Chief Ayo Adebanjo, elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, marked his 90th birthday in Lagos this week with the launching of his autobiography titled ‘Telling It As It Is’. In this interview with select journalists, he spoke on his journey in politics and other issues. TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI brings the excerpts:

You are still politically active at 90. When are you going to retire?

It is not possible for me to retire from politics. That was the same question we asked Chief Awolowo and he said ‘you don’t retire from politics’. Today, even though Awolowo is no more, people are still keeping his thoughts alive and making reference to what he said at one time or the other. People are still comporting themselves with all that he stood for in character and every other thing. People are still talking about Awolowo’s programme and his landmark activities. At 90, I should not be seen talking politics, if my followers were doing what we expected them to do. I should not be talking politics, if they had followed the way we were doing things and if they had aligned themselves to the Awoist fold. I should be feeling relaxed and saying ‘I have those who will carry on from where we stopped’. But, you find lots of those who claim to be supporters Awo not doing what he stood for. You find them reneging from their initial principle when they find themselves in government.


You have been involved in Nigeria politics since inception. Where did the country get it wrong?

The military took over and converted the federal constitution to a unitary constitution. That was the time we deviated and we must go back to it. I have said it before that until the country is restructured and we go back to federalism, we will not get it right. We must restructure and put in place true federal constitution; that was the agreement reached by our founding fathers: the Awolowos, the Azikiwes and the Sadaunas and sanctioned by the colonialists in London in 1954 and implemented in 1960. Those who don’t understand restructuring should go and read the agreement and even those who benefited from the agreement and are in office and not obeying the agreement.


What do you make of the APC Panel Report on Restructuring?

If they are serious about it, let them go ahead and implement it now. I don’t want to discuss it. The recommendations may not be perfect, but it could spearhead what we want. Similarly, when we went to the 2014 National Conference, some of our people were arguing that it is not sovereign and that it would not serve our purpose. But we told them, look, we are looking for 10, they give us seven and you are agitating for the remaining three. Why don’t you find solutions to the challenges facing the country with the opportunity you have on your hands? I’m not one of those who say that the 2014 National Conference was perfect, but we utilised it to come up with recommendations to solve the country’s problems. Our founding fathers have already given us the template. If they want to amend it, they can go ahead; it is amenable to improvements. There is nothing like true federalism. It is a Nigerian coinage, because the concept has been corrupted by the military. That is why people are now saying we want true federalism. We now have a unitary form of government, but have labeled it federalism. That is why Chief Rotimi Williams said our constitution is a fraudulent imposition. ‘We refer to our country as the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are we federal?’ he once asked.

In your view, what are the issues that will shape next year’s general elections?

Until we settle the basis on which we are going to live together, we would not get anywhere. All the issues being raised, such as the Biafra agitation, marginalisation and even corruption are all related to the fact that we are running a unitary system of government. The high incidence of corruption in the country is a function of the fact that the Federal Government has too much money to spend, compared to the states. Under federalism, that should not be the case, because the state controls the local governments and has its police. We should start from all the things that are causing confusion, such as the unwieldy structure of our federation. But by the time you make the centre less attractive, nobody will be bother who becomes the president. When we were in the Western region, all the landmark projects in the capital, Ibadan, were carried out by Chief Awolowo with proceeds from cocoa.

We had free education, good roads, medical facilities and it was a very clean region. We are not a nation; the way out is to restructure the country and put in place a constitution under which we are coming together. All the countries that have various nationalities, religion and culture usually have a federal system of government. America, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand, Soviet Union and all that look inward to find solutions to their problems. Yugoslavia and other countries that were forcefully brought together under a faulty premise had to break up. Even some Nigerians who claim if they get to power they will do this or that failed in that direction. Look at Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; he had the best chance to restructure this country, but he decided to use the power to his own advantage. That was why he was busy looking for third term.

The Southwest voted for Buhari in 2015. In your view, how should the Southwest vote in next year’s elections?

