Category: Segun Gbadegesin

Apero Planning Committee had taken note of the positively supportive relationship between the foundational Yoruba value of Omoluabi, its governance system, and the wellbeing of the people, especially the youth, during the Golden Era. The Committee also noted that the years of the locust destroyed the Omoluabi ethos which failed to serve as an effective pesticide against the invaders. With the destruction of values, good governance imploded, and the youths experienced the harmful consequence.

Apero 8 panelists were invited to x-ray the cause and course of this alarmingly destructive relationship that we have experienced since the invasion of the locusts. They did not disappoint. The chairman of the day, Oloye Alao Adedayo (aka Alaroye) lamented the loss of our values, culture, and norms as people now go into politics to amass wealth for self and family. For the founding fathers, however, the welfare of the people was their concern, and the result was a sync between government and the people.

Where there is selfish pursuit of wealth at the expense of peoples’ welfare, there can be no unity of purpose. Thus, the years of the locust witnessed a political leadership that is mortally disunited, with many seeing their political opponents as personal enemies to be eliminated. While Awolowo and his team mobilized the people for development, Yoruba politicians now play destructive politics to the detriment of the masses.

Professor Niyi Osundare, one of the leading African poets and a public intellectual par excellence, spoke on “The Decline in our Cultural Values and Norms and the Collapse of Omoluabi Ethos”. He zeroed in on the interface between culture and language on the one hand, and values, on the other. “What has happened to our culture and values?” he asked. “How is it that Yoruba, the most musical of all languages, is in retrogression?” Noting that Yoruba is a threatened language, he wondered why we are divesting the future of our children the language of their parents.

For Osundare, the visionary impulse is the ability to see the future before it happens, and Chief Awolowo was a visionary who saw the future of Yorubaland as one of education and planned for it even when his political opponents criticized him and tried to derail his plan. He then argued that the future of the Yoruba is still one that is rich in culture and went on to identify the important elements of Yoruba culture that must be harnessed to shape this future.

First on Osundare’s list is integrity, the quality of being true to oneself, walking the talk, and avoiding hypocrisy. Second is hard work, the foremost principle of Yoruba economic philosophy encapsulated in our childhood poem, Ise Loogun ise (hard work is the antidote against poverty). There is also equity, a sense of fairness, which condemns selfish greed; and tolerance and accommodation, which requires us to see the humanity in everyone. Others include, sympathy, the spirit of fellow-feeling and empathy, moderation, or balance, which avoids a gluttonous lifestyle; and plurality, the ability to see more than one side of an issue.

Osundare also identified generosity and gratefulness; complementarity, which recognizes the importance of every individual, age group, or gender in communal affairs; and of course, the norm of forbiddance represented by the “A kii” (“we don’t”; you shouldn’t”) principle. For him, the Yoruba science of being is based on this principle. It is what gives people a sense of shame, as we described its violators as shameless.

Osundare lamented that with more than 130 universities now, Nigerians are more illiterate than they were when there were only 4 higher institutions. He decried the situation where education has lost its values because students and parents feel that it has lost its usefulness because of high rate of unemployment. He also faulted an overemphasis on science and technology at the expense of the humanities appealing to the principle of complementarity.

Finally, Professor Osundare decried the unhelpful mindset of mothers discouraging the use of Yoruba language by their children as such children end up having a command of neither English nor Yoruba. He also condemned our “Owambe mentality” which leaves us little or no time for serious reflections on the future. In the face of a stultifying federal structure, Osundare asked that we rethink the future.

Mrs. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju is a veteran columnist with Premium Times, and currently serves Ondo State as Commission for Information and Strategy. Speaking on “YOUTHS: Endangered and in Urgent Need of Repositioning”, Mrs. Ademola-Olateju observed that the unspeakable is happening in Yorubaland. She referenced the EndSars protests which were high-jacked by hoodlums and cultists, which, for her, was just a small reflection of the dissatisfaction of the underclass with the system that appears to keep them in total bondage.

Unfortunately, as she observed, our youths don’t have adequate skills to make it in the current labor market. Her anecdotal report was personal. She had needed a painter for her house, when a Chinese painter showed up at her doorstep. Upon her inquiry about Nigerian painters, she got a depressing reply: The Chinese were better trained and better equipped. And the Chinese painter added, to her surprise: “Madam, Mo n so Yoruba daadaa” (Madam, I can speak fluent Yoruba). But what has happened to us as a people?

Mrs. Ademola-Olateju had an answer. For her, the destruction of rural-agrarian life with the migration to urban areas led to the disengagement of the youths from the economy. Abandoning school, many left for the cities to fend for themselves. Parents don’t know the whereabouts of their wards who end up as cultists and hoodlums. Parents are no longer in charge.  Churches and mosques have a lot to do but the task is overwhelming and there is a limit to civic engagement.

Concretely, she advocated for the integration of the informal sector of the economy into the corporate sector. We must help our youth to become upwardly mobile, train orientation brigade, and make Omoluabi ethos the centerpiece of our developmental efforts. Echoing former Prime Mister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, Mrs. Ademola-Olateju suggested that the nation should be tough on crime, but more importantly, it should be tougher on the causes of crime.

Dr. Lasisi Olagunju, the award-winning Monday Lines columnist with Nigerian Tribune, was not physically present but he sent a video presentation which focused on “The People and their Complicity in Bad Governance.”  He noted that the duty of government is to protect the people and promote their welfare. When government shirks that responsibility, the people have a right to complain and seek change. But if the people are complicit in government’s neglect, and they collude with those making their lives unbearable, they have no basis for complaint.

For Dr. Olagunju, leadership must be held to account for its failings. But so must followership. He illustrated with the case of a parent who sought the help of a police friend to arrest and discipline a friend of his son who had cheated his son out of a joint Yahoo- Yahoo operation. Parents now encourage criminality in their children!

“How did we get here?” This question took Dr. Olagunju back to the source, which almost every speaker had referenced, namely, the “defederalization” of the country. For with that came the devaluation of values, young graduates without jobs looking up to adults without values! Therefore, in reassessing our values and advocating a return to the Omoluabi ethos, we must also insist on a return to the governance structure that supported our ethos.

