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Tag: Yoruba

  • ‘No Yoruba summit endorsed Jonathan’

    ‘No Yoruba summit endorsed Jonathan’

    Yoruba group, Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, has debunked a claim that a Yoruba summit was held to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The group described the claims of Jonathan’s endorsement as vile and an offence to the sensibility of the Yoruba.

    In a statement yesterday, the Secretary General, Akin Malaolu, further described as “lies” claims of Yoruba endorsement of Jonathan.

    “It is therefore a fact that there was never a Yoruba summit held at any place in the Southwest to endorse a non-performing President.

    “The hurried endorsement is vile and offends the sensibility of the people,” Malaolu said.

    He said the people of Southwest are unhappy with Jonathan’s style and actions.

    “It would be a perplexing error on his (Jonathan’s) part to accept lies when the generality of our people are helpless and hapless.”

    The Secretary General said the Yoruba believe that Nigeria should be loved and loyally defended which President Jonathan has failed to do throughout his administration.

    He said the Yoruba are not in any agreement with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2015 general elections.

  • 2015: Buhari, Yoruba and the burden of history

    I sincerely apologise for the absence of this column last Sunday. It was due to an unfortunate mix up which is deeply regretted. The column, the last before the presidential election, is today being turned over to Adewale Adeoye, a CNN African journalist award winner and alumnus of the United Nations (UN) Institute of Training and
    Research (UNITAR).

    A nation becomes a dungeon, when the people’s history no longer matters.  But history is not static. The South West, (SW), with 14 million voters, is a sexy bride in the coming elections.  What determines electoral victory varies in each region.  Yoruba land is unique. Politicians have failed to bring into sharp focus, critical issues that matter most. They deploy bitter campaigns, insults and abuses. President Goodluck Jonathan fired salvos during his visit to Lagos. He did not promise any single project for Yoruba nation in all his campaigns in the SW so far. He spoke as if jittery. He was fidgety, wobbly, edgy and squirmy. In war, as in politics, those are signs of weakness, a pointer to camp disarray and retreat. Gen Mohammadu Buhari hinges his campaign on three planks: Jobs, Security and Anti-corruption. But there is the need to take the edge off primordial fears which, to a large extent, will determine the attitude of many voters, at least in the South West.

    Politicians often bask in the rapture of illusion, expressed mostly in the media, in rallies and walk-outs. Often, they confuse public enthusiasm with deep-rooted blood-bound alliances. It is a big farce to think that the February 14 elections will not be determined by history and ethnicity, that will be dealing with appearances, leaving behind the timeless reality of a country acutely divided, and which history is dotted by deadly clashes of civilisations. Buhari is Fulani. Two centuries ago, architects of the thriving Yoruba Empire would not have contemplated Yoruba would be asked to vote for a Fulani candidate in an election, no matter how dignified.  The Fulani and the Yoruba, in truth, have been arch rivals in the contest for land, values, power and state resources. We neglect this to our own peril.

    The rivalry is agelong. In the spring of 1804, Uthman Dan Fodio had led a revolution that cut across today’s Northern hemisphere. The revolt led to millions of deaths, including women and children. The Yoruba nation painfully lost some ancestral territories. The last scuffle being the 1842 combat to reclaim most of the lost grounds, until Britain came, leaving bitter memories in the sub consciousness of generations that followed. In the elections of 1950s and 1960s, the echoes of the acrimony did not abate. These reflect in all Yoruba voting patterns.

    To many Yoruba, given my interactions at a recent Pan-Yoruba meeting held in Ibadan which I chaired, the Hausa-Fulani is still seen as millstone. Many recollect that the late Premier of Northern Region, the late Ahmadu Bello, taunted the region that he would dip the Holy Quaran into the sea, the euphemism for atrocious conquest. In the 60s, about 29 Yoruba leaders, including Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were hauled into detention at the instance of the Hausa-Fulani-dominated political class. In subsequent years, the rivalry of times past defined the political momentum. In 1993, a different pattern was etched only because Afenifere, the Yoruba traditional political institution, was prevented by the military from leading the Yoruba political processes, leaving Yoruba with restricted two-party choice. However, the annulment of the 1993 election, the assassinations of Yoruba icons, deliberate plots that scuttled the economic mainstay of the Yoruba people only rekindled the primordial sentiments against the Hausa-Fulani. The June 12 1993 annulment led to the birth of several self determination groups, which, today, and I am in a vantage position to know, remain the most potent political force in Yorubaland. These groups, like most Yoruba people, are anxious to know the content and form of the negotiation with Buhari by the APC leadership, which they think, hold them in contempt. Contrary to assumptions, the fact is that many Yoruba, especially at the lower ranks, are conscious of the history of rivalry with the Hausa-Fulani.

