This is the reason for the declaration of war in the South West. If our security forces showed the same level of preparedness and seriousness in the States ravaged by terrorism Nigerians would have felt extremely secured.
Fellow Nigerians, as you read this, the battle for which political party controls the State of Osun, in South West Nigeria, should be reaching a crescendo. The PDP and APC are locked in a duel of monumental proportions. Anything, and everything, possible and available has been thrown into what has become a war more than a mere election. Sadly, this is how we now do it in our neck of the woods. The Party responsible for letting us degenerate into such moral abyss is none less than the rampaging PDP which sees as its goal the vision of Nigeria as a one Party State.
Rewards from electoral victories are often stupendously heavy. Now, under the PDP, it has become even more so. While it may be easier to win elections in other parts of our nation, Yorubaland has always been a battleground for political gladiators. This is because the average Yoruba electorate is perceptive, knowledgeable, conscientious and equally critical and demanding. I will come back shortly to the reason why this zone has become all too important to our new breed politicians.
This fight didn’t start yesterday. It began decades ago, or even centuries. You only need to read the history of the Yoruba race to see how tough it is for any individual to Lord it over them. The people are highly territorial and would normally fight to protect their provinces. They also believe in development and emancipation. Hence, there have been too many wars fought, including Kiriji, Ekiti Parapo, Ibadan/Egba, and many heroes and heroines have emerged as various Yoruba communities struggled for self-determination. They include several Aare Ona Kakanfos’ from Oyo, Ogedengbe of Ijesaland, Ogunmola and Efunsetan Aniwura of Ibadanland, Sodeke and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Egbaland, and many others.
The Yoruba respect men and women of valour and accord them the highest esteem. They received education quite early and understood the meaning of human rights, fairness and justice. This consciousness has made them somewhat difficult to govern because they believe that they have a right to be governed properly whereas a lot of politicians do not care about governance but are concerned only about their selfish interests and self preservation.
Not even the Yoruba kings are allowed to trample on their subjects.
In the famous Oyo Kingdom, a semblance of democracy as we know it today has been practised since time immemorial. The Oyo Mesi in Council in their role as Kingmakers not only appointed the Alaafin, who was a truly paramount and maximum ruler, they also held the King in check in their primary role akin to Senators in dual Parliamentary system. The Ogboni, headed by the Oluwo, further acted as a check on the excesses of the Oyo Mesi almost as a lower house of Parliament does in modern times based on their composition and functions.
In most, if not all, of Yoruba kingdoms, Kingship is rotated amongst the ruling houses. And there are always conditions to be met. Even if the collapse of education plus the incursion of stomach infrastructure are beginning to affect the Yoruba adversely, they still possess a substantial degree of self-respect and self-worth. That is why the phrase Talika Alagidi refers to a stubborn poor fellow. He’s ready to duel with the rich man if he feels insulted.
The Yoruba sometimes suffer from mood-swings. They can hail you today and disgrace you tomorrow if they feel you’re playing God and feeling too cool with yourself. They have subtle ways of rejecting and resisting oppression. Pele o Baba Olowo is a satirical way of telling the big man to take things easy. Oba Mewa, Igba Mewa suggests that power is transient and it is turn by turn.
In recent memory, the Yoruba have been involved in leadership tussles. The most significant being the tussle between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Ladoke Akintola. Such a tussle has been lately re-enacted between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former President Olusegun Obasanjo but it never reached the epic proportions of the 1960s because the calibre and depth of the gladiators and juggernauts of those times is not matched by that of the present day protagonists. Indeed, whereas the Awolowo/Akintola duel was to the death, by a quirk of fate, Tinubu and Obasanjo have suddenly found themselves on the same side of the political divide, sharing the same aspiration of taking the Yoruba back to their vaunted position of leadership in the development, morality and ethos of the Nigerian polity......

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