[UPDATE] THE AFENIFERE FIRESTORM: How Adebanjo is dividing Yoruba race – Senator Adeyeye

P an-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, is literally in turmoil owing to its presidential candidate of preference. The imbroglio, apart from placing its two key leaders, Pa Rueben Fasoranti and Pa Ayo Adebanjo, on opposing sides, has also polarised the apex Yoruba group. The situation has provoked a lot of questions about Afenifere’s political engagements. Giving clarity to the ensuing confusion, a former National Publicity Secretary of the group, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, in this interview, traces the points Afenifere seemed to have derailed from its core values, saying Pa Adebanjo isn’t following the precedents known to Afenifere. He also narrates the inside story of last Sunday’s adoption of All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, by the Fasoranti group in Akure, saying Adebanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi can’t stand.

Many people know that Afenifere is a political organisation. But many people may not know the specific aims and objectives. You are a former spokesman for the body. In specific terms, what does Afenifere seek to achieve?

Afenifere seeks to achieve an egalitarian society. We have our core values clearly defined, but I do not have the documents right now to read for you. Afenifere seeks to achieve a society that believes in rule of law- a society where justice, fairness, and equity will prevail. Among our core values, we believe in the restructuring of the country to ensure true federalism including fiscal federalism. We believe that by so doing, we will be going back to the agreement the British had with the component units of Nigeria at independence. That was the 1960 Constitution which established a true federal system for Nigeria. There was latitude for the regions to manage their affairs and that resulted in rapid development in all parts of the country. Therefore, Afenifere’s core objective is to ensure democracy, rule of law and most importantly, ensure true federalism in Nigeria. We also seek to protect the interest of Yoruba people within the entity called Nigeria, while ensuring that no part of the country is oppressed or disadvantaged in any way.

This conversation is basically to put clarity on many questions regarding Afenifere. Through which organs has Afenifere sought to achieve those objectives and how effective have they been?

They are being achieved through active participation in politics. Afenifere formed the defunct Alliance for Democracy, AD, in 1998. And the party won elections in six states of the South-West. And during that period, our governors were AD members. The party and Afenifere were synonymous. To many of us, AD was Afenifere and Afenifere was AD. It was like that until crisis broke out and the centre could no longer hold. If you go further down history, Afenifere was the Yoruba name given to Action Group, AG, the party of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo. The Action Group was known to the local people as Afenifere. The group has always been political. It is either establishing a political party or supporting a party following its core objectives and values. At the time Papa Adekunle Ajasin came on board as the leader, the role of Afenifere had been expanded to include the provision of leadership for the entire Yoruba race. That is irrespective of political affiliations. I could recall a meeting we had in Ibadan in 1998, after the death of Abacha, which was called Yoruba Summit. We had representatives from all Yoruba-speaking states including Kwara, Kogi and some parts of Edo State. We also had Yoruba from Benin Republic and Togo. At the meeting, the leader of Afenifere, Pa Abraham Adesanya, was unanimously chosen by acclamation as the leader of Yoruba race. Pa Ajasin succeeded Awolowo in that capacity while Adesanya succeeded Ajasin. Don’t forget that before the civil war, at the meeting of Yoruba people, Awolowo was nominated by the Obas and leaders as the Asiwaju of Yoruba people. Asiwaju means leader in Yoruba. So, After Awolowo, we had Ajasin and Adesanya. Afenifere, while having its political objectives, its leader is also regarded as the leader of Yoruba people. Therefore, he must take responsibility for Yoruba affairs at all times.

