[size=14pt]OLUNLOYO BOMBS NORTHERN LEADERS:You are rude[/size]

By Olusola Balogun
Sunday, October 17, 2010


Omololu Olunloyo
Photo: Sun News Publishing


Septuagenarian former governor of old Oyo State, Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo, is not your typical every day politician. Call the mathematician a maverick and you might not be far from the truth. He became a commissioner at the age of 27 and by the time he was elected governor in 1983, he had held five different government positions, including one that placed the entire Ibadan land at his disposal.

He lost his father in December 1948 when he was just 13 years old, but that setback didn’t stop him from securing a PhD in Mathematics from a London University in 1961.
In 1983, Olunloyo ran for the Oyo governorship on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform, and against all odds defeated the incumbent, Bola Ige of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). He assumed office in October 1983 only to lose the seat three months later in December following a military coup. After being banned by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida as one of the old breed politicians, he joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the restart of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

In this interview, he dismisses the position held by northern political leaders on zoning, an issue that is presently rocking the PDP. Olunloyo also warned that the nation was gradually drifting towards disintegration. Excerpts…

How will you describe the ongoing controversy in the PDP over zoning?

It is a very complicated issue and I am very shocked at the level of bitterness that has attended this controversy. There has been a lot of heat but very little light.
Some politicians in the North wrote a letter to the PDP national secretariat asking that the incumbent President be stopped from contesting the 2011 election on the basis that there was an agreement on zoning in the PDP. Alhaji Adamu Ciroma and five others jointly signed the letter. I don’t feel happy with that letter.

But in that letter, they made a case why the North must produce the president for the next four years…

(Cuts in) That is a completely useless case. The letter was written within the ambits of the constitution of the PDP. I have studied the matter and I realised that the position they are advocating is totally useless and the letter was faulty and inaccurate. I will say that the letter was designed to foment trouble.

I don’t like the tone of the letter; it is like a threat. One thing I saw in that letter is that it is about the North, the North and the North. All the writers are from the North and it was written from the narrow perspective of the North. But there is a flaw in that letter that made it perfectly useless; talking about zoning. They claimed that something was zoned to the North, but this is a howler. The North is not one of the zones in the PDP.

What do you mean by that?

What I mean is exactly what I said. The PDP constitution recognizes six zones and the North is not one of them. The North is a region. The constitution talks of South West, South East, South South, North West, North East and North Central. Nowhere was the North mentioned.

Section 7(2c) that the Ciroma group quoted does not save the letter either. The policy of power rotation and zoning of the PDP, like that of its predecessor the defunct NPN, was not worked out. It is a potential policy; it is not an actual working policy. It is dishonest because if it were a honest policy, it will state who is zone 1, who is zone 2, who is zone 3 to zone 6. But this document did not do that.

The Ciroma letter also gave the impression that each zone should have eight years. I don’t know who told them it would be so. Olusegun Obasanjo was lucky to have spent eight years. He could have died, he could have been impeached or he could have resigned.

A zoning policy must state clearly what will happen when somebody is impeached or when he dies or when he resigns. Can we begin to say, like in Ibadan that the governorship of Oyo State was zoned to Ibadan in 2003 for eight years, and after Ladoja was impeached and the impeachment was cancelled, it should still have been zoned to Ibadan and that nobody from outside Ibadan is eligible to contest the Ibadan ticket? Such rubbish!

Another thing is I don’t like the irreverent manner they address this President. Maybe it is because he is from the minority and I know they cannot talk to any body from one of the three big tribes in the country the manner they talk to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. They talk so rude to him and I don’t like it one bit. The president has moved through the levels of governance.

What made him the substantive President is not the PDP. It is the inexorable force of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If they had their way, the PDP might have said they should go and bring a substitute for the late (Umaru) Yar’Adua from Katsina. But the Constitution doesn’t allow such nonsense. We are willy-nilly compelled that the next President has to be the sitting Vice President.

I hope no one will play around with the Ijaws. Power has shifted to the Ijaws and they should be allowed to enjoy it for the time being. This country was not made for the WA-ZO-BIA people alone. It is for all ethnic groups and everybody must be allowed to get to the peak of the power of this country.

Tell them, TELL THEM OH!!!

Obviously the guy's been reading my posts here on NL.

tell them, TELL THEM OH!!!

ah ah ah
thank GOD there are still people like this in nigeria
it's like he God is changing the country gradually

north south, arrant nonsense, this northern kitchen cabal wanted to play a fast one, this is what i call a nip in the bud!!!!!! clear precise points by olunloyo, lets wait for the opposing ibb team counter this.

He deserves no such praise.