    The emergence of Boko Haram, irrespective of its vagaries, has further deepened the Yoruba suspicion against the Hausa-Fulani. It is even more dangerous for anyone to hinge on ‘power must return to the north,’ as a campaign grundnorm. For the average Yoruba person, true federalism and self determination are key issues. The Hausa-Fulani stood against these pillars, until now that Buhari has brought some rays of hope. It is important that the Hausa-Fulani should see this new alliance as a rare spirit of reconciliation on the part of the Yoruba people. It shows Yoruba liberal sense of fairness and adherence to the tradition of decent politics. It is also important to dissuade the assumption in the South East and among ethnic minorities that it represents a realignment of the same forces that prosecuted the civil war, a gang-up of the big nationalities against ethnic minorities. An inroad into the South-South will be difficult, unless campaigns build confidence among a people that have suffered marginalisation and misery for too long especially as it regards what happens to their oil resources. It is reasonable for APC to enter into constructive assurance of fear-driven Ijaw and oil-producing communities.

    Certainly, President Jonathan offers no succour to the Yoruba demand. He has failed in all ramifications. He, in fact, has no solutions to the pile of harms, meaning that for many Yoruba, the choice still remains tough.  But the average Yoruba is not lost to the ruinous policies of the PDP and its impact on the emasculation of the Yoruba heritage, and the fact that the APC has brought hope to a despairing population.

    Yet, for reasons of grief memories gone by, it is easier for the APC state governors to win the South West than to ensure the overwhelming victory of Buhari. But as it is,  Buhari’s victory has become a necessary uplift from the squelching mud. The new equation has proven the maxim that solutions to a people’s aspirations could come from unlikely quarters. It has asserted the dialectics in Yoruba philosophy that “ninu ikoko dudu l’eko funfun ti n jade – The snow-white maize porridge is, nevertheless, a product of the burnt, gritty black pot.

    Will Buhari save the Yoruba nation? For one, PDP has proved that it cannot allay the fears neither can it meet the aspiration of the Yoruba. For six years, Yoruba have been so kind to a president that has paid back with vicious neglect. So, for me, hacking down the PDP remains an historical task for every Yoruba person. The party has brought disgrace and shame to the values and traditions held dear. The PDP has created a crestfallen nation in its own image. The party has ruined the potential of the SW. The party is led by an uninspiring president, who has neither produced a book nor an epic statesmanship on his understanding of how to build a great country. The PDP candidate lacks the capacity, the will and the knowledge to uplift Nigeria from her current state of trance, depression and hopelessness.

    The Yoruba believes in federalism, it is inspiring that the APC has brought this up as a critical campaign element. The content and form must be broadly defined and popularized in the South West. It is on this note that one would expect a shift in the paradigm of the APC campaign in the SW. Campaigns should have national appeal, but must also be subjective, being region-specific. The major challenge facing Nigeria is how to create a new foundation; it is whether we want to stay together as one and on what terms. It is whether Lagos will take control of revenue from her sea port and if Ijaw nation will control her oil or not. It is obvious that President Jonathan will not address these issues, having used the national conference he ordered as a mere electoral gimmick. The APC seems likely to be trusted with the will to take the lid off a boiling saucepan. Before February 14, APC needs to deconstruct the mindset of the Yoruba people, assuage old fears with a new tonic that offers to put an end to affliction, mourning and gnashing of teeth.

     

  • Yoruba group backs Buhari

    The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum (YRLF) has endorsed the candidacy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    In a statement by its General Secretary, Akin Malaolu, the group said it took the decision having considered the situation in the country and what the candidates have in store for the people.

    “We have accepted the choice of this honest and strong-willed statesman. Today, we wish to state clearly and categorically that Gen Buhari has met our leadership capacity index for his adoption as the candidate to vote for in the election.

    “We urge all Nigerians, regardless of tribes, to honour Gen Buhari with their votes so that the ring of those who have turned our commonwealth into private property can be defeated to save our country Nigeria and move her away from our present gloomy situation.”

