AbdulFatai Omotayo Buhari’s Ancestry: Setting The Record Straight

Since his declaration of his intention to run for governorship election under the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Senator Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari has been an object of attacks from faceless people who, no doubt, were sponsored by opposition within and without.

There is no doubt that Fatai Buhari is an intimidating credentialist both in personality and in politics, credentials which are desideratum for anyone wishing to run for the highest office in Nigeria and not to talk of Oyo State. Before shedding lights on the question of ancestry of Buhari, the name which is an Arabic name from Algur’an which detractors believe is a Fulani name, it is of utmost importance to delve into Buhari’s pedigree which we believe intimidates the opposition and for which we campaign of calumny is being orchestrated against him. As a matter of fact, we would have ignored the faceless ranting of disgruntled elements but it is not every time that silence is golden; it may mean yes and validation of Fulani ancestry labelled on the distinguished Senator. The above is not to disparage Fulani folks, but to put the ancestry of Buhari under proper perspective.

Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari was born on November 21, 1964 to the family of Basale Ipopo in Ogbomoso South Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. He lived his early life in Ghana where he had his primary education. For his secondary education, he attended Real Amass Secondary School, Kumasi, Ghana which he successfully completed in 1981. Abdulfatai Buhari proceeded to the University of Ilorin in 1981 for his Bachelor of Science Honours in Business Administration and passed out with flying colours in 1985. He capped his illustrious education pedigree with a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science (M.Sc) in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1992), University of Abuja (2009) and University of Abuja (2014) respectively. Buhari is also an alumnus of Harvard University, United States of America where he had Certificate Programmes in Governance and Leadership between 2019 and 2022.

He had his mandatory One-Year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) between 1985 and 1986 with Allied Bank in Benin City. Buhari was very lucky and immediately after his NYSC joined UTC Motors as a Management Trainee and rose to the position of Sales Manager in 1990 before joining SCOA Motors as a Branch Manager. Between 1990 and 1998, he rose through the ranks in SCOA Motors to the Deputy General Manager. However, he took a giant step in 1998 by establishing his own company ABADAT MOTORS which was officially commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. He was the Managing Director/CEO of ABADAT MOTORS until 2003 when he was elected a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ogbomoso North, Ogbomoso and Oriire Federal Constituency.

His love for his people in terms of qualitative representation, parliamentary activities, development and philanthropic gestures informed his decision to join politics. As a result, he contested the election as a member of the House of Representatives in 2003 under the umbrella of People’s Democratic Party and won. As a member of House of Representatives, he was a member of Constitutional Review Committee, Petroleum Committee, Media & Publicity Committee, Sports Committee and Navy and Air Force Committee.

After his tenure in the House of Representatives in 2007, he returned to his position in ABADAT Motors as MD/CEO till 2011 that he was appointed by His Excellency, the Governor of Oyo State, late Senator Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi as Special Adviser to the Governor on Water Resources. He was later appointed by the Governor in 2014 as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.

Dr. Abdulfatai Buhari contested the 2015 National Assembly election under All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Oyo North Senatorial District at the Upper Chamber and he won with a landslide victory. At the Upper Chamber, Senator Buhari between 2015 and 2019 was the Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime, Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Defence and Appropriation.

In 2019, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari was re-elected to represent Oyo North Senatorial District at the Upper Chamber for a second term. In the 9th Senate, he was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport and the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT. He was a Member, Senate Committees on Finance, Army, Poverty Alleviation and Defence.

In 2023 General Election, Senator Buhari Abdulfatai again rejected an unprecedented third term to represent Oyo North Senatorial District at the Upper Chamber. He is one of the highly ranked senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the 10th Senate. He is currently the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation and Member of the Senate Committees on Appropriation, Army, Environment, FCT, NASENI, Gas, Health, Power, Local and Foreign Debt, National Identity and National Population, Senate Services and Constitutional Amendments.

Senator Buhari has sponsored many bills, moved several motions, facilitated developments to the nooks and crannies of his constituency and at several occasions empowered his constituents. Some of his achievements so far as a Senator include but not limited to provision of over 200 Boreholes, 37 ICT centers, 17 units of 2 blocks of 3 Classrooms, distribution of 15 units of 11KVA transformers in 2015, distribution of 75 units of 33KVA transformers in 2022, installation of over 10,000 units of Solar Street Light in Oyo North Senatorial District. He equally facilitated construction of 5 modern maternity hospitals, 350 Federal Appointments for youths across Federal Government Ministries, departments and agencies and empowering over 8000 constituents in series of his empowerment programmes. He had trained over 10,000 youths, women and farmers in several skills acquisition programmes with start-up capitals. Last but not the least, he sponsored over 30 bills and several motions.

One of the bills is the establishment of Federal University of Agriculture and Technology, Okeho which has been assented to by President Tinubu and is about to commence academic activities. We expect his contenders to base their aspirations on track records of achievements and desist from baseless campaigns and name calling and crying wolf where there is none as the faceless promoters of Shugaba treatment for Buhari, a bonafide Yoruba man.

