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Wither Afenifere and ad?
JOSEPH OMOWA
Even
the most ardent supporters of Afenifere, the
Pan-Yoruba Socio-political Organisation and its surrogate political party,
Alliance for Democracy (AD), would agree that these are not best of times for
both organisations which have been riddled with serious crises and a
fictionalization. One can not quickly forget the involvement of the leaders of
both organisations in the activities of the defunct National Democratic
Coalition (NADECO) which fought the despotic rule of General Sani Abacha to a
stand still; hence it utilized the opportunity of Abacha�s departure to
participate in ushering in democratic rule in 1999. After participating in the
formation of the PDP and APP, the leaders of Afenifere with other
interests groups moved to found the AD as a registered political party.
Afenifere,
having remained in the hands of experienced octogenarian and septuagenarian
leadership to the exclusion of the younger elements, has since vantagely
positioned itself to dictate the tunes for the AD. This position was amply
amplified at the D�Rovans Hotel in Ibadan where all the AD Candidates for the
1999 General elections were imposed on the party having been chosen in strange
primaries by elements who were neither from the constituencies concerned nor
mandated by the people to act for them. The same characters numbering about
twenty chose all the contestants for all the positions in the six south west
states without consultation with the political leaders in each electoral
constituency. That was a time when Afenifere used other people�s hand to pull
the chestnuts from a raging fire, and at which period Chief Bola Ige was
by-passed for Chief Olu Falae as the Presidential candidate of the AD-APP
Alliance.
By this controversial decision,
Afenifere did not only shoot itself in the foot, but also sowed the seeds of
its present travails. It will be recalled that ever since the D� Rovans
imbroglio, Afenifere parent body has always infected the Alliance for
Democracy, and vice versa, the AD which was sharply factionalized in its 2000
conventions into two opposing groups led by Abdulkadir and Yusuf Mammam
respectively.
It must be stated that most leaders of the
Afenifere and Alliance for Democracy had worked very closely with Chief
Obafemi Awolowo in the past as a result of which they readily adopted the
political ideology of the sage as espoused in its four Cardinal programmes from
which the Yoruba people benefited immensely in the pat. It was not surprising
therefore that the Yoruba people voted massively for the AD, but unfortunately,
apart from the failure of these leaders to adopt these four cardinal programmes
to suit the changing circumstances of the people, they were adopted raw without
the desired effects on the people. Unfortunately the Yoruba people felt
shortchanged by these political leaders for using the name of Awolowo to deceive
them and his creeds in vain, hence the loss of the South-West by AD in 2003
general elections. Added to this is the failure of the Afenifere leaders
to get properly reconciled in-house after the D�Rovans debacle. Rather, the
age-long ill-feelings and personality differences were allowed to prevail to the
extent that the coherence of these organisations were undermined. It was the
usual practice to set some youths up at the Ijebu-Igbo meetings to cast
aspersions on the integrity of Chief Bola Ige who was pursued relentless AD by
some leaders of Afenifere until the man was assassinated. Afenifere
also has a strangle-hold on the AD and its six state governments in the
south-west geopolitical zone. In fact, it enunciated the inseparability of the
socio-cultural group and AD until 2003 elections when the electorate felt
cheated and deceived by these leaders, which resulted in the loss of the
elections of 2003 by AD.
All along and after some self-examination,
many members of the AD did not like the firm grip which Afenifere
exercised over the political party and therefore advocated a separation so as to
give the party a national outlook and some breathing space, an action which was
vehemently resisted by some of the leaders of Afenifere. The then
AD-governors took orders from the Afenifere leadership at their caucus
meetings at Ijebu-Igbo which were not usually in sync with the realities on
ground in these state and this was to the detriment of the political party
executives which rarely performed or gave leadership guidance to the governments
and the interests of the electorate in general. Since the monumental loss of the
elections in 2003, neither Afenifere nor the AD has realized what had
actually hit it, hence, being in a state of stupor they have not been able to
settled down and put their houses in order. A common feature of both
organizations today is the deep factionalization that is afflicting them, so
much so that it looks as if the Siamese twins of Afenifere and AD are in
the process of being forcefully separated without the use of analgesic.
In the past, many of the Yoruba leaders
have advocated consistently for the separation of Afenifere and the AD.
