CHIEF Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) national leader, has written to Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, saying he had no cause to disrespect her person or disparage the Awolowo family.
In a release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olakunle Abimbola, Chief Tinubu said: “I wish to assure Mama that I cannot disparage the Awo family without disparaging the legacy that all of us proudly embrace and are trying to sustain” he wrote in his letter, dated 9 June 2011.
Chief Tinubu was writing on the controversy that has trailed the piece entitled, “Awo Family without Awo”, written by Sam Omatseye, chairman of the Editorial Board of The Nation newspaper, viewed by many to be critical of the Awolowo family. Many have also claimed the article was a “sponsored” attack on the Awolowos.
But Chief Tinubu, in the letter, said he found such linkage strange, since every newspaper has its own editorial policy, independent of any person’s relationship with the paper.
“Anybody with knowledge of how newspapers work knows every newspaper has its editorial policy, most times independent of even the publisher” the former governor explained. “So, how can I possibly be behind the opinion of a columnist, simply because he writes for a newspaper, which I am associated with?”
He said even Papa Awolowo, publisher of the Tribune while alive, always told people that he read articles in the Tribune, like other readers, since the paper had its editorial policy.
“The sage, Chief Awolowo himself used to say that he read articles in the Tribune like any other reader, despite that he was the publisher. The same principle applies here,” he explained.
Chief Tinubu said though Tribune had been demonising his person, it would be wrong of him to assume that Mama Awolowo, as publisher of the Tribune, was behind the attack. He said the same principle held in the Omatseye piece because the columnist was known to hold strong views which he expresses every Monday.
He said: “It is common knowledge that Tribune, almost every day, demonises my person. But should I because of that claim that Mama, as chairman of the newspaper, was behind the demonisation? Of course, I feel disheartened by it all; but I have never felt Mama was responsible for stories Tribune published.”
Chief Tinubu reiterated his respect and affection for Mama Awolowo and her offspring, adding that that was not about to change.
“I have absolutely no need to cause Mama any heartache in her old age. All I want for her is to be happy. I assure her of my love and reverence; and affection for her family.”
Our RESPONSE
ALTHOUGH a plethora of responses from members of the public to Mr Sam Omatseye’s “Awo family without an Awo’’ are being received by the Nigerian Tribune on a daily basis, it was decided that such responses be discontinued following the letter written by Chief Bola Tinubu, publisher of The Nation to Mama (Dr) HID Awolowo dated 9 June, 2011.
The letter was not published because the former Lagos State governor referred to it as being “personal.’’ Besides, and more importantly, the Nigerian Tribune does not have anything personal against Chief Tinubu, and is not interested in any further media war in the face of pleas by members of the public that concerted efforts be made to douse the festering tension generated by Mr Omatseye’s attack on the family of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
However, a press release made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday evening by Chief Tinubu’s Chief Press Secretary indicated that the former governor had decided to go public with the letter he wrote to Mama (Dr) HID Awolowo, explaining that he played no role in the publication of Mr Omatseye’s piece. The letter, however, raises some questions which need to be engaged critically, if only for the purpose of setting the records straight.
It is pertinent to observe that in the letter under reference, nowhere did Chief Tinubu condemn the tirade launched against the Awolowo family.
Instead, the letter seemed to be a rationalisation of the controversial piece as a mere public commentary which, to Tinubu, was being politicised to attack his person.This is against the backdrop of the realisation that he neither addressed a press conference nor came out clearly to disassociate himself from the piece under reference.
Among other disturbing realities, it is shocking that Chief Tinubu, being a Yoruba man who has held and continues to hold important positions, either as a former governor or as a chieftain of a strong opposition party in the country, and one with claims of being born and bred under timeless Yoruba cultural values and ethos, failed to see the deeper imports of the Omatseye piece as an affront on a woman who represents the best of Nigerian womanhood and who has become Mother of the Nation on account of her status as the spouse of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, her age, and as the Yeye Oodua of the race that Chief Tinubu aspires to lead.
The issues at stake, however, are not merely about public commentary but about the denigration of the time-honoured cultural values of the Yoruba people and, indeed, those of the Nigerian nation at large.
Also in the letter under reference, Chief Tinubu stated as follows: “It is common knowledge that the Tribune, almost everyday, demonises my person. But should I claim that Mama, as the publisher of the Tribune, was behind the attack?’’
This statement did not address the questions whether the stories published in the Tribune represented factual accounts of activities in which he was alleged to have been engaged or were false stories meant to discredit his personality. To the best of our knowledge, none of the stories published on Chief Tinubu so far in the paper has been proved to be false.
Chief Tinubu, in his letter, also adverted to the claim that Mama (Dr) HID Awolowo had known him from his childhood. He said: “How can I overlook old age, which every Yoruba person reveres; and the life-long closeness between you and my mum, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, who has served the Awolowo family all her life, and go ahead to sponsor an article to disparage the Awolowo name that we all revere?’’
However, as far as we know, the two children of Alhaja Mogaji known to Mama are Rafatu Biodun and Sakirat Modupe. Certainly, Bola Ahmed is not one of the children of Alhaja Mogaji known to Mama. Therefore, we are unable to reconcile his account with the facts at our disposal.
Still, if Chief Tinubu had accepted the vicarious liability attendant on the fact that the said offensive article was published in a medium owned by him, it would not have been difficult for him to apologise on the writer’s behalf, if truly he reveres Mama as claimed in the letter. Indeed, the attitude which pervades the said letter is, since he did not write the offence article why should he apologise? The letter is, therefore, tantamount to an exercise in escapism. In all, evidence that Chief Tinubu sincerely regrets the contents of the controversial piece is lacking.
The references made to previous stories in the Tribune titles also suggest that he endorses Omatseye’s article as a reaction to such stories.
More importantly, Chief Tinubu’s letter did not address any of the issues raised by Mama in her reaction to Omatsye’s piece, which we assume he had read by virtue of his claim that reactions to the article were brought to his attention.
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