This past week, Nigeria witnessed the twilight of two towering figures, each leaving behind a legacy, though not of equal weight in our hearts.

On the same day, we lost His Royal Majesty Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, and President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s former military and civilian leader. History will forever link them in death, but for many of us, their legacies stand in stark contrast.

With maternal roots in Ijebuland, this loss is deeply personal. Oba Adetona was more than a monarch, he was a symbol of cultural pride, continuity, and moral clarity in a world that often strays from its roots. For over 65 years, he held the mantle of leadership with grace, wisdom, and dignity, earning him the honour of being the longest-reigning king in Yorubaland until his passing. The Ijebu people, and indeed all Yoruba sons and daughters have lost a father figure, a guide, a moral compass. May his soul find sweet mercy before God, and may his memory remain a wellspring of inspiration for generations to come.

In contrast, the passing of President Muhammadu Buhari evokes a complex wave of emotion. As a Christian, I believe in the mercy of God and the forgiveness extended to all mankind, including leaders who wielded great power. And so, I extend that prayer to him: May God forgive his sins, as He forgives ours.

But as a Yoruba woman, I cannot ignore the pain and loss his administration represents. During his tenure, we witnessed a season of unchecked impunity, particularly by Fulani herdsmen, who ravaged our farmlands, terrorized our women, and shattered the peace of countless communities. Arrests, if they occurred at all, were fleeting. It was as though justice turned a blind eye, and the law forgot our names. Our people suffered. Our silence was not peace, it was grief.

Perhaps no story better embodies that grief than that of Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, a man who rose in defense of Yoruba lives when many others looked away. His activism made him a marked man. Under Buhari’s rule, his home was violently raided, his loved ones killed, and his entire livelihood dismantled. He, too, was nearly lost, forced into exile. Now in Germany, far from the land he once protected. A man with thriving businesses, rooted in Ibadan, reduced to silence and separation. Though the courts later ruled in his favour and ordered compensation, the government turned a deaf ear. Justice delayed became justice denied.

His story is not just about exile. It is about erasure, of dreams, dignity, and belonging. That is a legacy we must not forget.

And how can we speak of his era without remembering the EndSARS movement, a moment when the youth of this nation rose with clarity and courage to demand an end to brutality. Instead of being heard, they were met with gunfire. Lives were cut short at their prime. Dreams were silenced at the altar of state violence. What was meant to be a cry for justice turned into a night of ordered bloodshed, most infamously at the Lekki Toll Gate. To this day, justice remains elusive. Their names may never be engraved in marble, but they are etched in the hearts of a generation that will not forget.

If only they had not passed on the same day. I would have preferred to honor Buhari and Awujale individually, giving each man the reflection his story deserves. But Providence has written it this way, and we are left to hold both truth and tribute in one breath.

May God grant both souls rest, and may our nation learn to distinguish between power and purpose, leadership and legacy.

Titilola Aboyade-Cole

Transformational & Legacy Coach