In Defence of Dele Momodu by JJ Omojuwa

If you are wise, you won’t disrespect Bobdee in my mentions. I can respect someone as much as I respect him, but it is impossible for me to respect anyone more than I respect Chief Dele Momodu. If he became President today, I couldn’t respect him more.

Hate him or love him, everyone should learn from him. I’ll tell why. The real story is in the last half of what I sense could become a long post, so you can just skip and go there, if you aren’t a reader. This is intended for readers though. It’s for reflection.

I have known him for longer, like all of us who grew up in the world of Ovation magazine, but we only connected physically at an event in Lagos in 2012. He offered access from the go. But people offer me access all the time. That was great but it is not what stands him out.

Since then, he has gone out of his way to look out for me. He once told a billionaire (billionaire who treats money as money loves to be, not the honorary media title) that I was the only one he could recommend. He didn’t have to. There is nothing I can do that no one else can’t. And this isn’t just about me, this is who he is. But whilst this is rare in a world where people only care for what you can do for them, this isn’t also why he stands out.

He stands out because, for a few years now our politics haven’t aligned. If he passes left, I go right. Not intentionally. We just happened to not be on the same side. However, he has done more for me since that misalignment than even when we were. It just has never been an issue. Ever. Sounds normal, but it isn’t.

I have lost a mentor because I disagreed with them on Twitter. Especially on an issue said person would have been vocal about if it wasn’t their ally taking deserved shots for corruption at the time. Lol. One for which said person was later removed from office during the last administration.

At a time when some powerful friends and allies were deemed to be my source of wealth and opportunities- despite contributing less than zero opportunities but 1000 vibes as politicians often do- he was dropping my name in big rooms (Bobdee has direct access to every billionaire in Africa and everyone else that matters). He did all these whilst we publicly disagreed on politics, 2019, 2023 and as of today, 2027 too lol.

I’d keep stuff like this between me and him. But I decided not to at this time. Not just because of the unwise people taking shots at him in my mentions whilst expecting my roses. Because upon reflection, knowing what I now know, Chief Dele Momodu is rare.

We live in a world where people expect you to agree with everything they agree with, disagree with everything they disagree with and any signal that you aren’t aligned means they’d either disengage with you or stop supporting you. On account of that, we have become a country with more than one country’s fair share of zombies per capita.

Bobdee thrives socially as he has over the last 4 decades because he holds nothing against anyone for disagreeing with him. In a world where people are only comfortable with keeping robots as aburos, friends and allies, he’d rather you are a person of yourself. That may not mean much to some, but to some of us, that is everything.

Everything. Because I know people who can’t even support another football club just because their ‘oga’ supports one. Football. Soccer. A meaningless subject that holds meaning only as an important thing amidst the unimportant things. Lol. People be laughing like fools and the joke isn’t even funny. I get it. Trust me, I do. Thank God for people like Dele Momodu. I don’t have to laugh if the joke isn’t funny.