In his contribution from the audience, Dr. Femi Folorunso brought up an existential crisis facing Yorubaland. With only 8.38% of the Nigerian land area, Yorubaland supports 20% of the Nigerian population. What will happen to this land area in the next 50 years? Can we practice agriculture without land? It’s food for thought.

Security is next on the Apero agenda, with Major General Henry Ayoola (rtd.), Major General Olu Kolade (rtd.), and Dr. Victor A. Taiwo as speakers, and Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) and Mr. Bukola Oreofe as Chairman and Moderator/Rapporteur respectively.

Saturday August 6, 2022

4:00 pm Lagos Time

Zoom ID: 87834935009

Passcode: 690337 

The above question was the focus of Apero 7 which came up on Saturday July 23, 2022. Fully prepared with facts and figures ably marshaled and delivered, our speakers wowed the over 200 zoom participants who stayed glued to their screens for four hours.

Professor Ibiyemi Mojola, chairperson of the session, didn’t mince words. She identified our challenge as the imbalance in the federal system which cedes security of the entire country to the center, which has refused to effectively deal with the threat posed by foreign Fulani herdsmen. For her, security is the foremost duty of government; but a centralized security has condemned citizens to the invasion of murderous herdsmen. She also wondered why the ill-advised, twice rejected, Water Resources Bill was brought back.

Professor Mojola decried the loss of Omoluabi ethos among Yoruba folks who have abandoned their moral norms for the vices of the Nigerian state. To avoid a national tragedy of loss of identity, she argued that the only reasonable pathway is Yoruba national sovereignty.

Our moderator/rapporteur, Professor Siyan Oyeweso went down memory lane, tracing the history of constitutional evolution in Nigeria. He observed that pre-colonial Yoruba nation had a system of governance that historians recognized as rivaling some of the developed countries, with its Kabiyesi-In-Council and separation of powers, which effectively dealt with dictators. According to Professor Oyeweso, Chief Awolowo perfected the art of political administration with his liberal policies. Unfortunately, we have regressed because of the lopsided federalism that we now practice.

Mr. Seye Oyeleye, Director General, DAWN Commission, spoke on “Current Political Systems and the Impediments to Growth in Western Nigeria”. Observing that Nigeria has not been functional in the last few years, Oyeleye noted the challenge of rising inequality, the threat of insecurity, epileptic power system with the National Grid collapsing six times in 2022 alone. Furthermore, we have grim social indices of development with over 85 million without electricity, 18.5 million out-of-school children, and a decrease of about 81.46% in foreign investments from 2019 to 2022.

Such an unflattering statistics comes with high unemployment, poverty, hopelessness, despair and anomie, resulting in individuals taking up desperate measures, criminal activities included, to fend for themselves. Hence cultism, gangs, kidnapping, armed-robbery, and cybercrimes.

DAWN Commission is aware that Western Nigeria is not an island in the misery that has befallen the country. Its mission is to reposition “Western Nigeria for economic competitiveness in spite of the country’s limiting political system.” It has lived up to its billing, encouraging the Southwest “to develop a common set of integrated development strategies”, which “guarantees cost-effectiveness and economic competitiveness” in “infrastructure, industrialization, commerce, the environment, and agriculture”.

Among others, the Commission has advanced a cocoa development, recovery and sustainability strategy, aptly named “Let’s Do Cocoa”. It has also facilitated “a progressive increase in States’ Ease of Doing Business National Ranking” and it has conceptualized the “Western Nigeria Rice Accelerated Programme for Integrated Development (RAPID) to improve rice production in the region by creating opportunities for States to take advantage of the Lagos rice market” and the upcoming Imota Rice Mill. In addition to proposing a regional health insurance scheme, the Commission is the brain behind the creation of Amotekun, Western Nigerian Security Network, which has helped to some extent with curbing herdsmen atrocities and kidnapping.

The point of Mr. Oyeleye’s submissions is that though we have a suffocating quasi-unitary system pretending to be federal, states can still do a lot if they strategize as regional or zonal economic and political blocs.

Mogaji Adegboyega Adejumo, an Afenifere chieftain and member of its National Caucus, is a formidable and charismatic intellectual with vast knowledge of national politics and experience in national and international banking and finance. He spoke on restructuring as a desirable political pathway for Yoruba nation and Nigeria.

For Mogaji, restructuring means simply that there is a marker for the boundary of the “farm” of each region, and each must go at its own pace as was the case in the first republic when every region was engaged in healthy competition to provide for the welfare of their people. It was how Premier Okpara copied the concept of Industrial Estate from Chief Awolowo and sited one in Aba.

Mogaji observed that it was the split within Action Group that ultimately led to the destruction of federalism by the military. He argued that one region or state cannot successfully carry on secession without being crushed. Therefore, we must pursue restructuring with like-minded regions like Southeast, Southsouth, and Northcentral. This was the rationale for the formation of Southern and Middle Belt Forum (SMBF) initiated by the Yoruba Summit Group.

Importantly, Mogaji insisted that Yoruba Nation advocates and restructuring advocates are speaking a common language and the groups must come together to forge a workable alliance with other zones in order to prevail. He insisted that only the United Nations can conduct a referendum as it did in the case of Cameroons in the 60s. For him, Apero should be an ongoing program until the goal is achieved.

Mr. Olayemi Afolabi, also speaking on restructuring, argued that we must have a constitution that reflects the wishes of Nigerians. For him, a way to achieve the goal of restructuring is to have a true democrat at the helm of affairs with the power and the will to effect the needed change. For him, a referendum is necessary to ascertain the will of the people.

Professor Wale Adeniran is, in his own words, “an unrepentant agitator for an independent Yoruba country.” Reviewing the constitutional history of Nigeria from 1960, he argued that Yorubaland has always been a target for destabilization since independence, and he believed that the motive was to cut short the progress of Western Region rather than engage in healthy competition with it. This goal was realized with the suspension of the federal constitution in 1966 and the reversal to a unitary constitution.

