The Oriyomi Hamzat miracle is a testimony that things can change in Nigeria; it’s a testimony that huge money is not necessary to win elections in Nigeria.
An advertisement line calls Nigerians to “kill corruption before it kills them.” That line is too late for today because corruption has already killed Nigeria. What remains is for the whole nation to be wiped out. And that is at the door.
But despite the destruction corruption has inflicted on Nigeria, I recently saw a glimmer of hope in Ibadan. A radio broadcaster in Ibadan gave hope recently when he held a political rally in Ibadan. It was reported that some people had called on him to contest the governorship of Oyo State. When most of us saw his advertisement, we thought he was joking. He is not that rich, but his radio station is very popular. Agidigbo FM is a darling of the masses. At the coronation of the late Oba Moshood Olalekan Balogun a few years ago, I saw him as he approached the Mapo Hall venue of the coronation, where he was one of the comperes. A group of women ran after him, calling him “the people’s father.” It was my first time seeing him in person even though I had heard of his Agidigbo radio. In his recent campaign at the Liberty Stadium, he rubbished everything people have thought of elections in Nigeria and the nature of the electorates. The man, Oriyomi Hamzat, said when the Accord Party, the platform he hoped to use in the 2027 elections, met him some three days before the campaign asking that he give the people “money for food” so they would attend the rally, he told the party officials he didn’t have to give the people “money for food” because they were the ones that invited him and he expected them to attend. When the officials asked him if he had bought “aso ebi,” the popular traditional uniform people wear for occasions, he told them it was not necessary. Hamzat said somebody in the group bought his own dress and gave him 2000 pieces to give to people. It was reported that the Oyo State government rejected his request to use the government’s commercial buses to deliberately frustrate the campaign. But despite that, many people sent buses to him, even from outside the state, to convey people to the venue of the campaign. We had the first premier of the western region, Obafemi Awolowo, who never bribed the electorate with money; Oriyomi Hamzat is bringing that back again.
It was a very big and pleasant surprise at the Liberty Stadium venue of the campaign, as the whole stadium was packed to capacity. It surpassed every permutation. The attention sent signals that a new dimension is being added to the political contest, at least in Ibadan and Oyo State. It showed that the electorate in Nigeria can make good choices, that they can vote for credible candidates if their votes are allowed to count. It was these people who invited Oriyomi Hamzat to enter the political fray. The campaign was tagged “Oyo npemi,” Oyo beckons. How did this miracle take place? Can we call it a miracle? Oriyomi Hamzat had demonstrated a heart for the people in his activities without meaning to enter into politics when he did them. He was entirely focused on the masses. He redefined radio broadcasting. While other media continue to focus on the elites, as they have for so long, he went to the downtrodden. He went to the homeless, featured their predicament, and sometimes helped raise money to give them homes. He highlighted the many teenage pregnancies that the government is unaware of, let alone attending to. There was a case of a teenager who was gang raped by about ten people in Oja’ba market in Ibadan who didn’t even know who the father of her baby was. She couldn’t say which of them was responsible for her pregnancy. There was the case of another who had two boyfriends at the same time, and the two of them were contesting her pregnancy. Oriyomi Hamzat attacked the welfare issue like only Obafemi Awolowo had done before him.
His radio station became so popular among the poor populace that they stayed up till the early morning hearing tales of hitherto voiceless people. And perhaps because of the heightened affliction of the current government since 2023, with people hoping desperately for a change, they looked out for Oriyomi Hamzat. Hamzat is very bold. He took sides with the poor people. At a funfair organized by the former wife of the Ooni of Ife, Naomi Silekunola, Agidigbo FM was the media partner. Naomi Silekunola organized a funfair in December 18, 2024, for poor children to have some money and fun on Christmas. Silekunola promised 500,000 Naira to 5,000 children. Poor parents in Ibadan trooped to the Islamic High School venue as early as 5 am, which resulted in a stampede. Some parents threw their wards over the fence when they couldn’t enter through the gate. In the end, 35 children died. Oriyomi Hamzat threw himself into the rescue operation and was stripped to his boxer pants by hoodlums who had trooped into the venue. Naomi Silekunola and Oriyomi Hamzat were arrested and charged by the police for negligence. Eventually the case against them was withdrawn. Rather than diminish, the popularity of Oriyomi Hamzat soared among the masses. He has demonstrated again an unparalleled love and compassion for the people. The unfortunate accident that attended the funfair gave him a shock, which landed him in the hospital.
