THE YORUBAS: OUR POLITICS, YESTERDAY AND TODAY

By Doyin Okupe
The Yoruba in national politics

THE Political era of the second Republic 1979-1983 saw the Yoruba playing a role which was not too different from the one played in the first republic. The only difference was that unlike in the first republic when the role of opposition was officially recognized in line with the Parliamentary System of government, the Presidential system created no specific role for the party outside government.

Even though the Unity Party of Nigeria, formed by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the first party to be formed after the Military lifted the ban on party politics in 1978, the party was generally regarded as an off shoot of the Action Group which was the main Yoruba party of the First Republic.

The revered Awo who was the defacto leader of the Yoruba people had earlier shunned an invitation to be part of a Constituent Assembly which provided a veritable platform for political leaders to establish cross-cultural network of affiliates which later resulted in the formation of other political parties regarded as being more national in outlook.

Chief Awolowo no doubt represented the best of the Yoruba stock in terms of ideals, passion and commitment to building a Nation where no component part will be subjugated. He was a frontline advocate for equity and justice. Awo believed that resources of the state must be used for the benefit of the greater number of people.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo understood the values of education and this informed his decision to offer free education to every Yoruba child. This undoubtedly helped in building and maintaining the Yoruba tradition of intellectualism that had been in existence over centuries. Yoruba passion for acquisition of knowledge through formal education is our hallmark and the outstanding feature which distinguishes us among other ethnic Nationalities.

Similarly, Obafemi Awolowo’s views of what a truly federal and prosperous Nigeria should look like were unmistaken. He believed in, and stoutly advocated a federal structure where each of the constituent units will creatively use its God given resources to provide the best opportunities for its people. The result of his visionary leadership in the quality of infrastructure, education, health and rural integration in the South West cannot be wished away even by his most vicious critics.

However, some political analysts believe that the choice of Sir Philip Umeadi as the running mate to Chief Awolowo in the 1979 Presidential election was a non-tactical political move which did not take into account the age-long North-South dichotomy vis-à-vis the numerical strength of the Northern voting population.

The result of the elections saw the Unity Party of Nigeria coming a distant second to the Northern dominated National Party of Nigeria which picked its running mate from the South; thus paving the way for Alhaji Shehu Shagari to emerge as the First Executive President of a Presidential system of government in Nigeria.

By the elections of 1983 when Chief Awolowo had a change of strategy in choosing Mallam Muhammad Kura from Bauchi state as his running mate, the NPN had become almost a behemoth and the political atmosphere had become so compromised that no credible elections were possible in the circumstance.

Not even the suppressed anger of the Yoruba elements in the NPN who had felt betrayed by the renunciation of an alleged pact by the Northern leadership to run for only one term and support the West in 1983 could help the cause of the Yoruba aspiration represented by Chief Awolowo. Not only was Alhaji Shagari declared winner of the disputed elections, a few states which were hither-to controlled by Awo’s UPN (notably old Ondo and Oyo ) were declared won by the NPN.

By the time the second Republic was terminated by the Military junta headed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in December, 1983, the aspiration of the Yoruba Nation as a major stakeholder in the Nigerian Federation remained largely unfulfilled. It is the consensus of analysts that the coup against our then nascent democracy halted the political advancement of the Nation and inflicted a deadly blow on our political consciousness which we never recovered from for another sixteen years. Even today, the consequent scars of the  1983 Buhari led Military misadventure are still very much with us and may take a lot more time to heal.

The politics of Third Republic and the Abiola factor

The period often regarded as the third Republic in Nigeria was characterized by the Politics of the years 1989-1998. It was a period when the Nigerian Military carried out a number of political experimentations built around the mantra of ‘new breed’ politicians but which in actual fact was only new in form rather than in Character.

The Military formed two political parties, the National Republican Convention and the Social Democratic Party to which Nigerians were to subscribe. Even though the party had no ‘founders’ in the sense of the political platforms of the earlier republics, there was a clear indication that old cleavages and alliances coalesced into the parties and gave them some degree of the old ethnic colorations. While the SDP was regarded as a little to the left and so represented the old ‘progressive’ fold, the NRC was a little to the right and so was the party for the conservatives.

The most interesting thing about the politics of the Third Republic however was that it led to the forced marriage of certain political elements who had no prior antecedent of electoral collaborations. While this had some obvious advantages in pursuit of building National consensus, it also had its down side in the eruption of virtually irreconcilable differences and serious intra-party conflicts.

In all these, the Yoruba Nation played a key role in the strengthening of the political parties and driving the process of restoring Nigeria to a democratic Nation. Most importantly, the period marked a turning point in the exclusive politics of the South West and eventually led to the emergence of a Yoruba man, the late Chief MKO Abiola as the flag bearer of the SDP and eventual winner of the June 12 1993 Presidential election which was annulled by the Ibrahim Babangida administration.

How did Abiola succeed in breaking the jinx? The answer is simple: He recognized the inevitability of a strong synergy between the Political stakeholders in all the political blocks of Nigeria.  Abiola built his political aspiration on decades-long business, religious, political, personal and philanthropic  relationship which he had built with key figures across the country.

Unlike the previous attempt of the Yoruba for the Presidency through the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, MKO Abiola most probably learnt from history that anyone who aspires to lead a country as diverse as Nigeria must consciously seek the co-operation, acceptance and endorsement of all major stakeholders in the Federation. This accounted for why even in the state which produced his opponent in the election, Chief Abiola won convincingly!

