The reported governorship aspiration of a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Beulah Adeoye, is currently facing challenges on social media from many youths in the Southwest because of his choice of spouse.

Adeoye, a 43-year-old businessman and politician, is married to an Igbo woman, Ifeoma, and they are blessed with Anaya and Adella. He?s among those believed to be eyeing the seat currently occupied by Governor Seyi Makinde who is married to a Kalabari woman, Tamunominini.

While he?s yet to make an official declaration to contest the Oyo governorship election, his inclination in recent times has been towards the direction.

One of his first posts on X in 2025 read, ?As we navigate our shared vision for Oyo State, I am not entering this journey lightly. Leadership demands not only vision but also integrity, competence, and a willingness to engage with the complexities of governance. My commitment is to build on the progress we have made by creating pathways for growth that prioritise excellence, inclusivity, and accountability.?

This post was met with opposing comments that disregard any form of qualification he has to govern Oyo State. According to a majority of the comments, Adeoye is not qualified for having an Igbo wife.

?Your actions have spoken louder than any words ever could. You deliberately sidelined your Yoruba heritage by giving your children only Igbo names, erasing the Yoruba identity in your lineage. Now, you return to ask Yoruba women for their votes so you can bring your Igbo wife into the government house to preside over the very people whose culture and identity you dismissed,? said an X user, @EsugbayiEleko.

Another X user, @funshographix, said, ?You?re a Yoruba man, you married from Igbo ethnicity. In our culture, the kids must bear Yoruba name, instead, you gave them Igbo name. The irony is you want to contest as governor in Oyo State. Why are lots of Yoruba men so stupid??

@sucreblazing said, ?Sir, you see that First Lady position, never again will it be occupied by any woman from Igboland.?

@Saintmureign said, ?Beulah! Oyo people reject you today, we will reject you tomorrow and will reject you forever.?

?Baba Anaya wants to be governor of the mighty Oyo empire. This is not fictional Femi Adebayo Seven Doors movie. This is rea? life. The military and political capital of Yoruba people is not a place for Ifeoma-loving men,? said @yomiable.

Seven Doors, as cited by Yomiable, is a fictional Nollywood movie about a Yoruba king who made his Igbo wife his queen. When the movie?s trailer was released, many of those opposing Adeoye today criticised it. They expressed displeasure at the choice of an Igbo woman as queen in Yorubaland, citing it as a setback in the effort to preserve Yoruba culture.

While kicking against Adeoye ?s aspiration, they are also opposing the Jagun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Dotun Sanusi, who in October 2024 jettisoned his Oyo governorship ambition. Their critic?sm may not be unconnected to the fact that he may one day become the Olubadan of Ibadan while having an Igbo wife.

When contacted, Adeoye?s Chief of Staff, Ridwan Fasasi, said their camp was aware of the movement, especially the pushback witnessed during a Space chat held by his boss. However, he stated that he won?t be able to make any comment concerning the issue until his principal returns from his trip out of the country.

How the movement against non-Yoruba First Lady started

How did a people who voted Governor Makinde and his Kalabari wife to lead Oyo State suddenly grow a disdain for the political aspirations of Yoruba men married to women of other ethnicities?

This could be attributed to the outburst by Betty Akeredolu, an Igbo woman who is the immediate former First Lady of Ondo State. She became the first non-Yoruba First Lady since 1999 due to her marriage to ex-governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

Months after her husband?s death, Betty used a derogatory term on X to refer to Yoruba people whom she presided over for about six years before her husband died in office. She called them Ofemmanu, meaning ?palm oil soup people?

In banter with someone who challenged her on X, she also said, ?I dey laf o! Do you value marriage in your society? Infidelity is your DNA, both men and women. One wife in the house three or four others outside breeding. Ask Yoruba men who married Igbo women, why they chose us. Do you know your father? Is your mother living with your father? You bastard!?

Her post was met with outrage from Yoruba social media users who were disappointed in the payback they got from someone who held a highly respected office in their region. Her action, which she?s yet to apologise for, may be why the political aspirations of Yoruba men married to women of other ethnicities may be in jeopardy.

According to @Luwoleni who tackled Adeoye, ?Do you people read the room at all and study the mood of Yoruba people at the moment? After the nonsense Betty Akeredolu did in Ondo State, this one too wants to bring an Igbo woman as First Lady. Who cursed these Yoruba politicians??

@Tunbolity said, ?As much as I support the Oke Ogun governorship agenda, I don?t see you as the right candidate because it seems your Igbo wife will be at the driving seat in Oyo State and Ondo State people can confirm that such will end in premium tears for the people.?

Reacting, the Senior Special Assistant (Entertainment and Tourism) to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, comedian Seyi Law, who is married to an Igbo woman, said he found no fault in the movement against non-Yoruba First Lady.

He shared on X, ?I no blame my people one bit. I am from Ondo State, and what my people endured for over six years was horrible.?

In a chat with our correspondent, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos, Ogbonna Solomon, said Betty?s use of the term Ofemmanu was to draw people?s attention to the problem going on in the Akeredolu family.

?She was not saying it to hurt Yoruba people and their tradition. Hausa people call us Nyamiri; Yoruba people call us Ajeokutamamumi; Igbo people call Yoruba people Ofemmanu and call Calabar people Nne Nkita because they eat dogs. So, her purpose was to draw the attention of Yoruba elders to her plight because no one was intervening,? he said.

When asked if such derogatory term should be found on the lips of someone who once held a public office in Yorubaland, Solomon said people should consider what prompted Betty?s remark.

?Nobody has considered it. They should ask her what was said to her that prompted that remark. Ofemmanu is the nickname Igbo gave to Yoruba people who also call us Ajeokutamamumi,? he said.

The Jagun Olubadan of Ibadanland was also tackled by @Femiwashere who cited a news report about the disdain allegedly shown by his Igbo wife towards a traditional gift he received on his 55th birthday. According to him, ?This one is Betty Promax. She might even want to become Alaafin.?

@MrDhikr said, ?Wallahi, Dotun Sanusi?s wife is already out there causing a stir, giving people sliding tackle. What?s even more worrisome is that her weak husband has the potential to become Olubadan.?

Another Yoruba man spotted by the movement against non-Yoruba First Lady is Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu. This was after a group endorsed him to contest the 2027 governorship election in Lagos, a state once governed by his father whose wife, the current First Lady of Nigeria, is Itsekiri. Despite Seyi not declaring governorship ambition, opposition is already mounting from the movement because his wife is partly Igbo and of another nationality.

Reacting, the Ohanaeze leader in Lagos said, ?They should stop intermarriage first. They should stop Yoruba and Igbo marriages. Then we will know that they want to end any relationship they have with Igbo people. They should also examine the First Lady of Nigeria who is not a Yoruba woman.?

Also condemning the movement, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said such won?t influence the party?s choice of candidates.

He said, ?We follow our guidelines and rules in regards to candidates emerging. We have a constitution about citizens and qualifications. Your spouse is not a condition for you to be a candidate for a party. Is it??

He said many of those against a non-Yoruba first lady ?don?t even vote,? adding that ?they just make all the noise on social media and by tomorrow they?ve forgotten all about it.?

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, was not available for comment as his phone was switched off. (The Guardian)

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