By Oloroogun Sola Ajisafe
Dear Senator Ojudu,
I write with facts.
In May 2026, I published an article titled “The Shame of Afe Babalola Way: Why Ekiti and Abuja Must Fix This Road Now”.
For the record, I am not from Ekiti State. I do not work in ABUAD, neither do I have my children there. I owe Aare Afe Babalola no obligation except that he is the grandmaster of the legal profession that I proudly belong to and for establishing a legacy that would take special men to outclass. I wrote because it was said, “at 80 he built a world-class university, and at 98 he deserves to drive on a federal road that works.” That is all, and that is very legitimate and true.
Sir, I read your name in Baba’s recent letter to President Tinubu, to which I know you must have celebrated effusively, coming from a man who is not flippant. He commended you for “consistent advocacy.”
Senator, with due respect, that commendation is unearned and undeserved on this matter, and you should not celebrate it.
Let us examine your own words against your record.
In your article titled “LET AFE BABALOLA SEE THIS ROAD REBUILT IN HIS LIFETIME”, you wrote:
“Anyone who has visited Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD cannot but marvel at what one man’s vision… has planted on Ekiti soil. Yet today, there is hardly a passable road leading to this wonder of an institution. Year after year, Baba spends his personal money rehabilitating portions of this federal road. And year after year, the rains come and wash away those temporary repairs. It is even more painful when we remember that Baba is the biggest taxpayer in Ekiti State. He pays his taxes faithfully, promptly and without being chased or prompted. Surely, a citizen who has consistently honoured his obligations to the State deserves to see the government honour its obligations to him.”
Senator, you knew all of this. You wrote it.
And here lies the deceit.
You know, and every Ekiti person knows, that the Ado-ABUAD-Ijan-Ikole road is a federal road. Yet, in your entire post, you cleverly avoided mentioning the Federal Government which you were part of for 11 years. Instead, you shifted responsibility to “the State” and to Baba’s personal charity. You did this to hide your own eleven years in the Federal Government—four years as Senator and seven years as Special Adviser in the Presidency. That is hypocrisy at its best. You want applause for speaking now, but you ran from responsibility when you had the power to act.
Here are the facts you must answer:
- You were Senator for four years, 2011-2015. Elected on the ACN platform. Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence. Spokesperson for the ACN/APC Senate caucus.
- Then you served seven years in the Presidency, 2016-2023, as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice President. You were retained in that position in 2019.
For eleven solid years, you had access, appropriation, influence, and voice. For eleven years, you watched a 98-year-old man use personal money to patch a federal road. Point to one line in any federal budget for Ado-ABUAD-Ijan-Ikole. Point to one intervention you made. ABUAD spent billions between 2010 and 2019 doing government’s job while you were in power. What did you do?
- You said it yourself in March 2025: “I spent four frustrating, uneventful years in the Senate, and eight quiet years in the Presidency.” If those years were “frustrating and quiet,” why did you stay? And what did you achieve with the access and voice you had on Ekiti roads?
- What memos did you write to Babatunde Fashola, SAN? You both served in the same APC government. Both Yoruba. Both with access and voice. What engagement did you have to fix that road you now write passionately about?
- What have you told your daughter, Moremi, who currently serves in the Presidency you just left? Have you made any formal request to her, to the Chief of Staff, or to the Minister of Works on this road? Or is it only newspaper articles now that you are out and your principal has lost to Tinubu?
Senator, the fact Nigerians know about you is that you have never been quiet and you have always been very visible. You were “frustrated” and “quiet” because you choose to, or it pays you and serves your political interest, or that is a narrative you wish to give to us. May I ask, distinguished Senator, “at what point did you find your voice again or when did you let-off your chain of frustration?” Peradventure when Osinbajo lost the primary and Asiwaju won the Presidency? Like the Americans would say, “you got your groove back.” That’s fair enough.
Senator, this is the contradiction. You knew the road was bad for 11 years. You admitted Baba was the biggest taxpayer and was suffering. Yet you were “quiet.” Now that you are out of power, you have found your voice and you are receiving applause for it.
This is not advocacy. This is elite conspiracy. This is hypocrisy clothed in the garb of altruism. It is opportunism with a sinister political motive.
If you truly cared, you would show us the efforts you made while in government. Instead, you waited until you left office to write articles.
This was written about Aare Babalola: “There is hardly a passable road leading to this wonder of an institution. Year after year, Baba spends his personal money rehabilitating portions of this federal road. And year after year, the rains come and wash away those temporary repairs.”
He should not be doing government’s job. And you should not be taking credit for talking about it when for eleven years you had the opportunity to act in the interest of Ekiti people.
The honourable thing to do now is to apologise to Ekiti people. Apologise for 11 years of silence and “frustration” while in power. Apologise for reducing a serious infrastructure crisis to headlines and for failing yourself and the Ekiti people.
My dear distinguished Senator, the road is what matters. Not who gets the applause.
Ekiti people are watching. Our own Aare Babalola is watching. And history will judge us all by asphalt, not articles.
Oloroogun Sola Ajisafe, lawyer/journalist, is from Oka Akoko but lives in Akure.
Leave a Reply