The Trouble With Yoruba Leaders Page 1 of 5

The Trouble With Yoruba Leaders

by

Adenaiya Aiyekooto

A lot of people from within the Yoruba ethnic group and from other ethnic groups have expressed shock at the news of the formation of a new body - Yoruba Council of Elders, [YCE]

More shocking still was the fact that the inaugural meeting in Ibadan was attended by leading Yoruba elites in politics, business, the military, the academia, etc. Those shocked at the development are those who only read our newspapers and so got to hear only the views of the "leaders". They do not have their ears to the ground; they therefore do not hear the thunderous rumbling on the ground.

Let us take a good look at Afenifere first, especially the reaction of its leadership to the YCE project. The Ibadan meeting was boycotted by the vocal leadership of Afenifere, saying that it was an unnecessary and superfluous organisation, out only to divide the Yoruba the more. But Afenifere leaders are confusing me. Pa Solanke Onasanya says in a recent interview that Afenifere is open to all Yoruba. Chief Olu Falae says Afenifere is truly partisan, that it is not for anybody who is not a politician. I, however, tend towards Chiefs Ayo Opadokun and Ayo Adebanjo who say Afenifere is Alliance for Democracy, AD. Or does my reader know any APP or PDP politician of South-West extraction who is a member of Afenifere? I am Yoruba, of a proud pedigree and should, by right, be a strong member of Afenifere. But I am not because I am not A.D or tell me, what is discussed at Afenifere meeting apart from AD matters and perhaps (I'm not sure since I have never been at any of their meetings) lambasting Yoruba who do not belong to AD. I stand to be corrected.

Let me explain why I am not in A.D even though as a Nigerian, I don't think I owe anyone any apologies over my choice of association. I do not want to belong to a regional party, no matter what the Yoruba race wants to prove.

It is only a man with a complex who constantly has to prove something! In any case, most of the present core leadership and office holders joined that party only because in the South- West, that is where they were sure to "ri owo mu" - to get to the top.

On top of its very unattractive regionality, the leadership of the AD is also not very attractive. In State, for instance, the then chairman had the guts to tell us that Mr. A won the elections but Mr. B was declared winner because of certain sentiments. Political engineering a la IBB.

The party has no account, or so everyone believes. Donations and deposits against party primaries were paid to individuals - all cheques were written in one elder's name and all cash paid to another elder. I understand that the latter elder would even instruct you to arrange the money in his wardrobe! And when they are queried, they say they are doing that because UPN lost a lot of money when Buhari took over and they do not want a repeat performance. Let us now look at the other arguments put forward by different Afenifere leaders to discredit the YCE. The presence of Olusegun Agagu, minister of power and steel in the Obasanjo

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regime, at the Ibadan meeting they find very suspicious. To make matters worse, Agagu donated N250,000 which goes to show that Olusegun Obasanjo is sponsoring the YCE. Pray, what's wrong with that? If today, Obasanjo writes an application to Afenifere, countersigned by Clinton and Blair, will he be admitted into the puritan cult? Of course not.

Afterall, he is PDP, not AD. And tell me, shouldn't Obasanjo be ashamed that his own people do not have their own 'Arewa' or 'Ohaneze'? Talking about sponsorship, who is sponsoring Yusuf Mamman? We hate the military with a passion. This young man was Aikhomu's press secretary. He performed "well" and as usual in those days, he was compensated with an ambassadorial posting. God knows whose toes he stepped on during Abacha's reign of terror.

I blame him, as having been not just part of the system, but in the "second" corridor of power, he should have known better. He was recalled and hauled into Alagbon.

That's how he met the June 12 sitters and standers. And that brief stint in Alagbon was enough to make him a hero, all his past actions forgiven and forgotten. But as press secretary to the then No 2, what was and is his present relationship with the then No 1? Afenifere leaders won't look deeply into that because Mamman is more Afenifere than the Yoruba man. He fawns all over the leaders, always managing to look lost in their midst. But if Mamman had come in, on say 's back, there would have been chaos and mayhem.

Senator Abraham Adesanya says the YCE will divide the Yoruba and confuse the race. Right now, how many organisations do we have? Yoruba Leaders Forum, YLF, which gave birth to the Pan Yoruba Congress which in turn mid-wifed the Oodua Development Council - according to Chief Olu Falae. Three groups. So what's wrong with a fourth? Believe me, we are all confused. In any case, YLF is an off-shoot of Afenifere. So those of us who do not belong to Afenifere would be like fish out of water in YLF. And this Oodua Development Council, how many outside Afenifere know enough about it? I don't. And I read at least four newspapers every day. Who have they reached out to outside the Afenifere and AD? In my local government, I say with all sense of modesty that if there had been any reaching out, I would have heard. One sore point among the leaders of AD and Afenifere is the Bola Ige factor. I don't think there is a single member of the group's hierarchy (or to use the mischievous expression, the Ijebu mafia) who deals with Bola with any trust.

YCE is seen as Bola's political project. I disagree with Bola Ige over his much touted anger at the outcome of the Afenifere primaries. I happen to know that all through his siddon look SDP days, he gave support to Olu Falae, explaining that it was Ajasin, Onabanjo, Jakande and himself who influenced Falae's decision to join partisan politics.

