2023: Yoruba elders abandon their ‘omoluabi’ ethos for politics of greed. Sad!
BOLA Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) has always had the extraordinary capacity to split Afenifere, the pan-yoruba socio-political group. He has always had the uncanny ability to wrap Afenifere and some of its leaders around his finger and twist them as he wishes to serve his purpose.
Tinubu rode on Afenifere’s coattails to become governor of Lagos State in 1999, but once he acquired political invincibility, fuelled by state resources, he turned ruthlessly on the group. To further his political interests, Tinubu divided Afenifere, pocketed some of its leaders and sponsored a renegade faction called “Afenifere Renewal Group” to undermine the real Afenifere, founded in 1951.
But the mainstream Afenifere regrouped and acquired national respectability under the energetic and principled leadership of Chief Ayo Adebanjo. Now, however, in pursuit of his “lifelong ambition” to become Nigeria’s president, Tinubu has again ruptured Afenifere. He has set Chief Rueben Fasoranti, the group’s supposedly retired and hitherto reclusive leader, against Chief Adebanjo, Afenifere’s public face, as well as its intellectual and moral force.
Recently, Tinubu led APC chieftains in the South-west to Chief Fasoranti’s house in Akure, Ondo State. Major Nigerian newspapers published on their front pages a picture of Chief Fasoranti laying his hands on Tinubu’s head and blessing his presidential ambition. Later, Chief Fasoranti declared: “I am still the leader of Afenifere,” adding that “Afenifere is endorsing Tinubu for the presidency.”
Really? But that contradicts Chief Adebanjo’s earlier statement at a widely publicised press conference when, flanked by Afenifere’s Deputy Leader, Secretary-general and other key leaders, he declared the organisation’s support for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. In a subsequent statement, Chief Sola Ebiseni, Secretary-general of Afenifere, said the group’s decision to support Obi was wellthought-out and principled.
No organisation ever achieves unanimity on all issues. But once a group’s leader, deputy leader and general secretary – the core leadership – speak unanimously on an issue, one is entitled to think that their view reflects a broad consensus on that issue. But while Afenifere’s endorsement of Obi may have been wellthought-out and principled, Chief Adebanjo and his leadership team clearly underestimated the skulduggery of the Tinubu high command and its ability to prey on Afenifere’s soft underbelly: pliable and biddable elders.
Think about it. Why is Chief Fasoranti even a dramatis personae in this saga? In March 2021, he resigned as Afenifere’s leader due to old age, saying: “At 95, I am hardly able to provide active leadership.” He then handed over the group’s leadership to his then deputy, Chief Adebanjo, who he described as “a politician of the Awolowo school of thought.”
So, why would Pa Fasoranti undermine Pa Adebanjo, 94, on a decision that aligns with Chief Awolowo’s philosophy or school of thought? And why would he suddenly emerge from virtual recluse to claim the mantle of “the leader of Afenifere” after publicly resigning?
This is not a perfect analogy but allow me to use it because of its morals. In February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI resigned due to old age. Popes rarely resign; they die in office. But Pope Benedict resigned, and Pope Francis succeeded him. Some feared tension between them because of Benedict’s strong traditional and conservative views and Francis’ liberal stances. But, since 2013, Benedict has said or done absolutely nothing to undermine Pope Francis, and Catholic Bishops who disagree with Pope Francis’ liberal positions do not collude with Benedict to sabotage Pope Francis’ leadership. That’s what happens in moral organisations; when a leader resigns, he doesn’t undermine his successor or destroy the organisation.
But Chief Fasoranti came out of the woodwork to undermine Chief Adebanjo and split Afenifere. He said: “I didn’t retire from the leadership of Afenifere. I was misinterpreted,” despite the resignationcum-appointment letter he wrote to Chief Adebanjo. He reportedly said, “All future Afenifere meetings would henceforth be held at his residence at Akure.” Of course, he later did a U-turn, affirming Chief Adebanjo as Afenifere leader and saying the group’s meetings would continue to take place in his residence. But the damage is done!
Given that this is all about Tinubu’s ambition, one must ask: Why did Pa Fasoranti allow Tinubu to use him to destabilise Afenifere? This question is interesting for two reasons. First, for many years, Tinubu did not recognise Chief Fasoranti as the leader of Afenifere. It was Chief Ayo Fasanmi that Tinubu and South-west APC governors feted as the Afenifere leader, while completely ignoring Chief Fasoranti. Second, under Chief Fasoranti’s leadership, Afenifere never supported Tinubu’s party, APC. In 2015, Afenifere supported President Goodluck Jonathan against
Dr. Fasan, a London-based lawyer and political econo mist, is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Eco nomics. e-mail: o.fasan@ lse.ac.uk, twitter account: @olu_fasan
General Muhammadu Buhari; and, in 2019, the group endorsed Atiku Abubakar against Buhari.
So, what changed? Well, I wouldn’t allege that money is involved. But given Tinubu’s brand of politics, in which he uses his enormous unexplained wealth to co-opt people and buy their loyalty as he did during his party’s presidential primary – ask Rotimi Amaechi and Emeka Nwajiuba, who is challenging Tinubu’s candidacy in court on grounds of vote-buying – I wouldn’t rule out the role of money in securing the endorsement of Chief Fasoranti’s Akure cohorts.
But while Afenifere’s endorsement of Obi may have been well-thought-out and principled, Chief Adebanjo and his leadership team clearly underestimated the skulduggery of the Tinubu high command and its ability to prey on Afenifere’s soft underbelly: pliable and biddable elders
But let’s leave aside the role of money. At the heart of this is politics of self-interest; it’s about greed, selfishness and opportunism, all of which are alien and anathema to the ‘omoluabi’ ethos that the Yoruba claim defines them. Truth is, Tinubu opportunistically frames his presidential ambition as being in the best interests of the Yoruba, and Chief Fasoranti and the Akure gang agreed with him. But they are wrong! First, it’s utterly misguided to equate Tinubu’s self-interested “lifelong ambition” to be president with Yoruba’s existential interest. No, it’s short-sighted to conflate Tinubu’s personal ambition with Yoruba’s long-term interests.
Second, it’s downright selfish to say “it’s Yoruba’s turn” to produce president in 2023, despite having produced president for eight years and vice-president for eight years since 1999, while, within the South, the Igbo have produced none; that undermines the ‘omoluabi’ principles of fairness, equity and justice, as well as federalism, which Chief Awolowo espoused.
Third, the Yoruba saying that ‘omo eni ki sedi bebere, ka fi ileke si idi omo elomiran’ is very unfortunate and contradicts the oluabi’ ethos. Put crudely, it means that the Yoruba would automatically support a corrupt and dishonest Yoruba against an honest non-yoruba. In the current context, this phrase translates into saying that Yoruba must support Tinubu, despite his deep flaws, and not a non-yoruba. But that betrays the ‘omoluabi’ principles of character and integrity and undermines Nigeria’s unity.
Unfortunately, by endorsing Tinubu for president just because he’s a Yoruba, Pa Fasoranti will be remembered as a Yoruba tribalist. So will Chief Olu Falae. In a recent statement, he said: “How can a national leader go against candidates that hail from his part of the country?”
Really? Here’s a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, a former Minister of Finance and a former presidential candidate, who garnered over 11 million votes across the country. How could someone with such pedigree revert to tribal cocoons? Sadly, that’s what Chief Falae is doing!