We should ask Tinubu. I am not one of the supporters of Buhari in the Southwest. Rather, I warned the Southwest of the consequences of voting for Buhari. I told them not to vote for Buhari and I stated my reasons. I want you to now go back and review my position, to see where I went wrong. They said we got money from Jonathan and that is what informed our position. As politicians of our age and by our upbringing we have no price. That is why we are not rich. Those of us, who were critical of what was going on before the election, were criticised; when we tried to make the position clear, they told us that we were on our own. Buhari only claimed to be a born- again democrat because he wanted to win an election. If our decisions are right, it is because we have not fallen into the wrong hands. All the newspapers stood up to for the APC and left no room for critical judgment. Look at the recent incident that happened in Dapchi; the government should have covered its face in shame. What I am saying is for you and not for me; you are the people that must fight for yourself. How can a man who blamed Jonathan for the abduction of Chibok girls allow the same thing to happen again? What is the essence of protecting lives and property, particularly on an issue that had happened before? That was why Jonathan was voted out, but the Buhari government keeps complaining about the man. The man is no longer there and this country has no reason to be poor. But we are victim of bad leadership and bad followership. Bad followership, including you journalists, when you see evil you can’t talk, because they put some butter in your mouth. What about your Vice President who took Obasanjo to court over restructuring of local governments when he was the Attorney General of Lagos State? He now got to Aso Rock and said there is nothing like restructuring. That is a professor of law and a pastor for that matter. With all the killings in Southern Kaduna under his nose, with all the atrocities going on, the Vice President has the gut to insult the nation that there is no nepotism in Buhari’s administration. And here is a man born in democracy and federalism; myself and his father were the followers of Awolowo. He was born in this thing that I am talking about and by the grace of God he is a product that we are proud of. He is well educated, intelligent, brilliant, articulate and anything that is attached to scholarship. Those of us who are not disposed to working with Buhari only joined the fray because of Osinbajo. Those of us who reconciled ourselves with working with Buhari did it because of the Vice President. I don’t believe in the coalition, but I hanged on because of the Vice President. He does not belong to that camp, even if the APC has reason to go astray, he has no reason to go astray. He has his integrity to protect; I am saying this because of his antecedents. He has no reason to serve in that cabinet, because he is putting his reputation at stake.


Read more https://independent.ng/i-warned-southwest-against-voting-buhari-adebanjo/

Now they know better

nairavsdollars:
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, marked his 90th birthday in Lagos this week with the launching of his autobiography titled ‘Telling It As It Is’. In this interview with select journalists, he spoke on his journey in politics and other issues. TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI brings the excerpts:

You are still politically active at 90. When are you going to retire?

It is not possible for me to retire from politics. That was the same question we asked Chief Awolowo and he said ‘you don’t retire from politics’. Today, even though Awolowo is no more, people are still keeping his thoughts alive and making reference to what he said at one time or the other. People are still comporting themselves with all that he stood for in character and every other thing. People are still talking about Awolowo’s programme and his landmark activities. At 90, I should not be seen talking politics, if my followers were doing what we expected them to do. I should not be talking politics, if they had followed the way we were doing things and if they had aligned themselves to the Awoist fold. I should be feeling relaxed and saying ‘I have those who will carry on from where we stopped’. But, you find lots of those who claim to be supporters Awo not doing what he stood for. You find them reneging from their initial principle when they find themselves in government.


You have been involved in Nigeria politics since inception. Where did the country get it wrong?

The military took over and converted the federal constitution to a unitary constitution. That was the time we deviated and we must go back to it. I have said it before that until the country is restructured and we go back to federalism, we will not get it right. We must restructure and put in place true federal constitution; that was the agreement reached by our founding fathers: the Awolowos, the Azikiwes and the Sadaunas and sanctioned by the colonialists in London in 1954 and implemented in 1960. Those who don’t understand restructuring should go and read the agreement and even those who benefited from the agreement and are in office and not obeying the agreement.


What do you make of the APC Panel Report on Restructuring?

If they are serious about it, let them go ahead and implement it now. I don’t want to discuss it. The recommendations may not be perfect, but it could spearhead what we want. Similarly, when we went to the 2014 National Conference, some of our people were arguing that it is not sovereign and that it would not serve our purpose. But we told them, look, we are looking for 10, they give us seven and you are agitating for the remaining three. Why don’t you find solutions to the challenges facing the country with the opportunity you have on your hands? I’m not one of those who say that the 2014 National Conference was perfect, but we utilised it to come up with recommendations to solve the country’s problems. Our founding fathers have already given us the template. If they want to amend it, they can go ahead; it is amenable to improvements. There is nothing like true federalism. It is a Nigerian coinage, because the concept has been corrupted by the military. That is why people are now saying we want true federalism. We now have a unitary form of government, but have labeled it federalism. That is why Chief Rotimi Williams said our constitution is a fraudulent imposition. ‘We refer to our country as the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are we federal?’ he once asked.