  • Day Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, others united for Buhari in Ondo

    Day Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, others united for Buhari in Ondo

    A huge crowd of supporters welcomed the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and his campaign team to Akure, the Ondo State capital. DAMISI OJO and LEKE AKEREDOLU report.

    In the History of Ondo State, January 24,2015 would remain indelible in the minds of many people.

    That day, racial discrimination was totally put on hold as Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and other tribes welcomed the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and his running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, (SAN), to Akure, the state capital.

    In the annals of political campaigns and rallies in Ondo State,it was a special day as the 5000 capacity crowd Democracy Park could not contain the surging crowd.

    Many hanged on the veranda of adjoining buildings to catch a glimpse on the former Head of State.

    In spite of the late arrival of the visitors,anxious party members and supporters waited patiently till around 4.30 pm when the campaign train hit the Democracy park like the biblical triumphant entry.

    Security operatives had a hectic time in controlling the crowd. People were shouting ‘sai Buhari’, waving their brooms and dancing to the tunes of Saidi Osupa and his band boys.

    The crowd defied the scorching sun food and drink vendors made brisk business.

    Before the arrival of Gen Buhari and his entourage from Ado-Ekiti, the APC National Leader and former Lagos State Governor had arrived earlier to cheer up the excited crowd who had waited anxiously for more than eight hours.

    They later came in a long convoy Gen Muhammadu Buhari,Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun and other party leaders.

    The APC leaders flayed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and urged Nigerians to vote out the party, which they said, represents corruption and maladministration in the February general elections.

    They noted that the PDP government has brought untold hardship to Nigerians and assured that the APC would bring about change.

    Tinubu who addressed the APC supporters at the Democracy Park, Akure said the party presented Buhari as its candidate to fight corruption, stressing that the former Head of State is not too old to rule the country as being insinuated by the PDP.

    Tinubu mentioned some prominent world leaders, including the late Dr Nelson Mandela, former President of South-Africa who ruled their countries in their old age. He said age has nothing to do with efficiency and leadership.

    The APC National Leader recalled that former Ondo State Governor, Adekunle Ajasin ruled at over 70 years. He said the legacies of his administration are reference points for successive administrations.

    He said: “Leaders who ruled their countries and liberated them ruled at old age. nelson Mandela ruled South Africa at over 70 years. The man who liberated the United States of America ruled the country at over 70 years, so, if we are presenting Buhari, a 72 year old man to liberate us in Nigeria, it is not a sin.”

    Tinubu who described the APC campaign as “common sense revolution”, described Buhari as a brilliant, intelligent, brave and honest person, who has solution to the problems confronting the country.

    He challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to present his score card for the last six years. He asked him to show the refinery he promised to build in Ondo state when he was canvassing for votes four years ago.

    The former governor maintained that Nigeria needed a courageous man like Buhari to conquer terror, adding that the current administration has failed woefully in all sectors of the economy.

    Buhari said that the PDP has killed the economy through corruption and maladministration, adding that his government will restore the hope of the masses.

    The former Head of State promised he would end corruption and revive the economy. He promised to create jobs through farming and mining.

    The National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State urged Nigerians to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) and vote out the PDP.

    Aregbesola noted that Ondo State had been delivered from the captives of the oppressed with their support for the APC.

    Dignitaries at the event include former governors of Ekiti, Adeniyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi, Chief Pius Akinyelure, Mrs. Jumoke Anifowose (nee Ajasin), Abike Dabiri, Victor Olabimtan, Senator Olorunmbe Mamora, Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, Oyewole Fasawe, Sola Iji, Niran Sule and Bola Ilori.

    Others include Isaac Kekemeke Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Ifedayo Abegunde, Ganny Dauda, Henry Bello, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, Dr. Paul Akintelure, Adegboyega Adedipe, Ade Adetimehin,

    Others are Eni Omosule, Tayo Alasoadura, Benson Enikuomehin, Lebi Morayo, Gboyega Adedipe, Tunde Imolehin, Abayomi Adesanya, Charles Titiloye, Erelu Modupe Johnson- Akindele and Mrs Funmilayo Olaseinde-Vincet.

    Highlight of the rally was the defection of some PDP and Labour Party member (LP) to APC.