Precedence

At the time Adesanya became indisposed, I was the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere. When he became indisposed, we had a meeting at his house where Pa Rueben Fasoranti was appointed the acting leader of Afenifere. There is precedence with what is happening now. When you act for a leader, the leader remains the leader. As a result of age, the leader can no longer preside over meetings, the acting leader presides over meetings and take decisions in consultation with the leader. I remained the National Publicity Secretary up until the time of Pa Fasoranti. And at that point, nobody said Fasoranti was Afenifere leader. Adesanya was still regarded as the leader. The leader remains the leader until death irrespective of the existence of the acting leader. You can act on his behalf but he remains the leader until death. It was when Pa Adesanya died in 2008 that Fasoranti started being addressed as the leader of Afenifere. He was just called an acting leader. The meetings we held at the time were in Adesanya’s country home in Ijebu even though he wasn’t present most of the time. Everything was done in his name. Last year, we had the same situation when Papa Fasoranti appointed Pa Ayo Adebanjo as the acting leader. I was no longer there at the time. That doesn’t mean that Fasoranti is now an ordinary member as Adebanjo is claiming. That cannot be right. Where is the precedence for that? The truth is that while Adebanjo is acting for him, Fasoranti remains the leader of the organisation. And things ordinarily should have been done in his name. Meetings should have been held in his country home in Akure. But the moment Adebanjo got the appointment he started behaving like a dictator. He transferred the meeting to his country home, which is against precedent. He even appointed people we didn’t know into the executive of Afenifere. These are people who are not known members. He started behaving like a lord.

The way things are, the most influential group in Yoruba land is polarised because of election with the current leadership on one side, and the old leadership on another. Do you think this is good for Yoruba?

Ordinarily, the matter that led to this crisis couldn’t have been if Afenifere had followed its protocol. When there is an issue like this regarding the endorsement of any presidential candidate or when a major political stand is to be taken, Afenifere normally summons a meeting of its top executives. But where are the executives today? I don’t even know them. When such a meeting is summoned, the matter would be debated in the interest of Afenifere. When Adesanya was there, we had a political committee headed by Chief C.O Adebayo. Prof Bolaji Akinyemi was his deputy. General Alani Akinrinade, retd, was also a member of the committee. I was a member of the committee. Where are those organs now? Where is Afenifere executive today? During our time, Bola Ige was baba’s deputy and we had people like Adebayo. We had functional organs at the time. Unfortunately, we have a one-man rule now. It is such that Pa Ayo Adebanjo would just wake up and make a unilateral decision on behalf of Afenifere. He went and sat down with other people from other parts of Nigeria and made their pronouncement on behalf of Afenifere. That is not acceptable to those of us who have great stakes in the organisation. Our leader is still there in Akure. He was never consulted and didn’t know anything about the position Adebanjo took.

Tell us the inside story of the Akure meeting of Afenifere last week with Tinubu. How did it go? Who was in attendance? Who was not? What decisions were taken?

The event of Akure last Sunday was like the rejuvenation of Afenifere. Everybody came there. People like Chief C.O Adebayo, who hadn’t been active for long, came there. Gen Alani Akiinrinade was there. Chief Olu Falae and many top Yoruba leaders came there to reassert the protocol of Afenifere. All of them were there and it wasn’t a case of Fasoranti alone saying ‘’I bless Tinubu or I endorse Tinubu’’. Everybody decided on Tinubu in unison. They said he is the person they decided to support. And Afenifere has the right to do that because it is a socio-political organisation.

I remember the first time Afenifere had an issue that became a matter of public concern was when the late Chief Bola Ige challenged the leadership under Pa Adesanya, calling for reforms. Bola Ige wanted young people brought into the organisation because Afenifere belongs to the entire Yoruba people and not a few elders. To what extent would you say the reform efforts were achieved?

The reform efforts were never achieved. It was not only Chief Bola Ige that called for reforms. Even Pa Adesanya wanted reforms. In fairness to him (Adesanya), he wanted the organisation reformed. He wanted us to have proper structures and to establish a system with seamless political leadership that will take care of the affairs of Yoruba people. Efforts were made towards that. For example, we constituted a political committee. It was the political committee that recommended the creation of a constitution drafting committee. The body had then-Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Sen Olurumimbe Mamora, as its chairman. I was a member of that committee. We produced a constitution for Afenifere. The draft is still with me. The constitution was presented to Pa Adesanya. A review committee was set up and I was also a member. We reviewed it and made amendments. The constitution is there. It is just that we have not had the proper leaders to implement its provisions. It is by implementing the constitution that Afenifere can maintain its relevance in Yoruba politics. But the constitution remains on the shelves without being implemented. Efforts were made to democratize things. We were having meetings at Ijebu-Ugbo, the home of Adesanya. That is no longer the case.

It’s like this is the battle for Yoruba land and the battle line has been drawn with the Adebanjo faction of Afenifere. What do you think?