In your view, what are the issues that will shape next year’s general elections?

Until we settle the basis on which we are going to live together, we would not get anywhere. All the issues being raised, such as the Biafra agitation, marginalisation and even corruption are all related to the fact that we are running a unitary system of government. The high incidence of corruption in the country is a function of the fact that the Federal Government has too much money to spend, compared to the states. Under federalism, that should not be the case, because the state controls the local governments and has its police. We should start from all the things that are causing confusion, such as the unwieldy structure of our federation. But by the time you make the centre less attractive, nobody will be bother who becomes the president. When we were in the Western region, all the landmark projects in the capital, Ibadan, were carried out by Chief Awolowo with proceeds from cocoa.

We had free education, good roads, medical facilities and it was a very clean region. We are not a nation; the way out is to restructure the country and put in place a constitution under which we are coming together. All the countries that have various nationalities, religion and culture usually have a federal system of government. America, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand, Soviet Union and all that look inward to find solutions to their problems. Yugoslavia and other countries that were forcefully brought together under a faulty premise had to break up. Even some Nigerians who claim if they get to power they will do this or that failed in that direction. Look at Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; he had the best chance to restructure this country, but he decided to use the power to his own advantage. That was why he was busy looking for third term.

The Southwest voted for Buhari in 2015. In your view, how should the Southwest vote in next year’s elections?

We should ask Tinubu. I am not one of the supporters of Buhari in the Southwest. Rather, I warned the Southwest of the consequences of voting for Buhari. I told them not to vote for Buhari and I stated my reasons. I want you to now go back and review my position, to see where I went wrong. They said we got money from Jonathan and that is what informed our position. As politicians of our age and by our upbringing we have no price. That is why we are not rich. Those of us, who were critical of what was going on before the election, were criticised; when we tried to make the position clear, they told us that we were on our own. Buhari only claimed to be a born- again democrat because he wanted to win an election. If our decisions are right, it is because we have not fallen into the wrong hands. All the newspapers stood up to for the APC and left no room for critical judgment. Look at the recent incident that happened in Dapchi; the government should have covered its face in shame. What I am saying is for you and not for me; you are the people that must fight for yourself. How can a man who blamed Jonathan for the abduction of Chibok girls allow the same thing to happen again? What is the essence of protecting lives and property, particularly on an issue that had happened before? That was why Jonathan was voted out, but the Buhari government keeps complaining about the man. The man is no longer there and this country has no reason to be poor. But we are victim of bad leadership and bad followership. Bad followership, including you journalists, when you see evil you can’t talk, because they put some butter in your mouth. What about your Vice President who took Obasanjo to court over restructuring of local governments when he was the Attorney General of Lagos State? He now got to Aso Rock and said there is nothing like restructuring. That is a professor of law and a pastor for that matter. With all the killings in Southern Kaduna under his nose, with all the atrocities going on, the Vice President has the gut to insult the nation that there is no nepotism in Buhari’s administration. And here is a man born in democracy and federalism; myself and his father were the followers of Awolowo. He was born in this thing that I am talking about and by the grace of God he is a product that we are proud of. He is well educated, intelligent, brilliant, articulate and anything that is attached to scholarship. Those of us who are not disposed to working with Buhari only joined the fray because of Osinbajo. Those of us who reconciled ourselves with working with Buhari did it because of the Vice President. I don’t believe in the coalition, but I hanged on because of the Vice President. He does not belong to that camp, even if the APC has reason to go astray, he has no reason to go astray. He has his integrity to protect; I am saying this because of his antecedents. He has no reason to serve in that cabinet, because he is putting his reputation at stake.


Read more https://independent.ng/i-warned-southwest-against-voting-buhari-adebanjo/

Yoruba muslims over to you: alariiwo resurgentxtian4 yorubaassasin imperialyoruba femi4 t9ksy

cc lzaa onyeoga

Disgusting arriviste! Here to besiege bereft brains and sully anythng like him.


