Yoruba joining agitation bandwagon may lead to break up of Nigeria –ARG leader, Wale Oshun

Hon. Olawale Oshun, a politician, economist, farmer and business­man is the Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG). The 65-year-old for­mer chief whip of the House of Representatives during the Babangida transitional era in this interview with Sunday Sun warns that the needful should be done urgently to dissuade the South-west youths from coming up with their own agi­tation for self determination as being witnessed in other parts of the country.

He warned that when pock­ets of the country became agi­tators, then holding the coun­try together would no longer be possible. Excerpts:

Do you agree with the impression that Yoruba are no more speaking with one voice?

I still don’t agree with that because in any nation, unless they are all robots, they are not likely to speak with one voice. And, of course, there is no nation of robots. If you analyze the recent election in Burma where Samson Yee emerged the authentic leader, you will still notice that about 15-20% of the electorate voted elsewhere. That is to say that even when you have a nationality that is united practically in many forms, even when you talk of Yoruba nationality, you will quite agree that there is still diversity, I mean in terms of religion that is shared half and half, in terms of even cul­ture that is shared with vari­ous values that sometimes conflict and sometimes agree with one another. But even among that same nationality stock, you still see divergent opinions.

So, it will seem as asking for too much if you expect all of them to speak and say one thing. And that is the essence of the definition of democ­racy. All the time, all we have been having is the minority having their say and the ma­jority having their way. That is in recognition that there will always be some people who would not agree for various reasons on almost all issues. And that is the way the almighty God has created the whole world. Otherwise, all our fingers would have been equal in size. So, for the Yoruba people, the majority have been always speaking with one voice and the small minority that holds the other views have also always had their say. But what is most important is that either side must respect one another. There must be mutual re­spect and that also, we do have.

So, what is happening re­ally is normal among hu­mans. The majority in Yoruba land have always been very pronounced and that is saying that in essence, they have been speaking with consensual and in almost unanimous version.

What then can you say about the notion that the for­mation of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) from the origi­nal Afenifere was respon­sible for the division in the Yoruba nation?

I always like to share the ex­periences of other groupings and other nations. If you look at the example of Great Britain where you have the Labour Par­ty, the party, you know is one of the two principal parties in the United Kingdom (UK); but be­tween them and the Conserva­tives, they have always been ex­changing offices. But there was a time that the losses of Labour was almost consistent, in elec­tions after elections. And then some members of Labour, par­ticularly the younger elements came together, I think under Adams Smith if I remember cor­rectly. They then started fash­ioning out new concepts even within the framework of the old Labour but with modernization that would make it much more sellable to the ordinary citizens. And when Smith passed on unexpectedly, of course, Tony Blair took over and modern­ized it in a way that, of course there was talk of New Labour. Even one of the old fathers of Labour was so angry about the new changes in Labour. But the essential thing was that the core Labour values like the protection of the poor and the weak still remained intact. It might not be as wholesome as it should be, but the protection of the weak still remained one of the core values of the New Labour too.

In the same way, the Afenife­re Renewal Group (ARG), saw that for quite a while there was a decline in the old Afenifere. And that decline was not necessarily due to ideological differences. But to the failings of human be­ings, the competition that goes along with ego management and hero worshiping or lack of hero worshiping. But that, essentially, the concepts that have to do with ideological un­derpinnings of Afenifere were not even in context unlike in Great Britain where some of the ideological underpinnings were being challenged. They were not challenged in our own case. But what we have to challenge  was that, management of gov­ernance and management of principles can only take place in a stable environment.

And when you have a regular and sustained personal com­petition, not as competition of ideas, but personal competi­tion, you cannot achieve any­thing. You may have the best of opinions and ideologies, but where those who will imple­ment and guide the implemen­tation are always at each oth­er’s neck, of course there must be failure .We saw through that and we decided that it was nec­essary to create a solid platform that would still regard and re­spect the ideological underpin­nings and that is what we still do. But we distance completely from the personality competition which in fact derives its energy and blood from basic envy and intolerance.

Are Yoruba being given their due within project Nigeria?

