In this interview with ENIOLA AKINKUOTU, a former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun osoba, speaks about political issues in the country
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said in his book titled, ‘My Watch’ that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was not the leader of the Yoruba. Do you share this opinion?
Definitely not. About 49 years ago, on August 12, 1966, I was involved when papa Awolowo was unanimously elected the leader of the Yoruba by all forces – political, cultural, intellectual – in Yoruba land. He was elected as the leader of all Yoruba and it was reported in every newspaper then. I disagree with Chief Obasanjo.
My worry is that if I didn’t come out as the someone that was involved, history would be distorted in the future where historians and researchers would base their conclusions on Obasanjo’s record of events. He was an active participant in the events of that period because he was a member of Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo’s government at that period by virtue of being the Garrison Commander in Ibadan. Gen. Adebayo was the one that organised that particular meeting, where Awolowo was elected Yoruba leader. I, therefore, do not think that he could have forgotten the series of events that caused Awolowo to emerge as Yoruba leader.
Did you see Obasanjo at the meeting where the decision was taken?
As garrison commander, he was an automatic member of the cabinet. I am saying that he had direct knowledge of what transpired. In any case, some of us journalists met papa Awolowo and queried the statement he made at the meeting after he was elected. He made a profound statement that he would remain the leader of the Yoruba only during the period of military government and we asked why he would limit his leadership to only military era when those who elected him unanimously elected him for a lifetime leadership. His response was that the Yoruba race is so sophisticated and intelligent and that under no circumstance in a normal political dispensation would all the Yoruba go the same way and that he had decided to limit the honour bestowed on him to the period when the common interest of the Yoruba then was threatened and he said once they rang the bell of partisan politics, capitalists like Chief Moses Majekodunmi, socialists like Dr. Tunji Otegbeye, a zikist like Tos Benson, would always return to their political tent and they might not be part of his political family and under such circumstance, he cannot claim to be the Yoruba leader.
You said various Yoruba leaders of different temperaments endorsed Awolowo. Why did they do so?
There were many reasons. Awolowo was in incarceration and by the time he was released, Gen. Yakubu Gowon immediately knew that he needed the influence and larger than life image of Awolowo round the country. Before then, Awolowo was winning elections in the Middle Belt, the Niger-Delta and the Kanuri axes. He had created a pan-Nigerian image and not just a tribal one, so Gowon needed him.
Secondly, Gowon had just emerged as head of State and the North had rallied around him. Col. Chukwuemeka Ojukwu had emerged for the Igbo. The Yoruba then needed somebody and that led to Awolowo’s emergence. Besides that, what you call militancy had been in existence then like the Agbekoya who had substantial control in areas of the Western Region and had been holding the military to ransom. It was only Awolowo that could go into the jungle then to meet the militants and persuade them to lay down their arms. All this put together led to Awolowo’s emergence.
But Obasanjo said Awolowo’s emergence was not a consensus, stating that Chief Adisa Akinloye rejected Awolowo’s leadership?
Nobody, including Akinloye, ever rejected Awolowo. He was one of the supporters of Awolowo and he was even the one that coined the word ‘Afenifere’ which is the Yoruba equivalent of Action Group. I was close to Akinloye and I visited him in London many times when he was on exile. He might have in between become a conservative leader but he never disrespected Awolowo.
In your own opinion, why would Obasanjo say Awolowo was never the leader and attempt to play down Awolowo’s status?
I would not like to judge Chief Obasanjo because as I am trying to put the facts straight, I don’t want to join him in the condemnation of individuals. I respect him for his strong points and weaknesses. But one thing I disagree with him is his condemnation of virtually everybody and even those around him. “Wole Soyinka is not good, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is not good, Atiku Abubakar is not good, Reuben Abati is useless, Doyin Okupe is not to be associated with.” Who then is good? I feel bad that a man like former President Obasanjo, after what God has done for him, the luck that he has had in always being there (relevant). At the end of the war he was there, when Murtala Muhammed was killed, he was there. Whether he likes it or not, MKO Abiola will forever continue to be the symbol and hero of modern day democracy in Nigeria. When Abiola couldn’t negotiate his freedom by signing away his mandate to General Sani Abacha, he laid down his life and I expect Chief Obasanjo to understand the fact that he became a beneficiary and should see Abiola as a hero. Nobody can claim to be the only hero in any society. Society is a team. Within our Egba community, the Ransome-Kutis are heroes. Their mother was an activist, Fela was an acitivist, Beko Ransome-Kuti was an activist. Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti took his father’s nature. He was a gentleman but was also an activist with his philosophy of primary healthcare. Wole Soyinka is a hero, Ebenezer Obey is a hero; he produced over 50 records and delivered philosophical lyrics. Akintola Williams, an Egba man, is the first accountant and is still worshipped today. Society is the totality of a team. A tree can never make a forest and that is where I disagree with Chief Obasanjo. To reduce Soyinka to a wine connoisseur hurts me.
