being immodest. But he is much older than I am. There is a clear gap between us. I repeat, if we were contemporaries, he can’t claim that he has better intellect than me. Even if that was the circumstance of our meeting, I will not be ashamed of it but his account is false.”
“On why we parted, at a point, when Tinubu came in as governor in 1999, he took Opadokun, one Engr Salami, Akinyelure and others into one committee where they are going to be deciding appointments, contracts. But within a short time, I think he wanted to be feeling too important and Tinubu cut him to size.”
“So, they fell out. By the time they fell out now, he became so critical of Tinubu in Afenifere and Tinubu himself said it with his mouth that he was looking for ways to get Opadokun out of Afenifere which was his strength then. Some Tinubu’s associates who were journalists, who were publishing a newsmagazine started selling a story in Afenifere that Opadokun had gone to collect money from Babangida. That was the time Babangida was trying to run for elections in 2003. They claimed that Opadokun had received N40 million to give Babangida all the information about Yorubaland.”
“Then I was working directly with him and people started accusing me that myself and Opadokun have both shared the money together. These are issues I don’t want to talk about. I am saying this because he has poked his fingers into my mouth. These are things I have kept within me and I have not shared with anybody.”
“At a stage, I remember that Papa Abraham Adesanya called one of the editors of that newsmagazine and I was there, three of us and papa said ‘ I want hard evidence on this stories you have published so I can deal with this matter. But when they failed to bring any hard evidence, Papa left it until sometimes in 2002, the Afenifere in Kwara came to officially report him to Afenifere that he was doing anti-party activities, that while Afenifere was supporting AD, Opadokun was working hand-in-hand with late Kwara governor, Mohammed Lawal in ANPP.”#
“I remember that a committee was set up under Ganiyu Dawodu. I think Olu Falae was in that committee and Prince Dayo Adeyeye. He was invited but he refused to attend that panel and eventually he was removed as the General Secretary of the group. So, maybe he had expected me to go with him as a sign of solidarity in things I do not know anything about.”
“Since after that time, our relationship got strained and so it was not surprising to me that he is granting interviews now to bring me down and belittle me. But deep in his hearts of heart, he will know that my relationship with him added values to him. Let me also add that I am not the only person he is doing that to. I remember one day I was talking to the late Tunde Adebiyi and he was crying owing to the negative things Opadokun was saying about him. Opadokun believes that when he cuts people down, that is when he can feel big.”
“I didn’t join through him. You can verify from Chief Adebanjo and Dr. Omoseyindemi. They are both alive. We were received at an open rally and you can also go to media houses because we were shown on television. For Opadokun to be writing that history, it is unfortunate. His account is totally false and an attempt to rewrite history.”
“With all sense of modesty, I will not fault Chief Opadokun if he says that Tinubu is superior to every other person in Yorubaland because that is where his bread is being buttered. So, there can’t be any superior man to the man that pays your bills. I recalled that about three months ago, a friend was telling me that since I had relationship with Opadokun, I should talk to him to go and find something to do rather than hanging around Tinubu and regaling young boys with stories of Awolowo, Action Group in Tinubu’s parlour. It is an irony of history and I pray that God should not let me end up like that in my twilight.”
“For a man with such a rich past to now be celebrating a man of questionable character in his twilight is most unfortunate. But I am also not surprised because I remember that in the year 2000, Opadokun was to release his memoirs of NADECO days titled Freedom Jail. He had finished the book, it had been printed and he took a copy to.”
“Tinubu to see. After visiting Tinubu, he came back and was so fidgety and panicking. He later gathered some boys and all-night they were busy removing a page from that book. What was on the page? It was a page where he narrated how Tinubu sent some boys to go and set Ejigbo NNPC on fire during Abacha regime. And that it when those boys were arrested and they were going to mention Tinubu’s name, that he fled the country.”
“He thought he was telling that story to boost Tinubu’s image as one of those pro-democracy forces who gave Abacha hell, but when Tinubu saw the implication, he asked him to go and remove it. So, overnight he had to get blades to tear that page off in all the books. So, Tinubu has always been superior to the truth as far as Opadokun is concerned. I am not surprised.”
