Afenifere Yet To Reconcile Yorubaland - Durojaiye

Durojaiye

Prominent Yoruba leader, Sen. Olabiyi Durojaiye, told OLUSOLA SANNI that the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, was yet to achieve its aim of uniting the Yoruba race. Excerpts:

Has there been any significant improvement in the structure of Afenifere since last year that the pan-Yoruba socio-political group held a retreat at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan?
Nothing dramatic so far. And that is painful enough.

Why is that so?
Well, those who initiated the move (reconciliation move) are in a better position to explain what happened. There was only a major event since that get together in Ibadan.

And that was a public lecture to which one of the PDP governors in the West was invited. I thought that was an opportunity; that it was a litmus test to see whether the objective of coming together of all the political class in Western Nigeria was possible. One expected that a lot of homework must have been done.

But rather than the thing cementing the group, I found out that it even ended up scattering it. Of those of us who are in the Action Congress (AC) side, I am the only person who attended the Lagos lecture. The retreat in Ibadan was supposed to bring us together and it was very well represented. Those who moved the Ibadan retreat were younger people. They are not the same type of people who arranged the Lagos lecture, which was meant to honour the memory of one year transition of Ganiyu Daodu.

The invitation extended to the Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, caused a tango between the governor and the National Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin. Was that called for?
I wouldn’t like to go into such debate because as an elder statesman, my duty is to speak on things that tend to unite us rather than things that tend to divide us. I already belong to one side of the fence, which is the AC side, and I am there purely on principle. Almost all of us in the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Afenifere together in 1998, shared the joy of out the tyranny of military rule in the country, came together to form the AD.

We had the AD and Afenifere being the same thing. There was no distinct division between the two. Then, the argument started as to whether AD must of necessity be a part and parcel of Afenifere, or Afenifere should stand to superintend the best interest of Western Nigeria, Yoruba interest principally, and leave the political organisation that is called the AD to build bridges across the country and stand by itself.

The idea was that the AD should start implementing the philosophy of Afenifere, which is the type of philosophy Papa Awolowo introduced right from the time of the Action Group (AG) and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN); that is, a welfare state.

The AD, as the argument went, should not make itself a party exclusively for Western Nigeria. Those of us who held to that were those of us who had as our leader, Sen. Ayo Fasanmi.

In the other group, you find people like Uncle Ayo Adebanjo. Their argument was that any river that forgets its source will dry off. That implied that if AD forgot the fact it is an offshoot of Afenifere, the party was bound to go into danger. They contend that Afenifere is a political organ itself. And then, our argument is: if it is a political organ, will it be registered as a political party? How would Afenifere campaign in the East and in the North? Since we never decided to secede from Nigeria, then how would we have a political organ that will only speak for one region? That was the basis of our disagreement. I am one of the outspoken ones who said that Afenifere should superintend matters of interest to Western Nigeria and contribute to the ideological trend of the political party (AD).

Do you still believe in this?
I haven’t changed my position. The emphasis is on the ideology of Papa Awolowo, that there should be true federalism. This is the principle we still stand by. The idea of a welfare state, which originated in the West, has transcended to the East, Middle-Belt and even the North. They too have adopted the principle of welfare state for the improvement in the lives of their people. What we feel we should emphasise is not the unnecessary dichotomy that appears to be separating us. It appears some people still stick to their guns. This is not a division where you will want to beat your chest that our side has won.

If it is not by sticking to your gun, why is it difficult, for instance, for Afenifere to accept someone like former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a member?
You yourself will know that Obasanjo, from his perception of things and his action in government, could not have fallen into the fold of Afenifere.

But, he is a Yoruba man…
That is the point we are making. We are not trying to be tribalistic. It is the Ibo man, the Hausa man who believes in the welfare of the people that is our brother. That is the essence of Afenifere. Papa Awolowo, for those who understood him very well, that is what he meant too. It is not a question of this must be West alone. When the West practised free education, the East imitated. But unfortunately, they were not able to carry on successfully. They knew it was a good idea. That is the type of thing we are talking about.