    Among them were Femi Agagu, former Chief of Staff to the former Governor Olusegun Agagu, and former Speakers of the Assembly, Hon, Victor Olabimtan and Taofik Abdusalam.

  • The Need For Yoruba To Rethink

    The Need For Yoruba To Rethink

    The events that have militated against  good governance and progress of corporate Nigeria has usually been triggered by my people, the Yoruba.

    When you flash back to the events since 1979, when we were poised to have a good president in Nigeria, Chief Awolowo, it was Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN) that came up with 12 2/3 formula.

    After the accord of non-violence signed on 14th January, 2015 by all presidential candidates, events unfolding have set the Yoruba against the candidate of change, General Muhammodu Buhari, under the close watch of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, when one Col. Olaleye claimed that Buhari’s certificates are not with the military, after earlier confirmation they have the documents.

    Is he saying that all the courses attended and certificates obtained since 1961 until Buhari retired are not in the files or records of the military, which are higher than WASC?

    To crown it all, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State placed an advert in The Punch and The Sun newspapers wishing Buhari dead and still remains unrepentant about it, while President Jonathan could not call him to order.

    The underlying factors in all these developments are avarice and love of money. In all the cases cited above, except Abiola’s denial by Obasanjo, the Yoruba are presented as mischief makers of Nigeria, always used when Nigeria is about to choose a good leader of our dream, at times jeopardizing the corporate existence of the nation.

    I hate the idea of Yoruba being used to do senseless things. Who can vouch for Fayose clocking 60 years before he dies?

    Let us be reminded that Buhari and Idiagbon fixed Nigeria when it was in a disastrous state between 1983 and 1985 before Babangida brought darkness again, which has not been corrected till date. The duo of Buhari and Osinbajo will do it again because we need them now more than ever.

    The press conference addressed by General Buhari on 21st January, 2015 has exposed both the military and the PDP as liars, who cannot be trusted with the governance of this country. Both are birds of a feather, who have been lying to us about Boko Haram and the nation’s affairs.

    Let the genuine  leaders of Yoruba and our monarchs rise up to the occasion and condemn the actions of Femi Fani-Kayode, Fayose, Olaleye and others like them, who have been behaving like bastards in our midst for a pot of porridge.

    If Buhari contested in 2003, 2007, 2011 for this same position and the issue of certificate did not arise then, why now when he is set to win the Presidency like Abraham Lincoln of USA?

     

  • EKO 2015: Yoruba in Diaspora converge on Lagos

    No fewer than 2000 Yoruba in the Diaspora will converge on Lagos for the first Oodua Peoples Union world congress tagged Eko 2015. Venue of the congress which has as theme, Team Leadership and Role of Leadership in effective Service Delivery is Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja on Monday, January 26. 2015.

    According to convener of the congress and National Coordinator Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) Otunba Gani Adams “efforts are being made for the successful hosting of the over 2000 Nigerians in Diaspora who have signified their interest to attend the world congress of the Union in Lagos. He said the union is leaving no stone unturned for the success of this congress in order to benefit the nation and the participants.

    “It is going to be one of the largest convergences of Yoruba in Diaspora in recent times and we are bracing up to ensure that such a gathering is not only productive to the nation but enrich participants  by engaging in discussion that will help in sharpening their leadership instincts and sense of responsibility,” he added.

    Otunba Adams explained that “Eko 2015 is about leadership training. It is not just a forum for social interaction, wining and dining. It is all about sharpening the leadership content in our mental and behavioural armoury for personal enhancement, community advancement and national aspiration. Hence, we came out with the theme Team Leadership and Role of Leadership in effective Service Delivery.

    He said discussants and guests lecturers for the event have been carefully selected in cognisance of the theme and cosmopolitan outlook of the participants.

    “We have selected two guest speakers who are eminently capable and distinguished enough for the thought changing theme. Prof Kolawole Raheem of University of Education, Winneba in Ghana and Prof Olajumoke Familoni, Lead City University, Ibadan Oyo State will lead the participants through the discussion,” he said.

  • Le moinmoin, cest moi

    Whoever coined this name for the Yoruba delicacy made from beans must have a sense of the wild possibilities of language. The name connotes a mellow mellifluousness and a delicate deliciousness which haunt the taste buds for a long time. Even the indigenous name–?l?l?— connotes suppleness and subtlety which hint at Yoruba cuisine at its most gloriously addictive.

