Before Adesina’s owambe

The underdog victory story is always a full-mouth hymn to sign. In every upset, there must be a twirl. Midnight of June 1, 2019, a stunned world swirled like a Napoleonic-era Baccarat loser. Well, the boxing world did lose something; its crown Prince, had been hacked and beaten like a rascally puppy, by a Mass of Protoplasm. The much-loved AJ’s monstrous muscles collapsed like a clone of the 160-storey Dubai-wonder Burj Khalifa, straying in the path of the 7.0 earthquake that flattened Haiti in January 2010.

Though, the mourning world was comforted six months later by its prodigal sweetheart, the Chocolate boy with Baba Sala belle from Mexico, Andy Ruiz, had taken away the fear factor of Anthony Joshua. The once-dandy AJ brand is irretrievably gone. In the process however, the underdog also dug a pit deep enough to accommodate him.

In the battle against Washington, Akinwunmi Adesina, re-elected President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) was the underdog. He was the African Chocolate-boy, without the midriff flab, who floored a cunning bureaucracy with mass muscle. Mourning his dark night on December 7, 2019, the once-upon-a-champion confessed to indiscipline in the management of his unexpected climb to the zenith of global adulation. Further revelations from his corner, showed a victor with poor understanding of his kind of victory. He paid dearly for it within six months.

Nigeria and Africa can fawn over Adesina the much they want, it won’t change the fact that he is a Made-in-America and one would expect him and his corner to know the system that made him in the first place, well enough, to avoid its inherent mines. Yes, Lafayette in Louisiana where the former minister schooled, may be some distance from Washington, but given all the managerial wisdom being credited him, he is expected to know that Washington won’t back off, until either he disgraces its pernicious bureaucracy in an imminent rematch or he goes the way of Ruiz. For the sake of motherlan, I say God forbid to the second possibility.

Adesina, Africa’s food-man is starting the rematch preparation with a foe that never backs off, well. A portion of his acceptance speech for a second term shows he likely understands what is ahead. He asked God for wisdom. He would need it, more than any other arsenal, to win a certain rematch with the master of subterfuge.

Despite its shredded humanity, which now accommodates far-this, far-that, moderate-this, independent -that, including all manners of depravity, especially in sexual orientations, the binder has been the collective entitlement sensibility that America no dey carry last. Adesina was lucky. God appears to be fighting on his side. The mainstream American media that would have fed him to the dogs during his travails has a handful project that has consumed its soul. The Anyone-But-Trump (ABT) project is mainly driven by hate and revenge from 2016. I know the media over there is so radicalised that it is now egging the democrats to take God out of the national anthem but hopefully one of them, would accidentally walk into Genesis 29:31 and see what God can do for the despised. Verse 31 says, “And when the Lord saw that Leah was despised. He made her able to bear children (fruitful, victorious), but Rachel (the hater) was barren”. Her testimony in Verse 32 was awesome; “And Leah became pregnant and bore a son and named him Reuben (meaning See a son) for she said, because the Lord has seen my humiliation and affliction, now my husband will love me”.

Regardless of who wins the Fall election, Washington’s mission to AfDB won’t likely change. If it is a Biden presidency, a slip from Adesina’s leadership could make the African star a redemptive collateral for the American media, trying to re-secure its pretentious objectivity in gas-lighting accountability in public arena. This time, Adesina and AfDB, would be primetime news items.

Adesina and Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, disgraced ex-supremo of FIFA can compare notes. Just like Africa’s powerhouse political leadership rose as one for Akinwunmi, world powers like Russia stood ramrod behind the Swiss in his quest for an incredible fifth term in office after spending 17 years, blighted by the kind of issues America is raising in AfDB. Accidentally, as power was changing hands in Nigeria with an incumbent being thrown out in the person of Goodluck Jonathan, Sepp was practically re-electing himself as an incumbent on May, 29th, 2015. But America was too convinced he was a seeping sewage, Washington moved in with the long knives and not even Putin, considered the most dangerous man around, could save his seat and person. 96 hours later, on June 2nd, Blatter was bleating his resignation. Obama and his goons got him. Despite his flamboyance, Trump may not possess the gangsterism of Obama but the Washington peril is always there to shit in any hole inadvertently dug by Adesina. At a Lagos parley as Agric minister, I had seen the star-man handle my innocuous question with needless passion. He should watch his candour.

Oyetola go do konko-below

So, I heard from a political operative in Osun that the Abuja guard of Osun APC had propped two senior lawmakers, one home, one abroad, to wrestle the party’s ticket from incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola for his second term. An angry godfather is reportedly coordinating the scheme. If Ambode’s treatment would not materialise, then the opposition’s Jumbo Jet, would be procured, with disgruntled APC pilots in the cockpit, to fly the butty-looking Oyo fellow, back to Iragbiji in 2022. K’Oluwa sowa ju igba yen lo, is Yoruba’s way of tendering siddon look, without sounding hurtful. Oyetola has been in national conscience, more for Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s style of governance by reversal and the narrative out there about his performance, doesn’t suggest a smooth second term run.

But winning an election in this clime is about everything except glittering records, though it would be interesting seeing him sweat out the party nomination, especially now that the Big man who wants his head, no longer takes orders from the Emperor. Did someone just holler Ileri?

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