Like Taofiki Arapaja, Like Dare Adeleke: Apply Decorum While Supporting Your Master | By Balogun Gaphar Babatunde Ojetola, GAIC

There is a Yoruba saying that teaches us that when a person is climbing a tree, he should remember that he may one day need the same tree to come down.

Politics, by its very nature, is transient. Alliances change, political fortunes rise and fall, friends become opponents and former opponents sometimes become allies again. But traditional institutions are different. They are designed to outlive political seasons, political parties and individual politicians.

This is why every political actor, no matter how passionate his loyalty to his principal may be, must learn to distinguish between supporting a political master and disrespecting an institution that belongs to the entire people.

The recent intervention by my friend,  Dare Adeleke concerning His Imperial Majesty, Oba Sen. Dr. Rashidi Adewolu Akanmu Ladoja, Arùsà 1, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, therefore deserves a word of caution.

The lesson from Taofeek Arapaja

Many of us have not forgotten what happened in 2023.

At the time, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja was one of Governor Seyi Makinde’s strongest political loyalists. In the heat of the 2023 political contest, he publicly attacked then-Otun Olubadan, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, over his political position and his perceived failure to support Governor Makinde. His comments generated considerable controversy, with the CCII, Ibadan Mogajis and Baale’s and many concerned citizens, condemning the attack and describing it as an insult to the Olubadan-in-Council.

Politics, however, has a remarkable way of reminding us that today’s political adversary may become tomorrow’s political companion.

The same Senator Ladoja whom Arapaja attacked in the heat of political disagreement subsequently became an important figure in the political relationship surrounding Governor Makinde and, ultimately, ascended the revered throne of the Olubadan of Ibadanland.

Indeed, the irony of political history is that Governor Makinde himself has acknowledged the importance of Ladoja in his political journey, saying that there was no way his political history could be written without the name of Senator Rashidi Ladoja.

Today, Taofeek Arapaja and Oba Ladoja are no longer standing on the same political battlefield on which that bitter exchange took place.

That is the lesson.

Political masters come and go; the Olubadan remains

Dare Adeleke is entitled to his political loyalty.

He is entitled to defend Governor Seyi Makinde.

He is entitled to disagree with the Federal Government, the APC, its leaders and anybody else whose political position he considers contrary to the interests of his principal.

That is politics.

But there is a line in which every responsible political actor should be careful not to cross: the line between political criticism and the denigration of a revered traditional institution.

The Olubadan of Ibadanland is not the property of PDP.

He is not the property of APC.

He is not the property of Governor Seyi Makinde.

He is not the property of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He belongs to Ibadanland and its people.

The Palace must therefore remain a place where people from different political parties, religious backgrounds and ideological persuasions can enter without feeling that they must first declare political allegiance.

Dare Adeleke’s argument appears to be that because Governor Makinde has played a role in the administration of the traditional institution and because the Olubadan has benefited from government actions, the monarch should be expected to demonstrate political loyalty to the governor.

With the greatest respect, that is a dangerous precedent.

The government does not confer ownership of traditional institutions upon politicians.

And a traditional ruler’s attendance at a government function, reception of political leaders or interaction with people belonging to another political party should not automatically be interpreted as partisan endorsement.

The traditional institution must maintain relationships with governments irrespective of the political party in power.

The Palace is bigger than today’s political quarrel

The recent criticism followed the Olubadan’s attendance at the flag-off of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road project, an event Governor Makinde did not attend. Adeleke interpreted the monarch’s presence as evidence of political partisanship.

But surely, there is another way to look at it.

If a Federal Government project is being undertaken in Ibadanland, is the Olubadan expected to boycott it simply because the governor of the state is absent?

Should the Olubadan reject an invitation from the Federal Government because its political leadership belongs to APC?

If that principle were adopted, traditional rulers would become prisoners of political calculations.

A traditional ruler who is father to all cannot afford such a narrow operating space.

Indeed, the Ibadan traditional institution has already rejected the accusation of partisanship, maintaining that the Olubadan should be free to receive political leaders and attend functions irrespective of political affiliation.

That position deserves serious consideration.

Dare should remember the unpredictability of politics

Dare Adeleke is an experienced political actor. He should therefore understand better than most people that political circumstances can change overnight.

The person you defend today may not be in power tomorrow.

The person you attack today may become your ally tomorrow.

The person you regard as politically irrelevant today may become the person you need tomorrow.

And the person whose political position you passionately defend today may tomorrow take a position you disagree with.

This is precisely why political loyalty should be accompanied by decorum, restraint and foresight.

One does not have to insult an elder in order to defend a governor.

One does not have to diminish the Olubadan in order to condemn APC.

One does not have to question the integrity of the Palace simply because one disagrees with the political company the monarch keeps.

Support your master, by all means. But do not burn the bridge you may one day need to cross.

Let us not repeat the Arapaja lesson

The Taofeek Arapaja episode should serve as a permanent reminder to politicians.

Passionate political statements are often made in the heat of the moment. But politics moves on.

The words remain.

The relationships change.

And history has a way of placing yesterday’s statements beside today’s realities.

Nobody should therefore make the mistake of assuming that today’s political alignment is permanent.

It is not.

Governor Seyi Makinde’s relationship with Senator Ladoja itself demonstrates how political disagreements can evolve. What appeared to be an intense political disagreement before the 2023 election eventually gave way to a different chapter in their relationship.

In July 2025, Governor Makinde himself presented the instruments of office to Oba Ladoja as the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland.

History has therefore already provided us with the example.

Why repeat the mistake?

The Olubadan is not a political opponent

There is absolutely nothing wrong with disagreeing with the Olubadan.

The monarch is human.

His decisions may be questioned respectfully.

His actions may be subjected to public discussion.

But there is a fundamental difference between questioning an action and casting aspersions on the institution.

The Olubadan stool is one of the most respected traditional institutions in Yorubaland and beyond.

It carries the history, identity and collective dignity of Ibadanland.

The Palace must therefore be protected from the turbulence of partisan politics, not dragged into it.

If Dare Adeleke believes that the Olubadan made a wrong political judgment, he can make that argument without suggesting that the monarch should resign his throne and become a partisan politician.

That argument goes too far, odorus and filthy.

A word to Dare Adeleke

Dare Adeleke, please continue to support Governor Seyi Makinde if that is where your conviction lies.

Defend his achievements.

Promote his political interests.

Challenge his opponents.

Argue your case vigorously.

But please Ore,  apply decorum while supporting your master.

Governor Makinde is a politician.

The Olubadan is a traditional institution.

Political masters will come and go.

Governors will come and go.

Presidents will come and go.

Political parties will rise and fall.

But the Olubadan institution will remain.

And if history teaches us anything, it is that the political table can turn.

Taofeek Arapaja’s experience should be enough warning.

Tomorrow may bring a different political equation. The person you passionately defend today may have a disagreement with you tomorrow, while the elder you condemned today may become the person whose goodwill you require.

Therefore, let us learn to disagree without destroying.

Let us defend our political principals without denigrating our traditional institutions.

Let us play politics without losing our culture.

And above all, let us remember that no political master is greater than the institution of the Olubadan of Ibadanland.

Support your master, but respect your elders.

Fight your political battles, but do not make the Palace your battlefield.

Politics is temporary. The Olubadan institution is enduring.

That is the wisdom that both Taofeek Arapaja’s experience and the present controversy should teach us.

Like Taofeek Arapaja, like Dare Adeleke: apply decorum while supporting your master.