The good thing is that we have already got a progressive class now. It is not the West alone that has progressive politicians.

Look at the man who came to give the lecture on Papa Adekunle Ajasin. That was (Chukwuemeka) Ezeife, the former governor of Anambra State. He belongs to the progressive school and he is not a Yoruba man. So also we have people like that in other places, especially in the North-Central, and in some parts of the North too. The Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) of Aminu Kano is a progressive political party by classification. Any political party that concentrates on the welfare of the people is a progressive party.

Why I said Obasanjo will not qualify is that even before he became president, he wrote a book, Not My Will, and he said that he believed in a one-party system. That is an anathema to the progressive school of thought.

A progressive believes in a two-party structure, a multi-party system generally. But some of us prefer two-party structure where you have a government and an opposition. Gen. Obasanjo is a soldier to the core. He does not believe in opposition. The opposition is enemy and a soldier’s instinct is that opposition must be destroyed. Do you get the point I am making now? Though a Yoruba, he still will not qualify as a progressive. He is not even a democrat. He is a dictator.

With your understanding of progressive politics, do we have a progressive political party in the country?
The sad thing is that the whole system has been bastardised. And it was deliberately done. How do you have 50 political parties in one country? It is reducing the argument to absurdity. It is in other to promote just one party. That is the trick. To promote one political party only, all you need to do is to ask everybody to come and register a party.

You encourage them, possibly, you even finance them. When they are so many, they are Lilliputians and there can only be one party in the real sense of the word.

How sincerely do you believe in President Umaru Yar’Adua’s electoral reforms initiative?
You see, it is only in a country like Nigeria that a man with a sordid performance like Maurice Iwu would still be keeping his job seven months after the sordid performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting the 2007 election.

Iwu, by now, should have voluntarily resigned his position. For the President’s reform, to be candid, it will be unfair to the gentleman to say I believe or I don’t believe him. He is only six months on the saddle. He was in the progressive class with us before. If anything, I will rather believe him than disbelieve him. He has not been put on severe test to be able to see the sincerity of what he says from what he does.

Do you share the view that the President is slowing down the pace of the anti-corruption war?
Is it because of this gentleman (Nuhu Ribadu) being sent to Kuru? That is not true. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman needs to go for the course. It is good for him.

Yes, everybody wants Nigeria to move on a fast pace, but the problems are so numerous. If a man intends to hold consultations, he is bound to be slower than a man who doesn’t consult and takes decisions as in the barracks.

What about allegations of inconsistency in policy making?
What I am saying is that I would rather reserve my comment or judgment until I see more examples. I think it is too early for me to say that the man is a failure or that he is doing excellently well. I would rather wait to give him more time if possible, knowing full well that there is still a matter pending in court. But if the curtain is drawn today, I would rather say that he has tried. One of the reasons I will not hasten to condemn President Yar’Adua is that we should consider the circumstances in which he is operating. Now, part of the things he could do will depend on what the court of law says. Then, the man still has the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. What will the court say about this election?

Again, there are still some big masquerades behind the scene that will be looking over his shoulder.

You belong to the Action Congress…
Yes.

How will you score your party in terms of relevance?
If the party is not relevant, why am I still there? (Laughs). It is a pity I have not been having much time for political activities. I devote more of my energy now to my law practice because the whole political situation is muddled up. I feel disenchanted. I know where I stand. I am in the progressive camp. I am in the AC. I am sure by the time the tribunals shall have finished their work, I am hoping that more progressive government will come into power in this country. Either the tribunals order a re-run of the election or say that the opposition should form a government. I am sure the PDP will be cut to size. Then it will be clear that they did not get the kind of landslide victory they claimed they got. It is only then that we can begin to have re-orientation in leadership. No country can be luckier than Nigeria. Look at the price of crude oil now: $100 per barrel. That is a huge fortune for this country. There are too many problems and you cannot solve these problems unless you put your house in order.