Pa Ayo Adebanjo, a leader of the
Yoruba group, Afenifere, was a top
member of the Action Group, led by
the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in
the first republic. He also belonged
to the Awolowo – led Unity Party of
Nigeria (UPN) in the second
republic. At the inception of the
latest democratic experiment in
1999, he joined the late Pa Abraham
Adesanya and Chief Bola Ige, among
others, to form the Alliance for
Democracy which dominated the
governments in the South-west. In
this interview, he speaks on the
state of the nation.
Afenifere, unlike before, is no longer
active. What is happening?
Afenifere is still very active. In fact,
very soon, we are going to meet in
Akure, Ondo State.
It no longer as vibrant as it was
Well, I am sure that would be
because of the press. You are light
on to the world, just like the motto
of the defunct West African Pilot.
There is no doubt that there is some
kind of division among us caused by
some rebels who didn’t want the
right thing to be done, because we
are strictly Awolowo’s
disciples,undiluted. We don’t modify
Awo’s principles for our own interest,
progressive is progressive; not
progressive today and conservative
tomorrow. Those who were never
progressives, the moment they join
you, they automatically become
progressives.
How are you resolving the challenge
of people trying to twist the
principles of Awo?
We shall continue to say what is
right for people to decipher. There
are no two ways about it. What we
are doing now is to ensure that you
people follow the right path. The
principle of Afenifere leaders,
particularly myself, is to tell you the
truth because lying and falsification
of things have dominated the
country.
But there are a lot of people now
calling themselves progressives?
I will say all those ones are fake. All
those the people in the then ACN
that is now APC are fake
progressives.
How
They are fake in the sense that they
don’t pursue the principles of
Awolowo. Take, for instance, the
issue of federalism, you know we
were part and parcel of National
Democratic Coalition, NADECO. And
during the NADECO days, we were
the only ones shouting about the
issue of Sovereign National
Conference for the restructuring of
the country because the federation
was an awkward one. It was not
balanced. And it was because the
military choked us in 1966. The
Constitution the colonialists gave us
at independence was jettisoned after
the 1966 coup. And that is why you
saw arbitrary creation of states and
local government areas because the
people there were northerners. And
we said we don’t want the country to
separate; for us all to live in peace,
let us all sit down and restructure
the country on the principle of
federalism. Federalism is the system
whereby the various ethnic
nationalities that formed the country
can grow at their own space and
then still keep the country as one,
that was what we insisted upon. You
would also remember when
Abdulsalami; Abubakar (former Head
of State) said we should go for
election, and we said no, we should
first of all hold a conference that
would lead to a new Constitution
which we would all be happy about,
but he said, ‘No, I am in a hurry,
when you get your civilian
government, you can go and do it’.
That was why one was held during
the Obasanjo time. All those with us
during the NADECO time that
insisted on National Conference are
the same set of people saying now
that the Goodlock Jonathan
conference was a diversion. That was
what Bola Tinubu said. I have said
it before, let him challenge it.
Sovereign National Conference was
one of the manifestoes we used in
electing him into office as governor
of Lagos State. It was part of the
Alliance for Democracy that there
must be a National conference.
When we won elections in 1999, it
was because we reluctantly took part
in the election because we didn’t
want people we didn’t believe in to
win elections in South-West and
claim later that we were not
representing the South-West. That
was why we contested the elections
so that everybody could see that we
had the support of the people. After
the elections, all the six states in
the South-West where we had our
governors, Afenifere leaders toured
the Houses of Assembly led by late
Papa Abraham Adesanya, for them to
pass a resolution that there must be
a National Conference. Tinubu was
there. Now because something does
not suit him, because he has some
motive now, he says the National
Conference was a diversion. Is that
consistent with our policy? Now,
what you find these days is
imposition of candidates which is
against the principle of Awolowo.
Take the issue of free education, you
hear free education in Lagos, have
you been to their primary and
secondary schools and see the
number of children there? Can you
find any of the children of these
ministers in any of the public
schools? Is that what they inherited?
It is matter of principle. This is
what separated us the Afenifere
from the ACN who called them selves
progressives. It is not a personal
thing.
*Adebanjo
Where do the Yoruba people stand
in the February elections?
I think that would also be a matter
of principle. The question of South-
south is a matter of principle of
Papa Awolowo that a minority would
also have the right to aim for the
highest position in the country. That
was what I was trying to point out
about the recent National
Conference we had. That conference
has taken care of everything
concerning Nigeria. Like the issue of
power, it is no longer going to be
the North-west, whenever it get to
the North, it must rotate within all
other regions in the North. The same
thing for the South, it is no longer
about South-west but all other
regions in the South such that
everybody now knows when each of
the regions would be president, it is
no longer the issue of we are born
to rule. Why I am supporting
Jonathan is because he is the only
man who can implement the
recommendations of the National
Conference which was set up to
bring equity to Yorubaland and to
Nigeria.
He is the only man. And once he
does that, all these things we are
