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Regional News of Sunday, 15 August 2021

Source: punchng.com

We learnt someone in Presidency influenced Alaafin not to see us – Ooni’s caucus coordinator

Mr Akin Osuntokun Mr Akin Osuntokun

The Coordinator of Ooni’s Caucus, a think tank formed by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, as a well as former political adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr Akin Osuntokun, tells JESUSEGUN ALAGBE about the group’s mission, among other issues

It’s almost a month since the Ooni’s Caucus was inaugurated at the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. Between then and now, what moves has the caucus been making to achieve its objectives as stated by the Ooni?

Following the noble and noteworthy precedent and example of his royal majesty, Oonirisa Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi – you will recall the peace and camaraderie offensive he embarked upon at his ascension to the throne – we figured it is of the essence for us to set out on goodwill and confidence-building measure of calling on high-ranking Yoruba traditional rulers to introduce and familiarise ourselves. The prior requirement of any group purporting to act in the collective interest of the Yoruba has to be the ‘buy-in’ of the critical and strategic stakeholders. We identified this (critical and strategic) category as comprising the leading traditional monarchs, eminent leaders of thought and the state actors, especially the governors. In pursuit of this objective, we made, as our first port of call, a visit to the Alaafin of Oyo. Unfortunately, and as you are well aware, the visit didn’t go too well. Regardless, we are resolute on moving forward with similarly scheduled visits.

According to the Ooni, the caucus’ general objective is to seek solutions to challenges confronting the South-West. In specific terms, what are the issues the caucus will be dealing with?

We have our task cut out for us in the myriad of challenges confronting the Yoruba and Nigeria. Nigeria is at a crossroads and given the fluidity of the crisis-ridden environment, we cannot afford to be caught off-guard by any sudden and unexpected development. There are two possibilities. One is for Nigeria to become a burden and an unwanted confinement (for the constituents). The other is (for the country) to be a grand sanctuary and functional household for a big and diverse family. The choice Nigeria is inclined towards (between these two possibilities) is obvious enough. It seems the predominant appeal of Nigeria to Nigerians is the short-term capacity to fulfil our immediate individual gratification; the prioritisation of the politics of consumption over the sacrificial aspiration for long-term socio-economic development. Even in the tacit connivance to gorge ourselves and possibly choke on the Nigerian largesse, there is no honour among the greedy thieves; no responsible anticipation of tomorrow, let alone the day after. The Yoruba call it ‘Je ayé àwon omo wa mó tiwa’ (mortgaging the future of our children, impoverishing their future by piling up crippling debts that will take an entire lifetime to pay; and deepening extant sociopolitical conflicts and crisis for future generations). Naturally, we are not comfortable with this aggressively backward and primitive mindset. If the leading Nigerian state actors have willfully decided to foreclose adherence to self-evident truths and contrarily run Nigeria at a sub-optimal level and self-destructive manner, it is our duty to proactively reinvent and reposition ourselves for development at the regional level. If we no longer know where we are going, we should know where we are coming from. If we go back to this first principle, we can begin to rebuild again with the facility and guidance of our traditional institutions and progressive forward-looking culture that have stood the test of time.

The Ooni Caucus is made of 28 influential Yoruba political and traditional leaders. Although the Ooni may have a better answer, can you speak about the criteria used in the selection of these individuals?

The group is made up of more than 28 members and we are primarily constituted to advise and strengthen the Ooni in grappling with the deepening and pervasive crises bedevilling Nigeria. As the Nigerian state rapidly spins out of control, loses legitimacy and the capacity to hold itself together for the good of all Nigerians, the option thereby imposed on us is to look inwards for inspiration and solutions to our existential problems. One criterion that recommended itself was the consciousness that members should generally belong to the generation cohort spanning the 40 to 65 years age bracket. Appropriately, the Ooni falls in the same age bracket and culture cohort. Together we have shared relatively the same experience and exposure while growing up. Of course, if there are compelling individuals who fall outside the bracket, especially at the younger end, a waiver shall be expressly extended. I remember Professor Wole Soyinka telling me he had given up on the older generations and assured me he would do all within his powers, including the spiritual, to support any promising group of a public-spirited younger generation. As the custodian of the Yoruba spiritual heritage, it was incumbent on Kabiyesi (Ooni) to make consultations with divine entities and the inhabitants of the high end of the Yoruba cosmological order in choosing the members.

Does the caucus’ membership cover all the six South-West states?

Of course, it does, even without being conscious of the factor. I was astounded the other day some people were alleging membership lopsidedness in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party. I was astounded because while not being conscious of partisan balance, it turned out the membership distribution worked out with a perfect balance of seven members apiece for the PDP and the All Progressives Congress. The remaining 14 members do not belong to any political party.

One of the members, Mrs Toyin Saraki, is from Kwara State, which is in the North. Does it matter in any way?

There are two ramifications to your poser. One is that by birth, she is from Lagos State, specifically from the Ojora royal family. The second is that Ilorin (and Kwara State is largely Ilorin) is predominantly Yoruba and there are other clusters like Ajase IPO, Offa, Omu Aran, Ekiti, which are wholly Yoruba. At any rate, ethnic identity is not a matter of choice or option; it is biologically accounted for by blood relationships. Would you, under any circumstance, deem a Chidinma from Imo State, married to Yoruba, as Yoruba?

Members of the caucus are drawn from political parties while some members are not partisan. Do you think the caucus can achieve its mission with people of different ideologies?

You are first a Yoruba before becoming an ideologue or assuming any other extra ethnic identity. And with specific regards to the Nigerian political party system, there is really no ideological differentiation. Can you differentiate between the APC and the PDP in terms of ideology? What you have are limited to serving as special purpose vehicles for contesting elections. The difference between the two parties is akin to the distinction between six and half a dozen.

What style is the caucus going to adopt to achieve South-West interests – confrontation or lobbying?

First, you will have to define what you mean by confrontation or lobbying. We are not in the business of confronting individuals; our mandate is to confront and grapple with public realm challenges. The individuals we may potentially confront are those who personify or embody significant social and political challenges and obstacles like (President Muhammadu) Buhari – by virtue of his office. Again, I don’t like the sound of the word ‘lobbying’, especially within the Nigerian context. We would rather be understood as reasoning with you or persuading you rather than lobby, appease or cringe before you.

How often will the caucus be meeting towards achieving its objectives?

We have statutorily scheduled quarterly meetings supplemented with extraordinary meetings as the occasion demands. It is, however, expected that setting out at the beginning, we are going to have a lot on our plate and may require meeting every other week until we reach the cruising altitude. There are also quasi sociocultural ceremonies, individually and collectively, that provide opportunities for quick updates among members in attendance.

As you mentioned earlier, the caucus was recently at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, but you were allegedly shunned by the monarch. Did the incident dampen the caucus’ morale?

Oh yes, it initially did. I mean, if we were to specifically extrapolate and infer from the experience, we are likely to conclude that the enormity of the challenge we face would prove near insurmountable. To all of us, whose minds were trained and oriented to work methodically and rationally, it was difficult to make any sense of what happened. Rather than feel honoured that a group of accomplished Yoruba sons and daughters were visiting the Alaafin whom we regard as a father figure and patriarch, the press secretary to the Alaafin took to peddling the fiction that we did not get a visiting day appointment. So, why delay us for hours before ascertaining we had no appointment? Is it logical to believe that a delegation of very busy individuals would commit themselves to a perilous and stressful journey from different parts of the country without giving notice and getting acceptance of the same by the personality we were going to visit? That we just mindlessly chose to barge in on the monarch unannounced? How do you square such an idiotic attitude with the fact that we have held high public offices with globally certified rules of protocol and conduct commensurate with best practices? At the end of the day, it was a storm in a teacup. We learnt that the whole drama was masterminded and orchestrated by a bitter and inconsequential political officer in the presidency.

Who was the person?

There are some contentions best left unattended.