    The reason for this flight of linguistic fancy and culinary masturbation so to say is a passing reference to the great Yoruba delicacy in this past week’s offering of fellow columnist, Tony Marinho, in a moving tribute to his late stepmother, Madam Grace Ebun Marinho, who recently joined the Saints Triumphant. It is when you realize that others also share your secret passions that our common humanity is reinforced.

    As a whistle-blowing patrol guard of ancient Yoruba cuisine, snooper took in Marinho’s casual reference to “moin moin” with considerable skepticism at the initial stage. “What does this oyinbo-looking man know about moin moin?” yours sincerely rumbled to himself in ill-humour. But after the first paragraph, one became convinced that the good old doctor was an aficionado of the delicacy indeed.

    Two quick tests of connoisseurship did it. The doctor also has an abiding distaste for synthetic moin moin which comes wrapped in cellophane. This usually robs the end product of a certain aroma and exquisite taste supplied by the indigenous wrapping leaves usually freshly cut. Second was Marinho’s contention that  “good moinmoin always leaves the best tasting morsels hidden between the leaves”.  Marinho is spot on. This is what is known in native parlance as “l?b?”

    About thirty two years after describing this delicious phenomenon as “elusive sublimities cowering under the wrapping leaves” in a review of Soyinka’s Ake, snooper is hard put to beat himself. L?b? is the ultimate delight of the moin moin aficionado. It is not always enough to fill the month; always leaving tantalizing hints of insatiable demands.

    Right from youth, snooper has always had a huge passion for steaming moin moin.  Among friends and close acquaintances, this was always a source of heavy jokes and feisty pranks.  If one were to be stranded or sequestered on an uninhabited island, the last request will be for a generous supply of ??l? and ? ko.

    And whilst we are still on the subject of moin moin, it is meet to report on a curious incident that occurred on September 9th this outgoing year. Snooper’s longstanding crony, Barrister Akinlawon Ige, a scion of the illustrious Ige family of Esa Oke, suddenly materialized at the doorstep brimming with mischief and merry gamesmanship. He had left Ibadan at cock’s crow to head for Lagos just to wish his friend a happy birthday.

    Before anybody could say Jack Robinson, Akin had unleashed a basketful of steaming moinmoin and eko all the way from Ibadan. It was a wonderful birthday present. Without wasting any further time on formalities, snooper led the lawyer to a corner of the house where domestic hostilities duly commenced.  After about an hour the whole house was piled up with dead wrapping leaves with both aging delinquents unable to get up. Whereupon Akin crawled up and ordered his driver to take him back to Ibadan. Mission accomplished. Snooper sank back in sated torpor. God bless you all and happy new year in advance.

  • Yoruba leaders’ presumptuous OAU meeting and endorsement

    Yoruba leaders’ presumptuous OAU meeting and endorsement

    It is not certain why the Yoruba politicians and conservative opinion moulders who convened a Yoruba conference at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife two Fridays ago described their gathering as Yoruba Unity Conference. Nor is it clear why they needed to bring the conference down to a university in the Southwest simply to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan. However, in line with their customary indifference to the genuine feelings and agitations of the Yoruba, and their natural presumption of what the Yoruba want, they do not really owe us an explanation. For even if they offer us one, it is unlikely to be satisfactory. Indeed, the conference speaks very eloquently to the political decay afflicting the country, a decay that has not spared the Southwest.

    The conferees, all of them PDP members or sympathisers, acknowledged that the meeting was convened by the Committee on Yoruba Progress, an organisation based suspiciously in Abuja and reportedly inspired by the eminent sybarite, Bode George, a former military governor of Ondo State, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) and now vicious hater of the political opposition. Fittingly, the communiqué issued at the end of the conference addressed him as chairman of the conference. In his address, he rhapsodises the Yoruba, quite unmindful of just how painfully derelict he himself is of the values he so copiously attributes to the people he claims to represent. If nothing else, it was clear the purpose of the conference was not any altruistic reiteration of Yoruba unity or advancement of their manifest destiny, as they incoherently and inexpertly suggested in their communiqué. Their aim was to position themselves openly, unashamedly and obscenely as PDP politicians to curry the guileful Dr Jonathan’s favour of.

