FFK VS DELE MOMODU — When Yoruba Elders Wrestle in the Mud Like Touts (By Dr. Ope Banwo — The Mayor of Fadeyi)

There are some things you expect from children. There are some things you tolerate from touts.

And then there are things that should never come from men who carry the weight of Yoruba elderhood on their shoulders.

Yet here we are. ambassador FFK in a naked and public mud slinging ritual with Aare Dele Momodu

Two supposed elders. Two men of influence who arrived on the prominence center stage from different routes – one came by virtue of the legendary name and record l of his father though he himself is yet to do anything historic other than a forgettable role as minister of aviation under OBJ.  The other who came into national promised from abject poverty to defy the odds and change his family name from obscurity to national recognition, . His father was not known but he made sure his own name will never be forgotten

FFK is your classic Ikoyi born and bred warrior joining issues with a Fadeyi born and bred Dele Momodu with both of them joining issues on syndicated national television

Two individuals who have tasted power, or proximity to power, and the privileges of intellect and exposure—reduced to trading insults like agberos fighting over bus change at Oshodi.

The sad part of it all is that this roforofo fight is not even over ideas. It’s Not over policies. It Not over the future of Nigeria.

But a much ado about nothing…

They made the fight about who knew whose father. Who fed who. Who was given money to  dance in public and who took money to make others look good in public , Who betrayed who and Who ate whose food.

If this is not national embarrassment wrapped in tribal disappointment, for proud Yoruba boys like us, then I don’t know what is.

FROM ELDERS TO ENTERTAINERS OF THE ABSURD

On one side, you have Femi Fani-Kayode—FFK—the political shapeshifter extraordinaire. A man whose ideological loyalty changes more frequently than Lagos traffic lights. APC today, PDP tomorrow, back again the next day—leaving Nigerians with permanent political whiplash as we follow his endless lot winding odyssey on the national stage

On the other side, you have Aare Dele Momodu—a man who carries one of the most respected traditional titles in Yorubaland, a title that should command restraint, wisdom, and gravitas. A man who has worked and batted for elders of wisdom like the legendary MKO Abiola and who has chronicled and dined with both the best and the worst of our nation, and who should know better about the kind of fights he should allow himself or be drawn into.

Yet somehow, he allowed himself to be dragged—willingly—into a gutter brawl with a man who has mastered the art of fighting in the mud and winning dirty on dry land too with his power of words.

To make FFK’s relapse into this familiar chaos even more disappointing, I had only just recently given him genuine props for seeming to rein in those old combative, gutter-fighting instincts of his after his ambassadorial appointment. I honestly thought perhaps public office, maturity, or at least the dignity of the moment had finally compelled him to sheath that ever-eager sword of verbal destruction. But alas, he has now fallen my hand only a few days later by bringing out his old playbook of verbal warfare that can drive grown men to tears.

Apparently, leopards truly find it difficult to change their spots, no matter how much hopeful admirers like me may want to believe otherwise. Even if you move them from the jungle to the palace, instinct has a stubborn way of announcing itself. And that, frankly, is a shame.

And what did both elders bring to the table?

Not ideas. Not solutions. Not vision.

Just noise. Ego. And verbal mudslinging dressed up as intellectual exchange.

A ROFOROFO FIGHT WITH ZERO VALUE TO ANYONE

Let us be honest.

Yes, it was entertaining.

Yes, the language was sharp.

Yes, the punches—especially from FFK—were surgical in parts and savage in others.

But after all the fireworks… what exactly did Nigerians gain? Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

No policy direction. No governance insight. No intellectual framework to help a struggling nation.

Just a classic case of sound and fury, signifying nothing at time our nation desperately needed their collective brains for a national rescue mission.

WHEN INTELLIGENCE IS WASTED ON IRRELEVANCE

What makes this episode particularly painful is not just the embarrassment.