What happens now is that three or four people sit down and make decisions for a sophisticated race like Yoruba race. That cannot work. Some of us will never allow it to work. We need to go back to our old ways of running Afenifere by having periodic meetings. We should have at least 20 or 25 delegates from each of the South-West states including Kwara, Kogi and some parts of Edo State. The meeting should hold at our leader’s place. Also, the constitution that was drafted since 2001 should be implemented. We can still review it before implementation. This will open the door for everybody to join because an organisation that doesn’t have a constitution doesn’t give any member any reasonable idea of what to expect. It doesn’t give any member idea of how decisions are made and what should be his or her role. There must be a constitution. Our core values are defined in the constitution. Some may have forgotten but they are spelt out in the constitution. Afenifere even has a national anthem. At the time Pa Adesanya was the leader, we had a functional secretariat in Jibowu where we used to meet. I had my office there. It was a house we leased from one Chief Oloyede. He is late now. It was a big property that we remodeled and had adequate space for meetings. The meetings of the executive council were also taking place there. Pa Adesanya had an office there and he was coming every day. We had a proper organisation but everything has degenerated. That is very unfortunate. Some of us feel the time to rebuild Afenifere is now, but Pa Adebanjo’s attitude doesn’t help matters. You can’t sit down with a few people we do not know and say you are deciding for Yoruba people. We are not going to accept it.

It is believed in many quarters that what Bola Ige started back then is what Tinubu appears to be continuing, especially given the backdrop of the face-off he had with the Pa Adesanya leadership on Lagos politics at the time. Are we correct?

It is not correct. The face-off was about the internal politics of Lagos, especially between Asiwaju and the late Chief Ganiyu Dawodu. Everybody doesn’t see issues from the same standpoint. There was some sort of  schism between Asiwaju and the late Chief Ganiyu Dawodu. And they tried to resolve the issues. There is no reason Afenifere should be in this situation. People who know how we operate and who were there before many of us were born ought to do things properly. If you and I belong to an organization and I start taking decisions without your knowledge, will you go along with me? You endorsed a candidate and claimed it was the decision of Afenifere. It was a wrong move. And the decision cannot stand because it doesn’t reflect the position of the entire Yoruba race. Our leaders, who were in Akure, are responsible leaders and they are people who have contributed immensely to the race and the nation. They were dogged fighters in the past. I believe that what we need now is for everybody to come back and do things properly. May God grant Pa Fasoranti and Adebanjo more years. I believe both of them can come together and take us back to the tradition of Afenifere. The Leader remains the leader even when there is an Acting Leader. If that is the case, every decision the Acting Leader would make should have the concurrence of the Leader. The size and quality of people at the Akure meeting showed that we are not happy with Adebanjo’s decision.

Some people believe this is a coup planned by the pro -Tinubu elements in Afenifere against the Adebanjo leadership. How do you react?

It is not a coup planned by them. Don’t forget that when Asiwaju was going around before the primary election, he paid a courtesy visit to Pa Fasoranti in Akure. Chief Olu Falae and some Yoruba leaders were present. I was there. Pa Fasoranti prayed for his success and told him that if he won the primary, he should come back so that he could pray for him to succeed in the general elections. Asiwaju said he would return after the primary. That is exactly what he did. Pa Fasoranti, having made the demand, those around him reminded him that the man had won the primary. They asked when the promise both of them made would be fulfilled. On that premise, efforts were made on both sides for the Akure meeting. Most of the efforts were even on the side of the Afenifere Leader. There was no coup. Kola Omololu, the Director of Mobilisation recognised by Adebanjo, was the one directing affairs in Akure on that day. It shows that not everyone in Adebanjo’s camp agrees with him.

Give us an insight into the decision-making process in Afenifere and how the decision to adopt Peter Obi could have been taken without Pa Fasoranti people knowing…

In the past, when I was the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere under Pa Adesanya and Bola Ige as leaders, we had a political committee. The political committee usually set an agenda for Afenifere. The committee was the most powerful organ of Afenifere. It was headed by Chief C.O Adebayo, former governor of Kwara State. And we had old people I had mentioned. We had younger elements like me, Olusegun Mimiko, who was a Commissioner in Ondo at the time. Many of us met on Mondays or Tuesdays in Lagos at the residence of Chief Adebayo. Sometimes, we rotated the hosting of the meetings. There were times we met at the residence of Prof Bolaji Akinyemi or Dr. Amos Akingba. We set agenda for Afenifere. Our decisions were taken to the general meeting where they were debated. That was the process. Papa Adesanya never took a position on his own. Endorsing a candidate without carrying your people along has never been the process of decision-making in Afenifere.

