BETWEEN TINUBU AND EL RUFAI By Bode Opeseitan

There are moments in politics when the noise falls away and a simple human gesture reveals the deeper architecture of character. The relationship between Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nasir El-Rufai has travelled through every season. They were allies. Then adversaries. Then El Rufai found himself detained on allegations of corruption and of constituting a security risk after admitting to wire‑tapping the National Security Adviser. The political rupture seemed complete.

Then his mother died.

In that instant, the Federal Government granted him compassionate bail to bury her. It was a small administrative act on the surface, yet it carried the weight of something larger. What stunned me was the condolence letter Tinubu sent to El Rufai. It was measured, dignified and sincere. It was compassion at full height. Leadership at its most elemental. Humanity stepping forward at a moment when grief strips every man of his armour.

In the Yoruba moral universe, iwa loba ewa. Good conduct is the crown of beauty. It is the heart of the omoluabi ideal. On this matter, Tinubu chose the higher ground. He reminded a fractious nation that political conflict is not a licence to wish another person ruin. He offered a counter‑narrative to a country where strife, suspicion and reckless rhetoric have become the daily diet.

There is a lesson here for the political class. A reminder that power is transient, that relationships outlive elections, that kindness is not weakness. A reminder that love, in its quiet and unadorned form, remains the most durable currency of human interaction.

My condolences to Nasir El Rufai. My appreciation to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for choosing nobility over bitterness. May our politics learn from this moment.