“When you psychoanalyze him, you come to certain conclusions. I remember there is this activist who was part of Afenifere and is a Minister now. He knew Opadokun when he went back to UNILAG to do law. He told me that there was a day they were having inter-hall match at UNILAG and the hall that Opadokun belonged was playing against another hall. Because he was older than every other person, they asked him to be the referee.”
“It now happened that towards the end of the game, the opposing house was beating his own house leading by a goal. Just about two minutes to the end of the match, a player from the opposing team just tackled a player from Opadokun’s house somewhere around the middle of the field and not in the 18-yard box and Opadokun just pointed to the penalty spot and awarded a penalty to his team. I learnt it was so bad that even members of his own house that he was trying to favour, screamed ‘Haba!, this is pure ojoro! and they started chasing him all around the field.”
– Culled from Daily Independent
Why Babangida’s Hilltop Home Became Nigeria’s Political “Mecca”.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s birthday visit to Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) in Minna (where he hailed the octogenarian as a patriotic leader committed to national unity) was more than a courtesy call. It was a reminder of a peculiar constant in Nigerian politics: the steady pilgrimage of power-seekers, bridge-builders and crisis-managers to the Hilltop mansion. Jonathan’s own words captured it bluntly: IBB’s residence “is like a Mecca of sorts” because of the former military president’s enduring relevance and perceived nation-first posture.
Babangida turned 84 on 17 August 2025. That alone invites reflection on a career that has shaped Nigeria’s political architecture for four decades; admired by some for audacious statecraft, condemned by others for controversies that still shadow the republic. Born on 17 August 1941 in Minna, he ruled as military president from 1985 to 1993, presiding over transformative and turbulent chapters: the relocation of the national capital to Abuja in 1991; the creation of political institutions for a long, complex transition; economic liberalisation that cut both ways; and the fateful annulment of the 12 June 1993 election. Each of these choices helps explain why the Hilltop remains a magnet for Nigerians who need counsel, cover or calibration.
A house built on influence; why the visits never stop.
Let’s start with the obvious: access. Nigeria’s political class prizes proximity to the men and women who can open doors, soften opposition, broker peace and read the hidden currents. In that calculus, IBB’s network is unmatched. He cultivated a reputation for “political engineering,” the reason the press christened him “Maradona” (for deft dribbling through complexity) and “Evil Genius” (for the strategic cunning his critics decried). Whether one embraces or rejects those labels, they reflect a reality: Babangida is still the place where many politicians go to test ideas, seek endorsements or secure introductions. Even the mainstream press has described him as a consultant of sorts to desperate or ambitious politicians, an uncomfortable description that nevertheless underlines his gravitational pull.
Though it isn’t only political tact that draws visitors; it’s statecraft with lasting fingerprints. Moving the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in December 1991 was not a cosmetic relocation, it re-centred the federation and signaled a symbolic neutrality in a country fractured by regional suspicion. Abuja’s founding logic (GEOGRAPHIC CENTRALITY and ETHNIC NEUTRALITY) continues to stabilise the national imagination. This is part of the reason many leaders, across party lines, still defer to IBB: he didn’t just rule; he rearranged the map of power.
Then there’s the regional dimension. Under his watch, Nigeria led the creation and deployment of ECOMOG in 1990 to staunch Liberia’s bloody civil war, a bold move that announced Abuja as a regional security anchor. The intervention was imperfect, contested and costly, but it helped define West Africa’s collective security posture and Nigeria’s leadership brand. When neighboring states now face crises, the memory of that precedent still echoes in diplomatic corridors and Babangida’s counsel retains currency among those who remember how decisions were made.
Jonathan’s praise and the unity argument.
Jonathan’s tribute (stressing Babangida’s non-sectional outlook and commitment to unity) goes to the heart of the Hilltop mystique. For a multi-ethnic federation straining under distrust, figures who can speak across divides are prized. Jonathan’s point wasn’t nostalgia; it was a live assessment of a man many still call when Nigeria’s seams fray. That’s why the parade to Minna continues: the anxious, the ambitious and the statesmanlike alike seek an elder who can convene rivals and cool temperatures.
The unresolved shadow: June 12 and the ethics of influence.
No honest appraisal can skip the hardest chapter: the annulment of the 12 June 1993 election (judged widely as free and fair) was a rupture that delegitimised the transition and scarred Nigeria’s democratic journey. Political scientist Larry Diamond has repeatedly identified June 12 as a prime example of how authoritarian reversals corrode democratic legitimacy and public trust. His larger warning (“few developments are more destructive to the legitimacy of new democracies than blatant and pervasive political corruption”) captures the moral crater that followed the annulment and the years of drift that ensued. Those wounds are part of the Babangida legacy too and they complicate the reverence that a steady stream of visitors displays.
Max Siollun, a leading historian of Nigeria’s military era, has observed (provocatively) that the military’s “greatest contribution” to democracy may have been to rule “long and badly enough” that Nigerians lost appetite for soldiers in power. It’s a stinging line, yet it helps explain the paradox of IBB’s status: the same system he personified taught Nigeria costly lessons that hardened its democratic reflexes. Today’s generation visits the Hilltop not to revive militarism but to harvest hard-won insights about managing a fragile federation.
What sustains the pilgrimage.
1) Institutional memory: Nigeria’s politics often suffers amnesia. Babangida offers a living archive of security crises navigated, regional diplomacy attempted, volatile markets tempered and power-sharing experiments designed. Whether one applauds or condemns specific choices, the muscle memory of governing a complex federation is rare and urgently sought.
2) Convening power: In a season of polarisation, the ability to sit warring factions in the same room is not small capital. Babangida’s imprimatur remains a safe invitation card few refuse it, fewer ignore it. That convening power explains why movements, parties and would-be presidents keep filing up the long driveway. Recent delegations have explicitly cast their courtesy calls in the language of unity, loyalty and patriotism ahead of pivotal elections.
3) Signals to the base: Visiting Minna telegraphs seriousness to party structures and funders. It says: “I have sought counsel where history meets experience.” In Nigeria’s coded political theatre, that signal still matters. Outlets have reported for years that many aspirants treat the Hilltop as an obligatory stop an unflattering reality, perhaps, but a revealing one.
4) The man and the myth: The mansion itself, with its opulence and aura, has become a set piece in Nigeria’s story of power, admired by some, resented by others, but always discussed. The myth feeds the pilgrimage; the pilgrimage feeds the myth.
The balance sheet at 84.
To treat Babangida solely as a sage is to forget the costs of his era; to treat him only as a villain is to ignore the architecture that still holds parts of Nigeria together. Abuja’s relocation stands as a stabilising bet that paid off. ECOMOG, for all its flaws, seeded a habit of regional responsibility. Conversely, June 12 remains a national cautionary tale about elite manipulation, civilian marginalisation and the brittleness of transitions managed from above. These are not contradictory truths; they are the double helix of Babangida’s place in Nigerian memory.
Jonathan’s homage tried to distill the better angel of IBB’s record: MENTORSHIP, BRIDGE-BUILDING and a POSTURE that (at least in his telling) RESISTS SECTIONAL ISM. “That is why today, his house is like a Mecca of sorts,” he said, praying that the GENERAL continues to “mentor the younger ones.” Whether one agrees with the full sentiment, it accurately describes the lived politics of Nigeria today: Minna remains a checkpoint on the road to relevance.
The scholar’s verdict and a citizen’s challenge.
If Diamond warns about legitimacy and Siollun warns about the perils of soldier-politics, what should Nigerians demand from the Hilltop effect? Three things.
First, use influence to open space, not close it. Counsel should tilt toward rules, institutions and credible elections not kingmaking for its own sake. The lesson of 1993 is that subverting a valid vote haunts a nation for decades.
Second, mentor for unity, but insist on accountability. Unity cannot be a euphemism for silence. A truly patriotic elder statesman sets a high bar for conduct and condemns the shortcuts that tempt new actors in old ways. Diamond’s admonition on corruption is not an abstraction; it’s a roadmap for rebuilding trust.