But Obasanjo has been known to write memoirs but why is it that those who could have put the records straight for the purpose of history failed to write their own memoirs?
I have had the opportunity of arguing with the likes of Gen. Gowon and I told him that he was not being fair to Nigeria by not putting on record the events of the civil war. I have on many occasions been upset with Papa Lateef Jakande, who along with Mr. Sam Amuka, is the oldest living legend in journalism. I am not happy that Jakande has not put anything on record. He was involved in the formation of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Guild of Editors; he founded the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, he founded the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, he was the first black man to be the chairman of the International Press Institute and he has not even put it on paper and he has a mountain of records in his library.
I agree with you that many who participated in the history of Nigeria have not imbibed the culture of putting pen on paper to tell the story of their knowledge of events. That does not remove the fact that when one is writing and goes off tangent, some of us should not come out and set the record straight for those who may want to do research and do the history of these events.
Do you think Obasanjo feels he is not being respected enough in Yoruba land?
First of all, in Yoruba culture, we believe that you must earn whatever you want from the people. We submit ourselves to anybody’s leadership voluntarily and not by coercion or purchase. So, on the issue of recognising Obasanjo, he should be somebody that we should be going to for advice. When Papa Sam Adebo was alive, we used to go to him to learn from him and Obasanjo used to go to Adebo as well and that is what I expect that people like us should be going to Obasanjo for but he has to earn it.
It is his character but a Yoruba proverb says that when you mature with age, you put aside certain things. After all Shehu Shagari is alive and he is a former President and he doesn’t talk much. You hardly hear his voice. Abdulsalami Abubakar is playing a major role internationally and you don’t hear him speak too much. He traverses the whole of Africa, getting involved in one peace mission or the other. Babangida is still alive. Obasanjo and I are of the same age group. I am 76 and he says he is 78. And at this stage, we should be careful with our words. That does not mean that you cannot be blunt. I agree that at our age, what should you be afraid of again? I am not saying that Chief Obasanjo should not say it as it is but when you mature, your language should be weighed. I respect him for putting his thoughts and his philosophy but at the same time, everybody cannot be useless and everybody cannot be bad, it is just condemnation all the time and I disagree
So who is the Yoruba leader now?
Awolowo said you cannot have a Yoruba leader during a political dispensation. If you read Awolowo’s statement after he was elected the leader, he said, “I will remain Yoruba leader only under the military”. I have always said it when I was in the AD, AC, ACN and APC that in this dispensation we can only have a cultural leader and not an overall political leader because the Yoruba by our education and exposure and independent-mindedness like to express themselves. Even though I am the head of my family, I am challenged by both young and old over family issues. Therefore, during a political dispensation, there is no Yoruba leader but each time Yoruba interest is threatened, we all gather under the leadership of an individual. Shortly before the civil war, the Yoruba interest was threatened and all of us agreed that Awolowo was, at that time, the best person that could lead the Yoruba. When the June 12 election was annulled, not just Yoruba interest but all Yoruba that fought for the democratic norm believed that our collective interest was threatened and that period produced Papa Adekunle Aajasin and this same President Obasanjo came to Owo in recognition of Ajasin as Yoruba leader to come and address us. If he did not recognise Ajasin, why did he come to Owo in 1994?
I keep repeating that the greatest beneficiary of the sacrifice of Abiola is Obasanjo. After Ajasin’s death, Pa Abraham Adesanya was nominated at Premier Hotel by Omoyele Sowore, who is now the publisher of Sahara Reporters. Is Sowore a politician? Sowore, who was a younger man then, said Adesanya should be the leader of the Yoruba because Abiola had died in incarceration and pro-democracy people and Yoruba felt bad and that produced Adesanya as the rallying father of the Yoruba. But when the bell of partisan politics was rung, Adesanya then became Afenifere leader which became the AD. So, the PDP elements could not be under the same leadership.
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