|
untitled
Last Updated: Friday, November 12th, 2004 HOME | Previous Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yoruba in search of new agenda
Once more, the Yoruba speaking people of the South West of Nigeria are in search of a direction and focus towards
having a fair share of the �Nigerian cake� via participation in the country post 2007 after having had their turn
to produce the somewhat elusive presidency. Now in the last three months, the question for the Yoruba is, what
next? writes Senior Politics Correspondent Tunde Abatan.
For the fifth time since the attainment of the country�s independence, the Yoruba are, again, at political crossroads.
Whom to support and follow in the country does not inform the crossroads, but by what role they should play after
having had an opportunity since 1979 after the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo lost in the federal elections conducted
by General Olusegun Obasanjo. This time around, the dilemma facing the Yoruba is not a question of whether to remain
in the country, as they have had to face immediately after the release of Awolowo from detention in 1967 and the
Biafra secessionist eruption. It is not also a choice between which of her two sons to choose from as it happened
in 1999 when both President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae were the options it had to face if it is to rule
the country after a struggle for over four decades. Rather, the question and quest now is what role to play in
post-Obasanjo era. Time has come to redefine its politics and be more focused, as it has been the only homogenous
ethnic entity where a single political allegiance and bloc voting have been the pattern since 1955.
But one rather unique thing is that this time around the Yoruba are not in a dilemma as to whether they have a
role to play but rather the question is what role to play in a situation where it has just completed its turn in
ruling a country still largely unitary in state and still attempting to fashion out a people-oriented constitution.
One significant thing about the several movements, discourse and meetings in the last five months among the Yoruba
is the need to join the fray of the mainstream politicians who have always reiterated the need to practice true
federalism in the spirit of the First Republic and under which none of the then federating regions suffered by
not being at the centre.
It is also significant to note that the clamor for a redefinition of the core Yoruba goal and interest also came
from Chief Olabode George, the vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the south west who himself
is not accepted as representing the core values of the South West. Surprisingly, it was he who challenged Senator
Abraham Adesanya, during his last birthday lecture in Lagos, to ensure that the South West people remain coherent
and united under a non-partisan umbrella to get what he described as the best from the Nigerian nation come 2007.This
demand probably serves as the climax to the undue quietness in the South West after its 'capture' by the largely
opposition tendencies in the PDP after the 2003 elections.
The issue in question also becomes more significant coming from the personality of George, who threw aside all
pretensions on the occasion of Adesanya�s birthday to present a soul-searching agenda for the Yoruba to pick the
gauntlet and search for a relevance after the expiration of its turn of ruling the federation under whatever form
or guise.
Since the curtain raiser by George, various meetings, both clandestine or accidental, have been held by players
in the zone who seriously shudder at the relevance or otherwise of a vibrant ethnic group in a federation where,
having ruled for five years, they are yet to get what they consider to be their fair share in the country. This
point is a convergence of sorts for all political players, including the mainstream and opposition in the South
West, who still feel that the five years of Obasanjo�s administration has not held out the best for them in the
federation. This is where opinions met between the various power blocs in the South West.
Another factor, which has given fillip to press for the need for a restructured nation, is the apparent disappointment
of the Obasanjo presidency, which has also become another source of worry to the Yoruba intelligentsia and apolitical
ones. The fear looms that the zone may be reduced to a political bride among various players, whose people and
followers for love of position, may sell their allegiance to any of the top bidders for the nation�s presidency.
For the mainstream South West politicians, their worry is the destruction of the core values of the South West,
like education, agriculture, health, industry, enterprise and the lack of financial power to match the various
political parties. Another factor is the crisis in the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the polarization of the
Afenifere, the mainstream political group which, to some, would have continued to wield power and influence such
that a rallying point would have been created for the South West to bargain for its interests in the next dispensation.
But then, there comes the problem of the Nigerian federation, which till today still remains, federal in name and
unitary in nature. Those hardliner mainstream leaders and politicians continue to harp on the need for a true federalism
which they argue can successfully shield or protect the area from any social upheavals which any instability after
Obasanjo could bring into the South West. This, Daily Independent gathered, is the main reason why political activists
and leaders in the academics now seriously share the view of a restructured nation that could guarantee regional
autonomy where at best the region could protect what it has got in a lost Obasanjo era, no matter which party or
area is in control of the Federal Government.