    Chief George was not unsurprisingly supported by other Southwest politicians purporting to be the leaders of the Yoruba. They include the garrulous Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, a man whose mind is so fevered that it is continuously agitated either by external and internal stimuli; Iyiola Omisore, the troubled and troubling candidate of the PDP in the Osun governorship race; Senator Femi Okunrounmu, the most ardent legitimiser of the recent barren national conference; and Ebenezer Babatope, the former progressive whose conscience has mummified over time into extreme conservatism and reaction. Others were Hon Mulikat Adeola-Akande, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and servile legislative opportunist, and a host of traditional rulers mouthing dubieties, small-time politicians eager to sell principles they never had, and vengeful elder statesmen roaming and hoofing the Southwest.

    In their haste to organise a conference, they forgot that OAU would be writing their semester examinations, for which the conference would be a major disruption. Naturally, a controversy has broken out about how the peeved students reacted to Dr Jonathan’s disruptive presence. Some students clearly demonstrated against the needless visit; but others, including some leaders of the students’ union, welcomed the president and even gleefully posed for photographs with him.

    It is unusual for OAU students’ union leaders to be so inured to progressivism as to feel honoured to take photographs with a president who has done his worst to destroy the constitution, undermine the rule of law, prove so impotent in the face of insurgency in the Northeast, fatally ignore the fate of the 219 abducted Chibok schoolgirls, and enunciate and implement series of divisively ethnic and sectarian policies. Did such odiousness escape the OAU student leaders? Second, the students justified their hobnobbing with the president on the excuse that they needed to place their protest against hike in school fees before him. If the president agrees to reduce the fees, could the students correspondingly get him to increase the subvention to their school?

    The rot everywhere has obviously spread beyond the political class, a subset of which is the fractious, vindictive and retrogressive Yoruba political elite that convened in Ife simply to endorse Dr Jonathan and massage his ego. Even students now show a disturbing lack of sensitivity to the salient issues of their time and other grave issues with far-reaching implications for the future. Nigeria is in far worse trouble than its people imagine. And the Yoruba, alas, are in the deep end of the trouble. Those who gather at OAU two Fridays ago to endorse Dr Jonathan claim to be more Awoist than anybody else. But would Chief Awolowo in his mildest progressivism ever think of endorsing Dr Jonathan, especially after Chibok, invasion of National Assembly and harassment of the opposition? Would Chief Awolowo ever countenance a shift in election date as Ayo Adebanjo, an Afenifere chieftain has insensitively done?

  • President Jonathan and the Yoruba nation

    SIR: Since the reported meeting of our President with some leaders of Yoruba nation including respected monarchs, I have done some hard thinking about our nation and especially the level of fidelity that is demonstrated by our political masters. The innocuous body parading itself or insinuating that it was speaking for the whole Yoruba nation is entitled to its views. But several things were involved or ought to have been considered before that meeting was summoned.

    The Nigeria political arrangements especially sharing of political positions, appointments to the Chiefs and Senior Management Staff of statutory corporations, commissions and boards deserve a second look if not a thorough analysis. Citing of capital projects in each zone or state of the federation needs to be known and analysed. The allocation of the superior or super ministries to each zone or a block of zones needs to be known. In short, the equitable distribution of resources available to the Nigerian nation state should also be on the table. Nigeria as a nation must survive. Although there are few immutables in politics, it is safe to argue that we will all benefit by the wholesomeness and unity of the country.

    Some Nigerians have reacted positively or negatively to the meeting. I refer in particular to Prof. Dare’s comment at the back page of The Nation of December 2. Dare has not been known to flaunt false statistics nor has he been known to tell blatant untruth. However, his reference to Ekiti Obas as leading in numbers with their counterparts from the states of South-West zone is not exactly true. Indeed, more Obas attended from  a neighbouring state. In any case, there is virtually nothing wrong in leaders and Obas of our zone meeting the President of Nigeria.

    While I agree with Prof. Dare that the leaders and the Obas might have been tricked to attend a political forum, I reject in entirety the view that the Obas were indiscreet or they went for what some called stomach infrastructure. Throughout Nigeria, Ekiti Obas stand out in intellect, in commitment to their environment and proud of their thrones. Like many Yoruba, Ekitis don’t pick the crumbs from under the table. We either sit at the table or don’t come near  at all.

