Unlike other ethnic nationalities, the Yoruba lack a united and cohesive socio-political group for interest articulation. Can Afenifere, which had filled the vacuum in the past, bounce back? Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the tragedy of the once vibrant mouthpiece writhing in pains of fading influence in the polity.
From its base in the Southwest, the group fired salvos at the military. Members were rugged, steadfast, committed democrats and unbending pro-democracy crusaders who defiled soldiers’ bullets. Their leaders were harassed, detained and exiled by the power that be. But they did not desert the battle field out of principle and conviction.
Throughout the dark period of military rule, Afenifere chieftains, led by the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, and later, Senator Abraham Adesanya, were thorns in the flesh of soldiers of fortune who held the country to ransom. In honour, integrity and credibility, the group had no deficiency. The apex leadership also commanded the respect of the six geo-political zones.
That was 12 years ago. Today, Afenifere is in a fix. Things have fallen apart and the centre cannot hold. The once thriving, potent and vibrant umbrella organisation, which had its ascendancy in Awolowo political family, is a shadow of itself. The cord is severed and members who are scattered across the political parties locked in the hot battle for power are in disarray. Now, when Afenifere sneezes, nobody catches cold. To observers, the pan-Yoruba group is now a toothless bull dog.
About five years ago, one of the leaders, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, lamented the implications of the disunity in Yorubaland, particularly among Afenifere members. “We have now been relegated to the sidelines precisely because we have lost our unity and focus, and others no longer think they will lose anything, if they do not reckon with us”, he observed.
Since 1999, the Yoruba group had ceased to be a united front, although the self-induced stress was somehow managed by its leader, Adesanya, who deployed his wisdom and wielded the two blocs-Ajayi/Adebanjo and Ige tendencies in unsteady cohabitation. Since 1983, members had fought for the restoration of civil rule. When Afenifere/Alliance for Democracy won power in the six states, it however, failed to manage the achievement. The opportunity slipped away in 2003. When the stolen mandate was restored this year, Afenifere had no positive contribution to make to the titanic struggle for the soul of the Southwest.
The intra-group crises were in phases, finally culminating into the factionalisation of the fold. Two irreconcilable factions wobble on in antagonism. The first group, backed by the residual class of “Ijebu Mafia”, is led by the foremost politician, Chief Reuben Fasoranti. But the spirit behind it is the former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel. The second faction, which consists of those opposed to the former, is said to be led on paper by another Awoist, Senator Ayo Fasanmi. Both the Acting Leader, Fasoranti, and Deputy Leader, Fasanmi, joined the Action Group (AG) in 1951.
In Fasanmi’s group, which is actually the majority, are former AD governors, Southwest Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governors, members of Justice Forum, and many key progressive politicians in the region. However, since his ascension to the position, no regular meeting has been held. Unlike this faction, Fasoranti’s group still meet regularly in Lagos every Monday at its headquater, Jibowu. But both sides are no more in the reckoning of the people.
Efforts to reconcile them by the members of the Afenifere Renewal Group led by Hon. Wale Oshun, had collapsed. Representatives from the warring factions turned up at Ibadan, the political capital of the Southwest, for a peace meeting few years back. However, they returned to their respective camps with a resolve to fight to finish.
In the April general elections, while Fasoranti camp campaigned for candidates running on the platform of Daniel’s Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), members of Fasanmi’s group, naturally, ACN chieftains.
How did the association fall from its Olympian height? Why did a strong organisation suddenly become a weak vehicle? Why is Afenifere irrelevant today in the scheme of things?
Unfortunately, cracks appeared on the wall, shortly before the 1999 elections. Unable to resolve the initial crisis, which, in part, was a carry-over of intra-group suspicion from Awolowo days, it snowballed into major problem which has taken serious toll on the organisation. Since 1999 to date, there was never a year that Afenifere was free from internal wrangling. What has remained intact is the historical attachment to Awolowo, and not the actual practice of what the sage stood for in all ramifications.
