2007: Yorubas Under Oath
BY KAMAL TAYO OROPO
EVEN as the drumbeats for the 2007 elections take on a deafening din, the Yorubas may be under strict oath not to join the bandwagon until the most auspicious time.
Elder statesman and leader of the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Pa Emmanuel Alayande disclosed this in an exclusive interview with The Guardian.
"On the specific position of the Yoruba (in 2007), I have decided not to say anything yet, for now. We have taken an oath not to say anything yet. I am on oath. But to be candid, we have not taken a definite position on the politics of Nigeria yet; we are still keenly watching how events unfold."
Also commenting on Yorubas' current stand on the 2007 elections, the Acting Leader in Afenifere, Chief Rueben Fasonranti, said no decision had been taken on the issue.
His words: "We are yet to decide. It is a vital issue that will involve the entire Yoruba. We have not committed ourselves. When we get to the bridge, we shall cross it."
But a note of caution has come from Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo (retd), former military governor of old Western State.
Adebayo, also a member of the Yoruba Council of Elders, while reiterating the YCE blueprint, warned that politicians in the South-West should not cause problems for the region.
He counselled that politicians were "free to play their politics the way they like but they must not destroy the Yoruba race."
The comments of the elder citizens followed unconfirmed reports that the hierarchy of the YCE and Afenifere had decided to cast their lot for one of the presidential aspirants of northern extraction.
Particularly worrisome to watchers of recent political manoeuvrings in the South-West was the reported declaration of Alhaji Mudashiru Abiola, younger sibling to the late Chief MKO Abiola to support the aspiration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in 2007.
Babangida in 1993 annulled that year's June 12 presidential election that Chief Abiola was poised to win.
Thereafter, the succeeding Gen. Sani Abacha regime arrested Abiola for daring to claim the mandate from June 12. He eventually died in detention in 1998.
Also said to be pricking the conscience of concerned Yorubas was YCE and Afenifere weekend's joint rebuttal of the statement credited to the leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr Frederick Fasehun that the Yorubas would not welcome or vote for Gen. Babangida.
Both YCE and Afenifere, apparently enjoying a new rapprochement, said Fasehun could only be speaking for himself and the OPC, stressing that the Yoruba were free to take independent decision on the 2007 project.
However, speaking on the position of the Yoruba Council of Elders on 2007, Pa Alayande, was unequivocal that power should not shift to a section of the country so soon.
"What should be the position of the Yoruba in my own heart of hearts I think some sections of people have held on to power in this country for too long, and it would not be a very bad idea to have a change. I don't think it is most appropriate for power to return to the same place it had always resided.
"But then, politics is highly dynamic. I wish Nigerian people well in their decision. I don't want to see the domination of the Yoruba again by any other tribe; it may not be too pleasant. I don't want anyone to trample on the Yoruba principles and culture."
He admitted that those he might not really want to see returning to power may eventually succeed, adding, "I am not saying really that those that I am referring to may not carry the day eventually, but for me, I may never cast my votes for them."
Chief Fasoranti, like Pa Alayande explained that the recent meetings between the Afenifere and YCE had nothing to do with the 2007 elections.
He said: "The meeting(s) had nothing to do with the 2007. The meeting did not take place to screen either Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida or any aspirant for that matter, that is eyeing the presidency in 2007. The meeting was purely to ensure unity within the Yorubaland. It is all about Yoruba solidarity."
He denied that none of the aspirants had made contact with the leadership of Afenifere for support.
"Not that I know of within Afenifere; nobody has approached us officially. They might have made contacts with individuals in Afenifere, but not as a body. But when the time comes, we shall take a decision; we have not taken a decision," he said.
But Pa Alayande admitted that Major-Gen. Abdulkarim Adisa (retd) had been coming to canvass support for Babangida while Brigadier-Gen. Muhammed Buba Marwa (retd) had personally visited on the same project. And agents of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had dropped their candidate's manifesto for 2007.
