A throwback video from the year 2000 showing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then Governor of Lagos State, making a light-hearted, coup-themed joke about the late former Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, has resurfaced online and is currently generating reactions on social media.
In the footage, which has been trending across digital platforms, Tinubu is seen narrating an anecdote laced with humour while referencing the circumstances surrounding Nigeria’s first military coup of January 1966, during which Akintola was assassinated.
Speaking jokingly, Tinubu suggested that the late Akintola was believed to possess a mystical Yoruba ring capable of transforming him into different objects whenever danger approached.
“It is equally or not equivalent and it was the only recoup that got him away. They’ve given him this Yoruba charm that whenever the evil comes or the bullet comes, he can rub the ring and he will turn himself to a dog or anything he wishes,” Tinubu said amid laughter.
He further narrated that Akintola’s first son, Ambassador Yomi Akintola, was by his side when soldiers arrived during the coup.
“And Yomi was by his side that day the army came. Bullet hit the wall, now he rubbed the ring, tried to change to a stick, he didn’t change. He asked Yomi, ‘Omo, kini mo da?’” Tinubu said, using a Yoruba phrase meaning, “My son, what did I turn to?”
According to the narration, Ambassador Yomi Akintola responded, “Dad, you didn’t turn to anything,” a remark that reportedly sent the audience into loud laughter.
The video, recorded during a public engagement in Tinubu’s early years as Lagos governor, has resurfaced at a time of renewed public interest in the legacy of Chief Akintola, whose 60th remembrance anniversary is approaching.
While many online users have described the clip as harmless humour reflective of the era, others have debated its appropriateness given the historical significance of Akintola’s role in Nigeria’s political evolution and the tragic circumstanc
es of his death.
