When Yoruba Met To Redefine Agenda

Friday, October 26, marked the commencement of a new and realistic move by the mainstream of Yoruba in all facet of life, since the end of military rule in 1999, to fashion a new and realistic approach to the ethnic nationalistic struggle in the Nigerian political firmament.

What is more, to make it more meaningful and significant, the new move started from Ibadan, the political capital of the Yoruba.

Obviously to attain much seriousness and without distraction of the hustle and bustle of the city, the was event held at the inner recess of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Though founded in 1967 by the American government, it remains unmatched both in content, scope and vision by successive governments in the country in spite of the enormous resources at their disposal.

It was a day in which prominent Yoruba sons and daughters, both at home and in the Diaspora and who hitherto belonged to the progressive mould and tendency, but since 2003 had been dispersed into three political parties, due to internal strife and schisms, look straight into each other’s faces and told themselves the home truth. It was a moment when both the elders and youths, who ironically conceived the retreat, looked at each others right in the eye and openly told themselves the truth of what led to their estrangement.

But more importantly, it was a time when Dr. Wale Adebanwi, a scholar in Yoruba politics and relations stirred the hornet nest in the presence of the combatants in the power struggle among the Afenifere and concluded that Afenifere leaders and members’ are the real culprits in the crisis that has engulfed the body which he said must gird its loins for facing the urgent tasks ahead of rebuilding the despoiled land.

But it is also instructive to note that, Hon. Wale Osun, a former member of the House of Representatives in the aborted Third Republic and chairman of the organising committee, provided the ground for the delivery of Adebanwi’s thought provoking lecture titled; ‘Yoruba Vision’, when he likened the crisis in Yorubaland to ‘its inability to reason beyond its nose’ such that it was unable to ‘tolerate its basic differences in ideas and perceptions. He also raised the stakes higher and asked the Yoruba mainstream to ponder why if it is not being blinded by its inherent inability to decipher the intentions of those who seek to subvert our leadership and subjugate us even if they are our brethren’.

To further set the tone of the retreat, Osun asked the leaders and youths to start pondering on what led to their fight which made them to be strange bedfellows after uniting to fight the military to a standstill throughout the period of military interregnum only to throw its flanks open immediately after the beginning of civil rule and allow predators to divide it for its selfish ends.

"We had immediately after facilitating the return to civil rule set upon one another and allowed the General in civilian uniform to further exploit the weaknesses in us which any other discerning nationality would have subsumed in their strides," he said.

Indeed, Osun, who presented the opening remarks by the organisers of the event, provided the kernel for the historical diagnosis of Adebanwi, who traced the history of Yoruba politics and management to the golden era of Chief Obafemi Awolowo whose leadership qualities remain to be matched by successive Yoruba nationalists. All present agreed with him that Awo’s approach and philosophies in governance and constitutionalism, laid the basis for today’s Nigeria acceptance of his politics as the basis for the nation’s development, even if strategies and attitudes differ among the various political actors throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Adebanwi, who traced the crisis in the Afenifere family to the schisms within its leadership, drew the source of this to Awolowo’s observation in the early 1950’s that perhaps the undoing of Yoruba politics in the Nigeria political context had to do with its being’ highly progressive, but badly united group’.

As for him, he threw the gauntlet at the leaders and concluded that its romance which led to a pact with former President Olusegun Obasanjo prior to the 2003 general election, led us to where we are today’. What then could be done to restore the image and set on a fresh approach to a proper place in the country’s political firmament?

Adebanwi threw the challenge further when he asked the leaders that the ability to move Yoruba forward, lays in its ability to settle its differences and ensure that a new Afenifere leadership "must save Yoruba nation".

Taking the gathering back to the golden era of the leadership of Awo, which according to him must be rekindled, he declared that what is needed is not constant reminding of what has been done by the late sage, but rather, "we need a gentle reminder of our settled goals as a pivot on which we can settle the challenge of disunity and the absence of strong organisation and strong leadership that members of the core progressive elite in the South West of Nigeria currently face".