Perhaps, one event, which preceded the recent lecture by the Conference of Yoruba leaders held in Lagos two weeks
ago, was a similar forum held in September this year tagged �Yoruba National Day�. The intelligentsia wing of the
Afenifere organized this event and which drew inspiration from the last pan-Yoruba congress held about five years
ago in Ibadan. Organized by the Yoruba Foundation led by a former diplomat, Otunba Timothy Otunla, it was patterned
to coincide with the 118th Kiriji commemoration which event signified the end of intra-ethnic war among the 23
Yoruba nation states in 1886.At the occasion chaired by another political Yoruba clergy, Rt Rev Bolanle Gbonigi,
it was organized to remind the Yoruba to start to rebuild its lost virtues which, though rebuilt after the end
of the Kiriji wars, �were being systematically destroyed by the social insecurity, poverty and alienation in the
country�.
Also in a paper presented at the occasion, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi raised the curtain for subsequent events when
he addressed the gathering on the topic �Zoning, power shift and other abracadabra�.
Besides describing power shift as unworkable, he ascribed the emergence of such issue as attempt to move from an
imperfect federalism to a proto unitary federalism. In this case, he identified this as the factor necessary for
the restructuring in the country, adding that the struggle to restructure Nigeria dated back to the period before
the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections. While pointing out that the only difference between the northern
and southern regions of the country on restructuring is that while the former preferred a geographical-based federalism
that allowed for several nations to live within the same political territory, the latter advocated a nationality
based federalism during the First Republic and still prevalent now.
But more than this, Akinyemi, who may be described as representing a few dissenting voices in the Afenifere attitude
to party politics in the new dispensation, threw a warning which could account for the present crisis in the group
between those who are canvassing for separation between the party and Afenifere. Hear him: �A political group must
seek political power as a means to implement its ideas. A political group that equates its status as an everlasting
opposition as being in a political paradise has imbibed the doctrine of political failure as the highest form of
political purity or morality. To avoid extinction, a political group must seek power by all legitimate means, including
alliances and coalitions, provided that it does not sacrifice its core values�. Could this be the reason for the
present schism in the Afenifere, which has now blossomed, and giving way to a re-alignment among old foes?
At the end of the one-day conference of Yoruba leaders addressed by Dr Lateef Adegbite, the secretary general of
the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, who canvassed the need for a new body to replace Afenifere, he observed
that the Yoruba leadership had become divided, partisan and couldn�t serve the interest of all. The conference
came out with a nine-point communiqué which reaffirmed the commitment of the race to true federalism on
a six zonal structure advocated by Adegbite.
Among others, it also sought the incorporation of all Yoruba people in Nigeria under one regional government; the
resort to parliamentary system of government adopted in the First Republic; deep concern over the dwindling economic
fortunes of the Yoruba; the fear that it may be losing its position as big player in the economy; diversification
of the Yoruba economy to shift attention from reliance on oil-based economy; and support for a national conference
to be convoked before 2007.
Could Adegbite�s voice be the sounding board of opinion of moves by Obasanjo and his allies to use the national
conference clamor as a plot to finally seize power from the South West political mainstream after having removed
the political platform and divided Afenifere?
0 sources revealed that after the end of the conference, a nine-member political committee on Yoruba unity was
raised, which reflected a rainbow coalition of several tendencies in the South West. The list includes Lekan Alabi
of the Odua Investment Company,Senator Femi Okunrounmu, of the Afenifere, Niran Malaolu, information commissioner
in Ogun State; Femi Oyetayo, Niyi Afuye, Dare Babarinsa, Gbenga Oduwaye, Yinka Odumakin, Dayo Adeyeye, all who
represent the youth in Afenifere with different tendencies and political beliefs and who seem united to form a
common basis to draw a new agenda for the Yoruba. After the inauguration, the committee has since been paying visits
to several notable Yoruba indigenes in public corporations with a view to enlisting their support for a new organisation
that will in the words of Adegbite �supplant Afenifere influence�.
In essence, what this translates to is the fact that while recognising the need for restructuring on a national
basis, the Yoruba are also restructuring their internal leadership and re-inventing internal dynamism which may
make the participation and attitude in the run up to the 2007 federal elections a shift from a traditional opposition
to a variant of ethnic nationalism within the larger Nigerian nation.
Overtures, it was gathered, were also being made to several groups in the South West, irrespective of political
persuasions, to see the need for a new beginning for the zone. In the words of Tinubu, �the issue in 2007 South
West is not a question of playing mainstream politics which has not done any good to the area in the last five
years�, but actually see to the practice of true federalism which he said is more realistic than the clamour for
mainstream politics. According to him, the slogan mainstream politics is defective in nature and form. Daily Independent
also gathered that as a demonstration of the seriousness of the new political re-alignment committee, the nine-member
group, which is beginning to gain the support and confidence of various groups in the region, is now meeting regularly
on a weekly basis in Lagos to fashion out an agenda, taking into consideration previous rapport between the Yoruba
Council of Elders(YCE) and Afenifere .It would also include all interest groups in the South West irrespective
of political affiliations.