Adeniran observed that the prospect of true federalism has gone from bad to worse since 1966 and Yoruba nation has borne the brunt of the burden, as proposals like Ruga policy and Water Resources Bill threaten the security of Yoruba nation. His argument against restructuring is that it is too late in the day and the Fulani leadership will not agree to it. This leaves us with only one option, namely Yoruba sovereign country which will offer full protection for everyone.

Adeniran believes that Yoruba nation satisfies the conditions for recognition as a sovereign nation, which include peoplehood, a defined territory, large population, and adequate resources. A Yoruba nation of his dream will have a parliamentary democracy, without partisan politics, with the adoption of a zero-party system to avoid abuse and corruption, and no immunity for political leaders.

Our final speaker, Barrister Aderemilekun Omojola, also spoke on the desirability of Yoruba Sovereign Country Now. With a slide presentation that is highly informative and effectively delivered, Omojola defined sovereignty as the occupation of a defined territory by a permanent population having a capacity for international relations and recognition by the international community; and self-determination, as the inalienable right of a people which is God-given. From this, he argued that the Yoruba, being a people, have a right to self-determination which Nigeria must respect.

For Omojola, self-determination is not treason because Nigeria itself is a derivative of the self-determination that citizens granted her, and the Nigerian constitution must respect international law which guarantees self-determination. Besides, nepotism, corruption, terrorism, failed infrastructure development and failed industrialization, leading to poverty are all products of a flawed structure which the powers that be refuse to correct. For Omojola, then, the unbalanced structure of Nigeria’s federation, which is invalid by the standard of global best practices, and is responsible for the failure of governance, necessitates the demand for Yoruba sovereignty. Cultural preservation requires self-determination.

Apero 7 was another success. Apero 8 is this Saturday same time. With Chairman Oloye Alao Adedayo (Alaroye), Moderator Professor Ademola Dasylva, speakers include Dr. Lasisi Olagunju, Professor Niyi Osundare and Mrs. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju. No one should miss this powerful group of presenters.

 

Saturday July 30, 2020

4:00 pm Lagos Time

Zoom ID: 87834935009

Passcode: 690337

 

 

Fully refreshed from the Eid-El-Kabir holidays, and invigorated with the excitement that a discussion on women and youth was going to generate, Apero 5, like its precursors, did not disappoint

The session was reminded of the reality of the indispensability of women at the onset when the Chairperson for the day, Professor Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka, Apero’s Mummy Prof, narrated the story of Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder and his wife, Oya. Sango told Oya of his intention to move from the abode of the gods to the abode of humans. To Oya’s question about how he wanted to accomplish the feat, Sango answered that, as the revered god of thunder, he was going in the form of rain. Oya warned her husband against the idea.

After several attempts at seeking an affirmative response from Oya, Sango asked why his wife was against his plan. When Oya told her husband that it was because he didn’t want Sango to be humiliated because she, Oya, can use her superior power to frustrate his plan to go as rain. Enraged by the audacity of Oya’s claim of superior power over him, Sango’s adrenaline surged. He summoned the clouds. Then, Oya simply puffed out, and the wind cleared the cloud. Sango tried again and Oya responded in kind. Finally, Sango gave up. The moral of the story should not be lost on us. The one who “created them male and female” also gave each a measure of strength that cannot be despised by the other.

Corroborating Professor Ajayi-Soyinka’s emphasis, the Moderator/Rapporteur for the session, Professor Kola Abimbola, Ajagunna Agbaiye, son of Awise Agbaye, also recalled the story of how all the orisas were sent on assignment by Olodumare to make the earth livable for human beings. On getting to earth, the male orisas assigned great responsibilities for themselves, leaving out Osun, to whom they assigned kitchen duties. After discovering that they could not accomplish anything, they went back to Olodumare in shame. Olodumare scolded them for marginalizing Osun, the only female Orisa among them.  Again, the moral of the story is clear.

Mrs. Sumbo Oladipo, a professional woman with vast experience dealing with issues affecting the youths, spoke on “Creative Pathways for the Economic Emancipation of Youth”. Describing locusts as arungun or prosperity destroyers, she observed that locusts devastate everything, leading to loss of hope. She noted that locusts look for fertile areas awash in harvest, not desert areas. This is true of the human locusts who saw Yorubaland’s prosperity and successfully sought to feed on it until it was laid bare.

While Mrs. Oladipo remembered Yorubaland of the late 50s and early 60s as a land of great developmental strides, she noted that the material development wasn’t the only source of the fame that the region enjoyed. She observed that what gave us fame was the foundation of Yoruba culture encapsulated in the principle of Omoluabi. For her, character is key with the Yoruba, with their emphasis on family upbringing and the moral values of truth, honesty and work. Every Yoruba child learned the words of the popular poem, “Ise Loogun Ise” from the cradle. The question is: do we still emphasize these values in the orientation of our children?

Mrs. Oladipo argued that the most important challenge that we face is the ignorance of our youths about our values; for this ignorance is at the core of all the vices we so much detest in our communities. She therefore argued that we must repair our foundation, which has been destroyed by the inordinate focus on wealth and fame.

To the question whether Yoruba youths lack economic creativity, Mrs. Oladipo answered in the negative. Our youths, she claimed, are technologically savvy. Therefore, the challenge is not creativity but honesty. She recalled an unfortunate episode when her NGO gave loans to 100 prospective entrepreneurs for startup after training, but only one refunded the loan!

Mrs. Oladipo ended with some suggestions. First, she observed that we must incorporate skill acquisition and entrepreneurship in our education curriculum. Second, we must develop our educational institutions and equip them with training in Yoruba culture and language. She wondered if all Yoruba states cannot combine their resources to start a higher institution for the training of youths in skills acquisition. Third, she suggested work training, internships, and volunteering for students while still in school. Finally, she suggested mentorship or apprenticeship training similar to the Igbo system.