    I think what that forum would have told the President plainly is that there is so much imbalance in the distribution of wealth (via contracts), in the allocation of resources, in execution of capital projects and most importantly in the distribution of key political and administrative positions among the various group that constitute our federation. No Yoruba man holds any key Ministry except Akinwumi who vaunts his achievement in the distribution of mobile telephone to farmers but who has done very modestly in the core area of agriculture, notably some marginal increase in rice production and wiping out of middlemen who dominated the fertilizer business. Almost all the economics and the financial ministries, ministry of power, their subsidiaries, corporations, commissions, etc, are headed by people of the South-South and South-East of the geo-political zones. Some have vaguely put the arithmetic as follows: 70 per cent for South-South and South-East block; 25 percent for Northern block and 5 percent for South-West. It is not sufficient for the President to say that ‘he will take care of the West. The innuendo here is loaded and one does not need to interpret this. Some six decades ago, during the days of Azikiwe/Okpara, Sardauna/Balewa, Awolowo/Akintola, any attempt to knit a political arrangement between the then Eastern Region and Western Region was at  the very last moment aborted by our revered Azikiwe. This, he said quite reasonably of course, that Nigeria could not be ruled on the basis of North versus South or vice versa. Although Awolowo wanted close working relationship between the East and the West, he also courted the so-called minorities of the Middle Belt in the North and then Calabar, Ogoja, Rivers (COR) people of the East. Of course  Awolowo’s manoeuvres never materialized while Azikwe/Okpara always forged close relationship with the North, giving birth to uneasy coalition at the centre. This is the arrangement which Dare and others called the ‘mainstreaming’. Nigeria is so complex, the geographical space so large that political mainstreaming may not only be undemocratic, but stiffening if not suffocating.

    Finally, let us appeal to the Federal Government to treat all of us evenly and let the Secretary to the Federal Government in particular learn from our political progenitors.

    • ‘Deji Fasuan, JP, MON

    Ado-Ekiti

  • Fayose: Yoruba’s new PDP leader in action

    I sympathise with Ayo Fayose for his current travails. It is as if it is now a crime to be resourceful enough to defeat two sitting governors at different periods. He has on account of trials by his political detractors since his second coming six weeks ago become the face of all that is wrong with us as a nation and with our fledgling democracy.  The truth however is that the Fayose phenomenon is only symptomatic of a nation ‘of anything is possible’, one that thrives in aberration of putting  square pegs in round holes, hoping the nation will wobble on.  Didn’t we not too  long ago have an ill-equipped Aguiyi-Ironsi who thought all that was required to manage society was military training and tactics, an ill-equipped Obasanjo, who thought he could play god because fortune had smiled on him, and an  incompetent Shagari who only wanted to be a senator but found himself imposed on Nigeria. He smoked while Akinloye and his NPN wrecked the economy. There was also the cunning Babangida who took the nation for a ride for eight years of ‘transition without end’; an impostor called Abacha whose only agenda was to mindlessly loot the treasury. We have similarly had a terminally ill Yar’Adua and a Jonathan who by all accounts is a good man but lacks the competence and political will to manage a multi-ethnic society which is today torn between Christians and Muslims, north and south, Fulani versus Middle Belt and Ijaws versus Hausa/Fulani – their traditional allies.

    Fayose, today’s aberration is brash, garrulous, and confident. He is well grounded in the art of street fighting as espoused by his mentor the late Adedibu, PDP garrison commander of Ibadan politics who rose through the rank as an Action Group thug in the first republic to become the leader of Ibadan thugs and road workers union. He it was that told us that to be a governor, you must be ready to remove your dress and fight it out on the street and have no inhibition about falsely swearing publicly with the Holy Koran. Fayose has been an outstanding student. But for those like Obasanjo who have continued to prolong our nightmare through playing god, Fayose would have been a celebrated success if he had been restricted to his area of core competence – protecting the king on the throne. The Yoruba with its rich culture have long warned of the consequences of usurping the throne by those not groomed to ascend thrones. Accordingly they say, “Ti a ba fi eru j’oba, ilu a tuka.” The governor  by all accounts is not a slave; this is just the Yoruba way of saying those who were not groomed to be kings but usurp the throne, will mismanage the fortune of the people while the community will be in disarray. We witnessed the consequences of such an aberration during the reign of Abacha, when NADECO members fled the country. We saw a bit of it during Fayose’s first coming as governor 2003 -2006 when Ekiti elite fled from the state while revered traditional rules like the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti who had nowhere to run to was rudely challenged by Fayose to remove his crown and sceptre and come to the political arena for contest of popularity.