In 1999, there was the fusion of the organisation with its baby, the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Four years later, the fusion generated tension and members were instigated to mount pressure for the separation of the two bodies. In 2003, Afenifere became a platform for political trading when AD governors openly campaigned for Obasanjo’s second term bid. In 2007, the house had fallen totally, with Afenifere members scouting for spaces in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Disagreement over how to run the group had led to the exit of intellectuals from the group around 2002. Then, egg heads like Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi and Dr Dapo Fafowora could not cope within the group, despite sharing the goals of the group. The elders insisted on the old method of running the fold, unmindful of the dynamic nature of the contemporary society. Criticisms were rebuffed by Awolowo associates who milled around Senator Adesanya, labeling them as too young to know the details of the credo. Reflecting on the fate of the group, Akinyemi, whose father was an Awoist, submitted that “Nigeria and Africa have been plagued with the tensions arising from making a transition from political systems dominated by founding fathers to systems managed by first among equals”.
The former Foreign Affairs Minister had cause to doubt the moral purity of the leadership, based on experience. While he reasoned that, in crisis period, most of the courageous, steadfast, honourable and dogged fighters on the barricades of a cause would be found in Afenifere, Akinyemi also pointed out that it is open to question whether some of the dramatis personate recognised an Afenifere interest above personal interest.
Collectively, Afenifere members are united by its fundamental goals. These are even beyond the promotion of the narrow Yoruba interest. In his book titled: “The kiss of death: Afenifere and the infidels”, ARG leader Olawale Oshun listed them to include the fight for true and sustainable federalism, resource sharing based on derivation, respect, equality and equity for all nationalities, greater autonomy reflecting in the creation of state police and the power to determine the development priorities of their respective people. Many now doubt the ability of the group to vigorously mobilise for the realisation of these fundamental goals.
There is no evidence that the split in the Yoruba group has ideological connotation. Ajayi, Adebanjo, Wumi Adegbonmire, Femi Okunrounmu, Fasanmi, Durojaye, Akande, Lam Adesina, Michael Koleoso, Segun Osoba, Bola Tinubu, Oshun, Olatunji Hamzat, Segun Adegoke, and Akin Omojola are advocates of federalism and restructuring. The point of departure is the endless personality clashes.
To concerned Afenifere members, the escalated crises that have heralded the eclipse of the organisation to oblivion had their roots in the Bola Ige/Ayo Adebanjo personality clashes and Ganiyu Dawodu/Bola Tinubu battle for supremacy and survival. Right from Awolowo days, Ige and Adebanjo had not enjoyed total cordial relationship, although they remained fiercely loyal to one leader, Awo. As Ige lost the AD presidential ticket to Chief Olu Falae, hell was let loose. When Ige moved against his perceived foes, including Adebanjo, his first act, after becoming a minister under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was to raise his former commissioner when he was governor of Oyo State, Chief Michael Koleoso, to challenge Adebanjo’s bid to retain his position as national vice chairman of AD. The party was destined for two parallel convention; one in Eagle Squares; another at Abuja Gardens.
In Lagos State, Dawodu, who never hid his dislike for Tinubu, wrestled for the soul of the AD with the former governor as the state Afenifere leader. The governor acted fast by building a solid political structure that could survive without the pan-Yoruba socio-political group ahead of 2003 elections. When Dawodu, backed by Afenifere leaders of Ogun State origin, moved against Tinubu machinery, following the rejection of the 60:40 formula for the sharing of elective and appointive offices in Lagos state, it crashed. At that stage, it was evident that a progressive route to power was still possible outside Afenifere.
This decade has been turbulent for Afenifere. What is worrisome is the lack of crisis resolution mechanism within the organisation. When AD deputy governors; Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor and Iyiola Omisore were at war with their bosses, when Governors Adebayo Adefarati and Adeniyi Adebayo were at war over Ondo/Ekiti joint property, when leadership tussle broke out in AD between Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, when scores of aggrieved Afenifere/AD chieftains were defecting from the party to PDP, the political family, now more vulnerable, could not resolve the multiple crises. Clamour for restructuring was rebuffed and consequently, the group was in short of fresh ideas. To date, the group has been an edifice on crisis.