Mr. Amuda Adejare, a broadcaster and youth activist, well-loved and admired in media circles, was our next speaker. Speaking on “Youths: How Does the Future Beckon?” Mr. Adejare observed that while the youths want a future where they can live well and thrive in their education and chosen career, and play a deserving role in the development of their nation, the foundation of such a success story had been destroyed by elders’ malfeasance. He referenced the neglect of education by the various state and federal governments, with incessant ASSUU strikes now the rule rather than an exception.

Adejare wondered what the matter was with our political leaders in the Southwest such that we have always had to make reference to our leaders in the 50s and 60s, as if we have no leaders now. Are today’s leaders honest with the youth? And with their oaths of office? He noted, painfully, that there is loss of the Omoluabi ethos in our land and our culture doesn’t appear to be any more resourceful for the youths because selfishness and greed now seem to dominate their psyche.

Going forward, Mr. Adejare had three suggestions for the renewal of our youths and creation of opportunities for their future. First, he suggested that there must be a campaign for attitudinal change among the youth and this must be all-encompassing to reach through to the grassroots. Second, Mr. Adejare observed that we must have a united effort among all socio-political groups, including activists with sincerity of purpose. Third, youth inclusiveness must be a permanent feature of our developmental agenda. Finally, Adejare counseled against neglecting the youth, observing that Yoruba youths don’t have a future unless we help them make it happen.

Our final speaker was Professor (Princess) Adenike Akorede Olaoye, whose life story was a shining example of grit and determination to succeed. Growing up in a family where female children may have less opportunity than their male counterparts to have formal education, she succeeded by the grace of God to become a university professor. Speaking on “Women: Breaking Down Leadership Barriers/Roadblocks to Economic Empowerment”, Professor Olaoye, used her own life story as a springboard to highlighting the significance of women involvement in education and economic development.

Observing that women are primary caregivers of the family, she argued that even in this role, education is highly important. As the backbones of the home, women should not be relegated to the background. Women must be empowered to participate equally in economic activities, to have control over their lives, and to use their power to uplift their families. While she noted that pioneering Yoruba women were known pacesetters in various ways, referencing Mama Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi, etc., she wondered if we are now enabling our women to excel as they could.

Among the culprit roadblocks in the path of women empowerment listed by Professor Olaoye are lack of relevant skills, customs and traditions, financial problems and abject poverty, growing population without commensurate policy measures, and religious beliefs which make women dependent on others. To combat these constraints, we need new policies and ideologies of progress and development. For Professor Olaoye, Yoruba nation is an essential component of the needed solution to women and youth despair.

Apero 5 was another success story. Apero 6 will also be a defining moment. Focusing on the political pathways for the Yoruba, Professor Wale Adeniran, Mogaji Adegboyega Adejumo, Barrister Aderemilekun Omojola, Messrs. Olayemi Afolabi and Seye Oyeleye will discuss restructuring, Yoruba nation, and status quo. With Professors Ibiyemi Mojola and Siyan Oyeweso as Chairperson and Moderator respectively, we look forward to it with excitement.

Saturday July 23, 2022

4:00 pm Lagos Time

Zoom ID: 87834935009

Passcode: 690337

 

Since June 11, Apero Yoruba has treated us to a feast of thoughtful reflections on what has become known as the Golden Era of Yorubaland. We heard about (i) Western Region’s exploits in education, health, and rural development, (ii) how the feats were accomplished then, and (iii) how we can do it now.  Since forward movement is the normal course of nature, unless a greater force impedes it, we were eager to know what caused retrogression.

This past Saturday, we got an answer to that painful question: “We were doing great. Then the locusts invaded.” Apero Planning Committee had thought as much. Our retrogression isn’t natural. Human locusts invaded and ravaged the land, making rubbish of the ripened fruits from the labors of our heroes past. This much was reiterated by Professors Remi Sonaiya and Ropo Sekoni in Apero Session 4. Both distinguished professors, session chairman, Professor Adeniran Adeboye, and moderator/rapporteur, Dr. Akin Fapohunda, came well prepared. And despite the technical hiccups caused by erratic internet connections, a reflection of the heavy toll of years of human locust on the pace-setting region, their resilience and persistence paid off.

Professor Sonaiya X-rayed the culpability of successive Federal Governments in entrenching bad governance in Nigeria, and she reflected on the reforms needed to reverse the unacceptable situation and reset Nigeria for progress and development. With a nod to her disciplinary background, Prof. Sonaiya reminded her audience of the historic “Cahier de Doléances”, the list of grievances drawn up by the Three Estates against Louis XVI in 1789.

Sonaiya argued that Nigerians have a longstanding documented list of grievances against their government, including, Justice Oputa Panel Report, and the 2005 and 2014 Constitutional Conferences reports. Sadly, nothing came out of these documented grievances.

One of the documented grievances is about the structure of the country, which hasn’t worked since 1966 when the federal constitution was unilaterally axed by the military in favor of a unitary system. As almost all our previous presenters made clear, with this singular show of military impudence, the country was set back at least half a century, broken and divided almost beyond repair as the various agitations clearly show.

In addition to their ruining the structural foundation that the founding fathers had contracted, emerging leadership since 1966 has been characterized by lack of competence, lack of capacity, and lack of character. As Sonaiya put it, they are clueless, arrogant, nepotistic, bigoted and visionless. The result is our experience of insecurity, poor social services, lack of health care, collapse of public education, with multiple millions of out-of-school children, high unemployment and generalized poverty, disregard for justice and the rule of law, and institutionalized corruption.

Professor Sonaiya observed sadly that the country has wasted significant moments of opportunities to install “a visionary, transformational leadership” at the end of the civil war, upon return to civilian era in 1979 after years of military rule, or in 1999, when the military imposed another constitution and a leadership of its choosing. Now, we have a protracted state of insecurity, with former military generals unable to deliver a country under siege by bandits and terrorists in various garbs.

Sonaiya also had useful suggestions for a reset if Nigeria must bear the burden she has to carry for herself and for Africa. She, therefore, counseled Nigerians to take the “rising tide” at the flood and secure the fortune that it portends. Emphasizing the importance of “strong and trustworthy leadership”, she declared that Nigerians are demanding for inclusion of youths, women, and people with disabilities.

