The crisis rocking the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political group, Afenifere, was magnified during the campaign for the recent general elections. Assistant Editor LEKE SALUDEEN examines the issues at stake and why reconciliation efforts in the organisation have failed.
THE split in the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political group, Afenifere, reared its ugly head during the preparations for the recent general elections. The two factions declared support for different presidential candidates. The Chief Reuben Fasoranti-led faction supported the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar while the Senator Ayo Fasanmi faction pitched its tent with President Muhammadu Buhari, who was the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Afenifere was formed by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as a rallying point for the Yoruba. Majority of Yorubas see the group as a legitimate force to serve their interests, as well as maintain the influence of the Yorubaland in the federation. In its heydays, it used to be a powerful pressure group that was employed to advance the interests of the Yoruba within the federation.
In 1951, the leadership of the Action Group (AG), under the leadership of the late Awolowo, established the forum tagged Egbe Afenifere. Thus, the Afenifere was a Yoruba name given to the AG. It was with a mission to inform and propagate the principles and ethics of the party to the ordinary folks who neither spoke nor understood foreign language.
Afenifere has a proud history. Under the leadership of the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and the late Senator Abraham Adesanya, the group waged war against the country’s military rulers. In the process, its leaders were molested, unjustly detained and exiled by the military. Yet, they stood their ground. The late Adesanya narrowly escaped assassination during the struggle.
Today, there is a marked difference in the leadership of Afenifere from that of old. Rather than sustain the philosophy and ideals of its founding fathers, the present-day leaders of the group are after personal benefits. Unlike in the past, Afenifere leaders now align with elements and groups ideologically opposed to the group’s philosophy.
The Fasoranti-led faction embarrassed the Yoruba nation with its romance and frequent solidarity with former President Goodluck Jonathan at Aso Villa, Abuja. Thus, it did not come to anyone as a surprise when it endorsed Jonathan as its presidential candidate in 2015. It also directed Yoruba sons and daughters to vote for PDP candidates. The result of the 2015 general elections proved that the Afenifere has lost its grip and influence in Yorubaland. The All Progressives Congress (APC), won in five out of six states in the Southwest zone.
The Afenifere leaders may have gambled in 2015 or it didn’t do its homework properly before sticking out its neck for Jonathan and the PDP, what of 2019? Afenifere learnt nothing from the 2015 experience. Again, it endorsed the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who was not popular in the Southwest. Atiku and his party lost in five states in the region. The question is: how relevance the self-acclaimed Yoruba/Afenifere leaders?
After the death of Adesanya, Afenifere became irrelevant and has continued to decline. Pathetically, it has now relegated itself to licking its wounds without influence and without impact on the Yoruba people. Afenifere endorsement of Jonathan and Atiku was not made on behalf of the Yoruba people. A critic of the group assessed Afenifere leaders thus: “The so-called Afenifere leaders are paper weights. How many of those elders making pronouncements have ever been voted for in Yorubaland? What impact do they even have upon their local communities? Can they even win ward elections? Endorsement or no endorsement, nobody can dictate to the Yorubas on how to vote, who to vote for or not to vote for.
“That the so-called Afenifere did not support Buhari was not because they hate him. The truth is that they are working to oppose the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. This is why I align myself with the view of a credible Yoruba leader, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd), who condemned the endorsement. He said: “If the old men that were shouting marginalisation of the Southwest zone under Jonathan few years back can sit today to endorse the party that had marginalised them, then their brain needs medical examination.”
Akinrinade observed that Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s emergence as the APC vice presidential candidate, an in-law to the late Awolowo, is enough to unite the Yorubas to work for a common interest like Afenifere of old. He described the endorsement of Atiku and his running mate, Peter Obi from the Southeast, as a serious disservice to the Yoruba race. How can Afenifere leaders be speaking for Yoruba, when they abandon their own son to celebrate those who had sidelined the Yoruba in the scheme of things for 16 years when they were in power?
Ironically, Afenifere leaders have not recognised or acknowledged the gains of the Yoruba under the Buhari administration. Unlike the Jonathan era, the Yoruba people are holding key positions in the government. They include: the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbaj; Power, Works and Housing Minister, Mr Babatunde Fashola; Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewole; Communication Minister, Mr Adebayo Shittu; Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue, Mr Babatunde Fowler. and many others.
Besides, the Buhari administration has embarked on new projects in the Southwest such as the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan standard guage rail line, which would be commissioned very soon. It has stepped up work on the abandoned Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Work has started on reconstruction of Lagos-Abeokuta road and so many other roads across the region.
Rather than commend the Buhari government’s gesture, the Afenifere has not relented in its open confrontation against the government. At a stage, Fasoranti condemned Buhari for what he described as behaving like a dictator and running a one man show.
Afenifere has also castigated Buhari for making war against corruption the only agenda of his government.