If you look at Nigeria as a country, of course, this is the first time the Yoruba people would be part of the govern­ment that runs the nation as a whole. Of course, that in itself can be an advantage. An advantage in the sense that the lead­ers, who are of Yoruba origin in office will owe the responsibility of protecting what the Yoruba interest is. This is a mul­tinational country, a diversified country in terms of religion, in terms of culture. And that is also to suggest that you have a situation in which there would be cer­tain factors that would be very dear to every nationality within that country. That is to say that it will not be incon­sistent with national growth when you do have people protecting nationality interest. This is because the growth of a nation is the growth of the sum total of its people. So, where you have Yoruba officers and political office holders, they must be able to understand that it is not all the time, even though they are nation­al officers, and it is in the interest of the country which they have sworn to pro­tect, it is also within them to reconcile the differences that could exist between the nationality interest and the nation’s interest. So, where you do have a nation­ality interest that needs to be protected, which is not in conflict with the nation’s interest, what then stops them from pro­tecting the nationality interest?

And let me say this, the recent issue of cattle rustling and nomadic incidents that cut across the south-west zone, or the issue of what is described as dead economy where people import substan­dard motor spare parts and substandard drugs into our domain, it will still be the interest of all Nigerians but essentially that of the Yoruba people whose domain much of these abuses are being perpe­trated particularly by outsiders. And for the Yoruba officers to protect their peo­ple is nationality interest, which is con­sistent with the nation’s interest. But be­cause people are feeble or they, maybe, engage in read my lips, they lack the or­dinary courage to confront that nation­ality interest that is not in conflict with the nation’s interest. And they have the power to confront them. So, this is the kind of things we, as a people, certainly frown at because we believe that we also have interests that are germane to our own wellbeing. And if our own wellbe­ing is not of any standard, it means that the wellbeing of the country too, is also not of any standard because the country is the sum total of its people.

And in the same way, the Igbo and Hausa/Fulanis have the responsibilities also to protect some nationality inter­ests which are not in conflict with the nation’s interest. And you would see that these two tribes have always done that. They have always protected their people. It is only in the Yoruba speaking area or the West that you would have, ‘oh, what would the others think of us.’

What is the latest development on the recently launched Develop­ment Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN)?

Well, DAWN is an integration proj­ect that was originally bought into by all the six states. Then, for one reason or the other, or maybe some level of understanding, or misunderstanding, Ondo State refused to collaborate. At that time, we still had five states collabo­rating. But with the emergence of Ayo Fayose in Ekiti State, he also stopped collaborating. And yet, it is interest­ing that, particularly now that there is sharp decline in the resources that are available to all the states in the federa­tion, if there is any time that the states, particularly, states that share common values, language, religion, boundaries, if there is any time that they need to work together, to give each other strength, to minimize their weaknesses and enhance their strength, if there is such a time, the time is now. However, the DAWN agency is still well established, led ably by one of us, who is making strenuous efforts and contacts with all the state governments without leaving one aside. So, the impor­tant thing is to continue to expect that, maybe, within a very short time, the im­portance of that major institution would begin to re-echo and people can come together again. But, I know that this is the best time to take the advantage of the opportunity of size, opportunity of competence that is available across the whole of Yoruba speaking area.

Are you comfortable with the cur­rent agitation for creation of Biafra nation?

You see, when you have an illness, it shows through some symptoms. Head­ache may be because of the high blood pressure that is coming from the heart. Or that you are getting diabetes because of lack of insulin. In the same way, we have had Boko Haram extensively in the north-east. And we have seen before our two eyes the damage and the destruc­tion. And then we are also having the agitation for Biafra. And we have had the Niger Delta militants. I don’t think those are the last agitations that would arise.

What do these movements stand for? If you take the issue of Boko Haram for instance, what I have been talking about is that it is a cry from within that they would like to rule themselves according to their own terms, according to their own beliefs, according to their own val­ues. Even the silly notion that education is not good might not have been what they meant. This is because if it were, they will not be the one that are so pro­ficient in the use of homemade bombs, in the use of propaganda, in the use of the internet and the electronic media in an effective manner in the way they have used it. So, the issue of education not being good is not really the intention for their agitation.