Yet, elites in the city still felt governorship of Oyo State was beyond Oriyomi. He is not rich, and he is not among the heavyweights who have been throwing their weight around for many years. The elites doubted Oriyomi, but the people went to invite him. He answered them, and despite all obstacles in his way, the response of people at the campaign was massive. In no time, the same elite began to ask, “Where is this Oriyomi Hazmat heading for?” They could not doubt the massive embrace. What is the lesson here? Nigerian electorates know what and who they want. They are not as daft as the elites who have been swindling them for many decades think. When they see good candidates, they know them. I’m also one that wrote down the masses of Nigeria as incapable of choosing credible candidates, but the invitation of Oriyomi Hamzat by the masses beat me hollow. I’m sure the established politicians are running helter-skelter now, bemoaning the sudden and unexpected woe that the entry of Oriyomi has become for them. He has no doubt changed the political calculation in Oyo State. If this trend continues, Oriyomi will certainly win the state for the Accord Party.
The Oriyomi miracle is a testimony that things can change in Nigeria; it’s a testimony that huge money is not necessary to win elections in Nigeria. It is proof that honest and good character can be appreciated by ordinary Nigerians. It shows that this monster called corruption that has killed Nigeria can also be tamed. I’m absolutely convinced that Nigeria can say no to corruption. Everybody does it, and it has become so ingrained, it’s something you have to do to get by. If everybody is doing it, why not you? If leaders are doing it, why not you? In a situation where life has been snuffed out of the average Nigerian, especially by the obnoxious policies of the Bola Tinubu administration, what can the average man do? Stealing is not comfortable, and scholars who have studied it have said that, given a choice, nobody will want to steal because it is a more painful and hazardous job than working. There are some Scandinavian countries today where prisons are closing up because the courts are not getting criminals to convict again. Those countries have very high taxes, like Tinubu wants to take in Nigeria. In the case of those countries is that almost everything is free. There is a job for everybody, and therefore stealing has become rare. In the case of President Bola Tinubu, Nigerians are very doubtful that anything meaningful will get to the masses even after the huge taxes in his so-called tax reforms, some of which amount to double taxation. The money that will be so collected will end up in the pockets of the politicians whose mouths enlarge like hell every now and then to swallow the people’s commonwealth. Nigerian politicians have never had it better under any regime than that of Bola Tinubu.
When former President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), there was hope that with a body solely set up to arrest and prosecute corrupt officials and jail those convicted, corruption would be tamed. The leader of the team that started the EFCC is now the National Security Adviser to President Bola Tinubu, who is at the forefront of negotiating with bandits but for the threat of President Donald Trump of the US. A catcher of thieves who became a negotiator with those thieves. Bandits are plain armed robbers who, by the law of the nation, should be killed. But Nuhu Ribadu and his cohorts in the administration want them celebrated and begged. Can anybody satisfy a thief? How much do you want to give a thief who makes many millions in stealing at each strike? Yet, EFCC and its twin agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), are still very necessary; let’s hope that the nation will get incorruptible leaders and operatives to run them. The current chairman of the EFCC, Olanipekun Olukoyede, said a while ago that his operatives take bribes from suspects they investigate. The courts add their own corruption to the difficult task of fighting corruption. Many cases have been lost that some senior lawyers say shouldn’t have been lost but were lost through compromises of judges. Some cases drag on for eternity until they are forgotten or the suspects die.
But there is yet one angle that is worth considering. Oriyomi Hamzat has convinced me that Nigerians want good government, that Nigerians know their enemies, that they also know their friends, and that, encouraged, Nigerians can forsake corruption. The angle is to let Nigerians be the watchman of his brother and of his sister. It is to employ the services of WhatsApp groups. There is hardly any secondary school class or university class that does not have WhatsApp groups. It is carrying the battle to the elites in the groups they keep on WhatsApp. An old secondary school in Lagos, one of those that have produced very influential Nigerians, pioneered that. There was one of them who held an important post in the national legislature. When he was spending money like it was going out of fashion, his classmates on WhatsApp called him out. They knew his salary, and they questioned where he found the huge money he spent to celebrate a birthday of one of his parents and where he got the money to buy a very expensive car for his wife. The fight was so intense that material from their WhatsApp group was made to filter out, and they became subjects of national discourse. WhatsApp groups should not be a place for stroking the egos of members, as it has become in Nigeria. They must be used to fight corruption. They must be used to demand and ensure accountability. Government must ensure that as a policy.
The government will make a law that will compel all organizations, private and public, to publish the salaries of all their staff. There will be no exemption. The allowances will also be included. It is Nigerians who live with these people who know their lifestyle and who can call them to order. The published salaries and allowances will serve the purpose of this WhatsApp watchdog, and it can also be used by whistleblowers. It will ensure that no Nigerian lives above his or her means. While this reorganization of the moral fabric of the nation goes on, the EFCC and ICPC laws must be upgraded to make corruption punishable by death. I guarantee you in a few years corruption will be wiped out. It will be amazing how Nigerians will fight the corrupt in their midst. Nigerians are capable of making good choices. That is the lesson Oriyomi Hamzat’s massive and successful outing in Ibadan teaches.
First Published in METRO
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Tunde Akande is both a journalist and pastor. He earned a Master's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.
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