Oseni, Olayinka and the Gbewudani Metaphor

Niran Adedokun says two things about Nigerian politicians particularly sicken him: their ability to argue both sides at once and their apparent belief that Nigerians cannot read between the lines. He uses last week’s live-television clash over the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate as his case study.

During the Friday, September 4, 2026, edition of Arise Morning Show, Lere Olayinka, senior special assistant to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike on public communication and social media, lashed out at one of the programme’s anchors, Rufai Oseni. Olayinka declined to answer Oseni’s question, saying: “Well, I’m very sorry to say this, Oseni Rufai, I don’t want to answer any question from you. I want this conversation to be among reasonable human being (sic). People who will not come and describe other people as ‘gbewudani…’”

Co-anchor Ayo Mairo-Ese then interrupted and brought the interview to an abrupt end. Adedokun says the episode raises a separate question about Olayinka’s choice of words, but centers his article on the meaning of “gbewudani,” a Yoruba expression whose imagery carries more force than any simple English translation.

The term combines gba, meaning “to take,” ewu, meaning “clothes,” and dani, meaning “to hold for a while.” Literally, it evokes someone briefly holding another person’s clothes. Adedok writes that it traditionally described an excessively compliant man, especially a husband so beholden to his wife that the customary hierarchy of a Yoruba household appeared reversed.

The expression has since moved beyond domestic usage into political language. The article cites a 2020 study of code-switching among Yoruba-English bilinguals on WhatsApp, which reproduced a discussion of Ekiti politics. In that exchange, “gbẹ̀wùdání” was translated as “stooge.” Adedok presents the term as an example of how a culturally specific insult can acquire a broader political meaning.

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Well, I’m very sorry to say this, Oseni Rufai, I don’t want to answer any question from you. I want this conversation to be among reasonable human being (sic). People who will not come and describe other people as “gbewudani…”