And Biafra is also a cry from within that they would like to rule themselves according to their own terms and their own values. And don’t forget that since 1993, Yoruba people have also been ask­ing for that. Listen, this country is not what it should be. They said that the country that emerged at Independence was a federal country. It was a federa­tion of very, very potent federating units which then were regions. They were three regions. And at Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s advocacy, of course, a fourth region emerged. If he had also acted like the east and the north acted, possibly no region would be created so peacefully out of the western region.

What it then means is that, if the west­ern region is asking for restructuring, it is still for now. It has not come to the point of insurgency. But it has asked for re­structuring. Give us the power to run our lives the best way we see it. And that is what the Biafra episode is talking about. And I also believe that, when the crisis of Boko Haram started, that was the unsaid thing. It was the unwritten thing that, we would like to govern ourselves as Mus­lims we are. And if in an area about 80% can be established to be Muslims, why for instance would you not allow them to have the kind of government that they would like to have? It is not to say that others should not be tolerated. But that we would like to have a mode of gover­nance that is consistent with our prin­ciple.

So, we in the south-west or we the Yoruba speaking people, we would also want to have a mode of governance that is consistent with our own welfarist prin­ciple that is consistent with having an informed solid and applicable education system that would be consistent with our values of our day to day life. And that is what possibly the Biafran agitators are saying that, we are not having the best now, it is possible to have the best with Biafra. The issue is not necessarily to break up the country, but that we would have a loose federation where each fed­erating unit can go back to the drawing table to define its own need, define its governance and then rule its people in a way that is acceptable to them. We can then still have this federal government that protects our territorial integrity, that defines our monetary policy, that defines the diplomatic policy. But that would be done together as equal partners. That would be based on the powers that we have voluntarily given out to that federal unit.

Now, what is happening is that the fed­eral unit that is doling out money which is the definition of a unitary unit anyway, that is collecting all the money across the country and doling it out as a parent taking care of his children, that is not the way it should be. It should be the other way round. The federating units that can define their potentials, fulfill their poten­tials and agree together that this is our country and we would fund the country together, define monetary policy togeth­er, define the diplomatic issues together.

What I am then saying is that, for the fact that for now, the agitation is con­fined in the north-east under Boko Ha­ram and the agitation in the south-east under Biafra, and with the south-south militants’ agitation to control resources, there would not be more agitations. No. The agitation in the south-west is yet to manifest and that they are not yet mak­ing a claim because they are just allow­ing their leaders and elite to state that it is time to restructure. The moment the south-west youths realize that their leaders are unable, incapable or unwill­ing to think for them restructuring, that moment, when they start the agitation, it would be that the whole country is under agitation. Then how do you hold such a country together? That the coun­try is still held together today is because there is a longing for a big country, long­ing for a country that people can proudly associate with. But not a country that would subsume the interest of everyone and define a utopian interest, no set of people can do that. Obasanjo tried, he failed. Yar’Adua tried, he failed. Babangi­da, even under military, tried and failed. Abacha, under military tried and failed. In fact, Jonathan did not even make an effort rather than the last minute’s ditch about the confab which he also lacked the courage to push. That is to say that, when they now allow all the pockets of the country to become agitators, who then can hold the country together?

What then do you think is the an­swer to the agitations?

The answer is that, definitely, there is the need for the federating units to lay down the terms of coming together. Not by force because if it is by force, then it is not a federating unit. And you would notice that the unitary Decree by Agun­yi-Irosi in 1966, it was the north that rose heavily against it. It was this same north that is enjoying the unitary confinement now. The north that stood up stoutly against the imposition of unitary system in 1966 that is in support of it today. So, what has changed?

So, what we should do is to admit that the federating units must say why do we want to come together. We will define what runs down to coming to­gether. Then we will now decide how the resources should be raised. We will all agree to it. For instance, we are talk­ing of policing and control of crime. It is not what somebody can do from Abuja. So, we discuss all that. And we will now agree that all the federating units should contribute a particular percentage of their resources and everybody would put something in the kitty to say this is our joint holding. We want to be here and we gladly put in something in it. But we want to stay in our respective areas and run our own affairs in the way we want it. And those we would elect to the center would rule the center in an effi­cient manner in the way that it would be beneficial to all of us. We have just got to agree and that is just the only solution. Otherwise, Buhari can control corrup­tion, yes. But incapacity alone can take away all the money without even having corruption.

Credits: Sunday Sun