The attention of Oba Kayode Afolabi, the Alapomu of Apomu, has been drawn to an article titled “Apomu king turns warmonger for PDP”. The article was written by a columnist, Tunde Odesola, and published on the back page of The PUNCH on Friday November 15th,2024.
Odesola’s careless choice of words for the libelous headline revealed three things. One, Odesola had an agenda to tarnish the image of the Apomu king. Two, Odesola was on an errand to defame the king. Three, Odesola’s mission was to destroy the character, personality and reputation of the king, his throne and by extension, the entire people of Apomu Kingdom.
Odesola’s deceitful opinion was based, according to him on a video he claimed he saw on a WhatsApp group. He said before he saw the video, he had a different topic he wanted to write about. Curiously, Odesola abandoned the former topic and jumped on the Apomu king’s video.
Odesola took the video from the WhatsApp group and interpreted it authoritatively as if he was there when the video was recorded. He wrote his malicious opinion on the video as if he was a witness.
The article was not based on facts. It was based on Odesola’s subjective opinion, which he presented to the public as facts.
Despite the fact that the video is not his original material, Odesola relied on it and did not consider it worthy to verify it or use the word “alleged” to describe the video. The video remains in the realm of allegation until proven.
Odesola did not maintain the standard of professionalism by investigating the video and the allegations against the Apomu king.
In this era of modern technology, falsehood and fake materials can easily be doctored and presented as facts.
Facts are sacred and scarce. But opinion is free and cheap. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is entitled to his opinion. But no one has a right to libel someone in his opinion. Odesola has fiercely attacked the character of the king in his cruel expressions in the national news platform.
Odesola is fortunate to have a credible news medium to express his views. But he has abused the privilege given to him. He does not have a right to defame Apomu King’s character because he has a right to express his opinon.
It is very unprofessional for him to take advantage of his position as a columnist to libel the king and rubbish an entire community based on a video that is not foolproof.
By calling Alapomu a warmonger, Odesola wants the public to see and treat Alapomu as such, without any justification
He did not stop at describing Alapomu as a warmonger. Odesola went on to describe the king as a gangster. According to Oxford Dictionary, a gangster is “a member of a gang of violent criminals.”
What criminal record or evidence did Odesola rely on to describe the king in such an untruthful manner. Odesola who made the allegation must be able to prove. It is unprofessional and wicked to just dirt at a king without any proof. This is a clear case of libel.
The Apomu king has no criminal record at all. He has never been involved in any crime or proven to be a member of any criminal gang. The king is a man of good character, integrity, law-abiding, responsible and peaceful.
Despite his good record, Odesola deliberately and intentionally lied against him. Referring to the king, who has no ante-cedent of crime, as a gangster is defamatory, libelous, spiteful and evil intentioned.
The article itself is malicious, one-sided, prejudiced, subjective and grossly biased. Odesola’s article was published many days after the king had refuted the video in many national newspapers and online publications. The rebuttal was also widely circulated in the public space.
The king debunked the allegations made about the video in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Tolu Adetunji. He said the video was recorded at the flag off of a road construction in Apomu. The king was invited as the Royal Father of the occasion by the PDP House of Representatives member, representing Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan Federal Constituency who is an indigene of Apomu. His speech was recorded in a video at the event and doctored to allege that he was inciting political violence.
The king has never been involved in politics all his life. However he relates with all the indigenes of Apomu as his children irrespective of their political affiliation and he does not influence where their support or votes would go.
For instance, in the 2022 governorship election in Osun State, APC had an unprecedented victory in Apomu. In the 2023 presidential election, APC also won for the first time in the history of Apomu.
This shows that the king is not partisan. He is not a warmonger. He is a man of peace contrary to Odesola’s article.
However, APC lost the Federal House of Representatives election to Hon Lanre Oladebo representing Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan Federal constituency, a PDP member who is an indigene of Apomu.
Some people were aggrieved by Ladebo’s victory. Since then, there had been a growing behind the scene allegations that Ladebo’s victory was influenced by the king. The king’s undisclosed “offence” is that he allegedly supported Ladebo, against his opponent who lost in Ayedaade, her local government.
The aggrieved persons may have been looking for ways to get back at the king. They saw an opportunity in the flag off event organised by Ladebo, to smear the image of the king with a doctored video.
Unknown to the aggrieved people, Ladebo did not win because of his party. Regardless of the political party, the people of Apomu had made up their minds to vote an indigene of Apomu so that they can be represented for the first time at the National Assembly.
Apomu in it entire history has never produced anyone at national level. So it did not matter the party, the people wanted a representative who would be their voice and attract development to Apomu town which has been neglected and underdeveloped since independence.
It is for that reason that the people of Apomu voted for Ladebo. He defeated his opponent because he won the election overwhelmingly, both in Apomu his hometown and Isokan, his local government.
Ladebo was not the initial candidate for that position. He was a candidate of circumstance. Olusola Arabambi the candidate who won the primaries election died mysteriously less than two months to the election. Ladebo replaced Arabambi because he was the runner up in the primaries election .
Following the sudden and shocking death of Arabambi, all his supporters transferred their loyalty and support to Ladebo.
Odesola claims to know the history of Apomu but he has no idea about the emergence of Ladebo. If he did, he would have known that the king did not need to incite violence or turn to warmonger for the PDP for Ladebo to win, as he has lazily alleged.
Apomu voted for Ladebo out of sympathy for the late Arabambi a prominent indigene of Apomu, a grassroot man who touched many lives.
Calling the king a warmonger in a matter that Odesola is ignorant about is an insult to the entire people of Apomu and the king whose ancient throne dates back to 16th century.
Oral traditions relating to the foundation of Apomu and the development of its structure, institutions and systems show the antiquity of Apomu and the dynastic/royal pedigree of its founder in the 16th century. Apomu developed into the first known and documented flourishing centre of commerce, for 300 years in the old Oyo empire, because of its proximate distance to Oyo, Ile-Ife, Ijebu and other towns in Yoruba land.
The emergence of Apomu as the main commercial nerve centre in this strategic location was indicative of her role in the rise and expansion of the old Oyo empire.
Oba Afolabi is the 14th Alapomu of Apomu, and he has continued with the tradition of promoting commerce. Commerce can only thrive in an environment of peace not war. Today Apomu has one of the largest markets in Osun State.
Referring to a king with such an ancient history, as a gangster is an intentional cruel attack on the reputation of the King and the entire people of Apomu kingdom.
The statement is irresponsible, libelous and reckless. Odesola’s aim is to bring down the reputation of the king and his people in the eyes of right thinking members of the society.
A professional columnist is expected to be civil and present whatever information he has in a responsible manner. But what Odesola did is very far from it. Worse still he based his comments and criticisms on fiction not facts. Odesola threw away all the ethics of the profession and wore the garment of a money monger to do a hatchet job. He disguised the article as an innocent review of the video to do an hatchet job on Apomu King. To attract readership to the hatchet job, Odesola chose an attention grabbling headline, so that the readers will know from the beginning what they would see if they read on. But Odesola ended up with a damaging and libellous article because he did not have facts to substantiate the allegations. He did not conduct research on the King’s character or interview him as the person involved in the video. Therefore he could not cite any credible or reliable source to support his allegations.
By not being able to provide credible evidence to substantiate his allegations Odesola has deceived the public to believe his falsehood. He has no facts to make his statements reliable . This raises a big question mark on Odesola’s credibility as a columnist.
Tolu Adetunji is the Media Aide to Oba Kayode Afolabi, the Alapomu of Apomu