The crisis that has polarised Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, into two rival factions may soon be over as there are ongoing attempts to unite all Yoruba sons and daughters under one single umbrella in order to successfully confront alleged “Northern domination” in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
Afenifere led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti was split into two in 2008 with the formation of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) with Honourable Wale Oshun as chairman.
Allegedly financed by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the APC, the group which is made up of younger generation of Yoruba sons and daughters is said to be an alternative to the faction headed by the older generation of leaders.
However, according to insider sources, recent developments in the APC and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is giving Yoruba leaders source of concern leading to the idea of bringing all Yoruba sons and daughters under one single umbrella.
While the PDP has been enmeshed in bitter crisis which is yet to be resolved since losing the 2015 presidential election, the fallout of the Ondo governorship election, which produced Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as candidate is perceived to be an attempt to scheme out Tinubu, who played a major role in the party’s emergence as a ruling party.
Tinubu had issued a statement castigating Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the party’s national chairman. He was backed by some prominent Nigerians such as Tanko Yakassai and Chief Ayo Adebanjo. Both men said Tinubu is not being treated well by his party.
Speaking on efforts to unite the factions, a prominent Yoruba leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity with Independent, said, “We are talking with our elders both in Afenifere and ARG to come together and let’s fight this battle. It is clear that some people, especially those in the North, are taking advantage of our division to exploit us. There is need for Afenifere to be unified and speak with one voice.
“Afenifere is meant to be for all Yoruba sons and daughters but that is not so. The Afenifere led by the elders are PDP in soul and blood. They declared support openly for the party and its presidential candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election. Of course, Afenifere Renewal Group is peopled by APC supporters in the South West who are loyal to Tinubu.
“If need be we may also need to strengthen the Alliance for Democracy (AD), just as it was in 1999. But now instead of a regional party, it will accommodate all progressively-minded Nigerians across the country. Progressives in APC are being marginalised by the Northern oligarchy and the same is happening in PDP too”.
Another ARG leader, who also spoke with Independent, said though he is not aware of any talks between Afenifere and ARG leaders, but added, “There is nothing wrong if they can come together to wage a war against Northern domination. It is not about Tinubu now; it is about the interest of the Yoruba race. They exploited our division to deny us of our mandate in 1993 leading to MKO Abiola’s death. We will not accept that again”, he said.
Speaking on whether Afenifere will accept Tinubu and other ARG members into its fold, Yinka Odumakin, Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, said the door is wide open for them if they are ready to return.
“On whether we will accept Tinubu and his group, why not? Afenifere is a home to all. There may have been issues that led to disagreements in the past, but on all fundamentals, we have no disagreement on the fundamentals. In the Yoruba culture, they said ‘we don’t fight till death do us part’. No. When we get to that bridge, we will cross it”, he said.
It would be recalled that one of the founding members of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, had last week said the alleged gang up against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by some forces in the ruling APC is a ploy to divide and cause confusion among the Yoruba so that the Northerners can take over the control of the party.
“Attack on Tinubu is not directly at him but attack on Yorubaland. I am not shortsighted. They want to break us up and cause division so that they can take over. He (Tinubu) has made his mistakes and I hope he has learnt from it.
“When he went into the alliance, I warned him that they are conglomeration of incompatibles but they chose to ignore. But I strongly believe that the gang up against him is a ploy to divide the Yorubaland so that these Northerners can take over. I can see that and nobody can convince me about that”, he said.
Source: Daily Independent