The period before the restoration of civil rule in 1999 was believed to be the turning point for the group. The leaders of the group found themselves at crossroad and were locked in a protracted battle. They were confronted by two crises. First, Afenifere deputy leader, Chief Bola Ige, parted way with his colleagues, because they rejected him and voted for Chief Olu Falae during the Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential primary. Ige went ahead and joined the PDP government led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, without consulting with members of the group. The issue left an indelible mark in the history of the socio-cultural and political organisation, because it was not resolved. Ige died while serving in Obasanjo’s cabinet.
The second crisis was the parting of ways of the late Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu and Tinubu. Efforts to pacify and reconcile the two AD chieftains through the proposed 60-40 power sharing formula recommended by a panel headed by the late Sir Olaniwun Ajayi failed. Dawodu was bitter. He left the AD for another political party, the Progressive Action Coalition (PAC). On the eve of the 2003 governorship election, he directed his supporters to vote for the PDP candidate, the late Funso Williams.
Since then, there has been a clash of ego and interests in Yoruba politics. When Ige died, his camp became divided. Two disciples of Ige – Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa — decided to contest the AD chairmanship. Those opposed to Ige in Afenifere, such as Tinubu, Cornelius Adebayo and the late Lam Adesina endorsed Akande for the position. That was how AD became factionalised. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was in dilemma as to which faction to recognise. The former Afenifere leader, Adesanya, could not resolve the imbroglio before his death.
Following the death of Adesanya, a succession crisis broke out. In November 2008, a faction of Afenifere, led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, met in Ijebu-Igbo and installed Chief Reuben Fasoranti as the new leader of the group. Some members were against Fasoranti’s emergence. The organisation split into two following the declaration by Fasoranti that Akinfenwa and not Akande was the AD national chairman. A good number of its chieftains were not in agreement with Fasoranti’s position. They include: Chief Bisi Akande, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Senator Bola Tinubu, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Oba Olatunji Hamzat, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, the late Lam Adesina and Chief Michael Koleoso. Key members of the Fasoranti’s group include: Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Chief Seinde Arogbofa, Chief Korede Duyile, Dr Fredrick Faseun, Senator Akinfenwa and Chief Olu Falae.
The Afenifere crisis took a new dimension when Fasoranti threw in the towel. His resignation left many tongues wagging with some analysts saying that all was not well with the organisation. Afenifere under the leadership of Fasoranti suffered a number of contradictions as several of its members found new voices in different political parties.
Between 2003 and now, Afenifere has been in political wilderness. While the group supported the second term ambition of five AD governors in the Southwest, it worked against that of Tinubu. Ironically, the five governors were defeated by the PDP in the 2003 elections and Tinubu survived.
In 2007, Afenifere floated a new party, the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). The party failed woefully, because the old Afenifere warriors lacked the mobilisation prowess.
In 2012, Afenifere struck a deal with the Ondo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) to spite its members in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Despite the fact that it had become public knowledge that the LP was an extension of the PDP, the Fasoranti group endorsed the LP for that year’s governorship election.
An indication that Afenifere has derailed was contained in the letter of resignation tendered by Fasoranti even though it was withdrawn weeks later. In the letter, he noted that the group was formed to serve as an umbrella to be used to actualise the dream of a great nation and the Yoruba race.
The letter reads in part: “As Events have been unfolding in the past few years, the focus and goals of the founding fathers of our great organisation, the Afenifere, were gradually eroded. Several efforts were made to ensure actualisation of the Afenifere goals, but it appeared that we have not succeeded in achieving this.”
With such revelation from Fasoranti, it is crystal clear that Afenifere has lost focus. It has been wobbling from one problem to the other.
The younger elements that formed ARG had tried in vain to reconcile the two factions led by Fasoranti and Fasanmi. The ARG members include Mr Wale Oshun, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Mr Ayo Afolabi, Mr Segun Odegbami, Mrs Toke Benson and Mr Kunle Famoriyo.
Oshun said the crisis rocking the Afenifere is manifested in the subversion of AD. He said some Afenifere leaders declared support for Obasanjo’s second term, while the former president backed Akinfewa for the AD chairmanship.
The ARG chieftain explained the group’s reconciliation efforts thus: “Three years after the the 2003 election, we young elements –myself, Ayo Afolabi, Kunle Famoriyo, Yinka Odumakin, Kayode Fayemi, Jimi Agbaje and Dr Adeniji-started meeting and came to the conclusion that we should not allow dichotomy to continue. We organised a reconciliation meeting at IITA, Ibadan. Both sides were represented. They agreed to sink their differences and work together as a group. Few weeks after, Adebanjo in a press interview lambasted the former governors over the Afenifere crisis. As a result, the reconciliation floundered again. It was at that point that we youger elements met and decided to float the ARG in isolation of both Afenifere leaders and the former governors.”