Among many this man is the best of the bad bunch.
I hate old men acting like a boomer,i mean why do i have to read trash by gutless beings who seek to be relevant.what's up with humans and their needs to be noticed.

Thank God we are all suffering together but I believe theirz is double.

imhotep:

Yoruba muslims over to you: alariiwo resurgentxtian4 yorubaassasin imperialyoruba femi4 t9ksy

cc lzaa onyeoga

Yoruba4life wee definitely hate this

Troblem:







Disgusting arriviste! Here to besiege bereft brains and sully anythng like him.


Among many this man is the best of the bad bunch.
I hate old men acting like a boomer,i mean why do i have to read trash by gutless beings who seek to be relevant.what's up with humans and their needs to be noticed.

it seems this information from adebanjo has slipped ur hear, more so u didn't understood what he said about taking control of own destiny has u indulge ur self in insulting a man only enough to be ur grandfather, maybe u lost ur father in childhood and none of ur father's relative didn't see it worthy to train u, sorry for ur loose.

why are yorubads this ugly?
look at the face of this adebanjo guy
now i believe that indeed oduduwa, the originator of yorubads is a devil/demon

EODforce:
i am a useless abakaleke gala hawker. We specialize in hawking gala all over Africa

I have always known that abakaleke people are almajiri-igbos. They are not regarded as Igbos. Even Igbos treat them like shitttt

Our Sophisticated SW brethren.

Southwest never regret voting for Buhari.








PMB till 2023

EODforce:
why are yorubads this ugly?

look at the face of this adebanjo guy

now i believe that indeed oduduwa, the originator of yorubads is a devil/demon

But at least he is handsome than some of your kinsmen na

EODforce:
why are yorubads this ugly?

look at the face of this adebanjo guy

now i believe that indeed oduduwa, the originator of yorubads is a devil/demon

But at least he is handsome than some of your kinsmen na

What about your Vice President who took Obasanjo to court over restructuring of local governments when he was the Attorney General of Lagos State? He now got to Aso Rock and said there is nothing like restructuring.
That is a professor of law and a pastor for that matter. With all the killings in Southern Kaduna under his nose, with all the atrocities going on, the Vice President has the gut to insult the nation that there is no nepotism in Buhari’s administration.
That is how horrible APC can twist the sound sense of reasoning/judgement of reasonable people.

EODforce:
why are yorubads this ugly?

look at the face of this adebanjo guy

now i believe that indeed oduduwa, the originator of yorubads is a devil/demon

yorubas are great, handsome, beautiful and godly.
the people forcing their tribesmen to drink corps water are the real devils in disguise.
Smelly akpu eaters.

People like Ayo Adebanjo should go and sit down please. What did he do when jonathan and pdp were marginalising SW.?
Is he now trying to tell us that we should have sticked with a party that sidelined our region for four years? Nonesense!
That buhari is not living up to expectations shouldn't be a yardstick to always remind us of the choice we made in 2015.

EODforce:
why are yorubads this ugly?

look at the face of this adebanjo guy

now i believe that indeed oduduwa, the originator of yorubads is a devil/demon

...but years and years of mixing with Igbo genes(the prime reason they troupe into Igbo women) have started to yield some positive outcomes as some of them have started to look like Igbos. One of the reasons they will die for one Nigeria.

Who your warning help?


To imagine that some people who thought they will live longer than Buhari just a year ago r now dead(including my uncle)


PMB till 2023

Regrettably Chief, we had no better option in 2015 or let me say the media propaganda was much that we were left with no other option.

This is coupled with the fact that GEJ presented himself as a man with no balls.

Lessons wel learnt sir.

...

Diiet:
People like Ayo Adebanjo should go and sit down please. What did he do when jonathan and pdp were marginalising SW.?
Is he now trying to tell us that we should have sticked with a party that sidelined our region for four years? Nonesense!
That buhari is not living up to expectations shouldn't be a yardstick to always remind us of the choice we made in 2015.

You must be reminded so hopefully u learn. U don't cut ur nose to spite ur face and u were not excluded as u ppl like to claim. Is that not how the APC u support insist that they must continue to drag PDP around to justify their ineptitude?

True

Wise words..