The rumoured death about immediate past Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has not only succeeded in throwing readers into disarray but also licensed writers.
Although many close sources have come forward to debunk the rumour of Ajimobi’s death including his daughter and media aide, the real situation is still very vague and this is further fuelled by the conflicting positions of two renowned journalists in Nigeria.
Tweeting on the matter, Fatima Ganduje-Ajimobi, the daughter-in- law to the politician wrote: “Thank you for all the messages but our father is still alive, alhamdulillah. When it is our time we will all die so wait first.”
Seeing this message, one would ordinarily heave a sigh of relief and move on to watch out for the next item of news.
The suspicion got further heightened by the revelations of two powerful journalist- Olawale Olaleye and Fisayo Soyombo, putting many, including co- journalist in the middle and quietly raising the question -” who do I follow ? “
Olawale Olaleye is a veteran political journalist with Thisday Newspapers. Sounding quite authoritative on the issue, he wrote: Although his case is still critical, my sources are saying former governor Abiola Ajimobi is not dead as being currently reported. Be guided!”
“I insist he’s not dead. My sources claimed he had an operation earlier today, which he is yet to recover from but he is still alive. And guess what the good news is? He had since tested negative to Covid-19. What they are battling are his underlying health issues. Pray for him. He is not dead”
On the Other hand, Fisayo Soyombo, a renowned and multiple award winning investigative journalist would rather disagree with his senior colleague. He was hell-bent on his stance that Ajimobi is dead, so sure that he claimed that his all-ever true source of six years cannot disappoint him.
He wrote via his Twitter handle: A source who has never failed me in six years of knowing him has just confirmed to me the death, in Lagos today, of Abiola Ajimobi, former Governor of Oyo State, due to underlying health conditions worsened by the Coronavirus.May his soul rest in peace.
This tweet was followed with mixed reactions as most people feared that he might dent his brand name and career with the level of confidence exhibited on his stance , despite countering information from Ajimobi’s family side.
Sounding too sure, he posted again: “By the way, many of those tweeting ‘Ajimobi is alive’ have not seen or spoken to him since y/day. His supporters & aides at the hospital do not even have access to him. The media aide who issued a rebuttal did it only after making phone calls; he himself has no firsthand info.”
Calling a bluff of critics and doubting thomasses, he wrote again: “UPDATE: My source insists the late Governor is gone even though he still hasn’t been disconnected from life support. I understand that other than placing him on life support, First Cardiology Consultants is “currently not doing anything else” on him.
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And finally on the issue, the extra confident journalist tweeted:” *the former Governor is…”
The question is no longer whether Ajimobi is dead or not, it is about who commands more influence between Olawale Olaleye and Fisayo Soyombo.
On the answer to the question, time will surely tell as fingers remain crossed.
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