IBB: The Sinner who Outlived his Karma

In all your doings, try not to get killed for any cause. The grave is silent, and martyrs seldom get to write their own stories. Whatever you believe in, endeavour to stay alive first, dead men don’t debate, and history is often kinder to the living than the fallen.

Saul was a butcher of the early church, a terror to the apostles, his hands stained with the blood of the faithful. Yet, when the tide turned, he was invited to the table of grace, rechristened Paul, and his past was swept under the rug of redemption. The saints who perished at his command became mere footnotes, while he ascended the ranks of divinity, penning scripture, and shaping doctrine.

Fast forward to yesterday, and the same script played out in Abuja. The elites gathered to celebrate IBB, a man whose hands once gripped the levers of power and snuffed out the hopes of a nation on June 12. I loved that his unenviable role in our democratic history was recounted to him, as Asiwaju reminded him that he had the chance to write his name in gold but chose instead to sink it in the mud. Osinbajo branded him a tormentor to his very face...

But let us not be blind to the irony—MKO and the valiant crusaders of that struggle lie cold in their graves, their voices silenced, their sacrifices long forgotten. Meanwhile, IBB walked out of that room several billions richer, with a potential presidential library set to immortalize his name. The lion feasts, while the gazelles of history rot in obscurity.

Such is the way of men, and as seen in Paul’s case, a style even heaven seems to recognize. My brother, in all your doings, remember—no cause is truly worth dying for. The living hold the pen, and history smiles upon those who survive to write it.

Life is ruthless, and it's all about ruthlessness. So don't be too calm, or else people will take advantage of you and beg for forgiveness.

What IBB has done is captured in this yoruba folklore lyrics and translated below:

Ewe oriji laja - (we have cut the leaf of forgiveness)

Ewe oriji laja o - (we have cut the leaf of forgiveness)

Eni abase - (whoever we have offended)

Eni abase kofori ji wa - (whoever we have offended should please forgive us)

Ewe oriji laja - (we have cut the leaf of forgiveness)

DON’T LET THEM KILL YOU AND REPENT, REMEMBER OUR GOD FORGIVES.