Afenifere, I believe, stands for equity and fairness. You think there is no merit in the Adebanjo faction’s case that Igbo, having not been President or led Nigeria since Ironsi, don’t deserve the support of Yoruba whereas the Yoruba have been President for eight years?

Is it Afenifere that will award the presidency to the Igbo when the Igbo haven’t endorsed anybody? It is never done like that. Afenifere didn’t even award the presidency to Obasanjo. He wasn’t our candidate in 1998. Falae was our candidate but Obasanjo won. Falae made good efforts. Remember that Afenifere gallantly fought for the de-annulment of the June 12 presidential election. Adebanjo’s argument may seem to have merit but power is never served a la carte. People must make efforts to get power otherwise they will just be working in vain. You may work for a candidate and the candidate will not win. In the end, you will lose relevance. Your people will say that you misled them. So, for Afenifere, a proper evaluation of any situation is required before making any decision. The truth is that rotation of the presidency is between the North and South. The South has not micro-zoned to any part. Why didn’t Adebanjo make this argument when Buhari was chosen after the death of Yar’Adua, who was from the same state as Buhari? Why didn’t Adebanjo clamour for the presidency to go to North-East or North-Central instead of North-West? Because we said it was going to the North, everybody in the North accepted it. This time, it is coming to the South. I am sure that if we had a strong candidate from the East, supported strongly by easterners and others from different parts of the South, every part would have a shot. But in the circumstances we find ourselves, it was premature to have rushed to endorse Obi. South-East people haven’t even endorsed Obi. Many of the South-East governors are not with him. Many of the region’s political leaders are not with him. Even in his state, Anambra, many of the leaders are not with him. I don’t have any problem with anybody. Adebanjo is just playing to the gallery with that arugment.

In an interview with this paper, one of those in the Adebanjo camp, Chief Akin Osuntokun, said he was at the meeting where the decision was made to adopt Obi…

Did he say that? How many of them were attending the meeting? Adebanjo has constituted his Afenifere. So, he can call anybody and call the person Afenifere member. He can hold a meeting with such persons and say that it is Afenifere meeting. The Leader of Afenifere, who is alive and has high cognitive intuition, is there and has taken a position. We shall see who is more authentic between those who attended last week’s event in Akure and Adebanjo’s people.

Given what is happening, what do you think Tinubu’s ambition means to the Yoruba nation?

Asiwaju’s ambition has provided the platform for more integration among Yoruba people. Those who came to Akure weren’t Afenifere leaders alone. It was beyond Afenifere because the entire Yoruba in Nigeria were represented there. We had Dr. Kunle Olajide of the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE. Many Yoruba groups were in Akure to show solidarity with Pa Fasoranti. The ambition is bringing everybody together. It is uniting the entire Yoruba in Nigeria. Papa Adebanjo’s attitude is what is dividing the race. We didn’t have this kind of attitude when Pa Fasoranti was acting for Adesanya, who was sick. Why should we have it now? It is his responsibility to bring everybody together. One day, the responsibility may fully fall on him and everybody would want to support him. But we don’t want a cantankerous leadership. We need a sober-minded leader.

Tinubu has met northern groups and Afenifere. We know that he may not have a huge number of fans in the Niger Delta and South-East. Does he plan to meet PANDEF and Ohanaeze to complete the meeting with ethnic groups?

The meeting with northern leaders was at the instance of northern groups. They invited major presidential aspirants. For  Afenifere, the meeting was essentially organised by Pa Fasoranti. The man, who directed affairs on that day, was the Director of Mobilisation of Afenifere. And they were responsible that day. Any meeting with Ohaneze and PANDEF may be at their instance. And I think they should invite all the presidential aspirants. If Ohanaeze invites Asiwaju, he would honour the invitation. You don’t force yourself on those who do not want you. It is not possible.