While Adebanwi did not just gloss at the euphoria of the moment, he recalled that while there have been critical junctures in which the dominant Yoruba elites have suffered brutalisation and have attempted to re-organise after the collapse of the order ranged against them - as the situation is now with the core conservative political elite in the South West, who are now in control of power with the military support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. This coupled with the consequent failures that were occasioned by low performance, destruction of Yoruba core values, the decay of infrastructures like education, health and the disappearance of integrity as the qualification for holding public office in the Yoruba nation. He recalled that the dominant Yoruba elite have always attempted to re-organise after the collapse of the order ranged against them.’

This postulation is rather instructive as it actually locates the source of the perennial intrigues in Yorubaland, which is now threatening to reduce the worth of the race, erode its respect among other nationalities in Nigeria and consequently push it into the background in terms of claiming to possess better organisation skills and development than other ethnic groups and this has been the apparent source of worry of the generality of the people, young and old, educated and the concerned business elites who perceive the deterioration in public office service as a drawback on aggregation of its values for optimum development in all ramifications.

He also noted correctly though, that at every of such juncture in the past, the progressive and brutalised group as we are having now, had always come out morally victorious because the group had always acquitted itself well even in the face of the greatest hurdles. He however noted that a few of such dissenters are always part of the larger story.

He did not stop at this as he reminded the elders gathered in their large numbers that "no matter their anger and disappointments, their personal rivalries and conflicts, their hesitations about the absence of long term commitment as exhibited by some in the younger generation who have learnt to go through the membership of every available political party within the space of one election, you as heirs of that genuine search for an egalitarian polity have a custodian duty to’ pass on the inheritance ,un-ravaged to the following generation".

He thus added that practical steps must be taken to be able to work towards ensuring the practical application of that vision in which the future of the Yoruba, as well as that of Nigeria - is fully implicated.’

Amidst a standing ovation and applause by both the young and the war weary old, Adebanwi’s hypothesis of what should be the Yoruba vision provided the kernel for frank discussions that followed.

An indication that all may at last be well for the core Yoruba progressive political elite emerged when the elders, rather than going back in details to the issues which in the last three years had kept them apart and had eventually divided them into three political parties admitted the need to pursue reconciliation. In the words of Chief Olu Falae, "we are tired of fighting".

But then following this admittance, they also took turns to locate the cause of the crisis. This is significant because the various combatants must have realised that conflict resolution could only be attained if all the principal actors agree to it and took time to locate the remote cause of the conflict.

Independent sources revealed that this was as much what the youths, who are in the vanguard of the reconciliation did in the past six month by travelling to all the length and breadth of the six Yoruba speaking states and pointing out the need for the disparate groups to sheathe their swords and embrace peace in the name of repositioning the Yoruba nation and embarking on facing the challenges of the future.

Afenifere National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, admitted as much when he told Daily Independent that the need has become more crucial giving the emergent problems of the Yoruba vis-‡-vis the degradation of its social values in economy, politics and general wellbeing as caused by the disunity, which have seen those not committed to the Yoruba core values of development taking the centre stage in its affairs and consequently destroying the fabric of its cohesiveness and unity.

Hence the admittance of guilt by the leaders who took turns, not to apportion blames, but to identify what Falae and Chief Reuben Fasoranti and Senator Ayo Fasanmi, the two leaders of the two disparage groups present attributed to egoistic feelings which must be allowed to give way to a new vista of relationship based on mutual respect between the young and the old for a new relationship.

Indeed, Fasoranti who took over the leadership from ailing Pa Abraham Adesanya hit the soul of the reconciliatory mood of the elders when he identified egoism and pride as the root cause of the crisis.

"At times I wonder what the source of this is because any time I see my brother (Fasanmi his deputy who emerged without the support of his group) we always embrace each other and relate well, but then after that we go back to our entrenched positions," he said.

