‘Afenifere’s endorsement of Jonathan won’t stand’

In this piece, a group – Concerned Yoruba – rejects the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid by a faction of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere. Spokesmen for the group Felix Adenaike, Adetowo Aderemi,   Tokunbo Ajasin and Kayode Oyediran counsel their kinsmen from the Southwest to vote wisely during the elections. 
On Thursday, 26th February, 2015 a group of persons described in the media as “eminent leaders of thought in Yoruba land” met in lbadan at what they called the second post-national conference summit. It was convened by the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who was the convener of the first “summit” in Akure a week earlier. Advertisements of both events in the dailies had indicated that attendance was strictly by invitation, and subsequent reports showed great overlap in the list of those who attended both events.
Dr. Mimiko is reported to have described the lbadan “summit” as” – a pan-Yoruba forum with all political tendencies in attendance”. That claim is clearly false because several groups in Yoruba land have since issued disclaimers as we do now. Moreover it is common knowledge that the All Progressive Congress (APC) – for which we are neither representatives nor spokespersons did not participate in the meetings. Having regard to the fact that the APC currently administers four of the six states in Yoruba land, the description of the meetings as” summit” is very presumptuous, misleading and delusional.

  

The lbadan “summit” is reported to have declared that every Yoruba son and daughter should vote for President Goodluck Jonathan” in the ire lightened self-interest”. In earlier statements some of the participant s had urged the Yoruba to support Jonathan in order to avoid” making a big mistake and digging their own graves”. The Chairman of the “summit” and leader of a faction of the Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said the decision to support President Jonathan was taken to ensure that the report of the 2014 National Conference was implemented, and because Jonathan was committed to the restructuring of the country through the implementation of the confab’s report. Chief Olu Falae, Chairman of the Yoruba delegation at the confab, said: “Throughout the conference, Jonathan did not try to teleguide us. He said he will implement the report of the conference in the first year of his second term of office”. The Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Olajumoke Akinjide said President Jonathan had already started implementing the report of the confab by setting- up an inter- ministerial committee of which she was a member representing the Southwest Region.
Thus, in his sixth year in office as President, Jonathan set-up a national conference, but more than six months after receiving the report of the confab, the only action he has taken on its implementation is to establish an inter – ministerial committee – to do exactly what? He gave Falae and others an assurance that he would implement the report in the first year of his second term – even though the elections are yet to be held and he has not publicly made implementation of the confab report a campaign issue. Clearly, this is selling the Yoruba a dummy (won nfi obo lo Yoruba). It is curious and disappointing that participants at the “summit” have eagerly bought the dummy. We are confident that the vast majority of the Yoruba will not agree to be taken for a ride. The position of the summiteers on this matter is made more curious by Chief Falae’s statement at the meeting that, in 2007, he personally raised N20 million to support Buhari’s Presidential campaign because of Buhari’s promise to convoke a national conference if elected. As it happened,  Gen Buhari did not win that election, but it is instructive that his manifest of or the 2015 election includes a commitment to restructuring of the country and other important issues which are said to feature in the report of the 2014 confab. There is no such commitment in the PDP manifest to. It is obvious that, whereas over the years Buhari has maintained his position on this matter, those who claim to be “consistent and principled” have withdrawn the strong support they gave him in 2007, and have deserted him for a new bride. What could be responsible for this apparent abandonment of a bird in hand in order to chase after two in the forest?
There can be no doubt that restructuring is very important and desirable for the stability and survival of the country as one entity. However there are many other extant problems which are and have been militating against the welfare and development of Nigeria. Prominent among them are widespread endemic and pervasive corruption (which includes, but is not limited to stealing), a culture of impunity, and the debasement of the institutions that undergird the nation (including the police, judiciary, armed forces and so forth). These problems have worsened steadily during this Fourth Republic, particularly under the current administration. Our socio-cultural values have been steadily assaulted and, as it were, thrown out of the window. The best interests of the Yoruba-indeed of all Nigerians – dictate that the rot should be arrested and reversed before it is too late, and the country degenerates in to a banana republic governed by war-lords. This is the imperative change being sought.