By Obinna Uballa
A bitter exchange between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose has sparked outrage and a flood of commentary across Nigeria, with citizens and commentators weighing in on what some describe as a clash of “political titans and personal egos.”
The confrontation escalated during Fayose’s birthday celebration, where Obasanjo criticised the former governor, prompting Fayose to fire back in a sharply worded SMS: “You are supposed to be kept away in the zoo… I kept quiet at the function so the world would know the difference between a sane and a mad man.”
Obasanjo, through his media aide Kehinde Akinyemi, responded tersely: “Ayo, thanks for your ‘Thank You’ message which undisguisedly revealed who and what you are, unchanged and unchangeable. Your money has been sent back through Foluso Adeagbo in the same bag it came, unopened by me.”
The incident has ignited a firestorm online. Activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore tweeted: “Obasanjo versus Fayose – two deputy devils jamming each other. The way Fayose insulted Obasanjo, telling him he ‘belongs to the zoo,’ after Obasanjo’s remarks at his birthday was something else entirely.”
United States-based public affairs commentator Ikhide Ikheloa went further, describing the spat as emblematic of Nigeria’s broader leadership crisis.
He said: “So, Olusegun Obasanjo chose Fayose’s birthday to humiliate him. Vintage OBJ. A bloody egomaniac and narcissist, yet celebrated as a statesman. Two constipated thugs – Obasanjo and Fayose-are fighting, who cares? Nigeria is a vast crime scene, and these two criminals are main actors in the farce. If Soyinka were still writing his plays, these two (and Tinubu) would be main characters.”
Meanwhile, social media commentator Ọmọọba Adélẹyẹ Tolu criticised Fayose for his disrespect towards elders: “A man who calls an elder ‘mad’ insults every elder who ever guided him. He spat on the throne and the ancestors watching from the rafters… Respect, once scattered like chaff in the wind, does not grow back.”
The feud has generated national debate about political culture, generational respect, and the public display of personal rivalries among prominent leaders. Some commentators, like Akin Akinwale, argue that Obasanjo could have avoided the confrontation entirely by declining the invitation or handling the criticism more diplomatically.