Chief Bola Ige was in the forefront of this move, but many members of the party
have realized too late the need for this separation after considering the
manipulatory tendencies of Afenifere over the party. Therefore the move
to assert their rights and authority has caused the deep fissures an numerous
crises afflicting the political party. Two AD conventions at Lagos and Abuja
were simultaneously held, turning up Bisi Akande and Senator Mojisoluwa
Akinfenwa respectively. The resultant effect was the sharp crack, down the line
of the party, as a result of which the part performed very poorly at the last
local government elections in the South-West hitherto regarded as its
stronghold. After the monumental losses in the local government elections, and
the 2003 general elections, Afenifere seems to have washed its hands off
the affairs of AD, but since the devil finds work for the idle hand and as
Afenifere finds itself naked without AD, regarded as its political baby, it
has recently reversed itself of assume a mediatory role in the AD crisis. But
rather than pouring soothing balms on the frayed nerves of the combatants in AD
with a view to carrying out an acceptable reconciliation, a committee of
Afenifere under the acting Chairman, Chief Fasoranti, recently appointed by
Senator Adesanya, at an Akure meeting endorsed the Akinfenwa faction. This
action has received formidable resentment from the Bisi Akande faction who has
described the move as reprehensible and ultra vires. The Afenifere
endorsement also came under ridicule and condemnation from the only sitting AD
Governor, Alhaji Bola Tinubu of Lagos State, of also are the other former AD
governors at their meeting in Ibadan. They did not only call for another
convention, but also regarded Afenifere as an interloper. They further
alleged that Afenifere elders wanted to kill AD so as to create space for
a new party. The aggrieved leaders of AD are not unmindful of the actions and
inactions of the Afenifere socio-cultural organisation in the past five
years as a result of which five of the six AD-Governors of the south-west lost
their elections in 2003. In INEC should count itself lucky, that it has not been
reduced to a punching bag by the aggrieved nations of AD and Afenifere,
for refusing to take on a auditory role by looking for a faction that has a
larger following, an action that was capable of causing a long drawn-out
litigation. It is interesting that the AD party faithfuls from all over Nigeria
particularly those from the South-south, Niger State, and Northern Youth
chapters of the Alliance for Democracy are condemning the position of Afenifere
which had recognized a faction of the AD. Afenifere had not only
abandoned its mediatory role for that of an arbitrator and all those offended by
such role had accused the socio-cultural group of pursuing partisan agenda as
usual.
The problems confronting the Afenifere
might again be regarded as that of generational one, as the Youths are itching
for a more active role as opposed to the monopoly being exercised by the
Afenifere Octogenarian and Septuagenarian leaders. Another unusual feature
of the struggle is the recognition of the aging and reciprocating Senator
Adesanya as leader by both factions. The Fashoranti and Fasanmi factions claimed
to have the support and goodwill of Adesanya while Adesanya himself anointed
chief Fasoranti to act for him, the other faction had chosen Senator Ayo Fasanmi
through an elective process thereby regarding him as the authentic deputy leader
to replace Chief Bola Ige who faced an unprecedented persecution from his
colleagues until the bullet from the assassin�s gun ended everything for them.
How sincere has Afenifere performed since 1999 as true leaders of the
Yoruba people and in championing their course? Were they actually committed to
the overall agenda for the betterment of the conditions of the people? Have the
oversight functions of Afenifere been total or partisan particularly as
AD is the only political party under their protective umbrella thereby
neglecting the interests of other Yoruba people of other political peruasions?.
What suspervisory roles or development projects did they encourage their
governors to implement when they had the AD under their control? Afenifere
is in the forefront in the convocation of a National Conference to resolve
perceived marginalization, inequalities and injustices, in the polity. It is bad
enough that it has failed to resolve the crisis within a political association
which it has set up. It is even worse that in an attempt to recognize one of the
factions, it has complicated the matter as a result of which its own
organisation has split down the line. Charity soul begin at home, Afenifere
should bring peace within the Yoruba enclave before advocating for a national
conference, to resolve grievances in the larger society. Put differently, if
Afenifere is incapable of resolving differences within its own people, how
can it make meaningful contributions to the national discourse?
For how long would Afenifere
continue to fish in troubled waters as it responds to all manners of issues and
events within the polity, even to those which are not relevant to the Yoruba
circumstances. An example in view is the dabbling of Afenifere into the
face-off between the ex-Biafran leader, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and the
officials of the State Security Service (SSS). One can not account for the
sympathy visit and the intervention of the old men under the leadership of
Afenifere to Awka in Anambra State just because Ojukwu was given an
innocuous invitation by the SSS.
In response, Ojukwu rose to the occasion
and attempted to manage their ego by praising Chief Obafemi Awolowo to high
heavens posthumously, the best President Nigeria never had and other sweet
things about him. Their visit went beyond the handshake across the Niger, it was
the workshop at the feet of the Ikemba, Eze Gburugburu himself.
The solidarity visit was not only uncalled for but was also most unnecessary. In
the recent past when Abiola was denied his electoral victory through that wicked
annulment, when his wife Kudirat and Abiola himself were physically and bodily
sacrificed at the altar of democracy and when the Yoruba as a nation was under
siege during the Abacha era, what role was played by Ojukwu which needed
reciprocation now by those who regard themselves as protecting the interests of
the Yoruba nation? Afenifere was only telling Nigerians that some people
in their awesomeness can conveniently defy constituted authority. The Igbo
deserve the presidency as any other group in Nigeria, but the drum of the civil
war should no more be beaten as the Igbo as of right had the opportunity of
occupying the second slot as the vice-president between 1979-83, and through
dialogue and peaceful campaign, it should be able to reach the top as of right
again.
It is appropriate therefore to call on the
members of Afenifere and AD to endeavour to put their houses in order,
the polity must not be heated up unnecessarily as the Yoruba people will suffer
immensely for such irresponsible attitudes. They must be reminded that Adesanya
is too old and sick to mediate now, as his son has pleaded that he should be
allowed to rest and recuperate, and therefore should be counted out of this
matter. The Action Group (AG) crisis of the 1960s had done incalculable harms to
the well being of our race just because the combatants were prepared to fight to
finish. All the leaders involved in these crises should reflect on these
matters, call for a truce and assist in the progress and development of our
society. All the leaders of our people should put their acts together and eschew
bitterness, there is need to restructure Afenifere and make it a home for
all Yoruba at home and in the diaspora, irrespective of their political
leanings. On the other hand, it must let go the strangle-hold on the AD.
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