The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has said that Nigerian universities should study how Nyesom Wike became a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, despite being a member of the opposition party.
The monarch made the statement on Thursday at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, during the 2025 Distinguished Personality Lecture, where Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was the keynote speaker.
Ooni described Wike’s appointment as a “mystery,” noting that it was unusual for a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be given a top role in an All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.
“For your career, I will particularly say that I give a very strong honour to the father of the nation, President Bola Tinubu. You belong to a different political party and yet can work together. You are part of this government. It is still a mystery. I don’t even know how it happened,” the Ooni said.
He continued, “For me, it is something that universities should be studying, and I mean it. It’s very important. Hate him or like him, what will be, will be. He is a politician to be studied.”
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The Ooni also praised Wike for staying politically relevant for more than 20 years and described him as a fearless politician who has earned respect, even from critics.
President Tinubu appointed Wike as FCT Minister in August 2023, after winning the presidential election earlier that year. Wike, a senior PDP figure and former governor of Rivers State, had refused to support his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over zoning disagreements.
During the election, Tinubu won Rivers State with 231,591 votes, ahead of Peter Obi of the Labour Party who scored 175,071, and Atiku who got 88,468 votes.
Shortly before his swearing-in, Tinubu publicly said he could not have won the election without Wike’s support.
Wike’s presence in Tinubu’s cabinet has continued to stir public interest, and now the Ooni believes it is a political development worthy of academic study.