For Sonaiya, needed reforms include political restructuring, enhanced security and attentiveness to citizens’ welfare, and electing incorruptible leaders who have integrity and are ethically balanced.  Detesting the common resort to party structure and monetization of elections, she argued for a new constitution and electoral reform that reduces cost of governance.

Finally, Sonaiya argued that a reset button would require drawing inspiration from the Awolowo era to sell the vision of national leadership in education, health, and rural development to willing and able Nigerians. And for corrupt and clueless leaders, she advocated for a “Committee of Calabash Openers”, akin to traditional Yoruba governance system which did not suffer fools gladly.

Professor Ropo Sekoni was no less detailed in his analysis of the devastation caused by the human locusts, and in the solutions he proffered. Sekoni’s thesis was that “there has been a growing decline in good governance in the Southwest since 1966 which has arisen from internal and external missteps.”

Following the World Bank and United Nations, Sekoni defines good governance as “the proper utilisation of economic and social resources of the state for its citizens, in order to guarantee sustainable development with efficiency and accountability along with constant participation of citizens in decision-making in respect of state-related policies and implementation.” He then demonstrated how the elected government from 1952 to 1966 established good governance in the old Western Region.

On the other hand, the military administrations from 1966 to 1979 and from 1984 to 1998 drew back the hands of the clock of good governance in various ways, from canceling the federal constitution, to posting of governors to Western Region, jettisoning the principle of derivation, taking over extractive industries, and centralization of law enforcement and security. Zeroing in on Agriculture/Forestry, Education, Citizen’s participation in governance beyond elections, and Security, Sekoni described the Southwest since the “Years of the Locust” as one where civilian governors and military administrators share a vision of governance “devoid of transparency and openness required of democratic governance” and one in which governors see the center as their benefactor rather than as co-equals in a federal arrangement.

This unfortunate vision of governance is antithetical to the progress and development of the Southwest, and indeed, of the nation. This misunderstanding of governance, which is poles apart from the founding vision of the region in the First Republic, has caused retrogression in agriculture, education, security, and citizen participation.

While Western Region was #2 cocoa producer in the world in the 1960s, it is now in the 4th position, with 0.35% decrease in output behind Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Indonesia. This decline is due to government neglect. Cross River State now produces almost half the total Nigerian cocoa output. Military governors abolished Cocoa Boards and civilian governors haven’t seen the need to restore them. Governors choose rent collection from the federal government over production. How did all these happen? Sekoni asked.

By the same token, it is pertinent to ask why we have left our forests for kidnappers, bandits and terrorists to hibernate. Forest Management was a priority of our founding fathers. Now we don’t have State Forest Guards. The result is what we are experiencing from terrorists, itinerant herdsmen, and kidnappers.

A lot has been heard in Apero about education. Sekoni gave us more data to back up the claim of neglect. Whereas in the 1950s, Western Region gave the highest budgetary allocation in the world to education, ranging from 40% to 42%, now a paltry 6% to 8% is our budgetary allocation. And the outcome cannot be more depressing. Out-of-school children in Oyo State is 463,000, making it #10 in the country and the highest in the south. A pace-setter state indeed! WAEC result is not any better in the region as Southeast students are outperforming Southwest students.

Sekoni, like other presenters, recommended fiscal federalism and a new federal governance structure, together with leaders that are dedicated to progress and democratic norms.

Along the lines of Sekoni’s recommendation, the Moderator, Dr. Akin Fapohunda, offered the analogy of a building with an original design of separate apartments, each tenant minding her business. That was Nigeria before 1966. After 1966, the walls of each apartment were knocked down, and it was turned into a dormitory with all the headaches and inconveniences that meant. Restructuring, according to him, means restoring the walls so each tenant can live in privacy and as she deems fit.

A lively chat and verbal discussion followed the presentations. It was another fulfilling experience.

We are all going to enjoy Eid Al Adha this Saturday. The next Apero is July 16.

Eid Mubarak!

 

While Apero 1 focused on education, Apero 2 was on Health, Social Welfare and Public Health: How was it done successfully in the Golden Era of the Yoruba. How can it be done now? With a panel of healthcare researchers and providers with a lifetime of experience in public health, Apero 2, like Apero 1, did not disappoint.

The Chairman for the session was Professor Funsho Famuyiwa, a pillar of the Apero project. A retired professor of medicine with more than forty years of experience in healthcare delivery, Professor Famuyiwa was one of the first three Board Certified Endocrinologists in Nigeria. The panelists included Professor Oyewale Tomori, Past President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, former Vice Chancellor, Reedemer’s University, a distinguished virologist, and a recipient of the Nigerian Order of Merit. Dr. John Mabayoje has specializations in internal medicine, family medicine, geriatric medicine and emergency medicine. Now he is devoted to building a new model of healthcare.

However, before the discussion of healthcare which was the topic for Apero 2 on June 18, there was an unfinished business with Apero 1 on June 11. Due to a scheduling conflict, Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose‘s presentation on education had to be moved to June 18. An expert in E-learning, Pastor Bamgbose has been ranked as the #9 in E-learning in the world. Actively involved in the reform of education in Oyo State, where he is based, Pastor Bamgbose is also an advocate of entrepreneurial education.

Bamgbose identified three categories of problems with the educational situation in the Yoruba nation: government, teachers, and society. The quasi-unitary structure imposed on the country has been a serious challenge. So are corruption, inadequate budgetary provisions, and lack of vision and focus. On teachers, Bamgbose identified inadequacy in numbers and quality, remuneration, training and commitment, many being in the service because they couldn’t get more satisfying jobs. Bamgbose then highlighted leadership deficit, parental ignorance and poverty, celebrity role models with drug problems and yahoo-yahoo connection, peer influence, inadequate facilities, and low literacy in the general population as societal challenges.

The question, then, is what to do? Pastor Bamgbose emphasized the need to change with changing times. We must move education delivery to the technological age that we are in. Benefits of technology include, speed, automation, detailed analysis, and lower costs. He identified available technological resources such as flipped learning, flipped classes, dual language instruction, especially with lower classes, and the use of library and archives. He saw beneficial cooperative efforts between the diaspora and the homeland in the matter of dual-language instruction. Apero is looking closely into these ideas for execution.

