RE: DR. TOPE FASUA AND THE N1,500 DAILY FEEDING STRATEGY, BY JOSEPH EDGAR, THE DUKE OF SHOMOLU.
A REBUTTAL BY ADE EBIMOMI.
I can not, and will not say anything negative publicly about Tope. I will not join others in criticizing or dissing him. And here are the 3 main reasons why I won’t:
1 .Tope is a much-loved and highly respected aburo who calls me “Egbon” and gives me my well-earned reverence in return as colleague-economists, as products of the great OSUA, and as former partners/consultants for the CBN on a project some 12 – 13 years ago.
2 .Just as I have Tope’s direct line, my sitting room is always open and welcoming to him; that was where we sat when he came to discuss and seek my opinion and support for his then- burgeoning foray into presidential election. So it stands to reason that if and when I have anything to say about his actions or utterances about his current work at The Presidency, the sensible and the egbon-ish thing to do (for me, at least) is pick up my phone and either call or send a message.
Just like Barr. Femi Falana, SAN, kept his mouth shut and a lid on his firebrand criticism for the entire 8 years of the Buhari/Osinbajo solely because of his life-long friendship with the former VP (he admitted as much), it is imperative that friends and egbons and professional colleagues DO NOT diss, or join others in dissing their own. Tope is part of my own in every respect particular, my own aburo, my own colleague, and my own friend. I will not join others in rubbishing him or even defending him – for he is more than capable of defending himself.
3. Some 13 – 15 years ago, I came to the educated opinion – and wrote same in one of my published articles in ThisDay newspaper and in several of my Facebook posts then – that Tope is by a long mile the most brilliant Economist that has come out of our alma mater (I stand to be corrected) and certainly one of the most brilliant this country has seen in recent history.
I didn’t come to this conclusion lightly. As an Economist, I have read Tope’s treatises on both macroeconomics and microeconomics issues especially as they concerned Nigeria, and each time I read his works, it was like reading a modern-day Wealth of Nation by Adam Smith, or Karl Marx’s works on philosophy, economics and politics. I have watched and listened to his facts-based, impassioned, strong and almost faultless arguments on economics on TV for so many years. I have consumed the books he wrote. I once asked him how he made time to research his works before publishing – and those books are thoroughly researched! – while he worked round the clock as an Economist, a business analytics professional, and a business owner and was silently working to earn a PhD degree (he owns Readers and Leaders Bookshop Ltd, which carried my own book for a while, along with countless titles). Most importantly, I have worked in close proximity with Tope, so I know him, in the real sense of the word.
Tope is one of the very rare breeds of PhD in Nigeria of today holders who actually and honestly worked and studied, in a formal university environment, to earn his own doctorate degree. It wasn’t given to him, and, unlike many “Drs” in Nigeria today, he didn’t just pluck it out of the sky and slammed it as a suffix to his name.
But while you all correctly and rightly address him as “Dr. Tope Fasua”, he is still and will likely forever be simply “Tope” (or “Topsy) to me.
And yes, in spite of and irrespective of the disrespecting claims on social media today, I still hold on very strongly to the opinion that Tope is one of the most brilliant economic minds in Nigeria today.
No, he’s not the Economic Adviser to the President. He is a Special Adviser on Economic Matters in the Office of the Vice President. And I sincerely was a bit disappointed when that appointment was announced as I believed it would end up being a waste of his brilliance. What policy formulation does the Vice President make?
I had called Tope when the honcho of a very important federal MDA was being headhunted because I sincerely believed he was rightly qualified for it and that position would try his talents. I had convinced the head-hunter (who only needed to forward her recommendation to the Presidency then) about my conviction but Tope couldn’t take up the offer as he told me then that something was brewing at the Presidency, only for me to find out it was just as an Special Adviser to the VP on Economic Matters. (No, I couldn’t personally take up the position because of my relationship with the headhunter; it would have been an arm’s length deal and resulted in serious conflict of interest).
I had once told Tope, about 10 years ago, that I looked forward to the day he would be asked to run the CBN. That was the extent of my trust and believe in his financial knowledge and economic skills.
Tope is way too big to be a Special Adviser to anyone other than the President. Yes, I said that. And even then, especially if you know how the Presidency works, his mind may not be put to optimal use, and we may not know or get the best of him – which appears to be the case now.
While others may continue to find their own faults in his words or actions, I, Ade Ebimomi, cannot and will not. I know too much about Tope to be swayed by one or two lines, probably misquoted, they attribute to him. And, more importantly, I know what it means to work for and with politicians.
And, no, Joseph Edgar, the so-called Duke of Shomolu, is most certainly NOT in a position – not by a country mile – to write a diss piece on Tope. He is just not qualified to. To all intents and purposes, he is attempting to punch far above his own weight.
I think, very strongly, too, that he is just an empty loudmouth who loves to carelessly drop names for clout. And a woose, too. Some of his past write-ups clearly prove this.
I had, several times, asked my friend, Segun Adeniyi, the Chairman of ThisDay Editorial Board, what was it that qualified Edgar to be given a platform on the reverred newspaper.
His writings are so pedestrian, non-cerebral, non-engaging, most often times illogical and largely shallow.
Truth is, on an intellectual level, Edgar, the so-called Duke of Shomolu, cannot tie the shoe laces of Tope. Not now, not anytime soon.
He shouldn’t be speaking where Tope speaks. And certainly not be writing diss pieces on him. It just jangles all senses.
By:
~ Ade King Ebimomi, Abuja, April 7, 2025 ..