And so he and Jakande, the only two alive, had no moral authority to oppose Falae. So, when did Bola change gear? Why did he think it had to be him? And what moral right did he have to believe so, after he refused to step down for Pa. Alayande, even after Chief Awolowo intervened, promising Bola a ministerial appointment? He is reported to have said he wouldn't leave certainty for uncertainty! - an indication that he didn't believe that Awo would win the federal elections - damning enough for a true 'Arole' in the making. But even with all that, must his every step be dogged with distrust? Or is there much more to this? Is Bola feared so much that he has to be constantly battered by Afenifere leaders? Unwillingly, they are only helping to lionise him, to build a mystique around him.

Bola Ige is accused of having a caustic tongue. But I believe that is part of the conditions of being an Afenifere leader! All of them are guilty.

Remember Chief Ayo Adebanjo's comment on Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife - he has no following because he couldn't deliver his state to AD. So he should be seen, not heard, at meetings.

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But the man won elections as the only SDP governor in the South East zone. And I don't know how many serious elections Adebanjo himself has won.

Chief Ayo Opadokun says of inaugural members of YCE - "None of these people ever won any election in their background" (sic). This is coming from a man who just lost a senatorial bid in his native Kwara! And in any case, YCE says it is apolitical, so winning/losing elections is not a qualification for membership that should be for Afenifere, the confessed Yoruba version of A.D. Which now puts Opadokun himself in a ridiculous position, having lost an election and still strutting around as a forever secretary. And aside from Pa Adesanya, in recent memory, who among these leaders has won any serious election, not delegates election, which one of them even almost lost? The same Opadokun told the public that Ige was to be expelled from Afenifere but was let off as a result of sentiments. Is that how parties are run? Do they have a disciplinary committee that examines every allegation dispassionately? Another of their arguments for YCE being Bola's project is that he is a leader in Oyo/Osun and the axis is angry. Justifiably so. Why indeed by-pass Pa Alayande who is older than Pa. Adesanya? Alayande started with Chief Awolowo before the was formed in 1951. I don't know when Adesanya started but it certainly wasn't that early. At least, he became well known when he became a senator in 1979. Poor Alayande! Ige didn' t step down for him in 1979 and Adesanya has usurped his position twenty years after! Even the now populist principle of rotation prescribes Oyo/Osun. It was Lagos/Ogun (Awolowo) then Ondo/Ekiti (Ajasin) and should now be Oyo/Osun. So only the governors of Oyo and Osun were at the Ibadan meeting because they are Ige's political disciples. Thank God we still have among our leaders, those who value loyalty, place premium on it and choose not to betray their friends, which cannot be said of some of the Afenifere leaders. I ask again why by-pass Alayande? Is it because he is seen as Ige's man?

From the start, that is after June 12 and after Ajasin's death only two former UPN governors were still alive, Jakande had already fallen out of favour. Bola Ige was therefore the only one among them who had gubernatorial power. Some jealousy crept in as I know it did for all the UPN governors when they were ruling. Only the voices of Awolowo and the governors were heard then and many of the present "leaders" were merely party workers, as opposed to policy makers with Bola Ige all alone, it was an opportune time to clip his wings and build themselves into a cult, playing on the fact that Yoruba like to listen to stories of old and these leaders could "tell" stories about their "tales by moonlight" days with Chief Awolowo. It used to amaze me that these disciples didn't know their master as much as I, a very young acolyte, did.

Afenifere people now complain about General Diya being at the Ibadan meeting. He was there to please Obasanjo they say. Good for him. Wasn't it these same Afenifere leaders who fraternised with the man who called them "Agbako" as soon as he was released and began massaging their egos? If they make the first move, it is okay. If somebody else does, it is not okay.

Like it is alright for Ndubuisi Kanu to be on the right side of the Ijebu mafia. But he was on General Omu's panel, the one that sentenced Bisi Onabanjo to 21 years imprisonment over the famous N2.8 million kick-back to UPN. And anyway, Onabanjo is dead, so why bother? And if Kanu had not been with them, they would have been shouting their puritanical voices hoarse, saying he was not good enough to even sit with. Just as Richard Akinjide of the 122/3 fame is not good enough to sit with.

An AD chieftain who pleaded anonymity in one of the dailies raised two issues that I consider laughable. Adewale Thompson and Pa. Alayande served under Ige; that is why they are in YCE. Again I say, thank God for loyalty.

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Then, Lam Adesina, Ige's protege, will make Funsho Alayande a high court judge. So what? Is Funsho Alayande qualified to be a judge? Is Pa Adesanya's daughter qualified to be a minister of the federal republic? Is Adesanya's son qualified to be a supervisory councillor in Apapa local government? Is Ganiyu Dawodu's son qualified to be a commissioner of Lagos State? Is Governor Adefarati's friend's son qualified to be a deputy governor? The list is endless.

