After Adesanya, What Next For Afenifere?

Senator Abraham Adesanya The demise of Senator Abraham Adesanya has left a vacuum in the group that he led, Afenifere. ADEWALE AJAYI in this piece examines the posibility of using his demise as an opportunity to unite the group and probe into who succeeds him.

THE demise of Apamaku ( the man who refused to surrender to death) Senator Abraham Adesanya marks the beginning of a new dawn in the Yoruba nation, which he had best ruled over like a colossus.

Senator Abraham Adesanya born July 24, 1922 was the leader of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political group, which he led for over a decade. He took over from Chief Adekunle Ajasin who died on October 3, 1997.The group had championed the cause of the race, and at a time it was its voice. Its opinion on any issue did carry much weight.

The Afenifere leader was one of the remaining titans in the struggle for democracy. His doggedness, fearlessness and commitment to the enthronement of democracy remains indelible and cannot be underestimated. He was one of the able lieutenants of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and was a party man to the core. This he demonstrated in 1956, when he contested election to the Western Region. House of Assembly as an independent candidate, against the wish of his party, the Action Group (AG) which fielded another candidate against him. He lost the election to the party’s candidate, but despite pressure on him to challenge the result of the election, he refused, by saying he could not take his party to court.

His decision to go into the election was influenced by his popularity and his people in Ijebu-Igbo rooted for him. So he decided to put his popularity to test. Mr. Adesanya, as was then addressed, waited for another time to test his acceptability. That time eventually came and in 1960 he vied for the position of member of the Western Region House of Assembly. This time he emerged as the AG flag bearer and eventually won.

Efforts by the National Convention of Nigeria and Cameroun (NCNC) to woo Hon. Adesanya to its side as they had succeeded in enticing others, failed. The NCNC was giving monetary inducement to the lawmakers to get them on their side. In other to checkmate the defection, the AG decided to give allowances to its lawmakers, but Adesanya refused to take any money from his party, because he saw service to his constituency as a selfless one.

Between 1979 and 1983 when he was in the senate representing Ogun East Senatorial district, his commitment was to the survival of Nigeria as a great nation, this was testified to by his colleague in the Senate, Senator David Dafinone The patriotism, and commitment to civil rule was one unique value that stands him out After the annulment of June 12 1993 election, adjudged to have been won by Chief MKO Abiola, Chief Adesanya along with others decided to confront the military regime led by General Sani Abacha. This they did by forming the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) where Adesanya was the deputy leader, while Chief Anthony Enahoro was the leader.

NADECO became a torn in the flesh of the military junta and concerted effort was made by the military to mow down the NADECO members. That move to eliminate its members informed the decision of many of them to flee the shore of the country. They continued to attack the military government from their base.

Chief Enahoro was one of those who escaped from the country when the military made an attempt to assassinate him. He equally used his base abroad to clamour for support from western countries, and that the NADECO members succeeded in, leading those countries to declare Nigeria... Nigeria “a pariah nation.”

Senator Adesanya also was not spared, as an attempt was made by the Abacha gunmen to mow him down in broad daylight; he escaped the assassination attempt, but despite the attempt on his life he was relentless in the struggle to return the country to civil rule Senator Adesanya demonstrated his sterling leadership qualities as the leader of Afenifere when he managed to suppress its internal wrangling and kept the group afloat.

His failing health gave room for polarisation of Afenifere which was impenetrable when he was healthier. The former Alliance for Democracy governors, with the exception of Chief Adebayo Adefarati, were said to be responsible for this, because they needed an Afenifere that they could use to negotiate for political relevance in the formation of another party.

In perpetrating their plan, the nomination of Chief Reuben Fasoranti as the acting Chairman of the group was dismissed . Rather, they decided to anoint Senator Ayo Fasanmi as the deputy leader of the group to hold forth pending the time Senator Adesanya was expected to fully recuperate.

The holding of Afenifere at the jugular incapacitated it and weakened its political strength and its political influence began to wane. The transition of Senator Adesanya therefore has thrown up the question of who steps into his shoes as the leader of the group. This quest for new leadership has been a matter which had obsessed the mind of members of the group.

Ordinarily, one would have expected Chief Fasoranti to step into his shoes, but it was learnt that the system for of anointing a leader for the group is not automatic. Shedding light on the procedure for appointing a leader, Lagos State Chairman of the group, Chief Supo Shonibare, explained that Afenifere was being guided by norms and tradition, and never had any written constitution.

He explained that whoever wanted to lead the group should be endorsed by all the accredited state chapters of Afenifere, later the General Assembly of the group shall ratify the name of the leader at its meeting. Admiting the fact that Afenifere is in the doldrums, he was hopeful that a leader who would unite the factions in the group would emerge. Chief Shonibare wanted members of the group to use the advantage of the demise of Senator Adesanya to come together .

Expressing fear about getting a successor who will continue from where Senator Adesanya stopped, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, in his condolence message wrote “the vacuum left will b e difficult to fill for now, I pray that the merciful and our creator, the good God of Oduduwa, Awolowo and Ajasin and the others will comfort the family and vouchsafe for Afenifere, Yoruba race and a valiant committed and consistent leader like our great Adesanya.”

The need to reposition Afenifere was germane to all its members, because the infiltration of the group has created a lot of set back for it. In 1998, 1999 and early 2000 Afenifere was the voice of the Yoruba race and its position on any national issue was well-respected and carried weight, but with the misfortune that has befallen the group, Yoruba race has become vulnerable and with no group to speak on its behalf.

According to Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Afenifere is the embodiment of Awolowo’s political values and heritage and the organization should not be allowed to die. Former Ogun State governor Chief Olusegun Osoba, preferred to be silent on the issue of who succeeds Senator Adesanya as Afenifere leader because he felt doing that would amount to politicising his death .

It was admitted that the decision of Afenifere to open its flank to every comer was the bane of its problem, because many of the new comers never shared the values of Afenifere, but teamed up with it because of its credibility that endeared it to the people of South West.

These set of people contributed to the destruction of the political platform , AD , formed by the group in 1998. Despite his political leaning, Senator Adesanya never allowed that to becloud his sense of responsibility to the Yoruba race . He discharged his responsibility as Yoruba leader to the best of his ability , and that justifies why many politicians of different political leaning have been paying tribute to the icon.