‘Death and Burial of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu: The Foreign Policy Implications
When I heard about the demise of the GovernorofOndoState,the‘Sunshine State,’ which I prefer to call ‘The State,’ my first impression was that death had occurred to security in Ondo State simply because Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, alias Aketi, stood more than a Rock of Gibraltar like a buffer wall, stopping the missiles coming from the Fulani herdsmen, and thus preventing the missiles from going further to hurt the Ondo State citizens. Again when the programme of his burial was announced, my first impression was that Arakunrin Akeredolu would liein-state at the beautiful auditorium of the Achievers University, Owo. This is because the family house of Arakunrin Akeredolu is located at the tail end of the newly constructed Macadamised dual carriage way leading to the Achievers University, a leading university without any whiff of braggadocio.
In fact, my belief was further strengthened by the succession of the Deputy Governor, Lucky Àiyédàtiwa as Governor, and particularly by Àiyédàtiwa’s appointment of a new Deputy Governor, Chief Olayide Owolabi Adelami, on 1st February 2024, following his confirmation by the Ondo State House of Assembly on 25 January, 2024 and swearing in at the International Culture and Events Centre, Akure by the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Olusegun Odusola.
And true enough, the Deputy Governor not only hails from Owo like Arakunrin Akeredolu, but also has strong affiliations with the Achievers University. Consequently, I have thought that Achievers University could not but be required to play a major role in the burial arrangements of Arakunrin Akeredolu. My strategic calculations missed the road, but I was not the only person that miscalculated. There were also the people who thought that the funeral service would be held at the Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church where not less than 40 innocent people praying in the church were ruthlessly killed on 5 June, 2022. The killing and Arakunrin Akeredolu to the Fulani herdsmen’s invasion of Yoruba land, and particularly, Ondo State. It is in this context that the death and burial of Arakunrin Akeredolu raises the need for re-determination to sustain the anti-Fulani herdsmen invasion and also address the foreign policy implications.
Death and Burial
Life is the beginning of death which also has a beginning and a conditional end. In the Yoruba tradition, the life any Yoruba person would live is generally reflected in his or her names. Names do reflect the circumstances of birth of any Yoruba person in the traditional setting. For instance, the names of both the late Arakunrin Akeredolu and his successor, Mr. Lucky Orímísàn Àiyédàtiwa,speakvolumes.ThelategovernoranswersArakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu. ‘Arakunrin’ means ‘Mr.’ It is adopted by the governor to reflect simplicity of life and originality, home discipline and courteousness, as well as dignity of purpose.
And more importantly, the names reflect cultural homeliness. Arakunrin is a Yoruba word. The choice of the word is not only to affirm his Yoruba personality, but also apparently to replace the use of ‘barrister’, which professionally, cannot be used as a title. It is wrong to address a lawyer, like Akeredolu, as Barrister Akeredolu. In the same way the use of His Excellency or Her Excellency is synonymous with ‘Ambassador’,’ hence the use of His Excellency cannot be followed by Ambassador. Other titles like Chief, Dr., etc. can follow but bracketed.
The name of the new governor, Lucky Orímísàn Àiyédàtiwa, is particularly interesting. Lucky, though an English word, is good a name. Everyone wants luck but it is not a Yoruba name. The other two names reflect self-assertion in terms of good luck, goodness of life. It means my own time to shine. Orímísàn also means my head is that of goodness. Àiyédàtiwa is also luck or good destiny, a head of potential goodness. Àiyédàtiwa also means ‘the world or good life belongs to me or opportunity or success belongs to me.’ His political career clearly reflects the goodness of all his names: He was lucky to have been chosen as a Deputy Governor. His head ‘was good’ to have succeeded his principal. With the succession, the world now belongs to him.
But more interestingly, the death of Arakunrin Akeredolu, also referred to as ‘Mr. Talk and Do,’ ‘a fighter,’ ‘a man of courage, not a pretender,’ raises several thought-provoking questions and concerns. First, it raises the question of importance. The death and burial of any Very Important Person (VIP) creates unique opportunities for societal development in various ramifications. WheneverthePresidentofNigeriaisvisitinganyoftheconstitutive States of Nigeria, it is a tradition of the state to be visited to repair the access roads to the state capital, to ensure environmental cleanliness, and to give impression of goodness at all levels of governance to their guest. In fact, many access roads to Owo were generally patched up. At least, the serious potholes were repaired, enabling convoys to drive at high velocity and also recklessly without due regard to ordinary road users. Radio jingles and other media advertorials flourished.
