The Yoruba in post-Obaasanjo tenure

Olusegun Obasanjo

Assistant Editor, Niyi Adebimpe, in this piece, traces the rich leadership history of the Yoruba nation up till the end of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure. He concludes that the South West people need to go back to the drawing board to find a way out of the leadership challenge they have faced since the death of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The Yoruba ethnic stock is a peculiar and important catalyst in the political development of the Nigerian nation. It is one ethnic group that cannot be dismissed with a wave of hands in national political issues, just as the international recognition accorded it over the years have always been linked to the sundry exploits of its prominent sons and daughters in all facets of life that translate to development.

Today, the Yoruba appears to be at a loss on how to really re-position itself in the political equation of Nigeria to reclaim the world respect it has always savour in national politics. For the Yoruba to have found themselves suddenly at crossroads in politics, the style of leadership should first be held as suspect. For any group or political formation, the kind of leadership provided at any given time goes a long way to dictate the fate.

And more importantly, there are divergent views over approach to the emergence of leaders with the two most prominent views bordering on natural emergence of leaders while the others favour appointment of a leader through election or selection.

Put succinctly, regardless of the mode of the emergence of a leader, the welfare of its followers, especially their quest for security and defence, must be his/her pre-occupation at any given time and how he carries this will go a long way in determining the type of followership he gets in return, especially in terms of their support and loyalty.

Interestingly, the history of the Yoruba ethnic stock is replete with emergence of leaders with sundry dispositions toward the expectations of their followers at one time or the other, a development which has undoubtedly been determining the present state of the ethnic groups as well as their lot in the politics of the nation.

Perhaps, one notable leader whose influence and role still remain unrivalled among the Yoruba ethnic group was the sage and elder statesman, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who bestrode the politics of Nigeria like a colossus. Awo, while alive, had carved for himself a niche not only as a nationalist, but also a Yoruba leader whose political ideals have continued to be a reference point and perhaps a mode of assessment of the present crop of leaders and public office holders. The noble programmes of the then Action Group (AG), his party in the First Republic with essential features of free education, free healthcare to mention but a few, had endeared Awo to the hearts of many, just as the Western Region over which he presided as premier remained an envy of others in terms of development then.

Though Awo was denied his bids to rule the nation in 1979 and 1983 general elections, by the sundry irregularities including rigging that were perpetrated at the polls, his leadership of the Yoruba nation was never in contention just as his party the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was able to play the role of a viable opposition effectively to the then Federal Government led by Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic. His larger than life image was also evident in the rate at which his followership was growing in leaps and bounds even after the military putsch of December 1983.

Put differently, Awo’s influence traversed merely being a notable political leader given his worth to the electorate. In the contention of political pundits, Awo was a rallying point for the Yoruba race whose views and ideals were held as sacrosanct. Years after his death, the political worth of the late sage has not dropped, a reason political actors would not feel fulfilled until they identify with his philosophy and ideology. Awo, at a point, remained a joker for winning electoral victories in the South West of Nigeria.

But Awo’s demise in 1987 appears to have put paid to all these as no one seems to have the requisite clout and pedigree possessed by the sage to fit into the role of a credible leader. In the view of analysts, the Yoruba race now appears to be at crossroads over the choice of a leader capable to defend its cause in the scheme of things within the nation especially in contemporary times.

In the contention of analysts, the Yoruba ethnic stock appears to have been caught in the web of political quagmire irrespective of the political system that is in place in Nigeria. To this end, despite the prominent role played by the members of the ethnic group in the demand for self-governance each time the military was in power, its lot had been that of misfortune in the face of absence of a leader who could provide the much desired cohesion among them.

This, according to analysts, is evident in the successful bid by the then General Ibrahim Babangida-led military government to nullify the June 12 presidential election adjudged to be free and fair and won by one of the prominent Yoruba sons, the late Chief M. K. O. Abiola. That Abiola eventually died in the gulag in a bid to claim his mandate, according to political watchers, lends credence to the crack in the wall of defence of the Yoruba race.