    Indeed the view of George Akosile, the state chairman of defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) shortly before Fayose’s impeachment in 2006 was that “Fayose is not a proper person to rule Ekiti State. He has no certificate. He is an area boy…” This may sound harsh and uncharitable, but Akosile was vindicated by Fayose’s subsequent impeachment by 23 of the 26-member state House of Assembly in October 2006 for the mismanagement of N12 billion local government joint contribution fund and the alleged theft of N1.3 billion through the derailed integrated poultry project among 26 charges brought by EFCC to support his impeachment.

    Most people had thought that eight years in the political wilderness,  51 court appearances and months of detention over the yet-to-be resolved 26 charges EFCC  brought against Fayose would have sobered him but a leopard does not change its skin. This time around, he did not even wait for his inauguration before resorting to self-help. He simply led a band of thugs and okada riders into a court premises, beat up the judge handling the case about his eligibility to contest an election, filed long before the election. They tore the judge’s gown along with some prepared judgments.

    With inauguration, he started with the mundane. The government house commissioned on the eve of his inauguration, he claimed, was too big and too tastefully furnished for a people’s governor. He then directed okada riders and thugs to go and have a taste and feel of the place because government house belongs to them. Days later, his political detractors claimed he spent another N200 million to carry out further repair on the same house. At the state secretariat, a new entrance was to be constructed to keep ‘evil servants’ at a distance while the governor moves to his office every morning. There had been an earlier directive that civil servants who got promoted in the last one year were to revert back to their old positions. Due to no fault of theirs, they would also have to refund the allowances already earned because government is broke. Along the line, the people’s governor appointed a special adviser on stomach infrastructure. Government also issued a public notice inviting his supporters to a rendezvous at drinking joints for carousing on Fridays at government expense.

    Then from the mundane, the government moved to the bizarre. Never equipped to manage conflicts through negotiation and compromise with the other arms of government, he forced 19 of the 26 members of the state House of Assembly out of town, ferried the seven members of PDP in a government bus guided by over 300 heavily armed policemen to the assembly chambers where the seven hilariously pronounced the speaker and deputy impeached in their absence and accorded one of their seven members the title speaker. Minutes later, the governor, dressed like one of his supporters was addressing local and international press. He told bemused nation that he has recognized the new speaker and was prepared to work with him.

    With Ekiti now fully secured, Fayose who won an election without an agenda has moved on to the national stage. Last week he ferried PDP members and some leading Ekiti Obas to Obafemi Awolowo University, to sell Jonathan who is seeking re-election in 2015 to the marginalised Yoruba who the Jonathan administration has largely ignored for three years. This in itself was an arduous task. But Fayose instead of selling Jonathan embarked on petty personal wars by attacking Obasanjo’s person.

    Fayose’s answer to Obasanjo’s warning that “increasing corruption under Jonathan had damaged the economy, with possible consequences of having to borrow to pay salaries and allowances because of dwindling revenue allocation to states and local governments” was to call attention of the public to donations to Obasanjo library and an alleged sharing of N50 million to each senator and House of Representatives member during Obasanjo’s third term fiasco.

    Fayose’s answer to Obasanjo’s warning that “Nigeria cannot continue to indulge in disdain for truth, elevation of corruption and incompetence, reinforcement of failure, and celebration of mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and anti-democratic practices in states and National Assembly” was to accuse Obasanjo of intolerance of those with independent minds of their own.

    Fayose’s reaction to Obasanjo admonition that it took Jonathan more than three years to appreciate and understand that “Boko Haram is not simply a menace based on religion or one directed to frustrate anybody’s political ambition”, was to praise the president for refusing “to toe the path of unconstitutionality” and for respecting human rights by not committing crime against humanity” as Obasanjo once did.

    I am sure it is not only the Ekitis  at home and abroad that feel diminished by Fayose’s emptiness and attempt to wage petty personal wars with serious national issues at Ife last week, his entourage made of professors and respected traditional Ekiti rulers and even  Obasanjo who first promoted him beyond his level, would probably share the same fate. Behold the new Yoruba PDP leader, the nemesis of Obasanjo in action.