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The bile
in Akande’s valedictory treatise
Almost sounding
like a philosopher king, the incisive and thought provoking treatise
of Chief Bisi Akande on his valediction penultimate Wednesday, filled
my thoughts. Coming from the heart of a man reputed as having a
great deal of integrity in a country where such claim is very scarce,
the piece also dominated discourses for a greater part of last week.
Laced with historical anecdotes and rendered in some excursion at
deep political analysis, the former governor of Osun State spoke
of a gloomy future for his people, the Yoruba in their newly found
political tent. His verdict on a post-Obasanjo rule for the Yoruba
is equally bleak and not too palatable. “When President Obasanjo
leaves power, it would be seen more clearly how the present crave
for Yoruba joining the so-called mainstream of Nigerian politics
could totally subordinate, if not completely enslave the Yoruba
people from their present enlightened professional height (which
is the envy of all other Nigerians) to the bug of money politics
and mass poverty which have always been prevalent in several other
parts of Nigeria”, he says.
His analysis
that progressive leaning parties are usually headed for golgotha
after the first term birth is also interesting and must compel some
re-thinking in the country’s progressive circle Not many will however
find Akande’s ides of May odious. Particularly for those who are
already having a ball and dancing themselves lame about their sudden
transformation as the new wheelers and dealers in the politics of
the West. Or those who even believe where to begin is to run the
bulldozer against Awo’s statute. His treatise may also be lost on
the cacophony of drummers, praise singers and hirelings of the new
helmsmen waiting in the wings for the spoils of office. Akande and
this writer seem to strike a chord on the future of the myriad of
groups posing as the new power brokers in the West.
It is predicated
more on a seven days wonder. In a piece titled Ige, Afenifere and
Yoruba Politics written in the National Interest early last year,
this writer had argued that to replace Afenifere, an organisation
founded 52 years ago as the most significant political player in
the West will require a lot of commitment, discipline and hard work.
Although the organisation appear on the wane owing to inadequacy
of its present ageing leadership to democratise its structure and
embark on a process of renewal, Afenifere still stands as the most
savvy, dogged and politically advanced structure that has ever emerged
from the West. Spanning from the birth of the Reformed Club, Afenifere,
founded in Owo in 1951 with late elder statesman, Chief Obafemi
Awolowo and some Yoruba technocrats in its fulcrum, remains the
only organisation that has existed for 52 years in the political
firmament of the West.
This is because
while other organisations were crystallised to consummate the immediate
political ambition of some individuals, the Afenifere was founded
to galvanise the collective vision and development of the Yoruba.
It is therefore a salute to the astute leadership of the founding
fathers and those who later inherited the mantle to have exploited
the potentials of the core structure to give expression to some
of the most virile political front organisations in the history
of the Yoruba and Nigeria. It is this fact that seem to underscore
my worry about the ability of the Yoruba Council of Elders (Egbe
Igbimo Yoruba) YCE led by Venerable Emmanuel Alayande and other
groups jostling to take over as the political bride in the West.
Like the Egbe demo and the Imeri group, which were conceived to
give fillip to the political ambition of late Premier of the defunct
Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola and former Chief of General
Staff, General Oladipo Diya respectively, the YCE was floated as
part of the ploy to carve out a base for President Olusegun Obasanjo
in the West. Since these organisations are inextricably tied to
the vagaries of the political aspirations of these individuals,
it is unthinkable for them to have a sustained life beyond this.
Their life flowing
from their history, structure and form is necessarily transient.
Just like Egbe demo and the Imeri Group led by Dr Bode Olajumoke,
it will be intriguing if we do not see the requiem of YCE after
the accomplishment of Obasanjo’s second term. Afenifere is not immutable.
And it is not altogether impossible for other organisations to side
step the Senator Abraham Adesanya led organisation, particularly
if it is hostile to democratising its structure and embarking on
a leadership renewal project. But that process has to be embedded
in a substitution of a superior mechanics that is steeped in discipline,
commitment and hard work. For instance an organisation that would
aspire to dominance in the affairs of the Yoruba in the future must
respond to the wish and desire of the people for autonomy within
a genuinely federally constituted Nigeria. It must also attempt
to douse the growing separatist tendency among the group now angling
for the creation of an O’dua Republic by offering a convincing alternative
agenda.
Even though
some notable scholars of Yoruba extraction have warned that a republic
founded by co-ethnics is not necessarily a recipe to peace, those
resolved on a separate identity from the Nigerian federation are
undaunted. In fact the committee charged with the task of designing
a flag, map, emblem, anthem, insignia and other paraphernalia of
the O’dua Republic has long completed its assignment. However the
much bandied talk about the Yoruba joining the mainstream of Nigerian
politics may make no meaning if not related to their age old cherished
aspiration for some form of autonomy. Haven looked at the plight
of a great chunk of the largely pauperised Niger Delta which have
voted for mainstream parties since independence, Akande’s venom
on the apostles of this new romance may make some sense.
Although you
cannot but share the former governor’s anxiety on the overwhelming
darts thrown at progressive leaning parties in Nigeria, some governors
of his Alliance for Democracy AD actually played ostrich with their
party’s chances by their utter disdain and spite for people oriented
programmes.
First published
in the Sunday Punch on June 8, 2003.
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