The mood of the opening day actually set the tone for the remaining two days of brainstorming and re-thinking of strategies as all parties present which included the representative of the two groups, which the three years of infighting have dispersed was one of conviviality, even as former state governors who are now within the Action Congress (AC), led by its national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande displayed uncommon camaraderie. While the other former governors were not present, it is instructive that Akande presence was an indicator of the gatherings seriousness having led others into the AC while the other elders were dispersed into the Democratic People Alliance (DPA) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

But the core of the reconciliation came when Falae hinted that the occasion apparently became successful because both sides are ‘tired of fighting’ and this probably is an indication of the conviction among the sides that their infighting has led to the present up turn of values and the deliberate and gradual erosion of the virtues and quality leadership of Awo which brought them into politics.

Chief Ayo Adebanjo who is noted for his often blunt and frank attitude to issues struck the right cord when he bluntly admonish the youths for not having enough reservations for elders as the root cause of the crisis, but then said, "while we are prepared to step aside and allow you to carry along, you must be ready to take us along with your plans as you may have the same wisdom, but definitely not enough experience as youths to tackle the issues as they emerge".

As for him, none of them is ready for any executive office at over 70, but then having been the custodian of Awo’s virtues, could not be brushed aside".

Akande however noted that while he is happy that the elders are willing to step aside, he is quite willing to be part of and tolerate the nuances of the youths, who he said own tomorrow and should be ready to also tolerate the elders.

Sir Olanihun Ajayi also openly admitted that while Adebanwi’s speech is timely, the youths and elders must be ready to forget the past and forgive each other adding; "youths must behave like youths and elders must stay in their positions. Don’t let us behave like rebels, but let us recognise each others positions so that we could all move forward as the founding fathers of Yoruba nationalism like Awolowo, Awokoya, and Ajasin have done to take us to where we are today".

When viewed against the background of the statements and declaration of intent by the leaders, it is clear that Fasoranti actually struck the cord when he identified ego and ambition as the root cause of the rift between the elders and youths which have dismembered the Awolowo progressive political family. This many believe was actually the thrust for the retreat and the various papers presented, which implementation depended on mainstream political family unity to pursue its goals for actualising the ideals which made Awo the rallying point of Yoruba nationalism and development in the five decades preceding his demise.

The retreat with its assemblage of seasoned and successful indigenes of Yorubaland in all fields of human endeavour, including those at home and the Diaspora, has set the stage for presenting various papers and position to cover areas of interests of Yoruba and how their interest could be repositioned in the new Nigeria being envisaged under its fight for restructuring and constitutional review on which lay the realisation of the goals, through strategies that were laid down for the vision and its actualisation.

It is noteworthy that the retreat could be described as the best organised among many of such in recent times, as it was able to attract many renowned Yoruba scholars both at home and abroad; the apolitical intelligentsia, business experts in the various fields, who presented 10 papers covering all areas that are crucial to the actualisation of the Yoruba vision of equality and life more abundant.

After the preamble, both Barrister Bisi Adegbuyi, one of the organisers of the event and Chief Kola Awodein (SAN), presented papers on restructuring and constitutional review which could be described as the peg for the actualisation of the dreams and vision of Yoruba. This is in regards to the unitary nature of the nation’s constitution and lack of enough space for those in government to implement certain far reaching programmes.

While Adegbuyi dwells on the need to revisit the draft constitution by the Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), of which he played a crucial role and the need to convene a conference because the present National Assembly could not effectively conduct a review because of its lack of legitimacy, Awodein concluded that restructuring and constitutional review are imperative and inevitable for the nation to move foreword and for the Yoruba to fully actualise its own goals and collective interests. He argued that the goals of the restructuring is meant to transform the structures of government in such away that it would ensure enduring stability and preservation of the unity and stability of the nation.

Dr. Amos Akingba, a member of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), strong canvass for a review of the Yoruba letter writing attitude in relation to other viable and realistic approaches to restructuring itself within the Nigerian nation was a food for thought. It generated much discuss during the retreat, which may found its way into the working papers and new strategies that are likely to be adopted by the leading mainstream groups in the South West, if the pursuant of the restructuring can be able to prove his point through the legislative process.

