Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria investigates the dynamics and challenges of ethnicity and elite politics in Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy. Wale Adebanwi demonstrates how the corporate agency of the elite transformed the modern history and politics of one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups, the Yorùbá. The argument is organized around the ideas and cultural representations of Ọbáfé:mi Awóló: wò: , the central signifier of modern Yorùbá culture. Through the narration and analysis of material, non-material and interactional phenomena – such as polit- ical party and ethnic group organization, cultural politics, democratic struggle, personal ambitions, group solidarity, death, memory and com- memoration – this book examines the foundations of the legitimacy of the Yorùbá political elite. Using historical sociology and ethnographic research, Adebanwi takes readers into the hitherto unexplored under- currents of one of the most powerful and progressive elite groups in Africa, tracing its internal and external struggles for power. Wale Adebanwi is Associate Professor in the Program in African American and African Studies at the University of California, Davis. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Ọbáfé: mi Awóló: wò: and Corporate Agency WALE ADEBANWI University of California, Davis © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, ny 10006, usa 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia 314-321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi - 110025, India 79 Anson Road, #06-04/06, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107054226 © Wale Adebanwi 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 First paperback edition 2015 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Adebanwi, Wale, author. Yorùbá elites and ethnic politics in Nigeriaa : Ọbáfémi Awólówò aand corporate agency / Wale Adebanwi, University of California, Davis. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-05422-6 1. Yoruba (African people) – Nigeria – Politics and government. 2. Yoruba (African people) – Political activity – Nigeria. 3. Yoruba (African people) – Ethnic identity. 4. Nigeria – Politics and government – 21st century. 5. Nigeria – Ethnic relations – Political aspects. 6. Awolowo, Obafemi, 1909–1987 – Influence. i. Title. dt515.45.y67a218 2014 320.9669–dc23 2013044462 isbn 978-1-107-05422-6 Hardback isbn 978-1-107-69666-2 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information For my wife, Tèmító: pé: , and my daughter, Liberty, who was named as a reminder of what humanizes us all. And in fond memory: of my loving mother, Mary, who departed as I was finishing the revision of this manuscript; and Sue Benson, whose initial supervision at Cambridge and generosity of spirit I will always treasure. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information Contents List of Illustrations page ix Acknowledgements xi A Note on Orthography xv List of Abbreviations xvii Introduction The ‘I’ as ‘We’: Corporate Agency in an African Lifeworld 1 part one 1 Elite Agency: The Making of a Modern Progenitor 31 2 The Secular Ancestor: The Political Life of a Dead Leader 71 part two 3 The Politics of Heritage: (Re)Constitution, Conservation and Corporateness in Yorùbá Politics 111 4 The Mantle of Awo: The Politics of Succession 138 5 Reconciliation and Retrenchment 164 6 How (Not) to Be a Proper Yorùbá 184 7 Seizing the Heritage: Playing Proper Yorùbá in an Age of Uncertainty 224 Conclusion Corporate Agency and Ethnic Politics 244 Bibliography 259 Index 285 vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information List of Illustrations maps I. Map of Yorùbáland in West Africa page xix II. Map of Yorùbáland in Nigeria xx III. Map of Yorùbáland xxi figures 1 ‘Founding Father’: Awóló: wò: ’s image on Nigeria’s 100-naira note 3 2 Awóló: wò: (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 33 3 The eight original members of the Action Group (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 39 4 Nigeria’s Founding Fathers. Left to right: Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Ọbáfémi Awóló: wò: at Whitehall in the 1950s (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 58 5 The leader and his people … Awo arriving at a campaign rally in 1979 (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 69 6 Awo lying-in-state (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 72 7 Awo’s mausoleum (Photo author) 90 8 Awo’s statue (Photo courtesy of Nigerian Tribune Library) 98 9 ‘The Vacuum’: the arcade after the destruction of the Statue (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 100 10 Awo and the UPN Governors in the Second Republic (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 115 ix © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information x List of Illustrations 11 Afé:nifé:re leaders. Left to right: Senator Ayo Fasanmi, the deputy leader of Afé:nifé:re, Chief Abraham Adesanya, the leader of Afé:nifé:re, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the deputy national chairman of AD, and (standing) Sir Olaniwun Ajayi (Photo courtesy Sir Olaniwun Ajayi) 139 12 AD Governors. Left to right: Lam Adesina, Bisi Akande, Bola Tinubu, Ade Adefarati, Segun Osoba, Niyi Adebayo (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 151 13 The Leader and his Vice: Adesanya (R) and Ige (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 165 14 President Olusegun Obasanjo (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 185 15 Professor Wole Soyinka and Justice Atinuke Ige (Photo courtesy Nigerian Tribune Library) 212 16 Tinubu and the ACN Governors: Left to right: Kayode Fayemi, Adams Oshiomola, Rauf Aregbesola, Tinubu, Ibikunle Amosun, Abiola Ajimobi and Babatunde Fashola (Photo by Okanlawon Taiwo) 225 17 The new Asiwaju: Governor Bola Tinubu (Photo by Okanlawon Taiwo) 228 18 Former United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, with Awóló: wò: ’s daughter, Dr Tokunbo Awóló: wò: Dosumu, at the Awóló: wò: Centenary Lecture in Lagos in March 2009 (Photo courtesy Ọbáfémi Awóló: wò: Foundation, Lagos) 245 19 At the 2012 Ọbáfémi Awóló: wò: Annual Memorial Lecture. Left to right: the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, Awo’s daughter, Tokunbo Awóló: wò: Dosumu, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, Olubuse II and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero (Photo courtesy Ọbáfémi Awóló: wò: Foundation, Lagos) 254 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05422-6 — Yorùbá Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria Wale Adebanwi Frontmatter More Information Acknowledgements This book took a decade to complete. It is rooted in my doctoral research, which started in 2003 at the Department of Social Anthropology and Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, UK. Thus, over the years, I have piled up a huge debt of gratitude, which I can never fully repay. My education as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge was an opportunity of a lifetime. I am immensely grateful to the Gates Cambridge Trust and the Overseas Research Students Award Scheme (ORSAC), UK, which jointly paid all the expenses for my graduate work at Cambridge. I thank all the scholars and staff running the Gates Trust, especially the first Provost of the Trust, Gordon Johnson, and the Executive Officer, James Smith. My initial supervisor at Cambridge, Sue Benson, gave me all the support that I needed. Even as she lay dying, she was concerned about my work and she did what she could to ensure that I was left in ‘safe hands’. Unfortunately, Sue lost her own battle in 2005; and so this work is partly a tribute to her. When J. D.Y. Peel, then at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, took over from Sue, I realized how fortunate I was that she had insisted he should take over her role as my supervisor. Professor Peel’s deep and expansive knowledge of my subject and the intellectual universe within which my research was located were invaluable. He ensured that I pursued my subject further, even after I left Cambridge, so I could turn the dissertation into a book. I am immeasurably grateful to him. For the funds for my initial fieldwork in Nigeria between 2005 and 2007, I am grateful to the Gates Trust, Cambridge African Studies Centre, the Department of Social Anthropology and Trinity Hall, Cambridge.