I make it a point of duty to be respectful of President Olusegun Obasanjo, whether I happen to mention his name in public or in private. I am sure that is part of my respect for my country. For me, it is not a small thing that a person has once been head of the country of my birth.
In the past few days, President Obasanjo has been widely reported to have made some thought-provoking statements about the issue of leadership in the Yoruba nation. I see no need to probe into his motives for making these statements – and I will not so probe, out of respect. Whether he is out to shoot barbs at some person or persons among the Yoruba people is not unimportant, but I choose not to step into such considerations. It is quite possible to look into the statements themselves on purely objective basis, and that is what I would rather do.
Broadly, his statements deal with two periods of Yoruba history – the long pre-colonial period and the short modern, Nigerian, period. His views concerning both periods are, I believe, summed up in the sentence in which he said: ”Just as there was no single Oba having sovereignty over the whole of Yorubaland, there was no individual as leader of the Yorubas in Yorubaland. As it was then, it remains till now.” With all due respect, I think he is not exactly correct about either period.
His mistake concerning the long period of the history of Yoruba kingdoms and their Obas (from about the 10th century to roughly the end of the 18th century) arises from his obvious confusion of the two concepts, “leadership” and “sovereignty”. Yes, no one Oba ever held sovereignty over the whole of Yorubaland; each Oba held sovereignty over his own kingdom. But that does not mean that the concept of leadership, or the concept of prominent influence, was totally non-existent in this long period of Yoruba history. Claims commonly made by various Yoruba circles today for the Ooni or the Alafin as “leading” father of the Yoruba nation is not without some historical foundation. The problem is that those of us making these claims do not try to differentiate between the eras when one or the other had more influence in Yorubaland.
Historians would now say that there was an early era when the Ife kingdom was widely revered in Yorubaland and that, though the reverence for Ife never totally vanished, there was a later era when the Alafin ruled a large and proud empire consisting of much (though not all) of Yorubaland plus some non-Yoruba peoples, and when the Alafin had very high influence among Yoruba people. There was an era when Yoruba kingdoms that fell into political troubles resorted to the palace of Ife for traditions and rituals for sorting out their troubles. And there was a later era when high officials of the Alafin were commonly sent by the Alafin to go and settle disputes, and prevent conflicts, in totally sovereign and independent Yoruba kingdoms that were experiencing political troubles. The traditions about these things are unambiguous features of our history.
To go on to the modern aspects of President Obasanjo’s statements, we find him saying very heavy things. He says that there has never been a Yoruba leader in modern times, that it was Chief Awolowo’s supporters who “fixed” the title of Yoruba leader on him during the Nigerian crisis situation in the 1960s, and that there is no need for a Yoruba leader.
The statement that there has never been a Yoruba leader in modern Yoruba history is simply untrue. In general, in all parts of Black Africa, whenever any nationalities face uncertainties or difficulties in the countries to which they belong, their usual practice has been to generate a leadership to protect their interests. There is no known Black African nation that has never done this. In Nigeria, the examples are legion. In the late 1940s, in the general uncertainty accompanying British deliberations to formulate Nigeria into one country, many Nigerian peoples founded leadership groups for themselves – notably, Ibo State Union, Egbe Omo Oduduwa, etc. One of the most influential forces in Nigerian politics today is the Hausa-Fulani leadership organization called Arewa Consultative Forum.
Egbe Omo Oduduwa and its leadership spoke very capably for the Yoruba nation and promoted Yoruba interests expertly. In various crisis situations in Yorubaland, it employed its influence effectively to broker peace. And, even in spite of the presence of two powerful political parties, AG and NCNC, in the Western Region, Egbe Omo Oduduwa continued to do these things until the regional crisis of the early 1960s. Is it possible that President Obasanjo does not remember these things?
During the very troubling months leading to the Nigerian Civil War in the 1960s, prominent Yoruba of all political orientations formed the Yoruba Leaders of Thought, which met frequently to chart our nation’s path through the growing Nigerian nightmare of the time. Most other Nigerian nationalities did the same. We even set up a standing delegation which went to Gen. Gowon many times to present Yoruba positions and make Yoruba demands. Chief Awolowo, first Premier of our Region, and undoubtedly our nation’s highest political assets at that point, chaired the meetings and was appointed by us to lead the delegation.
I remember the very meeting at which we suddenly chose him as leader of our nation. Nobody had planned any such thing. I know, because I was one of the young academics and professionals who served as organizers and messengers for those meetings of Leaders of Thought. Our nation was under enormous stress. During the days before, there had been a lot of fear all over our Region, because some of the Northern soldiers stationed in our Region had been reported to be threatening to kill members of our delegation. The Western Regional Military Governor, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, had appointed some Yoruba military officers to accompany our delegation. And we simply did what human groups do in such circumstances – we appointed a leader and prepared to stand for our nation. The talk that anybody among us opposed, or could have dared to oppose, what we did in that meeting, is totally untrue. President Obasanjo should not let anybody sell to him manifestly untrue twists of important historical facts.
Also, during the Abacha dictatorship of the 1990s, when state terror was directed against the Yoruba nation, the Yoruba nation threw up a leadership group named Afenifere, which served the Yoruba nation’s interests, and mobilized the Yoruba people, very effectively. Afenifere called up the old warrior, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, to lead the nation; and when Ajasin passed on, they called up Senator Abraham Adesanya. A lot of people still remember that the then Gen. Obasanjo had dealings with either or both of these leaders in their status of Yoruba leader. Sure, many people now lament the fact that Afenifere made a serious mistake in choosing to be closely identified with a political party when party politics returned. But very few would contradict the assessment that Afenifere did, before then, lead the Yoruba nation very effectively. Can it be that President Obasanjo has totally forgotten these things?
In the light of the above historical experiences, does it make sense to say today that no leadership is necessary among the Yoruba? These days, the Yoruba nation’s situation in Nigeria is more complex, and demands vastly more serious responses than ever before. The challenges are political, economic and cultural, altogether capable of threatening the Yoruba nation’s integrity. I can understand President Obasanjo, as a partisan politician, saying that certain other politicians do not deserve to be appointed as leader of the Yoruba nation. But to say that no leader or leadership is needed in Yorubland is a different thing altogether.Has he ever told the Hausa-Fulani elite that Arewa Consultative Forum is unnecessary and should be disbanded? Or has he ever preached the same to any other Nigerian nationality? Why should he seem to want the Yoruba nation to be different from, and weaker than, others?
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