Turning to healthcare, Professor Tomori led the discussion with a passionate presentation on the constitutional provision and the strong and committed leadership that made the Golden Era possible. He argued that politics of selfless service was the instrument that led to the various achievements during the first republic and we must not sideline the ideological orientation of democratic socialism and the Action Group (AG) political party that facilitated it. The AG leadership was renowned for its in-depth policy analysis in education, health, and rural development. The result was a robust educational system that translated into an informed citizenry which also led to achievements in health for the people.

Tomori identified the issues militating against adequate health care today as including a volatility in political structure—from a federal to a quasi-unitary one—which has made healthcare reforms impossible. Alongside are infrastructural deficits, due to inadequacy of funding and corruption, health inequity, and shameless dependence on foreign aid.

To redeem the Golden Era’s exploits in the area of healthcare, Professor Tomori suggested that Yorubaland must fight inequity with action, not by whining and weeping before donor agencies. We must establish good governance, accountability, and transparency. And we must learn again to be producers and not just consumers, using our resources wisely. He ended with a challenge to Apero to avoid being just a think tank of boilers, plastics, and containers. Rather Apero must be action-oriented. We take up the challenge.

Dr. Mabayoje had a great pedigree, his father being the first Board certified Physician in Africa and the first cardiologist in Nigeria. Following in the footsteps of his eminent father, he went into medicine with a social conscience. We have always asked the question, “Where did the rain start beating us?” Dr. Mabayoje’s answer, as far as healthcare delivery is concerned, is when we stopped the regional arrangement, when we abandoned federalism.

General Hospital, Lagos was the best hospital in Nigeria in the early 1950s before the University College Hospital, Ibadan started in 1957/58, and became the standard of excellence in teaching, research, and health care delivery. Rural Medical Service (RMS) was compulsory for new doctors and they were well-paid with provisions for car loan and other benefits. That was until 1972 when Brigadier Adefowope was replaced by Col. Ahmadu Alli as the Armed Forces Medical Service representative on the Nigerian Medical Council.

Colonel Alli saw the effectiveness of RMS, took it to the Supreme Military Council, and recommended its nationalization as National Youth Service for all university graduates. That, according to Dr. Mabayoje, was the beginning of the crisis of healthcare in the country. It led to the perception of insecurity in the medical profession, and naturally, to brain drain.

Dr. Mabayoje also provided an answer to the question: How do we improve the situation? He echoed Buckminster Fuller’s prescription for real change which is to “build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” This was what led him to the idea of a brand new system of Rural Medical Care, which involves the physician as the head of a team that includes mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, agriculturists, and architects. Thus, he started a rural development venture with a 50-acre land on the outskirts of Oyo. It is the model of a healthcare cooperative, the template of which is replicable across Yorubaland. Apero takes seriously this model, which doesn’t rely on handouts from government.

Finally, the Chairman of the session, Professor, Famuyiwa made a presentation along the same lines, starting with historical anecdotes similar to Dr. Mabayoje’s. Professor Famuyiwa reiterated the importance of Rural and Divisional Health Centers during the Golden Era, as well as the contributions of Public Health Inspectors (Wole Wole) to public health, a point which Professor Tomori also emphasized. It was during the era of the Public Health Inspectors that pit latrines were a feature of every large market and city. This took care of the prevalence of the menace of open defecation. Today, unfortunately, Nigeria has become No. 1 in open defecation.

Professor Famuyiwa identified the Ibarapa Health Project of the University of Ibadan as a model worthy of replication. With this model, people took ownership of how and where they were taken care of. Primary Health Centers (PHC), which now appear as the replica of the Ibarapa model, are unfortunately not really so, because PHC facilities are almost always likely to be abandoned by government as soon as they are completed.

Professor Famuyiwa suggested that lack of knowledge and understanding about healthcare, lack of access to healthcare, and lack of financial resources for healthcare cost, are the major challenges to healthcare in Yorubaland. To meet these challenges, he recommended a three-way partnership between government, the people, and third parties including NGOs, Corporations, voluntary institutions such as mission hospitals, secondary and tertiary health facilities, and institutions such as the Ibarapa Health project, with Primary Health Centers as the base of the healthcare pyramid with a health Insurance scheme that is affordable. Apero is looking into these suggestions.

Apero will next focus on “Rural Development and Employment Generation: How was it done then? How can it be done now?” That is, after Professor Isaac Adewole gives his presentation on healthcare, which he was not available to give last week due to a conflict of schedules.

No political drama. No sectarian intolerance. No sexism. Just a passionate commitment to the good of the homeland. Join us on a fully liberalized Zoom platform:

Saturday 25/6/2022

11 am EST; 4 pm Lagos Time

User ID: 87834935009

Passcode: 690337

 

 

 

Saturday, June 11, saw the beginning of a much desired renaissance and rebirth of Yoruba nation. About two hundred patriots who assembled virtually for Apero on education were not hopeless wanderers. They are dreamers and visionaries looking for the best outcome for their beloved homeland.

Among these visionaries was an Ori Ade, a Royal Father who has shown how to be an authentic blue blood with a passion for one’s people. HRM Oba Adedokun Abolarin, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, has walked the talk in the matter of providing quality education for needy children. Apero participants were inspired and motivated by Kabiyesi’s address and royal blessings.

With veteran broadcaster Sola Yussuf, the anchor and producer of Yoruba Gbode Radio, as Moderator, the plenary session featured intellectual giants with wide research and teaching experience in the field of education.

Professor Kunle Akinyemi, currently serving as Chairman of the Governing Council, Ibadan Polytechnic was Chairman of the session. Speakers included Professor Clement Kolawole of the University of Ibadan, Professor Biodun Akinpelu of Lagos State University and Dr. Oyinkansola Jinadu, Founder/CEO, HD Pro Global Beauty $ Career Institute. Due to time conflict, Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose will deliver his address at a later time.