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Coming back to Buhari’s ancestry which is the basis of this write up. No other person in Yorubaland is more Yoruba than Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari. Buhari is a scion of Ibapon Chieftaincy family in Ogbomoso South Local Government in Oyo State. There are certain features which Yoruba use to identify people’s origin. One is Oriki. Ibarapa poetry, while the other is Orile lineage code of identification. Any true Yoruba, especially in Oyo State, must have Oriki and Orile. In the case of Buhari, his Orile is Aro. He is called IshoIa Aro. Aro is the lineage code of identification of Olu Oje lineage in Yorubaland. At the head of the lineage is Oispetu Ifejum, Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran, Lagbami Osekun II, Omo Olu Oje II of Iseyin. As regards his lineage poetry, his Oriki should be same as that of the Olu Oje but having established their own town, Ibapon people formed their own Oriki from the noble activities of their forebears while retaining elements of Olu Oje Oriki in it.

Fatai Buhari’s poetry song goes thus: “Abdulfatai Omotayo IshoIa Aro, Omo a bi ma ta, Omo a bi kan ra kan, Omo a ta tan fi ogun s’eni, Omo Oluoja, se bi awon Baba ti yin lo mo dojin l’opote. Baro ni o ya, Owo ni o leyo ni.”

Another question to ask is: can a Fulani man have Oriki-lineage poetry or Orile-lineage code of identification? Aside the above, only bonafide Yoruba, especially of Oyo stock, have tribal marks which is another means of identification of a true Yoruba. There are various types of tribal marks in Yorubaland especially among Oyo, Owu, Ijesha, Ondo, Ijebu and Ekiti. Anyone having a certain type of tribal marks would be easily identified anywhere around the globe. Among the Oyo, we have Mefa mefa Igbala, the one on the cheeks of the late Alaafin Aleyalaye, Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, merin merin ibule, Baramu, the one on the cheeks of Oba Soun Oladapo Oyediran Lagbami Osekun II, Omo Olu Oje, Abala and so on. Among the Owu, we have Keke Olowu, one on the cheeks of the former President Obasanjo. Among the Ondo, we have Pele as can be seen on the cheeks of the ace musician, Sunday Adejuyi Adegeye (a.k.a Sunny Ade). As regards the Ibapon chieftaincy family of Fatai Buhari, his forebears had on their cheeks, Baramu connected with Oluoje lineage.

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Another question needs to be asked is: Can a Fulani man have a tribal marks? In addition to the above, Ibapon the town in Ogbomoso zone of Oyo State where Buhari originated is ruled by a second class monarch. About twelve monarchs had reigned in this town since her foundation. The present monarch who is a member of Ogbomoso South Local Government Traditional Council is Alhaji Gaa Wahab Bashirat Buhari. Can we also ask if a Fulani can be made an Oba in Yorubaland? Names among Yoruba are symbolical with meaningful importations. Names bearing in Yorubaland have things to do with background of the bearer. That is why someone is identified through one’s background by the names one bears. For example, someone bearing any name with Ade, Ola and Oye signified royalty, any one bearing any name related with divinities in Yorubaland like Sangodele, Ogunbinu, Orisagbemi etc, show religious background of such persons. Today, there are exception to this, adoption of two monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam and Western culture especially in affectionate naming culture in Yorubaland. This is why you can see a bonafide Yoruba man from Ikale or Ilaje in Ondo state bearing Jimoh Ibrahim. Ibrahim is a well-known business man and politician in Nigeria. He is a Yoruba but bears Muslim name. Can we conclude as in the case of Fatai Buhari that Jimoh Ibrahim is a Fulani man? Fatai Omotayo Buhari’s family is a family where Islam is given a pride of place. As a matter of fact, the family ranks in number four in Muslim hierarchy in Ogbomoso. Bearing Moslem name by Buhari or dressing like a northerner doesn’t and cannot change his original as a Yoruba man.

As shown in his profile above, he lived in Ghana and northern Nigeria for most parts of his early and later life. His mode of dressing which at times looks like those of the northern brothers aptly captures Yoruba saying “Ibi ti agba ba wa ni a ti n gbe agba.”

As we mentioned earlier on, one of the reasons for controversy over the Buhari’s nativity is his ambition to contest for the governorship of Oyo state. We accept that in such circumstances the pedigree of Fatai Buhari is bound to come among the pretenders for the same seat in Oyo state. Combining the intimidating and a source of jealousy, Alhaji Senator Abdulfatai Omotayo Buhari is not the only one that has been subjected to this type of malicious and disparaging sentiment. Former Governor of Oyo state, Alhaji Lamidi Onalapo Adesina of blessed memory was said to be an Ebira man. Did he not become a governor? Senator Buhari did not move by this character assassination orchestrated by his detractors but fought back with his right merit which has helped him reach the record of this ancestry straight for posterity. It is therefore hoped that Nigerians and humanity will read this piece and appreciate the pedigree of Fatai Buhari. This putting to shame his detractors now and forever.

Signed:

Hon Dauda Wasi Oladimeji

Mogaji Abiola Oyeyemi Agoro

Mogaji Sefiu Ejilude

Mogaji Gbolagade Moshod Akere

Hon Adeyemo Adedeji

Prince Bello Olabode

Dr Nurudeen Alao

Barr Waheed Lawal

Hon Adetoyese Ishola

Comrade Yussuf Alade Moshood