complaining about will be rectified.
People talk about corruption but
they never care to know the root of
corruption. The thing is that the
Federal Government has more money
than all other tiers of government.
Now, we have closed that gap in the
confab. We have done it in such a
way that the states now have more
powers which may not be palatable
to those ones in the North. For
example, how did you have more
local government areas than the
South? How are the local
governments in Kano and Jigawa
more than those in Lagos? The
military at that time just allocated
states and local governments to
themselves. There was really no
criteria with which they arrived at
those local governments. So, they
now went further by allocating funds
on the basis of the number of local
governments. You will recall that
Lagos State was denied local
government funds even when the
Supreme Court ruled that it should
be paid. That is the kind of
wholesome power the Federal
Government has,and that is one of
the reasons I feared if Buhari should
govern under this Constitution.
Why?
Because they have the mentality
that they are born to rule. And that
is why I think this romance with the
South-west of picking a vice
presidential candidate with him is
just a mere gimmick. That is why I
am insisting that all the
recommendations of the confab
should be implemented before the
elections because, the inequality
this country has been suffering all
this while has been rectified with
the recommendations of the confab.
All the things that could cause us
conflicts have been rectified. So, all
our problems have been attacked
from the root. And, that is why those
who think it is not to their
advantage don’t want it done.
Everybody believes that this present
Constitution is bad and we then say
let us all sit down and harmonize
it,what is wrong in that one? We
have done it now but yet you don’t
want it to be implemented. And
where is the antagonism coming
from ? From the beneficiaries of the
awkwardness of the constitution.
And they still want the Yoruba to
continue to go along with that? If
some Yoruba follow them sheepishly,
probably because they don’t know
the background, that can not
happen to someone like me. And
part of the inequality we are talking
about is what has come out in the
Buhari certificate matter. In the first
republic, you set up a standard for
everybody but when it comes to the
northerner, you set another
standard, that is exactly what
happened in Buhari’s case. Those of
us who knew all these things from
the beginning are not surprised by
the new turn of events. You heard
that his principal sent a letter to
the military that he was capable and
that he expected that he would pass
his examinations. That was what was
happening in those days in the
North. Go and ask serious federal
civil servants in this country, many of
the permanent secretaries that were
senior to them whether they were
not superseded without being
qualified. They cannot deny that. If
you have read General Isama’s book,
you will find it there where he said
when they were about to be
commissioned, the standard set for
them was usually lower for the
North. I am sure he never
anticipated a situation like this.
And do we have corruption on
selective basis? Look at the PTF
which he superintended. Even
though Obasanjo was trying to cover
him up, has he denied anything of
such? He knows that if he does, the
document is there for everyone to
see. There was the issue of the
N25b there. It is all in the report.
So, how can I, as a NADECO man,
come and support a dictator. All his
antecedents are dictatorial and
military like.
That was then.
Don’t give me that. When did he
become a democrat? What has he
done to show he is a democrat other
than the fact he is saying he is
being punished because he is now a
democrat? When he first came as a
military man, he was issuing
retroactive actions to convict people
for murder. We are all living
witnesses to what he did with
Decree 4, so, that is the type of man
you want me to vote in a civilian
regime? He says he is not a
fundamentalist. It is just that
people forget about records easily.
Here was a man who campaigned in
the North and said Muslims should
vote for Muslims. Here was a man
who said he was going to work for
the operation of Sharia through out
the country. He has not denied it
neither has he apologized for all the
anti-democratic things he has done.
I won’t be deceived by bringing a
first class technocrat as running
mate.
That is where I was going that if you
cannot support because of Buhari’s
personality, how about that of his
vice?
That is not possible because the
running mate has no political
experience. He is a first class
technocrat, a distinguished lawyer
and a nice gentleman, but if you are
talking of politics, it is another
matter entirely. They just brought
him in. Tinubu brought him in as
Attorney General, he was never in
politics. He comes from Ikenne. Does
he know the politics of Ikenne?
So, the South-West may be making a
mistake.
Exactly, there is no doubt about
that, that they will be making a big
mistake and digging their graves.
They may not listen but, I, Ayo
Adebanjo, is telling them. I am 87
years old, I can die any moment, so
that when ever it happened, they
would be able to say that indeed,
that man told us. Buhari is only
deceiving them . Go and read what
Wole Soyinka said about him in
2001. Has it changed? Go and read
what El- Rufai said about him in
2002 that he is not electable. These
are the same people polishing him.
When I look at the whole scenario, I
feel sorry for this country.
But, it is like Yoruba are irrevocably
committed to following Buhari
through Tinubu.
I don’t believe Yoruba are following
Tinubu. There are so many factors
that made him win election in those
days. When it comes to these facts,
it is now left for the Yoruba to
decide. Those of us who suffered
imprisonment during the NADECO
days under Abacha , Tinubu was not
around. To those of us who were
really victims of dictatorship, you
cannot send Buhari to us. I don’t
know those who are now doing chop