The focus of the session was on Education as the Bedrock of Human Capital Development. We wanted our people to know how it was done successfully in the Golden Era, and with an understanding that times have changed, how it can be done now. This was why we turned to these four educationists with varied experiences in traditional and contemporary approaches to education.

In his opening remarks, Professor Akinyemi emphasized the need for us to seek the future that is best for our children and our nation, observing that the future cannot be good if we do not pay serious attention to quality education. The 1950s and 1960s were good because our political leadership at the time made a selfless effort to build a solid foundation for the education of the children. Needless to add, those times were a lot better than the present for that very reason. Finally, Professor Akinyemi observed that even if we had Yoruba nation now, it cannot be sustained with our present educational system.

Professor Clement Kolawole focused his contribution on education between 1952 and 1966. He observed that the great achievements in education during that period paved the way for the development of Yorubaland because of its emphasis on human capital development. But this was also possible because leaders of the region were effectively in charge, and they were well-prepared and well-focused. They developed policies and programs and provided the needed infrastructure for education to thrive. What made all these possible, however, according to Professor Kolawole, was the appropriateness of the constitution to regional efforts.

The 1951 Macpherson Constitution, which took effect in 1952, provided for regional autonomy which allowed each region to develop at its own pace. It guaranteed fiscal federalism, with wide powers to regional legislatures and a process for electing members of the Houses of Assembly. Education, healthcare, and agriculture and rural development were regionalized. All these made it possible for the Western Region to introduce and implement its various developmental programs starting with free education.

Western Region, under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, decided to emphasize education as the bedrock of human capital development. The seed of the 1955 Universal Free and Compulsory Education was sown in 1952 with adequate plan for its success, including training of additional teachers, providing for feeder schools such as modern schools, secondary schools, trade schools, technical colleges, and teacher training colleges and universities. This initial investment in education gave the Yoruba a head start that other regions had to struggle into the 1990s to catch up with.

Unfortunately, however, as Professor Kolawole also noted, the story today is totally different. With the corruption of the original federal system of governance which Macpherson introduced and which the various military governments and subsequent civilian governments have bastardized, every imaginable evil have occurred and education in Yorubaland has suffered tremendously. In conclusion, therefore, Professor Kolawole urged for a new path to governance based on a true federal system in order to revitalize education in Yorubaland.

As the elders note, the wise have a meeting of minds on fundamental issues. Thus, the remarks of Professor Biodun Akinpelu of Lagos State University are not at variance with those of Professor Kolawole.

Professor Akinpelu noted that in Yorubaland, 1952 to 1966 were truly the best of times during which the pillars of progress and service were established. He noted that the Awolowo administration took seriously the United Nations Resolution 217 which gave every child the right to education, and they directed their efforts toward the full development of the personality of each child with an emphasis on the ethos of Omoluabi. It was a system that produced generations of teachers, professionals, and civil servants, an embodiment of professionalism and patriotic zeal. As Professor Akinpelu puts it, at the height of the Golden Era, Western Region was competing favorably with many independent nations.

Now we have a system that is the complete reverse of its glorious times. Whereas a Standard 6 student of 1956 could serve effectively as a teacher upon graduation, today a High School student may not be able to write a complete sentence. Examination malpractice is the poison that the system has ingested to its detriment. Public schools have been abandoned by the elite, which means that our governments may not be inclined to invest in them.

Professor Akinpelu left with the audience some recommendations going forward. First, Yoruba nation must prioritize quality education. Second, we must incorporate the Omoluabi ethos in our school curriculum. Third, we must recognize science and technology as engines of productivity. Fourth is the importance of history in school curriculum. Fifth, Yoruba language must be a priority. Sixth, Professor Akinpelu recommends that emphasis must be placed on entrepreneurial education so that students are potential job creators.

Professor Oyinkansola Jinadu stole the hearts of participants with her youthful passion for educational revolution and the effective delivery of her points of view. For her, the education of the 21st century cannot replicate the education of the early 20th century and must respond to the changing circumstances of life even as it meets the needs and yearnings of people. Education must develop specialized skills and solve problems facing humanity. In her judgement, a downside of the 20th century education is its limitation of expanded worldviews and lack of emphasis on creativity and the creation of gap between haves and have-nots.

With the understanding that time is money, Professor Jinadu urged that our education system must seek to meet students at their points of need with innovations in technological education, through various modes of learning, including virtual online models. For her, if schools don’t lead to solution of problems and creation of wealth opportunities, their relevance will be questioned. We are already seeing this play out. When acquiring diplomas and certificates doesn’t lead to employment, talk less of creating wealth, the incentive to go to school is diminished.

It is for the above reasons that Professor Jinadu recommended skill-based learning to meet consumer needs, alternative means of education through faster producing and shorter learning time institutions, and the need for more thinkers not stifled by formal education.

Apero on education was a festival of ideas with many questions and comments from the virtual audience. Apero Planning Committee will now sift through this wealth of information and recommendations and determine where it can make a difference.

Now it is time for Apero on Health, Social Welfare and Public Health, coming up tomorrow, June 18 at 4pm Lagos time, chaired by a strong pillar of Apero Planning Committee, Professor Funsho Famuyiwa. Among the speakers are renowned Professor of Virology and former Vice Chancellor, Redeemer’s University, Professor Oyewale Tomori, former Minister of Health and former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, and Dr. John Mabayoje.

The zoom link is provided below:

User ID 87834935009

Passcode: 690337

 

Looking forward to your participation. Something good will come out of this for the Yoruba nation.

 

You have probably been overwhelmed with its audio and video jingles. Perhaps, you have come across its Press Release. Flyers have been flying around. You have watched the APERO roadshows. And you have obviously been a victim of Aperomania on your various group platforms.

Yet, you wonder, what is it? What motivates it, you ask innocently. That is, if you are not sold on one conspiracy theory or another: is APERO a political ploy funded by some errant politician? Is it a mischievous plan to scuttle the Yoruba nation agitation? And you’ve got no answers, even from the torrent of information available online and in-person from APERO advocates and media gurus. If you are in the state of mind just described, this piece is for you.