Obafemi Awolowo

Perhaps it was on the strength of the injustice meted out to the Yoruba ethnic group that the presidency was zoned to the South West upon the return of the nation to democratic rule in 1999. Although, many of his kinsmen had expressed expectations that the Olusegun Obasanjo-led Presidency would bring the needed succour by helping to midwife the emergence of a dynamic leader that the people could always look up to. Prior to the 1999 election, Obasanjo had started worsening the anticipation of the South West for a leader when he openly berated Abiola, stating that he was not the messiah being expected. Incidentally, Obasanjo too failed to prove himself as a messiah with the opportunity he had to do so.

Put in proper perspective, the plight of the Yoruba nation is better appreciated in the light of the leadership role played by the likes of the late Owelle of Onitsha, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe, to the Easterners and the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, former chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), to the Northerners, while Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation founded many years ago by the sage, appeared to have been bastardised by power hawks who have proved incapable of advancing the cause of Yoruba leadership from where the likes of Awolowo stopped.

The Presidency under Obasanjo initially showed signs of meeting the expectations of the Yoruba ethnic group in its quest for leadership that would protect its interest. Not only did its sundry reforms, including economic policies and other measures taken to checkmate fraud and corrupt practices, endeared it to many, that he wielded so much influence on the entire nation portrayed him as a leader who was determined to keep a date with history and one to look up to.

So impressive was Obasanjo’s leadership style about the time of the 2003 general elections that this factor formed the crux of the decision of the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors within the South West geo-political zone to throw their weight behind him in his bid to rule the nation for a second term of office.

The influence of the Owu-born politician, however, began to dwindle during his second term of office as many had perceived the motive of his sundry reforms, even at the party level, as being informed by the quest to empower his kinsmen in the South West more than any other geo-political zone. Beside Obasanjo’s third term bid which was fought to a standstill, particularly by members of other ethnic groups, many of the reforms by the Obasanjo-led administration, even within the party, are now being reversed by its successor and current government of Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua.

The misadventure of Obasanjo in power has now seemingly put him in a tight corner. At the moment, the only viable elective position which the South West geopolitical zone can boast of within the ruling party and which, of course, remains a reform yet to be tampered with is the office of the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the PDP. Incidentally, many had queried the rationale behind the allocation of the office to a former president. To state that there is a strong gang-up against the Yoruba nation by other geopolitical zones as evident in the distribution of juicy positions within the ruling party amounts to stating the obvious.

Umaru Yar’Adua

Unfortunately, the crisis of leadership that has polarised Afenifere as well as the seeming division in the ruling party over Obasanjo’s influence appear to have worsened matters. This is moreso especially as many members of the party are confused over what to do as they believe that dumping Obasanjo may not be a wise option, a belief informed by the influence he wields in determining what becomes of the Yoruba race in the scheme of things.

In proffering solution to the predicament of the South West geo-political zone largely constituted by Yoruba indigenes, three options are open to the people. The first option is for them to resign themselves to fate and accept whatever is offered them in the next eight years. Since the constitution stipulates a maximum tenure of two terms for the exalted office of the nation’s president, it is natural to assume that the incumbent, Alhaji Yar’Adua, would seek a second term of office. Doing so, thus, presupposes that the seeming gang-up against the interest of the Yoruba ethnic group by other geo-political zones may not abate, moreso as the embattled ethnic group is bereft of a recognised leader who could play the role of a father-figure as obtained in the past era.

Another option open to them is a return to their geo-political zone to chart a new cause for themselves. The importance of this option lies in the critical assessment of their past, fashioning out how it could bail them out of the current political quagmire. For instance, they could look into the option of developing their areas as it was the situation in the First Republic when each region was engaged in programmes and policies aimed at its rapid development to the envy of others. While this is being done, whatever they get from the Federal Government in terms of dividends of democracy would be a mere addition.

The last of the options as pointed out by analysts and political watchers is that of dumping their kinsman, Obasanjo who is believed to be a great determinant of what becomes of the geo-political zone and its people. Incidentally, as analysts point out the Ota farmer’s influence in political circles has really nose-dived since he left office as president. Of course, the inherent advantage of the option is that it will afford them an opportunity to team up with the President Yar’Adua-led Federal Government, thereby identifying with the mainstream of the current Nigerian politics, maximising the linkage for the rapid development of their own geo-political zone.