It is the waste. Whatever you like say about these colorful personalities. These are not dull men. These are not empty heads even if one of them made a living recording and photographic the parties and frivolities of the rich , high and mighty of our nation

These are individuals with access, exposure, and experience—men who understand the inner workings of power, the psychology of leadership, and the complexity of governance.

These are men who could sit across a table and provide real, actionable, and even uncomfortable solutions to the challenges facing President Tinubu and Nigeria at large.

But instead of offering strategy…

Instead of offering insight…

Instead of offering leadership…

They chose to offer insults.

I say , what a shame again

YORUBA ELDERS DO NOT BEHAVE LIKE THIS – OUR ELDERS DO NOT DO RITUALS OF WAR LIKE CHILDREN PLAYING BONANZA

There is something fundamentally offensive about this—not just politically, but culturally.

In Yorubaland, elderhood is not just about age. It is about restraint. It is about dignity. It is about knowing when to speak—and more importantly, what not to say.

Yoruba elders do not perform rituals of public disgrace. They do not strip themselves naked before the marketplace of social media. They do not wrestle in the mud while children watch and learn the wrong lessons.

Afterall, this is not Reno Omokri—whose social media theatrics many have come to expect even as an ambassador to a country whose language he does not speak .

No.

This is FFK. This is Aare Dele Momodu. Mem I personally respect in their different ways. Men who should know better. Men who were expected to do better because of their elevated in our nation

FROM IDEAS TO INSULTS — A TRAGIC DOWNGRADE

Instead of debating:

• Economic direction
• Security strategy
• Federal restructuring
• Youth unemployment
• Governance accountability

What we have been  treated to in this show of shame by national elders are strange words about each other’s person coming out of the mouth the combatants. Words that do not evne describe their ideas or proferred solutions to national issues which would have been tolerable but cutting words directed at the personalities and heritage of each other like

• “Bread hawker”

• “Political prostitute”

• “Glutton of the ages”

• “Agents of perfidy”

So, as Mayor Fadeyi, a proud Yoruba man and a detribalized keen commentary on national issues,  who is not exactly a youth myself, I must ask: Is this what Nigerian political discourse has been reduced to?

Is this the level of intellectual engagement we should expect from men who have sat at the tables of power and being charged with a global responsibility for burnishing the image of our nation ?

A PERSONAL DISAPPOINTMENT FROM A SON OF YORUBALAND

As a Yoruba man, who is not exactly a youth myself, this one hits differently. In my sincere opinion born out of experience of over 60 years of life, when elders descend into this level of public triviality, it is not just their reputation that suffers.

It is ours. As a tribe and as a Nation.

It diminishes the moral authority we once proudly claimed as a people—the supposed conscience of Nigeria.

If our elders are busy exchanging insults like street fighters, who then is left to guide the nation?

Who is left to elevate the conversation? Who is left to show that leadership is not just about access to power—but the discipline to use influence responsibly?

THIS ‘2-FIGHTING’ OVER EGOS MUST STOP! — ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE

This must stop. Not because Nigerians are not entertained, but because Nigeria is too important for this level of foolishness by some of our best brains in the nation .

If FFK and Aare Dele Momodu truly want relevance in today’s Nigeria, then let them:

• Debate ideas
• Propose solutions
• Challenge policies
• Offer alternatives

Let them bring their formidable intellect to bear on the real problems facing real people—from Fadeyi to Kano, from Aba to Maiduguri.

Let them stop dancing naked in the marketplace of egos because at the end of the day, history will not remember who insulted who better.

History will remember who helped Nigeria move forward.

Should these two verbal gladiators really want to have a fight of ideas and not of the pedigree of their fathers, I will be happy to host both of them on my show Ope Banwo Live and Unplugged. Then the nation can be entertained while we also make them share their best thoughts on issues that matter to both Fadeyi People and their privileged cousins in Ikoyi

My name is Dr. Ope Banwo — The Mayor of Fadeyi. I still stubbornly believe that elders should build nations… not break dignity.