chop politics. From the beginning,
we were never those who believe
than military person should come
and rule under a civilian regime and
that was one of the reasons the
Yoruba strongly voted against
Obasanjo in 1999. It was the military
that imposed Obasanjo on us,
because it was Babangida and
Abdulsalami that brought him and
imposed him on us. They may have
disagreement later because
Obasanjo didn’t perform. It was
Obasanjo that brought Yar’Adua, he
brought Jonathan.
The old brigade in the Afenifere are
the real progressives according to
you because you are the authentic
Awolowo’s follows. Is it not an irony
now that instead of the South-west
following people like you, they are
following Tinubu and his
‘progressive’ party?
That is left for them. I have given
all the facts. This is a democracy.
With all we are saying, you and I
know that we are suffering here in
Lagos. I am Fashola’s fan, I won’t say
he has not done well but, those of
us who created his predecessor,
Tinubu, know that he could do
better for Lagos, that is what we are
saying. You may not appreciate what
is happening now except you
remember the Western Region where
things moved well. A man ruled the
Western Region for seven years
without strike. He introduced free
education when our income was
barely five and a half million pounds
including Edo and Delta at that time
by share economic ingenuity. Is that
what we are having now? You have
people who do job of N50m and say
it is N250m and yet, the people
would be saying he has done a good
job. With all that is being done in
Lagos, some of us have asked the
question,how much does it cost?
What is the revenue of Lagos, both
the internally generated and the
allocation? And yet, we are still
owing that much debt. And yet we
have to pay for tolls. I am not
contesting election for anybody to
vote for me, all I am saying is for
posterity. Where they have done
well, I say it, where they are wrong, I
say it as well. When they talk of
corruption in Jonathan government, I
won’t say the government is clean,
but those who are talking about
corruption, how clean are they
themselves? This is the question
and yet these are the same people
you journalists extol to high
heavens. Are you saying there is no
corruption in Lagos State? The only
job we have now is to reform this
country and urge Jonathan to
implement the recommendations of
the confab so that we can all start
on a clean slate. There may have
been a lot of irregularities in the
past and it is the irregularities that
people are fighting. Everybody must
have autonomy to rule itself and we
all combine at the centre for what
joins us together. If we had no
federal system, Awolowo could not
have done what he did in the
Western Region.
So INEC should just allow Buhari to
run the election and forget about
the certificate?
I don’t know. Don’t put words into
my mouth, that is left for INEC to
prove if indeed he has the
certificate; otherwise he is not
qualified.
He is not qualified?
That is what the law says. It is not
me. You journalists must be honest
to this nation. You are not doing me
any favour neither are you doing the
country any good by trying to plaster
what should not be plastered. What
the law says is this: You must have
a school certificate before you can
qualify.
But the school has presented that
now?
This is not the kind of certificate I
have. I don’t think this one is
tenable. If they can be fooled, I
cannot. That is why I think Jega
should come in. Though Jega doesn’t
want to be seen as supporting
anybody, from the law that he is
expected to implement, Buhari has
not satisfied the Constitution. Jega
is only trying to shift responsibility
by saying people opposed to
Buhari’s qualification for the polls
should go to court. I heard the APC
saying Buhari has been contesting
election for the past 12 years and
nobody said anything about it, why
now? And my answer in form of
question is, if someone has been
committing robbery and getting away
with it, the day he is caught, you
are now asking, why has not been
caught all this while?
Are you saying it is as good as INEC
disqualifying the man based on what
is on ground?
Except you are saying the law
should not be obeyed. The law is
not made for fun. We should not be
sentimental about this thing. That is
why we say there are two standards,
one for Ayo Adebanjo and one for
Buhari. That is what is happening in
the secondary schools. When they
say examination cut-off mark is this
but lower cut-off mark for those in
the North, that is the kind of thing
we have been going through since
amalgamation and we have been
shouting that let us educate the
people of the North, but they don’t
want to be educated as we are, yet
they want to be qualified as we are.
You are 87 now and mummy is 85,
what is the secret of your longevity?
It is about honesty. We are at peace
with our minds. I won’t see black
and call it white because of
monetary gain. It is the grace of
God. Although I try to eat well and
exercise, all still amounts to the
grace of God.
www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/february-poll-grave-mistake-nigeria-cannot-afford-pa-ayo-adebanjo-afenifere-leader/

Ayo Adebanjo should go and take a seat!He,like many hungry activists,was settled with 12million naira to change their conscience.And now he is talking like a man without any ideology...What has come out of the report of the conference?

What is he saying?

So yorubas get sense like this

integralng:
Ayo Adebanjo should go and take a seat!He,like many hungry activists,was settled with 12million naira to change their conscience.And now he is talking like a man without any ideology...What has come out of the report of the conference?

On the bolded, its like you did not read the post hence you don't know his stand on the constitutional conference. What the baba wants is that the recommendations of the confab should be implemented. The baba is not happy that the implementation of the recommendations of the confab is being blocked by certain people who feel they will miss the present favourable status quo.