While Ayedatiwa danced around parties, commissioning "21st Century Street lights" and "re-dyed" roads, and his AG coast about the city of Akure, Abuja and also multiple trips to London, Oluwasegun Rotimi was on the street trying to put bread on his table.
When the livelihood of a man is taken away, the whole essence of his living is thrown into shambles. Every day to such a man would be a terrible experience, and even before he dies in the body, he first dies in his soul and his spirit. This was the reality of Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi, a man ripped of his leg, then his soul, and eventually his life, in the inhumane government dinner of Ayedatiwa, Ajulo and Adetunji Adeleye--- the men who believes the world is now theirs.
On the 9th day of August, 2021, along the quiet street of Araromi, Oluwarotimi Oluwasegun, a hustling young man in the capital city of Akure, Ondo State, was on his ambitious journey to earn bread for himself and his family through his commercial motorcycle, when men of the Ondo State Amotekun force, illegally picked him for no defined crime and shot at his leg. Callously, he was also detained away from his family by the men of the Corps under the leadership of Chief Adetunji Adeleye until the injury on his leg was starting to deteriorate and get badly infected. The corps wouldn't even treat him with humanity when they finally deemed it fit to get him to a hospital as they transported him in pains and without any analgesic at the back of a hilux, like a sheep to the slaughter, through the rough roads and eventually to FMC Owo, where he was eventually abandoned and left to watch his leg rot away. They simply were hellbent to destroy him and they did-- they took his leg for their dinner and Oluwasegun became a man limping on one foot for the rest of his life, with no hope to ever sit on his commercial motorcycle again, nor live in the fullness of his body.
Like they often say, there is no justice for the common man in Nigeria, especially when he is agitating against a deaf institution, one cold to the heart and dry to the vessel, interested only in dancing and spending dollars for political jamborees. A pro bono case was instituted by leading human right activist Tope Temokun Esq. to remedy the wrong done to Oluwasegun and to give him a chance at life, and the news swept across the media when the Ondo State High Court gave a resounding judgment in Oluwasegun's favour. Though not able to restore his losses, the court awarded damages of #30,000,000 (Thirty Million Naira, only) in his favour-- a sum decent enough for Oluwasegun to start a new life and fend for his family. Unfortunately, since 2023, when this judgment was given, the Ondo State Government refused to pay the awarded sum to Oluwarotimi.
Letters were advanced to the office of the late Governor Akeredolu (may his soul rest in peace) for the enforcement of the judgment. However, the then governor was unavailable. At that time he battled against the final illnesses, which marked his few memorable days on earth.
Succeeding him, one would have thought Ayedatiwa and his AG, Kayode Ajulo SAN would be different. Ayedatiwa, a man who wore the picture of one being oppressed during the time he sought for the seat of the governorship of Ondo state after the demise of the late governor, and his AG, Kayode Ajulo SAN, who wore the disguiseful regalia of a human right activist in his early days of practice, both turned out to be an oppressor themselves, waiting for the right time to reveal their true intent. In the end, power reveals the true intent of a man.
Multiple letters were addressed on behalf of Oluwasegun by his lawyers to the white bearded man who positioned himself "the non-chalant one of Alagbaka" and the fanciful Attorney General, who coasted around in his expensive Gwagons and spending dollars at private events, seeking compliance with the judgment and indulging their magnanimity to save a one legged man, but none replied. Ayedatiwa in the usual carefree manner, of being a "governor by opportunity" and in the laissez faire attitude of a man who really believes the world has become his to own, continued dancing at public functions, ignoring all the letters to his table. His "Human Right Activist" AG also proceeded to appeal the decision of the lower court against a man whose hope has already been shattered by the same government, in the best fashion of a Human Right Actor. Can Ayedatiwa say that since he assumed office, he has not expended more than 30 million from the government coffers? or can the Human Right Activist AG say 30 million was too much a sum to pay to a man whose leg was taken away from him by the state government without a crime?
After series of legal battles, the Appeal to the Court of Appeal failed, and the award in favor of Oluwasegun stood. Not boastful and not in arrogance, constant plea continued to be advanced by Oluwasegun legal team seeking for the awarded damages to be paid to Oluwarotimi to start a new life but all fell on deaf ears. The only glimmer of hope came when the tyrant Amotekun Commander, Adetunji Adeleye, made an offer to pay part of the damages meant for Oluwarotimi from his personal purse, as a makeweight to bargain his way out of the case instituted by the 3 Amotekun officers who were unlawfully declared wanted and victimized by him for demanding the issuance of an employment letter to Oluwasegun's legal team, who were also the legal counsels to the 3 Amotekun officer.
Days passed and time was endless. Oluwasegun tried his hands on many menial jobs including trying to drive a keke round the city of Akure to make a means but it was not easy for me and the proceeds were insufficient to keep himself, his wife, and his eleven year old son in school. While Ayedatiwa danced around parties, commissioning "21st Century Street lights" and "re-dyed" roads, and his AG coast about the city of Akure, Abuja and also multiple trips to London, Oluwasegun Rotimi was on the street trying to put bread on his table.
All my encounters with Oluwarotimi were very heart-wrenching. Limping on one leg every time he comes around, he would narrate just how hard it was to eat, how he had to beg for alms sometimes to feed. The only glow left in his soul was each time he mentioned that he trusted in God, and he would keep praying to see that the money he won at the High Court was released to him. As he would say, "Emi Oluwasegun, Mo ma duro di ojo ti olorun ma gbowo mi lowo won" (I Oluwasegun, I will wait till the day God will collect my money from them). Unfortunately, that day never came because Oluwasegun passed on to the grave. He died bruised, cheated, and miserable from the slow poison of wickedness injected into his soul by Ayedatiwa, Ajulo, and Adetunji. He was sick in his last few days and could not afford to go to a hospital.
Now that he is dead, I believe Ayedatiwa, Ajulo, and Adetunji can finally eave a sigh. They all definitely have met a few times since Rotimi would always go to political functions where he knew they would present, including the gates of the Governor’s office and the Ministry of Justice, to await them as they go in and out, seeking the payment of the judgment sum to him. I believe they would be relieved from seeing his limping one-legged body, even though I also hope they carry it in their dreams, especially since they wouldn't in their heart which they lack. I also believe they can now sit and enjoy the proceed of their nonchalance to the cry of a man whom they rendered useless in the society. I also believe they can also be able to attend fancy church services, with prayers to God, and I hope the God of the poor would answer them according to the deeds of their hands. I also mostly hope that they can host their usual dancing functions, with the body of Rotimi as a meal on their menu. Just like Fela named the corpse of his late mother a corpse for the general-- please give Rotimi's corpse to Ayedatiwa, Ajulo and Adetunji for their dinner and let it be remembered as one of the things that happened when a man believed the world has now become his.
O.D. Olatunde is a Human Right Lawyer writing from Tope Temokun Chambers.