When hatred replaces reason: Joseph Edgar, Adetoun, and the abuse of tragedy, By Kayode Akinmade

If Joseph Edgar, author of the polemic titled “Adetoun Exposes Dapo Abiodun’s Under-performance,” had paused to consider the standing and institutional integrity of THISDAY newspaper—the platform he used to ventilate his habitual bile against the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun—he might have exercised a modicum of restraint. He did not. Instead, he joined a known blackmailer, Adetoun, in declaring—without evidence and without shame—that there is not a single ambulance in Ogun State.

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That Mr Edgar could make such a sweeping and demonstrably false claim while invoking THISDAY’s credibility speaks volumes about his relationship with truth. Like the criminal he praises, facts clearly do not matter to him. He went further to assert, absurdly, that no indigene of Ogun State has ever seen an ambulance in operation, while celebrating—without irony—what he described as a “Tomahawk cruise missile” thrown at Governor Abiodun by his “friend and sister.”

Having openly endorsed defamatory attacks on the governor by his so-called “influential and fearless blogger,” Mr Edgar should not now feign surprise when the law takes its course. This is a constitutional democracy, not a jungle governed by mob hysteria. And the law, indeed, will take its course.

The Anthony Joshua Incident: Facts Edgar Chose to Ignore

Before dissecting Mr Edgar’s outburst, certain facts must be stated plainly. World boxing champion, Anthony Joshua is like a son to Governor Dapo Abiodun. Following the tragic accident involving Mr Joshua, the governor did everything humanly possible to ensure his recovery. Contrary to the vile claim that he was in Ghana “partying and impregnating women,” Governor Abiodun was physically present at the hospital, deeply shaken by the incident.

It was through him that President Bola Tinubu spoke with Mr Joshua. Having once lost a biological son, the governor’s emotional response was entirely understandable. Mr Joshua is not a casual acquaintance; he shares a close personal bond with the governor and spends significant time in Nigeria with him and the Akarigbo of Remoland.

To accuse the governor of gallivanting abroad while his sports ambassador lay injured was not merely irresponsible—it was depraved. Yet this is vintage Adetoun, and it is therefore unsurprising that her lies found eager amplification in Joseph Edgar’s column.

A Disturbing Display of Intellectual Bankruptcy

One struggles to understand how anyone claiming sanity could write the following sentence:

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“Joshua’s accident cost him the lives of his two close buddies. His strained body was hoisted into a police truck and beamed worldwide, including on CNN and Sky News.”

Is Edgar suggesting that Governor Abiodun caused the reckless driving that led to the deaths of Joshua’s friends? After the accident, policemen attached to Mr Joshua’s convoy extricated him from the wreckage and conveyed him to hospital. That was the correct and humane response.

During the incident under reference, the security vehicle following Mr Joshua with trained security operatives made a good decision to move him immediately to the hospital despite the fact that an ambulance arrived subsequently. Should they have waited for the ambulance and lost valuable time, not knowing how bad a condition he was in?

There are ambulances in Ogun State. But when a victim is trapped in twisted metal, does one instruct first responders to wait idly for an ambulance before attempting rescue? If okada riders—acting in the finest Nigerian tradition of communal care—arrive first and rush a victim to hospital, is that evidence of infrastructural failure or of human compassion?

Instead of addressing the real issue—dangerous, reckless driving—Mr Edgar and his blackmailer-in-chief turned the tragedy into a political weapon against Governor Abiodun. Mr Edgar even gloated that the incident was aired on CNN and Sky News, as though international coverage somehow sanctifies recklessness. What, exactly, is the point?

Recklessness, Not Infrastructure, Caused the Tragedy

Stationary trucks break down worldwide. Removing them takes time—whether in Nigeria, Europe, or North America. Slamming at high speed into a stationary vehicle in broad daylight—around 11 a.m.—is the issue here, not the presence or absence of an ambulance.

Emergency responses on inter-state highways can be delayed anywhere in the world. Those who pretend otherwise merely advertise their ignorance.

Nigeria is a communal society. Accident victims are often conveyed to hospitals by the first people on the scene. This reflects empathy, not institutional collapse. That does not mean infrastructure challenges do not exist, but it is obscene to insult well-meaning citizens who shouted for Joshua to be rushed to safety.

Ambulances are not supernatural apparitions. Their arrival depends on distance, traffic, and logistics. Even if one had arrived earlier, would it have revived the dead?

Video evidence shows that the truck Mr Joshua’s vehicle collided with was off the road. The nature of the wreckage points inexorably to recklessness. Mr Joshua survived by sheer divine intervention—reportedly having swapped seats moments before impact. There is no escaping that conclusion.

Selective Outrage and Intellectual Dishonesty

Mr Edgar joined the chorus of those declaring that “Nigeria happened to AJ.” This is lazy thinking. Around the world, fatal accidents caused by speeding occur daily.

No one claimed that Spain “happened” to footballer Diogo Jota and his brother when they died in a fiery crash. No one said the United States “happened” to actor Paul Walker, who was travelling at nearly double the speed limit when he died in California. Blaming the government for every tragedy, regardless of cause, is the refuge of intellectual midgets.

Yes, FRSC officers can do more in regulating speed and removing broken-down vehicles. But Edgar’s obsessive hatred of Governor Abiodun—and of the Nigeria he claims to love—has obliterated his capacity for reason. He left leprosy to chase ringworm, parroting the claims of a blackmailer as though she were an oracle. What manner of columnist appoints himself errand boy to a blackmailer?

Cheap Insults and the Limits of Rabble Journalism

In responding to the Ogun State Government’s rebuttal of Adetoun’s libellous claims, Edgar sneered that Governor Abiodun appointed “party men instead of serious professionals” as communication managers—an insult aimed at the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy.

This is risible. No serious media institution—including the Nigerian Guild of Editors—would dismiss a media professional of over three decades’ experience, a two-time Commissioner for Information, and former Media Adviser to the Speaker of the House of Representatives in such crude terms.

But one cannot elevate a rabble-rouser beyond his natural station. Mr Edgar’s writing is fuelled not by reason but by bile—an attempt to repackage an accident caused by recklessness as proof of infrastructural failure.

That is not journalism. It is propaganda masquerading as outrage.

Mr Akinmade is Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun