Chief Segun Adegoke is an old-breed politician whose concept of progressivism is based on the principles of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was the Commissioner for Lands and Housing and later Information in the administration of the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin in Ondo State. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Dapo Falade, he speaks on the intrigues and political subterfuges that culminated in the Yoruba race playing a second fiddle in the polity.Y ou are a politician of many years experience, in your opinion, how do you think the Yoruba people fare during the Second Republic when you were actively involved in politics, compared to what obtains presently' Incidentally, I turned 70 years old yesterday (Thursday) and I have been in politics for several years and like you rightly said, I was actively involved in politics in the Second Republic. During that period, Yoruba took the lead in the polity. One may say that Chief Obafemi Awolowo attempted to become the president but failed in the Second Republic. But one can say confidently that he was the most widely accepted political leader at that time. Within the Yoruba race, they chose where they wanted to be. There were two camps, those who were for Chief Awolowo and those who were against him. I can confidently say, without any fear of contradiction, that Chief Awolowo had about 90 per cent of Yoruba race wanting him to continue to lead them. There was unity of purpose, dedication to service and discipline.The love of money, which is destroying this country, was not there. Chief Awolowo laid the foundation that it should be service to the people and I can say that if there is any set of Second Republicans that are rich now, it is probably because may be some of them have decided to join the new breed and the avarice method in which they used to acquire their wealth might have rubbed off on them. But I can mention series of people who are not poor, but are living within their means, unlike the present crop of Yoruba politicians who have stupendous wealth they cannot account for. The Yoruba race, in the Second Republic, was united, devoted and contented with our politics and what we had. The only thing was that our ambition was to extend to the whole country, bringing about good governance through our great leader, Chief Awolowo. What do you think accounts for the current slide' I think the whole thing started from the policy of new breed politicians introduced by General Ibrahim Babangida; from then the culture, the ethics, the tradition and the respect for honesty was jettisoned. When you said some people are old breed and some people are new breed, this threw up a great deal of people, who were avaricious, greedy and lacked the discipline of developmental politics; their major aim was to make money.How did they go about making their money' They made money by cutting each other's throats. They unfolded a great deal of intrigues among themselves; the scramble for office thus became deadly. There was no longer a very good straightforward leadership to paddle the canoe of the Yoruba political interests; everybody was just running around like rats. Even some of those who Awolowo left behind became engaged in fratricide intrigues. Although intrigues cannot be absolutely excluded from politics, but because the strong leadership was left out of the scene, the cohesive element in Yoruba politics disappeared. Everybody was saying, 'Everybody to himself, God for us all' and as a result, we were gradually disuniting and the enemies began to penetrate us, and so on. You said the problem started from the Babangida era, but his policy was all encompassing, spreading all over the country. But now it appears that the other groups have overtaken the Yoruba... The other races have overtaken us because the Yoruba people have decimated themselves and it was easy for these people to come in. For example in 1999, the Yoruba felt that what Olusegun Obasanjo did in 1978 was un-Yoruba-like and that is what we have seen now. It was un-Yoruba-like by giving the mantle of leadership to Alhaji Shehu Shagari. In consequence, in pronouncing or in fighting against that kind of thing, they refused to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West. And instead of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to count its blessings for what it got, the party entered into a political fratricide, like I said.Bola Tinubu was trying to create a dichotomy between the AD and Afenifere, whereas it is common sense that Afenifere mothered AD. It is unfortunate that it was this same Tinubu that ran away to the US during the NADECO era only to come back to be a senator. Are you trying to shift the blame of the failure of the Yoruba nation on an individual' Not him alone but one could say that Tinubu does not have respect for due process. He believes in this Lagos-house style, akin to, not 419 really, but abracadabra.You can see the clique of Tinubu; they believe they are the mouthpiece of this country, when they are doing things that are palpably wrong. They mount unnecessary propaganda because they have amassed a great deal of wealth. Everything the Tinubu people do is right and they are about the loudest minority in the midst of a very large majority. But we thank God that when the Nigerian Tribune started informing the masses, re-narrating the real story about him, the people are getting to know what is going on.Look at the issue of Justice Ayo Salami, the suspended President of the Court of Appeal. It confirmed what everybody feels about what they have been doing with the judiciary and their spurious judgments from the courts. Let me not deceive you; he has a large chunk of money to back up his propaganda and a lot of his professional activists. We know them and these so-called activists just want to gain political relevance at all cost. They never see anything right in government; they believe that is the strategy. Some people have no character, yet they claimed to be activists; they criticise the government. But set up an enquiry and look into their activities, you will discover that most of them are the filthiest people that ever lived. But because the people enjoy those who criticise the government, and because some of these critics get recognition, some are becoming so unreasonable, unethical, and rude to the extent that they will say anything provided it is against the government or it is against an important person in the country. That is a very bad culture. Until recently in the nation's history, Yoruba occupied a pride of place in virtually all sectors in the polity, but it appears to have been relegated. How did the race get to this sorry pass' I have said it earlier, the Yoruba people failed to unite themselves, and in the present political dispensation there emerged most of the Yoruba leaders who are devoid of commitment to this race. I know of a person who is always saying he is not a Yoruba leader. But before you can become a national leader, you must be a good son of your town, then of your state before