The South West may have wittingly embark on a silent revolution akin to the Umkhoto movement in South Africa, which, with the passage of time became the negotiating instrument which compelled the minority government in South Africa to come to the negotiating table and which led to the freedom of Nelson Mandela and majority rule in South Africa.

Would the Yoruba shy away from this novel and realistic suggestion which from all indications was adopted by the Niger Delta region and has forced the federal authorities to recognise the need for the development of the geopolitical zones? Should the Yoruba go this way, would the nation be able to contend with the outbreak of hostilities from two sensitive parts of the country and its implications for national unity.

The retreat was to later recommend to the appropriate authorities the need to convene a nation conference to seriously consider the issue of restructuring and constitutional review. How far reaching would the initiative of the Senate and President Umaru Yar’Adua in addressing the far reaching restructuring demands of the Yoruba and other nationalities would also be determined by events in the country next year when the review by the Senate commences.

Professor Wale Omole, former vice chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) also raised the stakes high when he advocated the creation of a Yoruba Academy, as one of the fundamental things needed to be done to save the zone’s culture and education from collapsing. As for Omole, teaching Yoruba in all schools in the South West and at homes are very crucial to the survival of the language and race.

Also, papers were presented by Yoruba in Diaspora and their contribution to the emerging nationality, their inputs for national survival in a paper presented by both Professors Bolaji Aluko and Ropo Sekoni of the Howard and Lincoln Universities respectively.

From the business front, Messrs Ayo Teriba, Doyin Salami and Foluso Philips of Phillips consulting, all presented papers on the position of the six Yoruba states on political economy and entrepreneurship. While Messrs Funke Osibodu, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe also presented papers on the position of the Yoruba in the nation’s energy sector and priorities and strategies for attaining its goals as the part of the country where 70 per cent of the nation’s industries are located.

All this papers formed part of the materials for an hour long parallel discussions embarked upon by select participants, which ultimately formed part of a working paper now being studied by a select committee of the retreat to be used as the working paper for the Yoruba.

But then the retreat did not fall short of presenting a 10-point communiquÈ which announced plans to set up an Odu’a Academy to address the issues of education and arrest the declining standard of Yoruba language. In addition, this effort is aimed at presenting a paper for the actualisation of Yoruba governors in the six South West states for implementation and teaching of the language in all the six states up till primary school level.

At the national level, it called for the separation of the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) to that of the Federal Government such that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would be able to preside over the federation account, while the issue of Value Added Tax (VAT) should be revisited to address the current injustice where the South West only had 23 per cent of the proceeds in spite of producing 70 per cent of the fund.

But then the intrigues and manoeuvres in the Afenifere could not just disappear with a meeting and event like this in spite of the emotions expressed, how would the young men in the forum go about the task of moving forward and making reasonable achievements and accomplishments with the fine details and implementations of the various recommendations given the enthusiasm which greeted the reconciliation process?

While the communiquÈ expressed confidence of the forum to further pursue the letters of the reconciliation for the achievement of their goals and possibly make the members to belong to same party as is common with the progressive mainstream Yoruba, Dr. Kayode Fayemi believes that since reconciliation is a continuous process, nobody should expect such to happen immediately, he however expressed the hope that since a new vista has been opened, "there is no going back on what we have achieved and resolved to do".

But then with the splitting of the members of the group into three parties who are in the opposition especially the former governors who are now in the AC, how feasible would it be for them to come out of their shells and jettison what Senator Fasoranti described as the issue of ‘ego’ which from all indications is responsible for compounding the crisis in the mainstream group. Could the elders who are clamouring for a role in the new Afenifere be content with mere advisory roles and would the ex-governors in the group be able to subsume their personal ambitions and relationships with some leading elements from other geo-political zones and regard the body in whatever form it emerges as the umbrella organisation?

According to Adegbuyi, the report of the retreat is far reaching and very deep adding, "they would assist in charting a new way for our nation and this is just the beginning and would be a springboard upon which we would lay other foundations".