Death has sneaked into Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, snatching away an Awoist, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi. He passed on yesterday at the age of 91, 13 years above what the Creator allotted to his indomitable leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who died in 1987 at the age of 78.
The elder statesman will be remembered for his roles as a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the Afenifere, the Committee of Friends, which metamorphosed into the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the Second Republic, and a Knight of the Methodist Church of Nigeria. Ajayi left behind a divided political family, a polarised Yorubaland and a country in socio-economic and political distress.
Like the late Bola Ige, the Cicero of Esa-Oke, Ajayi was a Yoruba irredentist. He had aligned with those who perceived Nigeria as a mere geographical expression and an amalgam of incompatible social formations. He effectively utilised the platform of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation to agitate for true federalism, restructuring and devolution of power. In some of his books, which he wrote at the twilight of life, he maintained that the resolution of the national question was critical to a peaceful co-existence in the highly heterogeneous country.
Ajayi opposed the slogan of ‘Born to Rule’ by the North, saying that it smacked of arrogance. He described it as the legacy of the British interlopers who he believed paved the way for continued domination of the country by the North. He predicted that the hegemony would not last, stressing that other regions or zones would one day put off the yoke of marginalisation and feudal repression. He will be missed as a consistent commentator on the state of the nation and leader of opinion. His views were always logical, factual and thought provoking.
He belonged to the second generation of Awo associates who sustained the banner of progressive movement in the post-Awo era. His senior colleagues in the political family were Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chiefs Alfred Rewane, Senator Jonathan Odebiyi, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Chief Sule Gbadamosi, Ven. Emmanuel Alayande, Chief S.O Lanlehin, Chief Dauda Adegbenro, and Chief Solanke Onasanya. Although he was not a member of the disbanded Action Group Youth Association, led by the late Chief Remi Fani-kayode, and later by Chief Ayo Fasanmi, all his contemporaries in the AG were in the club. They included Chief Rueben Fasoranti, the late Chief Akin Omoboriowo, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Prof. Sam Aluko, Chief Sunday Afolabi, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Busari Adelakun and Chief Lamidi Adedibu.
Throughout his life time, the Afenifere chieftain, who was always identified in public with his trademark dansiki, agbada and kembe befitting a Yoruba elder, and with the symbolic Awo cap to match, was an ideologue. Not only was he trained by Awolowo, he also imbibed the training. Ajayi was one of the “Remo boys” who perceived Awo as a mentor and role model. In that class of Remo disciples were Adebanjo, the late Chief Olu Awotesu and the late Chief Adamo Yesufu, although he was older than them. But, unlike his co-travellers, Ajayi’s style was different. Fiercely loyal to the political family, he was some poles apart from impatient Awo associates. Like Awo, he was a thinker, a philosopher, an author and a responsible elder. Ajayi had the tact of a diplomat. While Awotesu and Yesufu had cause to desert Awolowo in the Second Republic, Ajayi remained with his hero till the last day.
However, despite his long sojourn in politics as a chieftain of the AG, the UPN and the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Ajayi, like Adebanjo, never participated in politics as a candidate for elective positions. Neither did he allow his political involvement to overshadow his legal practice. Until he bade the world farewell, Ajayi was one of the respected lawyers in the country. He left behind a thriving law firm and a he is mourned by a worthy son, Dr. Kanyinsola Ajayi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Ajayi was perceived as a man of honour and integrity. He always distanced himself from scandals.
Under the military rule, the deceased was appointed as Commissioner for Education, and later, Health in the defunct Western State. It was a difficult moment as the military governors never listened to the wise counsels of the civilian commissioners. As a member of the cabinet, he opposed the move by the Federal Military Government to nationalise regional properties, especially the University of Ife. He expressed his view to the military governor, Brig-Gen. Oluwole Rotimi, who could not convince his boss at the Doddan Barracks, Lagos to rescind his decision. After his brief stint as commissioner, he returned to his chambers. His reputation was not dented.
During the Second Republic, it was painful to the Awo devotee that his leader could not make it to the presidency. If Awo had become president, it was possible that Ajayi would have served as minister under him. The attraction was not the pecks of office, but service delivery, based on the philosophy of ‘life more abundant.’ During that time, there was an obvious struggle for Awo’s attention by his numerous loyal political children. During the ensuing bitter struggle for elective slots, Ajayi could only mirror the patriotic disposition of the leader. Yet, when his compatriot, Chief Bisi Onabanjo, who was re-elected as governor of Ogun State, was jailed by the military tribunal after the coup, his family thought that Ajayi contributed to his ordeal. Thus, when the Ayekooto, as Onabanjo was fondly called, passed on, his daughter, Toun, stated categorically that Ajayi was not welcome at the burial ceremony.
The history of NADECO will be incomplete without a mention of Ajayi. The organisation fought the military to a standstill. Ajayi defiled the military bullets. He was not afraid of detention. Also, Ajayi was part of the tripartite leadership of Afenifere, which the media dubbed as the ‘Ijebu-Igbo mafia.’ The other two members of the “Controlling Leadership” are the leader, the late Senator Abraham Adesanya and Adebanjo. These Ijebu-born, Lagos-based Afenifere leaders called the shots in the Southwest in 1999. They were instrumental to the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as governor, following his endorsement by the Justice Forum. The Afenifere chieftains turned their back against the late Mr. Funso Williams, the governorship candidate sponsored by the late Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, their bosom friend. But, they later fell out with Tinubu, following the rejection of the 60:40 formula.
