Chief Dare Babarinsa is one of journalism’s highly respected seniors… No, he is indeed one of our fathers in the Nigerian journalism profession. He weighed in on the popular video of that recent incident between Nigeria’s First Lady and Yeye Asiwaju Oodua, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and the Osun State governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, in Ile-Ife. The obviously impolite interjection of Mrs. Tinubu in Governor Adeleke’s songs which preceded his speech at an official event, was seen by nearly everybody present at the event. It was also recorded by the various media outfits covering the elaborate ceremony.
Of course, Mrs. Tinubu’s action took over the centre stage in media attention. Millions of Nigerians who ordinarily didn’t know that she was in Ile-Ife, Osun State got to know and saw only her dramatic exchange with the governor via the social media. The video trended so much that it simply overshadowed the tenth anniversary celebration of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi. Many of those who saw the video of Mrs Tinubu at Ife would wonder what the event was; and they would only learn that Oba Ogunwusi installed Mrs. Tinubu as the Yeye Asiwaju Oodua as part of the ceremonies.
It was a typical media event which attracted media houses from far and near. So many uninvited media outfits would be part of the day’s events, surely. Social media warriors, bloggers, influencers, streaming agents and outfits, etc., were sure to be part of the day. Society newspapers and magazines, television stations and the regular media houses were also expectedly on ground. That tenth anniversary of the coronation of Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi was indeed a big media event. And also because it attracted respected dignitaries from all walks of life, it would attract all kinds of media outfits.
Our dear Oga, Dare Babarinsa himself, was also an important part of the epoch. Of a fact, he played a major role in recording the events to mark the Ooni’s tenth coronation anniversary. A book entitled: “Becoming Oodua: The Story of an African King”, which Mr. Babarinsa himself edited, was presented as part of the events that preceded the grand finale of the anniversary celebration, which took place on Sunday, December 7, 2025.
When that incident involving Madam Oluremi Tinubu and Governor Adeleke became the talk of the town in the place of the main desirable events of the tenth coronation anniversary of the Ooni, Oga Dare Babarinsa made a social media post about the video. It was a Facebook post in which he said the trending video which attracted severe criticism of the new Yeye Asiwaju Oodua’s action from nearly everywhere, was an AI-generated video. Our Oga’s post came as a shocker to some of us because there were abundant media people at the event who could readily testify against such standpoint. His was one contention which many saw a deliberate ploy to misinform or, at best, a good old move to divert attention from the main issues of character flaw and imperious personality.
Mr. Babarinsa titled the Facebook post “AI and an impressive scam”. He wrote: “Recently, a so-called video clip of what happened at the 10th coronation anniversary of our father, the Ooni last Sunday December 7, 2025, surfaced where the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, purportedly challenged Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State while he was delivering his speech. The truth is that the clip was AI-generated by some people with diabolical sense of humour. No one interrupted Adeleke during his brief. I know because l was standing next to him. The AI job was so well done that many credible people fell for it. There must be a way in which the government can save innocent citizens from these brilliant criminals. It was an impressive scam!”
The post above fell way below the expectation of many of us who deeply respect Mr. Babarinsa. However, I was not disappointed. No, it was way beyond that. And I was not just shocked, I was completely gobsmacked. I read the post again and again to be sure of what I was reading. I assured myself it was not what he meant… and that the trending video was artificially generated. I kept looking at the post, trying hard to ensure that I caught a whiff of sarcasm or anything that would just whisper “Na play Ogadey play.” I sniffed and sniffed to no avail. Indeed, our dear respected senior tried to take away from the main issues and create another blameland.
However, Mr. Babarinsa’s Facebook post took from Madam’s flak and successfully diverted some critics’ attention. Some of those who commented under the post even agreed with him that the video was AI. He thus partially succeeded in creating a new victim for the missteps of our First Lady. The new fall guy is AI Technology. Like a 1989 song that urged one to look for an element to blame for one’s mistakes, Mr. Babarinsa has blamed AI for the wrongdoing of Yeye Asiwaju Oluremi Tinubu. Milli Vanilli sang: “You’ve got to blame it on something; whatever you do, don’t put the blame on you, blame it on the rain, blame it on the stars.” So, for what the world saw, we must blame AI, according to our dear Oga. Haba now!
So, it is indeed real that one of our most respected seniors in the profession either fell for the AI spin, or perhaps he spun it himself. He actually said that the event which was being streamed live by numerous groups and individuals, was not what we were seeing – you know those typical responses in Nollywood cheating scenes: “It is not what you think” or “I can explain.” He tried to explain through the AI positioning that the trending video is not what we thought.
Thankfully, other senior journalists reacted to Chief Babarinsa’s post, and not a few of them strongly disagreed with him. One of them is Chief Dele Momodu, who said it was not true that the video was AI. He said so in such plain terms without taking anything from the respect he has for Chief Babarinsa. To clear any form of doubt in his submission, Chief Momodu said he had a crew of his Ovation TV on ground at the ceremony and that he had the video.
Why would anyone generate an AI video of such an event and create that kind of embarrassing and controversial scenario? Why would such “people with diabolical sense of humour” involve no less a personality than the Nigerian First Lady in their creative but warped imagination? Why would it be only a few people that saw the video as AI as against the hordes of others who witnessed the event and also recorded it? I think our dear Chief Babarinsa would help us with these questions.
AI is a very useful tool and no one should doubt the fact that there would be a world of mischief which it could be used for. However, is it so difficult to spot an AI video or identify one after a little inquiry? I hope we would not get to where we would generate AI videos of important events involving our highest officials and embarrass them and ourselves with such videos. This doesn’t look or sound like a wise thing to do. and that is why it is curious how Chief Babarinsa arrived at the idea of AI in explaining the obvious.