The annulment of Abiola’s victory,  his eventual incarceration and death in custody put the country in a major political quagmire which necessitated the unprecedented national concession of the Presidency to the South West engineered and spearheaded by Northern political elites and supported by all other ethnic nationalities including the Oil rich minorities. This development threw up only two Presidential candidates Chief Olu Falae of the APP/AD and Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP. Under this arrangement, the inevitability of a Yoruba Presidency was clear ab initio.  This of necessity placed a political debt burden which the Yoruba Nation is bound  to pay sometime in the future.

There is no doubt in my mind that without an agreement that the wrong done to the South West geo-political zone by the annulment of the June 12 election should be redressed, there might have been Obasanjo presidency in 1999. It is thus apparent that the Nigerian political system draws its strength from a collective, though unwritten agreement on National consensus and concession as evidenced by the inclusion of the Federal Character principle and Quota system in our constitutions.

We will all recall also how the agitation for immediate independence in 1955/56 was deliberately put on hold by the leaders of the Political South as a concession to the North which was apparently not ready for independence then. This same spirit of building a national consensus on critical issues and granting concessions at critical times had been displayed by almost all ethnic groups at one time or the other in our National history.

True Yoruba spirit

The true Yoruba spirit does not see politics as a means to a pecuniary end.

Rather, politics is seen by our genuine leaders as a means to selfless service, building enduring legacies and instituting equitable systems of administration.

This was why sometime in 1983, even when he was uncertain of electoral victory in the upcoming Presidential election, Chief Obafemi Awolowo predicted in Bonny, Rivers state that in a no distant future, someone from the Ijaw minority ethnic tribe would emerge as Nigerian President.

It is in this same vein that the age-long agitation of the Yoruba people for a restructured Nigerian federation should be understood. These demands which include  greater autonomy for constituent units and powers to exploit and control their natural resources, establish and maintain their police, establish and manage local governments as may be desirable, initiate and implement social, educational , agricultural and fiscal policies without undue federal hindrances and generally deploy their talents to  the most basic needs as may be identified.

These are the time tested values for which a number of our great sons and daughters stood for, suffered for and to which majority of the Yorubas subscribe as a panacea to many of our socio-economic challenges as a Nation. The Yoruba does not want to be cheated but even more importantly, he does not want others to be treated as second-class citizens in this great country.

It does not matter to which political party one belongs; as long as you are a Yoruba man, these are the credo which defines our politics. We are a value-driven race and our values are not subject to the whims and caprices of any political tendency.

It is an irony that the platform for seeking these reforms which the Yorubas had agitated for in decades was only recently provided by a man from the minority ethnic group who emerged Nigerian President by providence in 2011.

That platform is the National Conference which among others has come up with far-reaching recommendations which if and when implemented will solve quite a number of our social, political and economic distortions and restore Nigeria to the path of sustainable growth and stability.

These resolutions will have salutary effect on all ethnic groups in Nigeria who will have the opportunity of self- determination and development of their natural endowments.

Specifically, the Yoruba Nation will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the implementation of the National conference. We are very highly resourceful both in men and material, diligent and industrious and have shown in the past our undisputed ability to excel in a liberal democratic atmosphere which these resolutions from the confab will engender. We will restore the glory of the former Western Region!

The import of this is that politics is about enlightened self-interest. If it is in the interest of the Yoruba race or Nation that these resolutions be implemented and since none of our sons or daughters is actually a candidate for the Presidential position, it behoves on us to see beyond the transient glory in partisan victory and pursue a political objective that will give us enduring benefits. This consideration must be accomplished on a non-partisan level. Examples abound in our recent history where other ethnic Nationalities, irrespective of their party affiliation, especially in the National Assembly become immediately unified on matters concerning their ethnic nationalities.  A dog is a dog and a monkey is a monkey. Though they both have tails, they do not belong to the same clan; so no one should present a dog as a monkey to us.

Today, another opportunity is presenting itself for the Yoruba to stand up as the conscience of the Nation. Our leaders had always been known to defend the weak and stand up for them in times of need. Our lawyers, academics, and social activists have a record of fighting oppression wherever it reared its head without asking for a price or a reward. This generation of Yorubas cannot afford to do less because in the words of Frantz Fanon, every generation will out of relative obscurity discover its mission to either fulfill it or betray it.

Clearly, the stability of this country rests squarely on the balance of power between the North and the South. The tripod of the South East, South South and South West that should hold the South together must be maintained and steadied . The Yorubas are a corner stone of that tripod and we cannot afford to destabilize it or throw it into disequilibrium.

It is only a politically united South operating in harmony with a unified North that can bring about the enduring peace and stability that is needed to make our Nation viable, virile and great.

Therefore it is time that we stand to demand that the third leg of the Southern alliance, which is the minority ethnic group, enjoys the constitutionally guaranteed privilege of a second term Presidency which the Yorubas have already enjoyed. In doing this, we will not only be acting to type as a race of principled defender of the helpless, we will equally be defending our own heritage of having a restructured Nigerian Federation in line with the recommendations of the National conference.

The political burden of debt which I mentioned earlier makes it imperative that we as an ethnic Nationality pay back to the system what we have benefitted from.

Being excerpts of a speech delivered by Dr Doyin Okupe Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs at the Lagos Country Club, Lagos.