It was to be a public lecture. But it turned out to be a town’s meeting. All who mattered in the land were there. The few, who could not come sent representatives. At issue was the protracted political gridlock that has paralysed affairs in Oyo State and the terror war in the capital city, Ibadan.

The forum was this year’s edition of the annual lecture/luncheon of the Oluyole Club, an influential association composed of eminent indigenes of Ibadan.

The gathering is a yearly ritual hosted by one of the club’s prominent members, Dr. Lekan Are, the chairman of the prestigious Kankanfo Inn, Ibadan, at the beginning of every New Year.
At hand to address the assembly, which included former Chairman of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Bode Amao; one-time deputy governor in Oyo State, David Abinusawa; eminent industrialist, Chief Kola Daisi; former Information Commissioner in the state, Alhaji Arulogun; a former head of service, Chief Theophillus Akinyemi; CCII National Secretary, Gbade Ishola and former federal director of budget and investment, Chief Omowale Kuye, the Ekerin Olubadan, who represented the Olubadan-in-Council, was the chairman, Ibadan Elders Forum, Ambassador Olusola Sanu.

After a sumptuous feast, Sanu, whose panel has been mediating in the political crisis that has engulfed the state in the last two years, shot straight from the hip, as he expressed disappointment at his hosts’ "studied silence" over the development, having known them for their contributions to the development of the city and concern for the plight of the people as exemplified by the forthright action they took during the Ogunpa flood disaster.

He recalled that what started as a mere political skirmish over an unreasonable demand for a share of the state’s security vote, ultimately, escalated, particularly in the media, thereby polarising the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with dire consequences for the immediate future.
The seat of government, he noted, became a theatre of violence and war before, during and after the illegal impeachment of the governor.

Faced with these challenges, Ambassador Sanu said a group of well-meaning elders of Ibadan decided to intervene, but were told in unmistakable terms by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose intervention they sought, to go back to Ibadan and prevail on the governor to quit from office or be impeached.
This, he said, explained the hardline posture of Adedibu and his cohorts against several peace moves.
Sanu regretted that a state of anarchy completely enveloped the city, with attendant harvest of deaths, breakage of limbs and destruction of property after Ladoja was impeached.

A move to stop this season of anomie and usher in lasting peace saw the birth of Ibadan Elders Forum, which he insisted was not a political or pressure group, but a pathfinder for peace and development in the state, and Ibadanland, contrary to misconception in some quarters.

Determined to end political brigandage, thuggery and intimidation of voters, in order to ensure a new order after the April 2007 elections, Sanu said the forum stepped in the gap by educating the public on how to discharge their franchise.

According to him, when it became obvious that the powers-that-be were bent on imposing an unpopular and unqualified candidate on the people of Oyo State, the Elders Forum "announced to the whole country that it was determined to ensure that only politicians, who are qualified, credible and combined the mental and intellectual capacity to handle the complex task of government are enthroned.
The elderstatesman said the bid was to counter the attempt at foisting on the populace "mediocre and inexperienced candidate."

Consequently, the forum invited and screened candidates jostling for the governorship seat. At the end of the exercise, Senator Abiola Ajimobi of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP) emerged the preferred candidate.

Among the assessment’s factors used were the managerial experience, educational background, political pedigree, promise of financial probity and achievements in public and private lives.
Interestingly, remarked Sanu, majority of the panel members did not know Ajimobi in person until the day of the screening. “Three quarter of us never met him until he appeared before us,” he said.

For the Elders Forum, Sanu insisted, the individual was more critical than the party label he wore. He said the elders had no difficulty picking Ajimobi from the pack, for a number of reasons, among which was his demonstration of determination to alleviate poverty.

"He single-handed established a vocational training centre, where thousands of unemployed youth acquired skills in computer operation and engineering, fashion designing, tie and dye fabric production and hair dressing, among others. By December 2006, the centre had graduated over 10,000 artisans, many of whom are gainfully employed," Sanu disclosed.

He said the state electorate apparently heeded the Elders Forum’s admonition to support Ajimobi, going by the massive votes the ANPP candidate got throughout the state.

Although, he won ‘convincingly’ in 24 local government areas, thereby satisfying the relevant sections of the electoral laws to become governor, Sanu regretted that this was not to be as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the PDP candidate, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala winner.
As far as the Elders Forum was concerned, the election was rigged. This began a "battle for the restoration of the dignity of Ibadan and Oyo State. At a post election press conference it addressed shortly after the election, the Forum rejected the INEC results, maintaining that Ajimobi won the polls.

For this, it came under a barrage of attacks, notably from Akala’s kinsmen in Ogbomosho, who accused Ibadan indigenes of attempting to reduce other sections of the state to second class citizens, claiming that the governorship of Oyo State had always been controlled by Ibadan.

