“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” – Corinthians 15:56.
The grim reaper has again struck nearby, the third time in a space of two months, taking away not only my own immediate junior brother, but also a dear friend, and classmate, at the University of Ife, Ile – Ife, Dr Jide Somade, and now my friend, Dr Anthony A. Akinola, the Oxford, UK- based, top class political analyst, who honed his exertions majorly on current issues in his must- read articles on the daily ‘breaking news’ in Nigeria.
Tony’s passing, which happened shortly after his 75th birthday, came to me as a rude shock having got a call from him not too long from the sad event.
Tony was ever so solicitous of others’ well- being that I often feel guilty pangs picking, about his third, or fourth call, even when I might not have reached out to him once. That notwithstanding, he will be the first to dismiss your feeling of guilt.
Whoever knew Tony will not only sorely miss him, but will readily confirm his incredible ability to quite easily make, and nurture, friendship.
This past week I wrote the following about him, elsewhere, corroborating the views of another friend of his:
“God knows that in Tony’s passing, I lost a gem of a friend.
Tony was everything the writer called him: an absolutely detribalised Nigerian, an astute and very objective political analyst who, unlike many of us public analysts, was able to walk the narrow and straight path of never taking sides in political issues, and one who was ever so solicitous of other’s wellbeing. To my one telephone call, Tony would have called me three or more times, especially when he particularly liked an article I had written or wanted us to discuss our many ‘ breaking news’ on the Nigerian political firmament. Many times, he shared my articles worldwide, to learned groups and International broadcast stations. I subsequently forwarded his efforts in this regard to our Ekitipanupo e- platform.5
I have not always known Tony, even though I had spent some of my growing up years in the beautiful, rocky city of Ikere – Ekiti, his birth place. Even though younger than me by only a year, and, therefore contemporaries, our paths did not cross even while I had, at the same time, made lifelong friendships with the likes of Prince Kayode Adegboye, and our lately departed friends of blessed memory: Dr Remi Akeju and the Accountant, Ojo Adeyeri.
May the good Lord rest them.
It will, therefore, be the turn of another distinguished Ikere- Ekiti born Medical Doctor, my friend of more than six decades, classmate at Christ’s School, Ado – Ekiti, the UK- based Medical Consultant, Biodun Adu, to finally link us up.
Tony had read one of my articles talk about our Christ’s School days and broached it to his cousin only to discover that we were not merely classmates at the upper crust school but, indeed, very good friends. Biodun passed on Tony’s fondness for my articles to me, with me confessing just how much I have loved reading the racy articles oozing out weekly in the Guardian newspaper, from this guy at Oxford, UK.
Tony had read History and had this amazingly beautiful way with the English Language that after reading him, you’d be hard put to decide which, of his lucid analysis or his linguistic style of delivery, you love more.
Once Biodun linked us, not even the distance between the UK and Nigeria would separate us. Tony would send me his articles which I would then share locally, including forwarding it to the Ekitipanupo web- portal which houses over 2000 vibrant Ekitis both home, and Diasporan.
One of such articles which is as relevant today as when written, but slightly edited for space, is the one he titled: STILL ON REDUCING THE COST OF GOVERNANCE, of 16 October, 2019 where he wrote as follows:
“Agitation or call for reduction in the cost of governance in Nigeria has been rather perennial. I wrote on this very topic sometime in the 1980s for the London-based West Africa magazine. I had then called for a reduction in the number of senatorial seats per state, which then was five. I had also called for a reduction in the number of ministers and advisers – all these in the Nigerian Second Republic. I would later follow up this discussion with a memorandum to the Ibrahim Babangida-led Armed Forces Ruling Council, sometime in 1986,,in which I suggested that senatorial constituencies could be limited to what is now three senators per state.