In an interview with The Comet, Pa Onasanya began by saying the YCE poses no threat to Afenifere. I couldn't agree with him more. He told us that Afenifere has been in existence since 'Egbe Omo Oduduwa' days. But he forgot to tell us that the 'Egbe' itself was a break- away faction from the Nigerian Youth Movement. The breakaway being led by Chief Awolowo with Bode Thomas, S.L. Akintola, N.A. Ogun etc. H.O. Davies, Adeniran Ogunsanya, T.O.S. Benson etc remained behind. Egbe Omo Oduduwa became the Action Group and those left behind became N.C.N.C. Pa Onasanya says Afenifere was synonymous with A.G.

and UPN. But since he and his colleagues were on sabbatical during the SDP days they will not remember that Afenifere was definitely not synonymous with SDP. Afenifere reared its head again after the confusion that marked Abacha's incursion into the polity. Pa Onasanya went on to "curse" that YCE would go the way of 'Egbe Omo Olofin' and 'Yoruba Parapo'. Remember the two groups? One broke away from the Yoruba mainstream politics and the other tried to be a reconciliatory body. The general belief is that 'Egbe Omo Olofin' fizzled out because it didn't have the blessing of Chief Awolowo.

But who says YCE does not have Awolowo's blessing from beyond the grave? Afterall, his wife and son were at the Ibadan meeting. Mama H.I.D. Awolowo knows only too well, and I agree with her, that at her age, she should not really belong to a partisan group. And she, more than anyone else, knows our present crop of leaders very, very well, no matter what stories we are told.

And in any case, who out of our present leaders is like Awo who was so thorough and true in all he did that merely being angry with you could cause your political collapse! And have they thought that perhaps, just perhaps, YCE could, like 'Egbe Omo Oduduwa', arise out of schism and gain ascendancy? Afenifere leaders believe they should be hero-worshiped and considered omniscient because they stood up against Abacha. Yes they fought him. But not all of us could have been commanding officers of their 'army'. In any case, they hugged the 'army' to themselves, made it a cult. I understand that speakers at the meetings held in Chief Falae's house were chosen at the pleasure of the leader. Any new comer was treated like a piece of furniture.

No wonder people stayed away, even those who were genuinely interested in fighting the cause.Politics in the old Western region under Chief Awolowo was a kind of cult.

That is no longer feasible. Even with the charisma of Awo, Ibadan and Ilesha were not AG. They were NCNC. Why on earth do our present leaders want us all to be in Afenifere/AD? Which one of them has half Awo's charisma, strategy, tactics, organisational ability or, in fact, just plain common sense? Did we ever hear of factions in the AG or even UPN? What do we have now? Every state has two or three factions of AD, except significantly Oyo and Osun states and , whose governor, along with his father, have tasted the caustic tongues of the Afenifere leaders. General Adebayo is the most senior Yoruba army officer still alive today. No matter what, shouldn't we accord him some respect? Our culture demands it. But no, our leaders don't do that. And because they display double-standards in eveything, they feel free to criticise the youths for doing exactly what the leaders are doing.

Ijebu-Igbo says there can be no dichotomy between AD/UPN and Afenifere. So since those of

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us who are not AD/Afenifere are no less Yoruba, we must be somewhere. The Ibadan YCE meeting gladdened my heart. I was not there because I thought it was for 60-year-olds and above. But now that I know that I am qualified, YCE is it for me! What is this fear of YCE? If you are sure of yourself, of the role you are playing, of the service you are rendering, there is nothing to fear.

There are many like me who are not interested in the politics being played now but who genuinely love our race. So Afenifere will not and cannot accommodate us. Only YCE can and probably will.

The talk in the air now is the handshake across the Niger. I salute the southern governors who have met. Everything will be smooth sailing until the 2003 presidential elections. Then, we will all realise that partisan politicians will not shake hands across the Niger. I forsee them trading hard words and punches! In any case, after the treatment meted out by Afenifere to the likes of Oyegun, Ezeife, Bassey Ekpo Bassey, Arthur Nwankwo, etc., any handshaking even at a contrived meeting, will only be superficial. But YCE can be more successful in shaking hands with Ohaneze, both being non-political but socio-cultural. Afenifere is definitely not the messiah. Neither do I think YCE will necessarily be. The Yoruba, as a people, will have to be their own messiah.

In other words, I am saying that I am not swallowing the YCE idea hook, line and sinker. I am watching and listening. Listening to things said and things left unsaid. YCE is to analyse, appeal, persuade. It should not be as rigid and as 'puritan' as Afenifere/AD. YCE cannot afford to be - your child cannot be so bad that you go and have him killed. All the same, I am watching for signs of derailment, of unnecesary sentiments, of politicisation. If and when we get to that bridge, we will cross it.

In the meantime, since I am not an AD politician, since I have not been detained or been to jail, I really cannot aspire to leadership within the ranks of Afenifere. And at over 50 years of age, I can legitimately aspire to the leadership hierarchy in any organisation I belong to.

Therefore, with numerous professionals of my age, who have a tiny bit to contribute to the growth of the Yoruba nation, YCE is it for now!

The writer is a Lagos based commentator on national affairs.

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