From D’Rovans Hotel, Ibadan, the group split. The AD presidential convention was expected to be a coronation of a sort for Ige, Afenifere deputy leader. When he lost out, his ego was bruised. A fighter, the former Oyo State governor vowed to revenge. To spite his colleagues, he accepted to serve in Obasanjo’s cabinet at a wrong time and contrary to the mood of the Southwest. He never returned alive.
Around the same period, two founding chieftains of Afenifere; Venerable Emmanuel Alayande and Justice Adewale Thompson; rallied other eminent Yoruba elders outside Afenifere to form the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE). There was the suspicion that the new group enjoyed the backing of Ige, whose membership of Obasanjo government became an issue, unlike the appointment of Adebanjo into the tiny constitution review committee and Senator Cornelius Adebayo as minister.
When Ige died, his camp became divided. Two associates of Ige; Akande and Akinfenwa, decided to contest the AD chairmanship. Those opposed to Ige in Afenifere queued behind the senator. But Tinubu, Adesina, and Adebayo rooted for Akande’s chairmanship. The Mamman Yusuf/Ahmed Abdulkadir scenario was reenacted, with AD becoming factionalised to its roots. It was becoming clear that AD was about to be liquidated. At will, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was being teleguided to toss the party around with recognition and withdrawal of the same from Akande and Akinfenwa fortnightly.
The leader, Adesanya, could not resolve the crisis until he passed on, following protracted illness. Now, the positions of the leader and deputy leader was vacant. Up came Fasoranti as the Acting Leader. Eyes were on him as he stepped into the big shoe. His fitness for the role was not questioned until he pronounced Akinfenwa as the authentic chairman of AD in Akure. It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Akande/ Tinubu/Osoba group consequently revisited the process Fasoranti’s emergence, saying that they were not aware about his nomination by Adesanya. A meeting was summoned, and at the Jibowu headquarter, Fasanmi was made the deputy leader. A battle ensued on who is the leader in post-Adesanya era.
Concerned Yoruba sons, including Tokunbo Ajasin, packaged reconciliation, which hit the rocks. ARG also waded into the protracted crisis. At a retreat in Ibadan, Fasoranti and Fasanmi embraced, but there was no renewal of contact.
Another opportunity came for the resolution of the conflict when Adebanjo clocked 80. Tinubu, Akande, Osoba and Adebayo were planning to storm the ceremony in a big fashion, preparatory to another round of reconciliation, when their attention were drawn to inflammatory media interviews by the celebrator lambasting them for the decline of Afenifere. They instantly returned the heat. A media war broke out, with the Fasanmi faction vowing never to have anything to do with Fasoranti group again.
Recently, Fasoranti’s faction paid a solidarity visit to Daniel, who is standing trial in court for corrupt charges. The former governor is said to be the financial backbone of the group. The action was infuriating to Adegbonmire, who is now a leader of ACN in Ondo State. He said the visit was in bad faith, stressing that it was ill-timed. Now, activities of the faction are reduced to issuing occasional press release on national issues. Unlike it, there is complete lull in Fasanmi’s group.
An obstacle to peace is the political composition of Afenifere. In 2008, Fasoranti declared: “We have now decided to throw the membership of Afenifere open to all Yoruba people above 18 years, regardless of present party affiliations, provided they accept the Afenifere credo of making the welfare of the individual citizen the main purpose of government”. Many picked hole in this new approach. At issue is whether ACN and PDP members can cohabit peacefully under the umbrella of Afenifere.
Is reconciliation still possible in the fold? Adegbonmire said the door is not closed. “It should be possible for us to come together again. we subscribe to the same ideology and affection for Yoruba. There is no serious Yoruba man who is happy with the present situation”, he said.
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Can Afenifere bounce back?