Worried by the crisis in the ruling AD, Adesanya set up a peace committee to unite the Abiodun Ogunleye and Dawodu factions. The Ajayi Reconciliation Committee had proposed the 60:40 formula for the distribution of the elective and appointive positions in Lagos State. According to the proposal, 60 should go to Dawodu’s group while Ogunleye camp should take 40. When Tinubu tabled the recommendation to members of his group, it was rejected. The group flaunted its superior numerical strength. Dawodu left for the Progressive Action Congress (PAC), to the consternation of the AD leaders in Lagos. The rest is history.
Things had fallen apart in the Afenifere/AD since 1999, although the crisis was being managed by Adesanya. When Chief Olu Falae emerged as the AD presidential candidate at D’Rovans, Ibadan, Oyo State capital, Ige, an aspirant, felt that Ajayi and Adebanjo betrayed him, although he acknowledged that Ajayi never attacked him openly like Adebanjo. It could be said that Ige, the Afenifere deputy leader, ‘retaliated’ by accepting to join the Obasanjo administration as minister without consultation with his group. The crisis was not resolved until Ige was murdered.
Before Ige’s death, AD had split into two. Ahmed Abdulkadir was the chairman of the Ige faction. Ajayi/ Adebanjo/Dawodu faction threw up Ambassador Mamman Yusuf as factional chairman. Another insignificant faction threw up Alhaji Ahmed Song as the chairman. When leaders agreed to reconcile, they appointed Falae as the head of the AD Convention Committee. Then, the division resurfaced again. Two disciples of Ige-Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa-emerged as factional chairmen from two parallel congresses held in Lagos and Abuja. The congress marked the end of the party. Ajayi, Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okunrounmu and Chief Supo Sonibare backed Akinfenwa. Other AD governors, except the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, supported Akande.
The crisis also split Afenifere. Before his death, the ailing Afenifere leader, Adesanya, had appointed Chief Rueben Fasoranti as the acting leader, although Ajayi had also been playing the role. Adesanya would have given the baton of leadership to Ajayi, but younger members of the organisation–Jimi Agbaje, Dayo Adeyeye, Niyi Afuye and Yinka Odumakin–advised him to consider Fasoranti for the role to erase the impression that Afenifere was solely an Ijebu affair. But following the Akure declaration by Fasoranti that Akinfenwa’s election as chairman of AD substantially complied with the laid down regulations, the group became irredeemably divided. Up came Fasanmi as the factional deputy leader at the Jibowu secretariat of the group. Up until now, reconciliation has remained elusive. Efforts by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), led by Hon. Olawale Oshun, to broker peace has met a brick wall.
It was also a moment of emotional wrenching that the respected Afenifere leaders, including Ajayi, had to seek refuge in the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) to fight for power in 2007. Their candidate, Agbaje, faced Babatunde Fashola (SAN) at the poll. He was defeated. Again, the rest is history.
Ajayi was a critic of the Jonathan administration. At the presentation of his book in Lagos, he had chided the former president, describing him as the weakest leader Nigeria ever had. The elder statesman maintained that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan lacked the skill, capacity and experience to navigate the difficult ship of state. Later, Afenifere also critisised the Jonathan government for marginalising the Yoruba. Ironically, towards the end of the regime, Ajayi and other Afenifere leaders-Adebanjo, Dr. Amos Akingba, Okunrounmu and Falae-gravitated towards the former president. They explained that they accepted their nominations by the Federal Government as delegates to the 2014 National Conference because Dr. Jonathan gave the assurance that he would resolve the national question. In last year’s election, Afenifere threw its weight behind the second term ambition of the former president for the same reason. The leaders of Afenifere also became the pillar of the PDP candidate in Lagos, Agbaje, to the consternation of critics who felt that the group was mocking its progressive antecedents.
On that note the perception of the majority of Yoruba about the group changed. Fed up with the indiscipline that had rocked the group, the leader, Fasoranti, even threatened to resign last year. It is doubtful if the organisation has rectified the decadence that enraged the old politician. When it was alleged that an Afenifere chieftain received part of the arms money for his party, mum was the word. But, when some ministers were alleged to have bribed a judge after last year’s elections, Afenifere cried foul and called for their resignation.
Born in Isara Remo on April 8, 1925 to Mr Benjamin Awoyemi Ajayi, a farmer, and Mrs. Marian Efundolamu Ajayi, a trader, Ajayi attended Islamic Primary School, Epe. He later completed his primary education in Ode-Remo. As a teacher for a year, he was paid 10 shillings, six pence per month. Later, he attended the Wesley College, Ibadan, Oyo State, for a four-year teacher’s course. After that, he taught at the Sagamu Wesley School, Ogun State as a class teacher.
Ajayi attended the London School of Economics and Political Science where he studied to become a chartered secretary. Later, he also studied Law. His wife, the late Mrs. Adunola Ajayi, later joined him in the Unitded Kingdom to study Hotel and Catering Management until October 1962 when they returned to Nigeria. Ajayi worked with the United African Company (UAC) where he rose to the position of an Assistant Group Legal Adviser.
A prolific writer, he was the author of ‘This House of Oduduwa Must Not Fall’, Nigeria: Africa’s Failed Assets?,’ Sir Olaniwun Ajayi: An Autobiography,’ ‘IsaraAfotamodi,’ and ‘Adunola: In Retrospect.’
TheNation
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