The cost of governance in Nigeria remains disturbingly astronomical in spite of expressed concerns by the citizenry. Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State recently joined this group by calling for a unicameral legislature. He would like the Senate to be scrapped. Even before him, former Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, now a senator, had called for the number of senators per state to be reduced to one. It is gratifying to note that these members of the political elite share the common concern of ordinary Nigerians. In calling for the Senate to be scrapped, Fayemi alluded to the fact that both little Ekiti State and mighty Lagos each has three senators. One would be surprised if Fayemi did not know that the very essence of the Senate is to serve as a forum where states, irrespective of size and population, assert equality of status. That was the philosophy that informed the American founding fathers to introduce a bicameral legislature. The House of Representatives accord representation based on population.
Ekiti State has six members in the House, while Lagos and Kano each has 24. However, because of equal representation in the Senate, the smaller states have not been complaining of domination or oppression by the bigger states. The preponderance of representation from one geographical end over the other would be a cause for major concern if the Senate were to be scrapped. “The primary benefit of the bicameral legislature”, according to an authoritative source, “is the limits put in place to prevent abuse of power. No one group is allowed to freely run through the government to produce policies which only benefit a few. It even stops the minority from being excluded by the majority under this representation format.”
Of course, the need for a reduction in the number of ministers and advisers at every level of governance cannot be overemphasized. I am not an enthusiast of the President picking his or her ministers from each of the states making up the federation. It is enough that we respect geographical spread, especially that our nation has been demarcated into six geopolitical zones. Nigerians would need to be educated about this, not least because they are the very ones who complain if a member of their clan has not been nominated as minister. They even quarrel over the portfolios of political appointees. I assert that the disturbing cost of governance in Nigeria is more of the result of our corruption and prodigal culture than anything else. Prof Ayo Olukotun elaborated on this in a recent article in The PUNCH. The privileged greed of the elite is one reason the Senate has become an eyesore to ordinary Nigerians. Because the elite decide their own salaries and emoluments, they believe it is their divine right to take Nigeria to the cleaners. The salaries and emoluments of elected officials should, and must, be decided by an independent body, if that is not already the case. Moreover, these elected officials have their defined responsibilities. Senators, for instance, are lawmakers. It is laughable when they claim it is also part of their responsibility to execute projects in their communities. That responsibility belongs to state and local governments and should not provide senators with an opportunity to defraud the public.
We are all witnesses to the volumes of stolen funds and assets being revealed on a daily basis by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The billions of naira being stolen daily by both elected and other officials can hardly be described as the cost of running governments in Nigeria. Until stiff punishments are meted out to these economic criminals and termites, and until a new generation emerges to forcefully assert the future of Nigeria, complaints about the cost of governance will never cease”.
Vintage Tony.
Tony was a single minded patriot; one reason he was such a lover of the zoning of the Nigerian presidency, something he believed would help in solidifying the effervescent Nigerian unity, as it speaks to fairness and equity, two things that are sorely missing in contemporary Nigeria.
A scion of the redoubtable Akinola family of Ikere – Ekiti, he was born June 8, 1946 and attended Annunciation Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti, between 1960 -’65 for his West African School certificate. He left for the U.S in 1979, studied Political Science at Howard University, Washington DC, and came over to the UK to read Law at Oriel College, University of Oxford, UK, between 1983 and 1986. A dedicated researcher and prolific writer, Tony authored many books, among them: ‘The Search for a Nigerian Political System (1986), Rotational Presidency (1996), Democracy in Nigeria: Thoughts and Selected Commentaries 2013 and Party Coalitions in Nigeria: History Trends and Prospects, 2014’
Professor Dipo Adamolekun, whose protégé Tony was, and who wrote the Foreword to one of his books, will sorely miss him, just as his bosom friend, Tony Aderiye, with whose family he stays in Lagos while visiting Nigeria will be truly inconsolable; not to talk of Biodun who must now add Oxford to his itinerary, visiting the family and so many others he interacted with while here with us..
I commiserate with Tony’s darling wife, Shola, and their amazing children, Funmi, Bimbola and Tobi, as well as the larger Akinola family of Ikere – Ekiti.
Eternal rest grant him O Lord.
Credit: Femi Orebe