Also, the terror gangs began a fresh round of hostilities. In broad daylight, hoodlums in several buses paraded the streets of Ibadan, killing and maiming perceived enemies of the PDP and its garrison commander," Sanu recalled, alluding to Adedibu.

He said following the ascendancy of President Umaru Yar’Adua, the Forum wrote him, urging his intervention.

The president responded by re-deploying the erstwhile commissioner of police in the state, who had given Adedibu’s henchmen cover for their nefarious activities, as well as reduction in the number of policemen attached to the maverick politician. He regretted that due to intervention by some familiar quarters, some of these gestures were soon reversed.

Tracing the cost of the political upheaval on the state, Sanu pointed out that Ibadan and indeed, the whole Oyo State, which, on account of its nearness to Lagos, ought to attract growth in industry, which would have provided employment for many, had lost the opportunity due to the lingering political instability.
He reiterated the position of the Forum on the last governorship election in the state, saying it was manipulated through rigging, threat and other irregularities.

He added: "The forum believes that Senator Ajimobi won the election. The Forum restates publicly its unalloyed support for Senator Ajimobi, and as law-abiding citizens, we put our hopes on the judiciary and await the law to takes its course through the elections tribunal now sitting. We are aware that various attempts have been made to bribe members of the tribunal, we believe that these efforts will fail."
According to Sanu, the forum rejected what he described as the "Robinhood economic system," whereby Adedibu, like the famous English character in "Sherwood Forest," would rob the rich to feed the poor, by wanting to control the state and local governments allocations from the Federal Account and in return, all those who need a good lunch would line up to get it.

"We believe the role of government is to provide for all her citizens. All those who handle the resources of the state must be accountable to the people for the use they make of the resources."
He described as propaganda the claim that Ibadan people wanted to monopolize the governorship of the state, stressing: "We state that empirical evidence does not justify this statement. Akintola, Ige, Popoola, Nwosu, Adisa, and others are certainly not Ibadan sons, and yet, they governed the land."

Sanu challenged the elite to wake up and actively participate in politics, observing that, things would not have gone awry as it did, if they had not been indifferent to the game of power, adding: "We have acted as if we are totally unconcerned about the quality of those who govern us. The result is that power has gravitated to those Nnamdi Azikwe would refer to as rascal and coxcombs."

Sanu’s talk provoked a rash of comments from his audiences, some of who amplified his observations. For instance, a former member of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Moshood Akinade, said it would be misplacing facts to accuse the Ibadans as being anti-Ogbomosho from where Akala, the incumbent governor, hails. He noted that during the crisis of the Action Group, in the First Republic, the Ibadans were the major supporters and allies of Chief Ladoke Akintola, an Ogbomosho man, when he rebelled against the party leader, Chief Awolowo.

Also, he said, Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, an Ibadan man, was the one who furnished the OAU Governing Council with vital records of the contributions of Akintola to the development of the university, which subsequently earned the late premier the honour of having one of the halls on the campus named after him.

Another commentator, one Dr. Lawal, noted that it would be difficult to heed the guest speaker’s admonition to take part in the politics of the lands, explaining: "I wonder how this will be possible, considering that there is no level-playing field, where those who play politics now are steeped in violence, and where your emergence as candidate for local government chairmanship depends on who you know and if the political godfather favours you or not."

He regretted that riff-raffs had taken over the political stage and public offices in the state because nobody cared to scrutinize their academic qualifications and other moral credentials.

Hardly had he finished his speech when Chief Kuye shot up from his seat and retorted: "Nobody will make the ground to be levelled. If Ajimobi waited for that to happen, he would not have been lucky to be voted for, the way he had been. You cannot be hiding in your bedroom and expect power to land on your lap. We all have to come out and confront the battle we’re now confronted with."

The next speaker, Dr. Are, supported the view of Kuye. He said: "We must encourage our children to go into politics, because the politicians decide our lives. The plea is, let those who can be in politics, be there."
For those who may not be keen on active partisan politics, Dr. Are said, what they could do to help was to ensure that reasonable people contest.

Other speakers described developments in the state as tragic, noting that there had been no visible development since the government came in about six months ago, because majority of the office holders were bereft of ideas.

Apparently taking a swipe at the government, one speaker quipped: "The garrison commander stepped in and took charge because nobody was there to say, "hey, this is a town of people with two eyes, we will not be led by a one-eyed man."

Veteran broadcaster and proprietor of Ibadan-based Splash FM Radio Station, Chief Bayo Akande, on his part, stressed the need for public enlightenment to re-orientate the people towards good governance, accountability and probity.

He said that some people opposed to his station’s campaign, in line with these objectives, had threatened to burn it down, adding that he was undaunted, so long as the radio station was objective and broadcast in strict adherence to the codes of the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission, (NBC).
The session, however, ended on a note of optimism, that there was nothing with a beginning that did not also have an end. The end to the sordid state of affairs in the state, speaker after speaker predicted, is certainly imminent.