APERO YORUBA NILE LOKO (Yoruba Global Summit) is the initiative of Egbe Omo YORUBA, North America (EOYNA), an association of homeland loving individuals, which has, since 1994 devoted the mental and material resources of its members to the cause of the emancipation and development of our people. Inspired by the outlook of the sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo, these patriotic men and women have appropriated the philosophy of Freedom for all, Life more abundant which he propagated and actualized in the middle of the last century. Now they are experiencing a debilitating heartache at the sad turn of events in the same land that was celebrated for its amazing pace of development in the 50s and 60s. And they wonder aloud: WHY?

With a view to doing something about the distressed state of our homeland, President Durojaiye Akindutire convened a mini summit of the Yoruba in the Diaspora from September 16 to 17, 2021. The theme of that summit was “The Yoruba in a Federated Nigeria: The challenges and the way out. With a kind invitation of the president, I gave a keynote address titled “The Yoruba in Federal Nigeria”. My address was later published on this page on October 8, 2021.

In October 2021, President Akindutire, Professor Ropo Sekoni, Mr. Femi Odedeyi and I had a discussion on the summit and the way forward. Based on the group’s reflections on my submissions to the summit, President Akindutire decided that we should engage more of our people in further discussions and planning for a more inclusive summit. He wanted me to chair the planning committee. I couldn’t say No to him because I was convinced of his zeal for the good of our land. Thus was born APERO Planning Committee, with members drawn from across the United States, including members and non-members of EOYNA, Europe, and Yorubaland.

Our first meeting was held on October 30, 2021, and if I had any doubt getting involved before that meeting, such a mindset was effectively laid to rest at the end of the meeting. I was inspired not only by the caliber of Yoruba patriots in attendance, but also especially by the quality of their contributions and the passion of their commitment. It was at that first meeting that we arrived at our guiding principle with the contribution of a remarkable man of science and medicine, Professor Funsho Famuyiwa.

In the preamble to his prepared remarks, Professor Famuyiwa observed as follows:

“Chief Obafemi Awolowo, an Avatar of the Yoruba Race, who through the grace of God, carried the equivalent of their “Abrahamic Covenant” has provided the TEMPLATE for our Self Governance. At its core is the Principle of Egalitarianism–The Greatest Good for the Largest Number. An “Equal Opportunity” dispensation. Good Governance married to Sound Moral Values and the Fear of God! Ethos of OMOLUABI, BIBIIRE and ALAJOBI.” Professor Famuyiwa then asked the question: what will Awolowo do if alive today?”

We took this rhetorical question seriously, and it has been the basis of our deliberations on what to do. We decided to have critical reflections on Yoruba in the past, Yoruba in the present, and Yoruba in the future.  Pending an opportunity for a physical summit, we agreed to have a series of Virtual Summits on zoom focusing each on different topics under each of the three phases of the trajectory of the Yoruba since 1952. Phase 1, from 1952 to 1966 was the Golden Era of the Yoruba. Phase 2, from 1966 to date are the Years of the Locust. Phase 3 is the future that we must seek.

Discussions on Phase 1 will focus on the topics of Education, Health, and Social Welfare, and Rural Development and Economic Development. The questions we ask on each topic are two: How was it done in the Golden Era? How can it be done now? Experienced professionals, including men, women, and the youth, will deal with each of these topics.

In Phase 2, we ask our speakers to zero in on the culpability of the federal government in the matter of bad governance, the failure of successive Western regional governments since 1966, and the neglected cornerstone of local government misgovernance. We will also deal with the complicity of the people as followers in bad governance, the decline of cultural values, and the youth as endangered species.

In Phase 3, we engage the future and its challenges. Here we ask our speakers to debate the contending issues of the political pathways for the Yoruba moving forward. Proponents of Yoruba Sovereign Nation and advocates of Restructuring will have the floor to trash out the issues for the benefit of our people. The highlight of Phase 3 however is a robust discussion of two important matters: internal security and alleviation of poverty. On the latter, proposals for a new paradigm of community development will be unveiled. We appreciate all our speakers who have volunteered their time.

These zoom meetings will be held every Saturday starting tomorrow, June 11, 2022 until Saturday August 6, 2022. The grand finale will be a hybrid of in-person and zoom at the EOYNA National Convention in Atlanta on August 20, 2022. At this convention, the crucial topic of Political Leadership will be the focus of discussion. Finally, there will be a physical meeting of APERO in Yorubaland in the near future.

Let me end this piece by quoting from the APERO Press Release which sums up the ultimate goal of APERO:

The point of these discussions is to ….map out a future that is deserving of the labours of our heroes past and the aspirations of future generations. This future mapping, with practical ideas of community development, is the highlight of APERO, and it promises a new paradigm which the planners of APERO expect to implement with the support of the Yoruba, both young and old, at home and abroad, especially in the private sector.

I hope that the foregoing recollection of how APERO came about and the kind of patriots involved in it, will disabuse the minds of those who have been sold pathetic conspiracies about politicians sponsoring these efforts or even hijacking it for their benefit. Indeed, it is not as if the members of the Planning Committee didn’t anticipate such conspiracy theorists. Thus with divine wisdom as their guide, they took a firm decision at the very first meeting that politicians were not going to be invited as speakers and that APERO will not involve any politician.

That decision led to a debate on how the proposals coming out of APERO will be implemented without the involvement of politicians. To which our young members with professional bona fides responded firmly that they were development professionals and will implement the proposals with the support of willing compatriots in the private sector. Again, being involved in Yoruba affairs since at least the last 30-plus years, I cannot ask for a more dedicated and passionate compatriots to work you on this important matter of the future of Yorubaland. And neither naysayers nor conspiracy theorists will discourage us.

Every worthy compatriot is invited to join fellow compatriots in APERO YORUBA NILE LOKO starting tomorrow, June 11, 2022 and continuing every Saturday as indicated below.

 

Time:

4:00pm Lagos Time

4:00 pm London Time

11:00 am New York Time

10:00 am Central Time

8:00 am Pacific Time

 

Zoom Link:

Meeting ID: 87834935009

Passcode: 690337