The bill board tributes were noteworthy. They explained the importance ofAkeredolu’s death and burial. The Ondo Southwest Governors Forum says ‘Oluwarotimi OdunayoAkeredolu, SAN, CON, July 21, 1956 – December 26, 2023 Aketi Eternal.’ This advertorial only gave information on the deceased without much of what the Governors Forum had in mind. In the words of Chief
“In fact, Arakunrin Akeredolu was the Pro-Chancellor of the church. In light of this, the need to sustain his legacy was emphasised. All the governors were called upon to assist. Governor Aiyedatiwa accepted the responsibility to coordinate the project with all his colleagues. And most interestingly, Akeredolu has come and has gone. Who will succeed him? Is it the incumbent governor or Wale Akinterinwa, who reportedly had been anointed by Arakunrin Akeredolu before he passed away? Will Owo people prefer the Deputy Governor or the anointed candidate of the deceased? In terms of strategic calculations, Governor Aiyedatiwa appointed his deputy from Owo, either in appreciation of Akeredolu’s goodwill to him or in terms of his electoral strategy come November 2024. Appointing his deputy from Owo is also saying that if he gets the mandate of the APC, he will expect all the people of Owo kingdom to vote for him. The critical problem is that the governor also comes from the same Senatorial District as Wale Akinterinwa whose people are saying that no one in their area has ever been given the opportunity to serve as governor and are therefore compelling Wale Akinterinwa “to contest. This cannot but createssss a sharp division in the Senatorial District. At the reception in Owo, Wale Akinterinwa showed the gathering that governorship is not a child’s play. But as Jimmy Cliff said, ‘time will tell
Olusola Oke, SAN, ‘Goodnight. We shall continue with your good legacies of truth, voice for the voiceless and good governance.’ While Chief Oke is pledging to continue with the legacies of Aketi, and telling the world that Akeredolu served as a voice for the voiceless and left behind a legacy of truth, Honourable Wale Akinterinwa adopted a very simple tribute, but with great impact. He said, ‘For Ever in Our Hearts.’ This simply means whatever Akeredolu represented before he passed on would remain in ‘our’ hearts. Our heart can be singular, referring to him only and it can also have a plural meaning, referring to all the followers of Akeredolu. This is the normal language of every servant leader and therefore quite noteworthy.
Grosso modo, the demise of any VIP also enhances security, as it is always beefed up when a VIP is visiting a place. Access roads to such a place and the security of the place, etc. are always given a face lift. And more interestingly, the venues and the church chosen for the funeral service cannot but always take advantage of the presence of the VIPs in seeking for development assistance. This was the very case with the Cathedral of Saint Andrews, Owo which hosted the funeral service.
Asecond question is whether there is really death? True, there is death but which death are we talking about? The Eckankar church does not believe in death because of the consideration that the soul never dies. Lobsang Rampa, the pen name of Cyril Henry Hoskin (8 April 1910 - 25 January 1981), has authored many novels, especially his The Third Eye, in which he showed that there is life after death. If there is life after death, what then is the meaning of death that only leads to another life?
Thirdly, is death more important than burial in terms of social preparation and laying to rest? Is it the act of burial that is more important than the celebration of death and burying? Apart from the fact of inevitability of death, as prescribed by God, which is more of concern, the struggle against death or the struggle to bury? Akeredolu struggled to combat death in a German hospital but to no avail. In other words, everyone accepts that death is inevitable but no one wants to die now or later. Pastors preach the sermons of beautiful mansions in heaven. God’s Paradise is presented as another el dorado, yet, no one wants to live the inclement world of devilishness and wickedness. In fact, no one talks evil of the dead. Every one prays that death should be for the future over which no one has control. But the history of Arakunrin Akeredolu is a truism. He left a good record and he reportedly anointed a successor, Honourable Wale Akinterinwa.
Fourthly, Ar akunr in Ake red o lu reportedly died on Wednesday, 27 December 2023 at 2 am at a German hospital. We contend here that he already died on the very day the Fulani herdsmen detonated a bomb and killed more than 40 people at the Saint Francis Catholic Church in Owo in 2022. In that year, Arakunrin was the only South-Western Governor who openly and defiantly resisted the invasion of the Fulani herdsmen. He opposed President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) who came up with various policies to justify why the Fulani herdsmen should have the right to settle in any part of Nigeria. PMB first came up with the re-interpretation of the 1978 Land Use Act which vested right of sovereignty over land on the states and not on the Federal Government. PMB again came up with the RUGApolicy in 2019, purportedly with the intention to reduce herder-farmer conflicts, but all to no avail. Besides, the Fulani herders freely carried and still carry AK 47 rifles while the Amotekun security agents would not be allowed to carry same. Akeredolu was not happy with this. The herdsmen knew much about this and appeared to have decided to punish him by attacking his people. Arakunrin Akeredolu did not relent in resisting the herdsmen onslaught. It is against this background that his demise and burial should be appreciated and considered very sorrowful, especially by the Yoruba South West. It is also against this consideration that the foreign policy implications should be explicated.
Foreign Policy Implications
Thedeathandburialof‘Mr.TalkandDo’firstraisedthequestion of time diplomacy, and particularly the so-called African time. Arakunrin Akeredolu’s corpse was brought into the Cathedral of Saint Andrews, Owo after the church service had started. It was particularly noteworthy that the church service began at 10.01am a minute after the scheduled time. The promptness reflected discipline, good character building, patriotic personality building, and most importantly, godliness-building by the church. Many Nigerians wrongly believe that the time when scheduled flights were delayed because of ministers had been thrown to the garbage of history. They also wrongly believed that nothing could be successfully done to contain the societal indiscipline.
However, the spiritual discipline always introduced by the Anglican churches, without fear or favour, has now proved them wrong. Societal ills in Nigeria can always be addressed if leadership by example, as shown by the Cathedral of Saint Andrews in Imola, Owo, is emulated. The culture of delaying events is still in vogue and should be eschewed on a permanent basis. The commencement of the service at the scheduled time is a good effort made by the Anglican Church to rid the society of societal ills. It is therefore a clear message to government to accept that timeliness is the soul of business.