Yes. At last! We have finally found the evidence. Uncontroverted. Undeniable. Potent. Hot from the archive.
It is not a rumour. It is not political packaging. It is not one of those hurried testimonials manufactured in the heat of ambition. It is a documented voice from the past, preserved in print, waiting patiently for the right season to speak.
And now, it has spoken.
The right season is now .
Today .
There is nothing hidden under the firmament.
Nothing.
What a man thinks he has buried in the belly of the earth may one day be exhumed by the innocent finger of rainfall. What a man has done in secret, in sacrifice, in silence, and without the noise of trumpets may one day stand up from the grave of memory and begin to testify.
That is why life is dangerous for pretenders. That is why politics is risky for actors. That is why public service is not a masquerade dance where a man can wear borrowed garments today and deceive the marketplace tomorrow.
Character has fingerprints. Service has footprints. Deeds have echoes. And the past, whether beautiful or ugly, has a way of returning to the witness box.
This is the season in Oyo State when men are beginning to jostle, juggle, calculate, consult, declare, whisper, lobby and parade themselves as those who want to serve. Many are suddenly discovering the language of sacrifice.
Many are suddenly remembering the poor. Many are suddenly manufacturing compassion. Many are suddenly wearing the costume of public love.
But the question is simple: where were they when service was not fashionable? Where were they when constituency intervention was not a carnival? Where were they when giving to the people did not come with cameras, drones, banners and political hashtags?
That is why the old cover of The Leaders Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2, September 2005, is more than a nostalgic publication. It is an exhibit. It is evidence. It is a document summoned by history. It is a witness from the past.
And there, boldly printed on that old magazine cover, is the headline:
“Hon. Fatai Buhari dedicates his salaries for development of his constituency.”
Haaa!
What kind of “stupidity” was that?
At a time when constituency allowance was not the order of the day, when politics had not yet become the loud theatre of empowerment carnivals, when many public officers were still struggling to understand the meaning of grassroots accountability, Hon. Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari, then a member of the House of Representatives, reportedly dedicated his salaries to the development of his constituency.
Who does that?
Only a man already infected with the incurable disease of service.
Only a man whose politics was not born from convenience but from conviction. Only a man who did not enter public office merely to taste power but to translate power into value for his people. Only a man who understood that office is not a throne for personal comfort but a tool for public usefulness.
Now, let those who are suddenly shouting “service” bring their own old records. Let those who are now dressing up as messiahs bring out their early receipts of sacrifice. Let every aspirant submit his past to the scrutiny of memory. Because, in the end, a man’s yesterday is often the most reliable prophet of his tomorrow.
Senator Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari’s past has started haunting him — but it is a beautiful haunting. It is the haunting of good deeds. It is the haunting of sacrifice. It is the haunting of consistency.
It is the haunting of a man who appears to have been foolish enough to serve when service was not yet profitable, foolish enough to give when giving was not yet politically fashionable, and foolish enough to put his people first when many were still learning how to put themselves first.
That foolishness has followed him.
From the House of Representatives to service as a Commissioner in Oyo State, from advisory responsibilities to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the same pattern has refused to leave him. It is there in his constituency interventions. It is there in his empowerment programmes.
It is there in his attention to the physically challenged. It is there in his developmental reach beyond narrow political boundaries. It is there in his commitment to institutional and human capital development.
It is there in the way he has carried Oyo North without forgetting that leadership must never be imprisoned by geography. It is there in the way his influence and interventions have touched people beyond his immediate senatorial boundary.
It is there in the way he has become a subject of recognition not only by his direct constituents but also by wider Oyo communities who have seen in him a public officer with a broader heart.
No wonder the Olubadan of Ibadan, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, described him as a reliable and responsible Omoluabi.
No wonder the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes found him worthy of an Award of Excellence for his commitment to the development of Oyo State.
No wonder many people, even outside his political home base, see him as one of the few public officers whose service has consistently crossed the border of convenience.
Character does not start suddenly.
Èéfín ni ìwà — character is like smoke. You may try to cover it, but it will find a hole through which to escape. A man may pretend for a season, but his behavioural pattern will eventually betray him.
The generous man will give himself away. The selfish man will also expose himself. The servant-hearted man will reveal his nature in small things long before the big stage appears.
That is the story of Senator Buhari.
Before the present noise, there was the record. Before the current applause, there was the evidence. Before the governorship conversation, there was a man who, as far back as 2005, was linked with the unusual act of dedicating his salaries to constituency development.
That was not a campaign slogan. That was not a manifesto promise. That was an action.
And action is superior to noise.
Today, when people speak about him as a possible governor of Oyo State, they are not speaking into a vacuum. They are pointing to a trajectory.
They are pointing to a man whose public life has carried a consistent theme of development, empowerment, access, institutional attraction and people-centred politics.
This is the difference between those who want office and those whom office has already revealed.
Some men are seeking power to become relevant. Some men are seeking power to start learning service. Some men are seeking power to compensate themselves.
But there are also men whose lives have already shown that power, in their hands, can become a ladder for others.
Senator Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari belongs to that class of public officers whose old records are not liabilities but assets.
His past does not frighten him. His past speaks for him. His past does not chase him with shame. It follows him with testimony.
That is why this old magazine cover is not just a throwback. It is a political document. It is a moral reminder. It is a civic lesson. It tells us that people do not suddenly become selfless because election is coming.
It tells us that genuine service has roots. It tells us that the best way to know what a man may do tomorrow is to examine what he did when yesterday gave him the opportunity.
In Senator Buhari’s case, the record is there.
He gave.
He served.
He sacrificed.
He did not begin today.
And if that is stupidity, then may Oyo State be blessed with more of such stupid servants — men who are foolish enough to prefer development to personal accumulation; foolish enough to remember the vulnerable; foolish enough to build institutions; foolish enough to empower people; foolish enough to see politics not as a feeding bottle but as a channel of public good.
For Oyo State, the lesson is clear. The governorship seat should not be treated as a retirement chair for noisy ambition. It should not be reduced to a loudspeaker contest among men who only discover the people when election is near. It should be reserved for tested capacity, verifiable service, emotional maturity, developmental instinct and a heart that has been beating for the people long before the music of election began.
Senator Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari’s case is not merely about ambition.
It is about evidence.
And from the evidence of 2005 to the record of today, one thing is becoming clearer: this man did not stumble into service. He was carved for it.
His stupidity is now exposed.
His crime is now uncovered.
His offence is now before the court of public conscience.
He has been caught serving. He has been caught giving. He has been caught sacrificing. He has been caught investing in people when many others were investing only in themselves.
And for such a crime, may the people remember him kindly.
May Oyo State reward genuine service with greater responsibility.
May this evidence speak loudly for him
May BAF succeed
Sent in by Wale Ojo-Lanre Esq
