It was the popular novelist cum social critics, Charles Dickens who posited that ‘least said, soonest mended’ .
The maxim is to caution ‘glib talkers to be wary of the consequences of their utterances in case they have a rethink and want to make a detour someday’.
Such was the position of Ambassador Arapaja early today when he polluted the airwaves with his unguided, mendacious and unsubstantiated claims on various innocent people, particularly the High Chief, the Otun Olubadan, Chief Rasheed Ladoja and the late legal luminary , Chief Richard Osuolale Akinjide .
In a failed attempt to dark birth the reputation of the popular politician and Ibadan Chief , Arapaja threw caution into the winds and was quoted to have leaked like a sieve thus “
“Someone who is not in PDP but was last seen in Zenith Labour Party was assuming a Napoleonic role and unhurt directing people on what to do.
Meanwhile, we have gone beyond that as the last Presidential Elections showed the that the Yoruba are not ready to play a second fiddle. He added that “when the same old man ( indirectly referring to Senator Ladoja )had problems, he ran to the present President- elect for a relief.
The Deputy National Chairman of the PDP was palpably fumed that he could not tame his anger so much that he referred to the chairman of the party and those supporting presidential bid of Atiku as either “arrogant or clamouring for positions”.
Arapaja alluded to the people in power always using Yorubas against one another to settle scores, just as Late Obafemi Awolowo was betrayed by a Yoruba man during 122/3 conundrum.
Even though the talkout self styled ” courageous party man ” took the airwaves as both interviewer and interviewee as he did not play the game by its rules, there are few salient facts that he should be reminded of.
Foremost, that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’ s campaign funds like the proverbial King’s Kolanuts have been returned to the king.
This the eminent chief did to keep his integrity unsullied by those thinking they would share the money like a National cake.
As an educated person, Ambassador Arapaja ought to have known that the 122/ 3 legal debacle was not to spite any tribe but was widely acknowledged as a constitutional direction that put the country on a global scale.
On 12 2/ 3 case , it’s ponderous that Arapaja was viewing it with myopic lenses, how can one blame the lawyer representing a party for the opponents losing the case?
To put back to life, Arapaja is assailed with vague or amnesia, the case in reference was argued before a High Court, the plaintiff lost, it was taken to the Court of Appeal, again, the plaintiff lost. Finally an appeal was made to the Supreme Court, where the judgement was near unanimous ( only one dissenting judge ) in dismissing the appeal and upholding the judgments of both the High Court and the Court of appeal! So can one blame a lawyer for doing his job ?
Therefore, let Arapaja be reminded as well, that Baba Ladoja as a statesman is only concerned about the welfare of the masses and the citizens of Oyo State, and never playing partisan politics any longer hence, he should be accorded some disserving respect.
Also calling the National Chairman of his Party “petty ” on air , is unacceptable, ungentlemanly and lease expected of a character-like Arapaja.
All told, The vituperations of Asiwaju Basorun Atunluto on air who should, rather than seeking apology for his recent anti party antics against his own party and look for ways to straighten things up as his title suggests, only bespeaks a sinking man who doesn’t stop digging while already in a hole.
