Some newspapers gleefully went to town last Friday, proclaiming the failure of the Yoruba meeting that was called for the home of the Awolowos at Ikenne last Thursday.Unfortunately the governors of the Yoruba states who are all of the Action Congress of Nigeria stayed away from the meeting called to address the plight of the Yoruba in the circumstance of Nigeria today. It is indeed tragic that the sponsors of those newspapers chose to play politics with the destiny of the Yoruba people. That ACN governors did not attend a meeting does not in any way indicate that the meeting failed. Did it occur to those sponsoring the failure theory that the absence of the ACN big wigs was an indication that they have so quickly fallen away from the support and enthusiasm of the people' If elections were conducted today, how many of these governors will retain the confidence of the people. It is as if there is a curse of wrong footed action on them. People are disenchanted and frustrated by the inept handling that has attended governance in their states in the last four months. Who needs such governors at a serious meeting of Yoruba leaders, called to move the Yoruba forward' If they had done their work properly and to the satisfaction of the people, that meeting would not have been necessary. The fact of the Ikenne meeting is a loud declaration of loss of confidence in these elected officers. It has never been this bad for the Yoruba. The picture of the 51st Independence Anniversary cake cutting was an embarrassment to every Yoruba person. The top 10 cake cutters in Nigeria did not feature any Yoruba person. The tribe has been kicked below the top 10 in Nigeria. What a shame and tragedy for the Yoruba. The leaders of yesteryears are the servants of today. The Yoruba have returned to 1965. When I published the piece below in May 2010; things were not as bad as this. The confusion in the Yoruba nation persists and is perhaps getting out of hand. The underdogs of yesteryears are manipulating the supposed thinkers of the country. Strategic institutions and positions have been wrested from their hands; children in Yoruba schools are failing examinations far beyond others who had no schools in the past; economic control is slipping via well schemed government policies; even the media that used to be described as God's gift to the South-West has taken a bow and departed for other shores. I republish this article SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2010 'Yoruba as football' as a contribution to the wake-up call at the Ikenne meeting.] A foot ball is an inflated piece of rubber or leather that is pushed around by being kicked by fun seekers otherwise called footballers. The fact of a football is that it goes in the direction decided by the kicker and sustains its flight in the air only to the extent of the energy devoted to it by the kicker. The kicker can push it right, left, upwards or make it stand still on the ground. In football the kicker is supreme. Hubert Ogunde, that great Yoruba philosopher, dramatist, poet and singer, conjured the appropriate imagery in his song 'Yoruba Ronu'. He said, 'Yoruba so ra won di bolu f'araiye gba, to ba gba won s'oke won tun gba won si isale'; the Yoruba have become the foot ball of the country, the kickers kick them up and down at will. That was about 50 years ago. How much of Ogunde's observation have changed' Have the Yoruba become kickers instead of the ball that is kicked' Since the early sixties when this great man of Yoruba culture made his observations, the Yoruba have occupied the presidential chair twice, regrettably by the same man. Olusegun Obasanjo was military president from 1976 to 1979 and civilian president from 1999 to 2007. In both instances he was a ball that was kicked up. He did not become president in either occasion by any deliberate strategy or manipulation by the Yoruba. In his first coming, Theophilus Danjuma is popularly regarded as the mastermind of his ascension to the seat of power. Danjuma and the northern military establishment chose for their own strategic reasons to install a Yoruba as Head of State in 1976 after the death of Murtala Muhammed not to give an impression of oppressing other regions in the power game. The Hausa/ Fulani of course held on to effective power through a combination of Shehu Yar'Adua as Chief of General Staff and Danjuma as Chief of Army staff. The Hausa/Fulani had kicked the Yoruba football up. In 1998, when Sani Abacha and Moshood Abiola died, it was obvious that the Yoruba had been wounded by the annulment of the 1993 election that Abiola won and his death in detention. Again the Hausa/Fulani kicked up the Yoruba ball by inviting Obasanjo to take the presidential chair. Obasanjo did not become President by any Yoruba deliberateness, rather by the deliberateness of others who wanted to keep the Yoruba quiet and in tow. He was released from prison and offered the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party. The Yoruba presidential candidate lost in all the Yoruba states, but the kickers of the Yoruba football kicked him into Aso Rock. The truth is that these Obasanjo presidencies were not Yoruba opportunities and it is not surprising that the Yoruba have very little advantage to show for both. Obasanjo himself is not keen to be identified as a Yoruba leader, he prefers the national and international turfs. Identifying too strongly with Yoruba interest will diminish him in his quest for international dominance. The Yoruba are thereby stranded with no leader of serious political clout to muscle in for them in the myriad of political and economic interests in the country. Pray, would Lamido Sanusi have gone ahead to cripple financial activities in the country through the manner in which the reforms in the five supposedly ailing banks was done, if there was a strong Yoruba political voice in Abuja, backed by the people, who could have exercised the Yoruba clout to call for moderation in Sanusi's crusade' The truth is that many Yoruba businesses are today in shambles because the banks are no longer lending; no thanks to Sanusi. The Yoruba are the greatest beneficiaries of bank facilities in building businesses. Today government policy has effectively crippled that avenue that will have dire consequences for the Yoruba nation and no voice can be heard on its behalf. The Yoruba foot ball has been kicked down. Look at the Presidential Advisory Committee set up by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, in a 26 man body, there are only three maybe four Yoruba people, depending on the way you look at it. Mr Fola Adeola, Mr Kase Lawal, Mrs Mobola Johnson and Dr (Mrs) Sally Bolujoko. Some argue that there are actually three and a half Yoruba people there. Four out of 26 cannot be equity to the Yoruba people. But beyond the numbers, look at how someone has cleverly liquidated the Yoruba in this matter. With all respect to the Yoruba members of this body that is expected to be the think tank of government in the next 12 months, all members are not equal. Who is the Yoruba man of political stature in the group' Horse trading is the word in groups like this and some regions are loaded with those who are practised in such trade. The North has people like Theophilus Danjuma, Alhaji MD Yussuf former Inspector General of Police, Justice Alfa Belgore former Chief Justice, Dr Bamaga Tukur former Governor former minister etc, Alahji Ismaila Isa former President Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria and billionaire businessman. The Eastern parts of the country is represented by the likes of Emeka Anyaoku former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Pfofessor Ben Nwabueze foremost constitutional lawyer, Ambassador Preware ambassador plenipotentiary with wide political experience, Hon Chibudom Nwuche former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Kanu Agabi former Attorney-General of the federation. Did someone deliberate make the choices to ensure that the Yoruba representation is sufficiently weak to be politically intimidated' These are the things that happen to a people who do not have visible political leaders. Chief Obafemi Awolowo combined the political and cultural leadership of the Yoruba. He won many battles for his people. Today there are cultural leaders for the Yoruba but there is no visible political leadership. The turf is vacant and the Yoruba nation is the poorer for it. Wanted urgently, a strong political leadership for the Yoruba. Not of pretenders and profit seekers but of those that are committed to ensuring equity to the Yoruba race in matters of national concern.
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