becoming the leader of your people. The mere fact that you occupy a national position does not diminish from the fact that you emanated from a race. Then, you can lead that race successfully for what it is worth. Dr Yemi Farounbi, in a recent interview, said that the race has not been able to produce a leader in the mould and character of the Chief Awolowo. Is that not an indictment of a race known to be educated and sophisticated' But that is the truth. Look at how things degenerated after Chief Awolowo. After him, we had Papa Adekunle Ajasin. In his own time, Papa Ajasin did wonderfully well. He was a man of full integrity and highly respected; he was a man who had strength of character that can lead the people and he did it well. After that, we had Chief Abraham Adesanya. From there, we descended from purposeful leadership to mean wealth. Adesanya was not wealthy, but he was comfortable. Papa Ajasin was not wealthy, but we respected him and because of his age, his experience and proven integrity over the years in his life, people respected him.But the thing started percolating down the ladder. By the time it got to Adesanya, the Yoruba race was getting weaker. The pedigree, the antecedents, the political achievements of Awolowo is unparalleled. Awolowo was a global leader; as the Leader of Opposition, the former Premier of the Western Region, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was a man who performed wonders in the whole of the region and he recorded many firsts. Whether you like it or not, you cannot deny the fact that Ajasin was a good lieutenant of Awolowo.When Awolowo left and Ajasin took over, there was bound to be a little bit of difference but Ajasin did not allow that. He put in all kinds of integrity, loyalty, dedication, love for the service of the people and followership. When we saw all these, we all followed him. He fought the NADECO war to a standstill. I was the Spokesperson for NADECO in this state. We rallied round Ajasin and fought the political battle to sustain the Yoruba race. Then Adesanya came in; a bold lawyer who would speak the truth. But you cannot compare his antecedents with that of Awolowo, you cannot compare his antecedents with that of Ajasin.During that period, you cannot look at the face of the leader. But presently, what we find in the Yoruba race is the new-rich. Tinubu has just become a senator and he has just returned from US after the persecution of NADECO. He now contested an election with the late Engineer Funsho Williams and he was declared winner, though Funsho Williams won that primary. That was what led to his disagreement with Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu who believed in Funsho Williams. That was how we went into the trap of this Tinubu. At the moment Tinubu got into governance, the first thing I observed was that he saw these leaders as not so wealthy, not flamboyant, clinging to the old ethics and he started playing games. Before then, whatever a leader of the party said-when Adesanya spoke in Ijebu-Igbo, we all listened and nobody could get up and insult an elderly person in the course of his speech. That discipline was there.But when the likes of Tinubu started their row that Afenifere is different from AD, and to worsen it all, he became the only governor that won in the South-West in 2003. He thus saw himself as a colossus; he thought he was larger than life and he began to have this mad idea of wanting to be the leader of Yoruba. Afterall, where is Ajasin, where is Adesanya' There is no Bola Ige. So, what's wrong in his ambition' And the rest are not as rich as he is. He made a lot of money, whichever way he made it. Not only that; his contemporary governors were all gone. So, he was the only 'idol and truly, people clapped for him, welcomed him. So, he developed that egocentricity of 'me'. And don't forget that while he was governor of Lagos State, he did a lot of things. He corrupted so many people in high places with gifts such as lands at Lekki, Victory Garden City, and so on. At the end of the day, when he left after eight years, he brought in Fashola from nowhere, as many say, to cover his tracks.But there are still some Yoruba leaders, who still believe in the old norms, values and ethics. What are the likes of people like you doing to revive the pride of the Yoruba race' It is abstract when you say 'to revive the pride of the Yoruba race'. What do you revive' Where do you start from' How do you make it effective' The Yoruba race is scattered all over the place. The people in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) are Yoruba people; those who supported General Muhammadu Buhari in the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) are Yoruba people; those who supported President Goodluck Jonathan are Yoruba people.I think the first thing to do is to get the Yoruba people to be solidly united and when they are united, they must have a focus. What do we want for this race' It is not a matter of dividing Nigeria. No! Even the political zoning is enough to say it has divided Nigeria, but that is all for better political administration. The ACN were able to cling some of the Yoruba states; so, they have to share something. The PDP were unable to get any of the Yoruba states; so, for now, they have contributed nothing to the race. Therefore, one has to look at this from that angle. Politics is about winning and sharing; 'When we have finished sharing among ourselves, whatever that is left, we will give you.' That is the position in which the Yoruba race is now in.But you must remember how we got to this stage. We got here because of infighting. That was how AD died; it died as a result of infighting between Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa and Chief Bisi Akande and later Akande jumped the boat and joined the ACN. So, if AD had been in existence, it could probably have been a different ball game. But the AD leaders then were tricked into a cul de sac, according to them, by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo because of their selfish interests. So, for us to return to our old glory, we must first be united. We must eschew bitterness and minimise intrigue among ourselves.Although it is happening among other races, Yoruba people can kill because of office, but it was not like that before. I was close to Chief Awolowo. He was very democratic; he would allow everybody to talk but when it came to appointments, he was so orderly. Under him, you would know when it was your turn. That was different from what we have now when some people just coming from the US and all what they want is to be a governor or a senator, even when such a person has nothing to show about what he has done for this country or the people. Such a person has no experience but he would just come in and start spending money and before you know it, he/she will clinch the ticket. What performance do you expect from such a person' We need to get over such a misplaced value for us to be able to have our pride of place in the polity.
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