Third, convert nostalgia into institutional memory. If Babangida’s house is a classroom, then Nigeria should capture, publish and debate its lessons in the open: on peace operations (what worked, what failed), on capital relocation (how to plan at scale), and on transitions (how not to repeat 1993). Only then does the pilgrimage serve the republic rather than personalities.
At 84, Ibrahim Babangida remains a paradox that Nigeria cannot ignore: a man whose legacy straddles NATION-BUILDING and NATION-BRUISING, whose doors remain open to those seeking power and those seeking peace. Jonathan’s visit (and his striking “Mecca” metaphor) reveals a simple, stubborn fact: in a country still searching for steady hands, the Hilltop’s shadow is long. The task before Nigeria is to ensure that the shadow points toward a brighter constitutional daybreak, where influence is finally subordinated to institutions and where mentorship hardens into norms that no single mansion can monopolise. That is the only pilgrimage worth making.
Ajadi Celebrates Juju Legend Femolancaster’s 50th Birthday in the UK
Nigerian Juju music legend, Otunba Femi Fadipe, popularly known as FemoLancaster, is being celebrated today in London as he clocks 50 years of age.
Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, a frontline politician and businessman, led tributes to the Ilesa-born maestro, describing him as a timeless cultural icon whose artistry has enriched both Nigeria and the world.
“FemoLancaster is not just a musician, he is a legend,” Ambassador Ajadi said in his birthday message. “For decades, his classical Juju sound has remained a reminder of the beauty of Yoruba heritage. Today, as he turns 50, I celebrate a cultural ambassador whose music bridges generations and continents.”
While FemoLancaster is highly dominant in Oyo State and across the South-West, his craft has also taken him beyond Nigeria’s borders.
FemoLancaster’s illustrious career has seen him thrill audiences across Nigeria and beyond, with performances in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, and other parts of the world. His dedication to Juju music has projected Yoruba traditional sounds to international stages, keeping alive the legacy of icons like King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey while infusing fresh energy for younger audiences
He further stressed the significance of honoring artistes who have remained faithful to indigenous music while taking it global. “In an era where modern sounds often overshadow tradition, FemoLancaster stands as a beacon of continuity and resilience. He has carried Yoruba Juju music into the global space with dignity, passion, and excellence,” he added.
The golden jubilee celebration in London has drawn fans, friends, and colleagues, who all describe FemoLancaster as a gifted artist whose contributions over decades have earned him a revered place in the pantheon of Nigerian music legends.
“As FemoLancaster marks this milestone,” Ajadi concluded, “I wish him many more years of good health, wisdom, and global recognition. May his music continue to echo across generations and continents.”
celebrity radar - gossips
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
By Aderounmu Kazeem Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria — The gospel music scene is aglow today as the “Duchess of Gospel Music,” Esther Igbekele, marks another milestone in her life, celebrating her birthday on Saturday, August 16, 2025.
Known for her powerful voice, inspirational lyrics, and unwavering dedication to spreading the gospel through music, Esther Igbekele has become one of Nigeria’s most respected and beloved gospel artistes. Over the years, she has graced countless stages, released hit albums, and inspired audiences across the world with her uplifting songs.
Today’s celebration is expected to be a joyful blend of music, prayers, and heartfelt tributes from family, friends, fans, and fellow artistes. Sources close to the singer revealed that plans are in place for a special praise gathering in Lagos, where she will be joined by notable figures in the gospel industry, church leaders, and admirers from home and abroad.
Speaking ahead of the day, Igbekele expressed deep gratitude to God for His mercy and the opportunity to use her gift to touch lives. “Every birthday is a reminder of God’s faithfulness in my journey. I am thankful for life, for my fans, and for the privilege to keep ministering through music,” she said.
From her early beginnings in the Yoruba gospel music scene to her rise as a celebrated recording artiste with a unique fusion of contemporary and traditional sounds, Esther Igbekele’s career has been marked by consistency, excellence, and a strong message of hope.
As she adds another year today, her fans have flooded social media with messages of love, appreciation, and prayers — a testament to the profound impact she continues to make in the gospel music ministry.
For many, this birthday is not just a celebration of Esther Igbekele’s life, but also of the divine inspiration she brings to the Nigerian gospel music landscape.
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