The Pan Yoruba Conference

[Defender]

The Yoruba under the aegis of the Pan Yoruba Conference met recently in Ikenne, Ogun State. The conference was held under the influence of the matriarch of the Awolowo family, Chief (Mrs.) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo.

The conference attempted to bring together all Yoruba sons and daughters, who in the wisdom of the organizers have something meaningful to contribute to Yoruba interest. Several meetings have taken place before, under the influence of the matriarch, but the uniqueness of the last one was that invitation was extended to hitherto people, who ordinarily would not have been invited. Activist lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana was invited but he turned down the invitation for a cogent reason.

According to Falana, he rejected the offer to be part of the meeting because, the Yoruba interest, which the conference sought to project, will be difficult, if not impossible to achieve because of the issue being slated for discussion.

Amongst the issue slated for discussion was the relegation of Yoruba in the national politics in Nigeria.

According to the organizers, Yoruba have been relegated from the number one position to about eight. To the organizers, Yoruba need to take its rightful place in the politics of Nigeria. They also talked about other national issues, but their primary focus was on the activity of Yoruba in the mainstream of Nigerian politics.

Falana, in his letter of rejection, stated that when a Yoruba was in the number one position, what effect did it have on the Yoruba nation? Also, when a Yoruba man was in the fourth position of what benefit was it to the Yoruba race? Falana was obviously referring to the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo presidency of eight years and Rt. Honourable. Oladimeji Sabur Bankole, who was the immediate-past Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In truth and reality, Obasanjo's presidency had the verisimilitude of an Imperial Majesty, who could not be questioned. When the crisis over the creation of local government councils created by the Lagos State government then under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came up, Obasanjo withheld the statutory revenue due to all local government councils in Lagos State. Even when the Supreme Court intervened and the Obasanjo Presidency ought to have paid the backlog of the monthly allocations for close to three years, he stoutly refuse to do so. Then he did not remember that he was a Yoruba man. News report had it then that some traditional rulers, especially in the South-West geo-political zone intervened, yet Obasanjo was obstinate. On one occasion, he was reported to have told a Lagos State traditional ruler that the state  governor, Asiwaju Tinubu was stubborn and that he wanted to teach him a lesson. All pleas to make Obasanjo change fell on deaf ears. The so-called punishment meted to Tinubu became a source of ingenuity, which spurred Asiwaju to look inward to achieve self-sufficiency. Tinubu turned the necessity of neglecting to beg Obasanjo, to the mother of invention. The accumulated revenue was later paid by the expired President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

Was it not the same Obasanjo, the beneficiary of the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) zoning formula that denounced it, when it had suited his selfish ends? Did he not tell Nigerians that there was no zoning in PDP, when he wanted to install President Goodluck Jonathan at all cost? The Northern zone, which produced the expired President ought to have been appealed to, to understand the peculiar circumstances that threw up Jonathan. Rather than use diplomacy, which Yoruba are noted for, Obasanjo preferred to bully his way through. Of course, he had his way in installing his surrogate, but the intrigue did not end there.

The Northern zone decided to work in concert with other zones to thwart the interest of the Yoruba. The new zoning thrust the post of the Speaker to the South-West, but since the Balogun of Owu claims that there is no zoning in the first place, Rt. Honourable Aminu Tambuwwal, from Sokoto State, emerged as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Obasanjo not only complained bitterly but even asked the Speaker to resign after sometime. The Chairman of the Board of Trustee (BOT) of the PDP was paid in his own coin. One would have thought that Obasanjo would have internalized democracy in his system, but he has chosen to hold rigidly to military command mentality. Can any traditional ruler in Yorubaland caution Obasanjo, since he knew it all. He should be allowed to carry his cross.

The issue of Honourable Bankole was also raised by Falana. What legacy can we remember of him in the South-West? I still remember as if it was yesterday, during an electioneering campaign in Ekiti State, Speaker Bankole threatened that the PDP would deploy soldiers in Ekiti. In Osun State, he said Obasanjo would not allow the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to win elections in the state.

Not only did Bankole fail woefully to return to Abuja on the ticket of the PDP, Chief Obasanjo could not deliver his polling booth to his party. What an irony? In any case, Obasanjo has never won election in his polling booth except that of 2003, which was nullified by the Appeal Court.

I have much interest in the person of Obasanjo and the thrust of leadership bestowed on him. He is a fortunate person, but he easily forgets that he is first a Yoruba, then a Nigerian. To him, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was an ethnic jingoist, but he, Obasanjo is a nationalist. His approach is militaristic and cannot win election which is the fulcrum on which democracy resolves.

The issue which Pan-Yoruba Conference attempted to resolve should have been left for PDP to handle. The roll call of attendees at the conference was majorly from PDP and their sympathizers. None of the serving governors in the South-West attended except Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, who was represented by his deputy.

What the conference wants to achieve, to my mind, is a political end. It cannot be done; it would also tarnish the image of clerics and some traditional rulers, who ought to stay neutral. The fact of the matter is that the PDP is not a sellable commodity, particularly in the South-West. Obasanjo was in power for eight years, the PDP controlled the South-West for eight years, yet the region has nothing to show for it. The conference should stay neutral and be focused on how to checkmate all sides.

Nigerians still remember how Obasanjo, an ex-President unleashed policemen on editors of The Nation newspaper recently. President Jonathan claimed ignorance of the act of brutality meted out to the journalists, who were carrying out their legitimate duty. Obasanjo should be told in clear language that he is no longer in power and should learn to operate within the law. It is true that he is a genius of impunity, an act which characterized his eight years rule. Yoruba are Omoluabi, hence they should not be made to defend the indefensible.

Osun Defender