Reports had it that the monarch snubbed the group because of its alleged anti-Buhari posture and that the members are loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. What’s your reaction?

No fruitful purpose will be served by such speculations and there are some contentions best left unattended, especially when we now know whose cloak and dagger machinations it all was.

Do you foresee similar resistance by some other top Yoruba leaders that the caucus will be meeting in the coming weeks?

It is unlikely that lightning and thunderstorm will strike the same spot twice. Why would any highly-esteemed opinion leader or topmost-rated monarch be resistant to being honoured and paid homage? Look, the whole drama was contrived and cooked up in the first place. It was mischief-making and it would never happen again.

There are agitations for the Yoruba Nation. What’s the caucus’ position on this?

It was always an open secret that Nigeria was and remains susceptible to disintegrative pressures and impulses. Right from the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914, the narrative remains constant that the probability of Nigeria enduring as a united political entity is low and negligent. To make matters worse, after the amalgamation, the British colonialists turned against their own creation and set it up for destruction persistently and actively promoting the disunity of the country right from the days of Frederick Lugard. The evidence is strewn all over history in the words and pronouncements of the top colonial officers and the corroborating observations of scholars. According to scholars, it was Charles Temple, the senior resident in the North and his racist fellow traveller, Sir Richmond Palmer, who indoctrinated northern emirs about their total difference, not only politically, but even racially from their southern compatriots. Sir Theodore Adams went as far as to say in 1941 that the emirs considered the northern provinces as a separate country and that enforced cooperation with the South would lead to a demand for Pakistan.

At independence, there were no common coins of national unity – ethnic, psychological or socioeconomic. By 1914, modern Nigeria came into being under an autocratic Governor Sir Frederick Lugard, who succeeded in isolating one Nigerian group from the other. A frequently heard quip was that if all the Africans were to leave Nigeria, the southern and northern administrations could go to war – in administration, in land policy, in a dozen different fields of the colonial government, the administration reinforced not the unity of the colony, but the differences between the North and the South. Nigeria presents an almost classic case of the establishment of a state prior to the existence of a real nation.


Theoretically, as well, postulating the unity of Nigeria was always an uphill battle. Given the characteristics that make a nation, there was no inner logic and internal consistencies to the durability of Nigeria. The only chance Nigeria has to make it as a nation inheres in the guardrails and anticipatory mechanism encapsulated in federalism. By omission or commission, the further we moved away and diverged from the containment strategy of federalism, the more Nigeria verges on precipitous collapse. Perhaps we would be less severe on those campaigning for Yoruba self-determination today if we realised that Ahmadu Bello and Obafemi Awolowo actually canvassed the inclusion of the secessionist clause in the Nigerian constitution. The combination of politically subversive governance and dysfunctional centralisation of powers is the contemporary powerful motive force threatening to tip off Nigeria into the abyss. The possible mitigation remains the expeditious restoration of federalism in letter and spirit, by way of restructuring.

Will the caucus intervene in the ongoing trial of Yoruba secessionist arrowhead, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho?

Of course, it is the obligation and responsibility of all well-meaning Yoruba to do so. You see, Nigeria has a pernicious tradition of blaming the victim. The emphasis on the allegations against Igboho should not blind us to the logic of cause and effect at play here. Is there no cause and effect relationship between the emergence of Igboho and the way this country has been governed since 2015? The frustrated young man is the symptom and not the cause of the incipient implosion of Nigeria. Left uncontested and unattended, the political dysfunction and misgovernance that produce Igboho are guaranteed to keep churning out more and more of his ilk.

Is the caucus interested in pushing for a presidential candidate for 2023 from the South-West?

That would amount to misplacement of emphasis and priority. The number one priority of Nigeria today should be a comprehensive constitutional restoration and rehabilitation as a condition precedent to making 2023 possible and successful. Prioritising the 2023 presidential election over the challenge of getting to grips with our constitutional dysfunction amounts to walking blindfolded into a charade. It is akin to aiming for the fool’s paradise, aiming for a pie in the sky.