A riveting story of a successful Nigerian legal luminary and political leader, the book is a treasure trove of lessons on scholarship, hard work, daring political leadership, humility and inter-ethnic relationship.
The book is scheduled for public presentation on December 26, 2024, the anniversary of Akeredolu’s death.
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Benefit of Being a Product of an Inter-ethnic Union – Daughter
“At home, my dad and his siblings, and even those who worked with him, spoke Yoruba. My mum often had relatives around who also spoke Igbo, so I picked up both languages to a certain level. However, my parents spoke English to us. This duality has helped me navigate Nigeria’s diverse ethnic landscape without bias.”
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A Straightforward Politician – Political associate
I will say most people believe Aketi is not a politician and they see him that he is a straightforward person. I don’t think he will be able to run this thing because he’s a straightforward person. He will give it to you the way it is, black and white. I guess they had a problem with that
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A Daring Politician
In his own opinion, one of Aketi’s close associates observed thus: “Let me say it straight, the truth of the matter is that Lagos people don’t want Aketi for second term but they were divided. While Asiwaju wanted Abrahams as his candidate, Olushola Oni was boasting that Governor Aregbesola was his sponsor while Professor Boroffice was saying Baba Akande gave him his blessings. So it was difficult for any observer to answer the question: is Lagos really united about removing Aketi? And that was their major weakness and that was why Aketi also revved up his salesmanship of himself to the public. And by and large he became a public commodity – a pan-Ondo State candidate.
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Aketi’s Second Term Crisis/ The Tinubu Factor
I think superior reason prevailed after some soul searching. Were we willing to lose Ondo State to the opposition party or we would be able to step-down all the problems in the state and find a common ground? That led to the decision of the party leaders at the national level, led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself, to find peace. I think if Aketi was denied the ticket in a way that was not transparent, they knew that Aketi was capable of upending the cart. I’m sure that as political masters they also thought that if he left the party and teamed up with another party, well that party might not win but APC too would have lost. Suppose what happened in Edo happened in Ondo where the incumbent governor went to PDP and he won? These permutations persuaded the leaders at Bourdillon and the leaders at the national level to decide to find peace.
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Aketi’s Second Term Crisis/The Tinubu Factor
I think superior reason prevailed after some soul searching. Were we willing to lose Ondo State to the opposition party or we would be able to step-down all the problems in the state and find a common ground? That led to the decision of the party leaders at the national level, led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself, to find peace. I think if Aketi was denied the ticket in a way that was not transparent, they knew that Aketi was capable of upending the cart. I’m sure that as political masters they also thought that if he left the party and teamed up with another party, well that party might not win but APC too would have lost. Suppose what happened in Edo happened in Ondo where the incumbent governor went to PDP and he won? These permutations persuaded the leaders at Bourdillon and the leaders at the national level to decide to find peace.
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His Peace Pact With Oshiomhole
Everybody knew that the Governor and Oshiomhole were not friends on account of Oshiomole’s stand and attitude to most issues particularly his stand on Ondo allegedly on the behest of Lagos. Aketi didn’t mince words on hammering it and people felt that it was going to be payback time for Oshiomole to deal with Aketi finally by approving the direct primary. So not a few of us kept pressing it on our principal to make friends with Oshiomole. After all, we won’t lose anything. Unknown to us, the Governor had gone far, far ahead of us in his analysis of the situation and the Governor, one day, decided to visit Oshiomole in the office and we arranged for the media to be there. When he left the place, he addressed the press and made many complimentary statements about Oshiomole and half of the tensions were doused and the political pundits were shocked. It sent a lot of shivers even to Lagos and then the Governor made his second round of visitations when he went to collect his form in Lagos.
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The Orator
‘’I want to tell the people of Ondo State that we are back here in full. We will run and walk and talk to everybody in this state on the need for us to have a change of government. Our own major concern is the people of Ondo State. We have said so over and over that our romance is going to be with the people of Ondo State and no other person. It is our strong belief that we can afford, with what God has endowed us with, to change the lives of our people in Ondo State. I think the time has come.
I know they are longing for us. I ask them to keep hope alive. Whatever distractions we have, let me assure the Ondo People that we shall overcome and we will get to the promised land. I can say it without any fear that by His grace, we trust only in him and because of our belief and our trust in God, I can assure the people of Ondo State that APC will form the new Government in Ondo State’’.