In fact, the group is said to be working with the idea that expanding agitation for restructuring to all shades
of political opinion in the South West is a step to reassure other stakeholders from other parts of the country,
that the object of championing the campaign for restructuring, which started from the Afenifere axis, is not to
dismember the country but for the good of all.
Another effort being made by the committee of nine younger elements is the integration of political leaders and
politicians who have over the years fallen out of favour with the Afenifere into the emergent political group with
a view to help present a common Yoruba agenda. Their contention on this issue is that given the prevalence of progressive
politics and antecedents among the people and leaders, such as Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Ebenezer Babatope, Akin Omoboriowo
and others who have been estranged from the Afenifere on account of their roles in the June 12 annulment crisis,
there is need to bring them back into the fold to help foster the common agenda.They argued that such people would
have no choice but to embrace a new political philosophy which has the chance of reintegrating them into the mainstream
politics.
The only problem among the various interest groups is how the conference is to be held, its modus operandi and
the issues to be addressed. Hence, this has led to a division among the federalists. On the one side are the traditional
agitators in Afenifere who continue to pride themselves as the initiators of the conference and hence should have
the prerogative to send representations. Conversely, the latter day converts intend to rely on its ability to convince
President Obasanjo to support the popular opinion in the South West, which supports true federalism under a restructured
Nigeria. Among those people who will be at home with the expectation of George is later day converts to the clamour
for the national conference like Dr Lateef Adegbite, who though not a politician, is also averse to the leadership
of the South West by Afenifere. He expressed his opinion on his reservations about Afenifere leadership which recent
polarization and internal contradictions has weakened its right to continue to provide leadership for the South
West.
Given the prevalence of such ideas in the area, the kite flown by Adegbite at the Conference of Yoruba Leaders
held in Lagos and where he delved on the imperatives of the national conference later formed the theme of the deliberations
by a coalition of politicians from all spheres of political opinion on the way forward after 2007.
The only problem this could have is the participation of the likes of Lagos Governor Bola tinubu as one of the
motivators of the conference. This is considering the interest of George and his likes to have Obasanjo�s political
platform to reap from the legacy of a restructured Nigeria and having his party playing a leading role in the South
West. This is where the interest of the agitators for the conference differs for purely altruistic reasons.
Hence, should Obasanjo finally accede to the request for a conference, it is quite clear that having his political
constituency playing active role for the South West is not in doubt.
The next likely point of disagreement is on the representations at the conference and nature of federalism which
would emerge from such an arrangement and whether such could enjoy the support of the so-called mainstream South
West who could be edged out for obvious reasons.
Hence, the South West in designing an agenda for 2007 is hedged on three sides by the Obasanjo supporters, the
apolitical and non-partisan group led by the likes of Adegbite and the YCE and the fractionalised Afenifere which
is daily weakened by internal contradictions and tendencies as a result of the grand schism it is going through.
But arising from the lessons of the past, the new thinking in the South West may endure if the emergent platform
succeeds in attracting political players from the different political persuasions. Their agreement for a common
goal may make the region to be able to re-enact the bloc voting pattern, which the South West is noted for and
which has been the biggest and strongest political weapon it has got over the last five decades.
That the Yoruba are able to rally support for Obasanjo for his second term project and the attendant failure of
such a sentiment which has become a monumental problem for his political philosophy after five years, the President
may as a result no longer be a factor in determining and influencing the attitude of the people on certain issues.
From all indications, the only hurdle in the way of the new move to chart a new direction for the South West devoid
of the politics of the past is the ability to withstand the onslaught of various political gladiators battling
for the soul of the region in the run up to the 2007 general elections. The prevalence of poverty, which has affected
the political virtues of the area and a resultant shifting of tendencies by the unwary populace who needed to be
told of a new reality and common goal beyond the pursuit of his daily bread and monetary gains given the fact that
his race is no longer in any contention to rule the country after the Obasanjo years until the next 40 years or
so, may be a bit difficult to achieve.
The next two years will determine the shape of things to come for the South West and its people and politics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright© 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Independent Newspapers Limited
Block5, Plot 7D, Wempco Road, Ogba, P.M.B. 21777, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria.
www.independentng.com
e-mail: [email protected]
Designed By
Powered By DNet.
|
|
