The agitation for Sovereign National Conference has gained momentum of recent. And there appears to be no end to this particularly when government policies do not give hope to the common man who make up the numerous ethnic nationalities of the country. In this interview, Mr Rotimi Obadofin, President,of United Self Determination platform of Oodua (USEPO) gives insight into present agitation in the last couple of months.
Excerpts:
In the agitation for national conference, where do we place your organisation?
It is one of our demands, our organisation, USEPO is asking for autonomy for Yoruba people. And if we can get this through, it is better for us.
We believe it is the most civilised way of getting the autonomy. Where there will be no blood shed, where we sit around the table and discuss our problems and see where we can compromise.
But the government of the day doesn’t seem to buy the idea of national conference?
In most times, it is like that. During the era of apathied, it was so, Botha and a host of them, did not agree to the independence of the black people.
The black people fought for it. There is no government that would surrender easily like that except if such government is sponsored by pro-conference activists. Outside this, it is impossible to see any government that would ordinarily embrace this type of idea with both hands. Until you fight them, just as we did against the government of Abacha to democratise, it wouldn’t come cheap.
So nothing is new in what government is doing?
Yes, nothing. The status quo and the protectors of the status-quo would always want the status-quo to remain. It is the victims of the status-quo that would rise against the status-quo. That is why it is a mistake for President Olusegun Obasanjo to announce that he won’t convoke a sovereign national conference. This is enough to provoke anger in the people. Before the end of his tenure, there is no Yorubaman that would fold his hands that the military should come back.
Chief Anthony Enahoro and quite a few have made some move to actualise national conference, what is your organisation doing in this regard?
Well, it is a good step in the right direction if it could be sustained. You should know that people are approaching the issue of the confab from different angles. It still amounts to the same thing. Let all of us turn the heat against the protector of this status-quo, that is the so-called Nigeria nation state is not acceptable. All of us are with Chief Enahoro. Any step that would lead to the convocation of the conference either by individuals or government supervising it, we support it.
You have talked about freedom for the Yoruba, but a Yoruba man is the president of the nation, are you saying the Yoruba are still enslaved despite having one of their own as the president?
When Bishop Abel Muzorewa was formerly the president of Rhodesia now Zimbabwe, the blacks were not free and that the freedom they were fighting for was not realised because one black man out of the entire people of Rhodesia was the president. If we fought against the annulment of June 12, and Abiola said okay, all we want is the office of the president, and the authority says we have our candidate for you and they now impose their candidate on us. What do you do?
So President Obasanjo is an extension of the caliphate rule, the Fulani Oligarchy. He is not carrying out any Yoruba agendum. Even the offices, Yoruba are supposed to occupy, because he is a Yoruba, he refused to favour the Yoruba with such offices even though we fought for him to get there. No person can ever rule Nigeria the way we are having it except our own son, President Obasanjo. We are more enslaved now than what it used to be because since 1960, the caliphate has been the one in power and it is still in power. If truly, it is own son who is there, let him convoke national conference, that is a civilized way of solving Nigeria's problem. If he did this, then the Yoruba would know he is our candidate.
But quite a number of Yoruba are in support of Obasanjo and they have actually been talking about joining the mainstream politics, how do we explain this?
It is not surprising. When apartheid regime was in South Africa, we still had people like Mongosuthu Buthulezi, who were collaborators. Are you now surprised for having people like this in Yoruba land.
In the 60s, there were those who fought too to join the mainstream, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, our leader, said no, that we should be ourselves and that they should come and negotiate with us. We have seen the benefits. It was with that we were able to build all that we now see in Yoruba land. I don’t know what the talk about mainstream of a thing. President Obasanjo has his own friends and PDP has its own friends. It is still the same set of people who have been saying that they want to join the mainstream that are there.
But you should realise that quite a number of those in the camp of Awo have since shifted camp, how do you explain this?
Coming back to the mainstream of a thing, let me tell you that, it is difficult to have the same opinion when you have this number of population, even when you have two-three people. On the conference, even those who are supposed to be in the opposition, now in PDP, they are even asking for it. For example, the like of Richard Akinjide, Akinloye, Farombi, Papa Alayande are asking for it. All of them are speaking the same language. About 90 per cent of the Yoruba people are asking for the conference. There is no demarcation about that. It does not matter the camp you are now, we all support the main agendum. And the main agenda is to hold a meeting of ethnic nationalities.
In the present dispensation, Alliance for Democracy used to be the rallying point for the Yoruba and now we have lost some grounds, what is happening?
The nature of Yoruba people, when there is little comfort, we tend to forget everything. It is when they now have problem, you see them rushing to come together to fight a common enemy. This has been their nature all along. Otherwise, at the beginning of this present dispensation, people like Comrade Ola Oni said we should maintain our hold on the AD states and refuse to go to the federal because the centre would not favour us. We went to Ijebu-Igbo, we argued and debated this. Some carpeted us and we told them we would end up in disarray.
You agree with the fact that Yoruba are in disarray?
Yes, we have some problems but these problems are surmountable. I am telling you and as it seems so, we are still speaking the same language. Even the former oppositions in the Yoruba-land are even more vocal about the conference. What I am saying, if there is any serious problem that would jeopardise the interest of the Yoruba, you see how we are going to unite ourselves. It is unfortunate now that we don’t have that unity to map out our strategy.
Don’t you think this is the time for the Yoruba to have a strong rallying point?
Yes, I agree with you. If there is any more auspicious time we need it, it is now. This is because 2007 is coming. Who is going to tell us where and who to vote for. Now I can tell you on behalf of Yoruba youths, I am speaking as the president of USEPO, it is a collection of very many consistent, dedicated, self-determined activists of Yoruabland, we are saying that those who are warming up for 2007 now are not acceptable to us. There was no where we sat down in Nigeria and said it was their turn.
Perhaps they probably declared their interest because of PDP zoning formula?
Well, that is PDP affair. The Yoruba would still insist of having a Yoruba candidate. There must be a Yoruba presidential candidate for 2007.
In other words, you people don’t believe in mutual agreement of rotational presidency?
It is not done and it has never happened. In 1999, the North in the person of Abubakar Rimi contested against President Obasanjo. In 2003, they did repeat the same. The PDP never respected its own formula.
What are your plans for now politically?
Our own position is that Yoruba should come out and contest in 2007. There should be no election until the convocation of national conference. Until this is done, no election should take place. Don’t let us deceive ourselves. The Igbo are angry, the Ijaws, Itsekiris have their own complaints, the Yoruba are talking too. When the Yoruba had regional government, we developed better than the mainstream nonsense that has brought nothing to the corporate existence of the people. The Yoruba would want autonomy. But we don’t want bloodshed and we want some compromises. That is why we insist on the national conference.