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His Refusal to Influence the Impeachment of His Deputy
I asked the Governor and he said, “Will you believe that I will go and negotiate with anybody to impeach anybody for money? If they feel that the man has not done well, let them leave him. If they feel that the man has done well and this is what they want in their history, let them leave him.” I said, “Oga, you will be the only Governor who will be talking like this in this situation” and he said to me, “Shouldn’t somebody be the first person to talk like this? Isn’t giving money to impeach someone a sign that truly we are weak? Will it not be a sign that truly we are paperweights?”
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The Courageous Politician
When the Governor arrived, he was wearing one battle dress like that – one buba that looked like what the Muslims call jalamia. That was the kind of dress he was wearing. I knew that any day the Governor wore a long caftan, there was going to be drama that day. The moment he came I just walked up to him and said, “Excuse me sir, this matter has to be handled with care. Let us not fight here at all.” He said, “What is going to happen? Nothing will happen. If there is a fight, we will fight them.” I said, “Sir, this program we are doing is being broadcast live.” He said, “Okay, go and buy cheap padlock and come and lock my mouth or go and buy chain to tie me up and put me inside 404 then drive me home.” I said “okay” and went to Chief Alashoadura who was then a Minister. I whispered to him, “Sir, as Honorable Minister and an elder, you have to help us today.”
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A Sticker for the Rule of Law
Even though politicians are usually accused of dishonesty and double talk, Aketi was well known for being a man of his word. According to Right Honourable Prophet Olaleyeogun Bamidele David, the Speaker of the Ondo House of Assembly, who worked very closely with Governor Akeredolu, “Even though as we are yet to get autonomy but in the activities of the assembly, we are autonomous. He never, in any way, intervenes in the activities of the assembly or dictates to me what to do. Anytime there’s any decision I want to take and I tell him, he will say go ahead. ‘You are the one to account for it’ he would say and that gives us a level playing ground which is why we recorded peace at the assembly. Other governors may use segregation which means there will be three groups and when that happens, there won’t be unity. Aketi does not believe in that. He believes in the leadership quality -that this man is doing what he is supposed to do legally. I was there at that time. It was a kangaroo system. We could do something within four to five days but you know Aketi, he is a SAN who believes in the rule of law. He doesn’t want his name to be tarnished. Anything that will not be properly done or carried out, Aketi will not be part of it. And throughout the crisis Aketi never called me to say Mr. Speaker sit down, go and impeach Ajayi. I can use four people to do the impeachment under kangaroo system but Aketi never did that and that’s why I always appreciate him.
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I Once Carried Aketi on My Shoulder Away from Danger – Former ADC
The said incident happened in Ekiti during Governor Fayemi’s re-election campaign in 2018 when Senator Opeyemi Bamidele was shot. We had finished at the APC secretariat where the Senator was waving to the people and was outside the security area for the Governor so he was directly behind me. If you remember, it was after the campaign that Senator Bamidele was shot. That happened directly behind me and when it happened, we all looked back and I looked at Oga. Oga asked, “Is that not Opeyemi Bamidele?” And I said yes. He said, “Let us help him,” I was like, right now, I would decide what happened. Oga, being a stubborn person, wanted to leave the security ring I had formed to go and help Opeyemi Bamidele. At that point, what I just did was carry him on my shoulder immediately because -yes, I carried him on my shoulder. In selecting an ADC, you have to be physically fit, you have to also ensure that, and pray, that your principal is not bigger than you, and thank God, I mean, in this case, all odds worked perfectly well for me. I was able to carry him on my shoulder because it was easier to put him on your shoulder and run. Thank God it was not a long distance and already the DSS, the police, everybody was on red alert. We could not even get to his car because of the rowdy atmosphere during political campaigns but thankfully for us, his car was bulletproof. Any government car should be bulletproof, given the current situation of our country, but the DSS vehicle was right opposite me so I just carried him and threw him inside the vehicle, and all of us covered him. He even had to lap a DSS operative to form a human shield.
* Dr Wale Okediran, a prize-winning author and former Member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, is the President of Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) with headquarters in Accra, Ghana