Olunloyo and his likes were the ones that slaved for the northern oligarchy under the guise of promoting national unity. They visited untold suffering on the people of the SW with their thugs. Now that they are old and going the way of the fathers, and it is becomes clear that their friends up north were and are rabid tribalists and regionalists they are singing a different tune.

Olunloyo a definite brilliant man allowed himself to be used by the NPN to rig the 1983 elections in Oyo State, much like OBJ would do 20 years later almost throughout the SW. After all that the same northern clique cut-off his governorship with a military coup in a matter of months.

I hope the next set of SW leaders are learning these lessons - work to keep Nigeria one, but don't do it at the expense of your people or for selfish ends.

jason12345:

ah ah ah
thank GOD there are still people like this in nigeria
it's like he God is changing the country gradually

In 1983, Olunloyo ran for the Oyo governorship on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform, and against all odds defeated the incumbent, Bola Ige of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

i laugh in ijebu.
this same man nearly caused third world war by totally allowing N.P.N to rig the ppls mandate.
olunloyo, just go jeje.

Bad belle guys are coming one by one.

It is not bad belle - I lived through it. Results that were almost completely announced and in favor of UPN were switched half-way.

The evils they carried out before the election and the following almost repeat of operation-we-ti-e was something you never want to see again.

We have to separate the chaff from the real seed otherwise Nigeria continues in a merry-go-round of nothingness. People like Olunloyo and Akinjide are now getting the daylight after they selfishly helped destroyed the nation for over 40 years. They can keep their newfound sense of justice.

Aloy+Emeka:

Bad belle guys are coming one by one.

There's something I would like to understand. Is there like a special feeling or gift if someone from your tribe is in the presidency? Case in point- these Northeners screaming for zoning.
Were the Yorubas any better during Obasanjo's tenure, or the North during Yaradua's?
Didn't we all suffer the same issues as Nigerians? Or was there a special gift like constant electricity or free education in the North when Yaradua was alive? Let me know now so I can begin to push an Igbo man for presidency.
So what the heck is it?

koruji:

It is not bad belle - I lived through it. Results that were almost completely announced and in favor of UPN were switched half-way.

The evils they carried out before the election and the following almost repeat of operation-we-ti-e was something you never want to see again.

We have to separate the chaff from the real seed otherwise Nigeria continues in a merry-go-round of nothingness. People like Olunloyo and Akinjide are now getting the daylight after they selfishly helped destroyed the nation for over 40 years. They can keep their newfound sense of justice.

No matter what his past sins were even though they are arguable, you will still agree with me that what he said above is the truth, isn't it?

stillwater:

There's something I would like to understand. Is there like a special feeling or gift if someone from your tribe is in the presidency? Case in point- these Northeners screaming for zoning.
Were the Yorubas any better during Obasanjo's tenure, or the North during Yaradua's?
Didn't we all suffer the same issues as Nigerians? Or was there a special gift like constant electricity or free education in the North when Yaradua was alive? Let me know now so I can begin to push an Igbo man for presidency.
So what the heck is it?

u hit the  nail on the head!

stillwater:

There's something I would like to understand. Is there like a special feeling or gift if someone from your tribe is in the presidency? Case in point- these Northeners screaming for zoning.
Were the Yorubas any better during Obasanjo's tenure, or the North during Yaradua's?
Didn't we all suffer the same issues as Nigerians? Or was there a special gift like constant electricity or free education in the North when Yaradua was alive? Let me know now so I can begin to push an Igbo man for presidency.
So what the heck is it?

Ask them.

I don’t like the tone of the letter; it is like a threat. One thing I saw in that letter is that it is about the North, the North and the North. All the writers are from the North and it was written from the narrow perspective of the North. But there is a flaw in that letter that made it perfectly useless; talking about zoning. They claimed that something was zoned to the North, but this is a howler. The North is not one of the zones in the PDP.

What do you mean by that?

What I mean is exactly what I said. The PDP constitution recognizes six zones and the North is not one of them. The North is a region. The constitution talks of South West, South East, South South, North West, North East and North Central. Nowhere was the North mentioned.

Who says age is not wisdom. All hail Papa Olunloyo!

Another thing is I don’t like the irreverent manner they address this President. Maybe it is because he is from the minority and I know they cannot talk to any body from one of the three big tribes in the country the manner they talk to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. They talk so rude to him and I don’t like it one bit. The president has moved through the levels of governance.

Another salient point. The funny thing is that some ignorant folk see the rudeness of Ciroma's gang of bats as the latest fad, to be emulated without a thought as to whose battle they are actually fighting whenever their "fad" loving streak kicks in.

Up till now, Nigeria has been set up as a hierachy of "tribes." By manipulating that hierachy, hegemons have been able to hold on to the juiciest bits of the economy (even where their best is mediocre), defraud the country and steal the poor blind. Jonathans ascent has upset several primitive tribal tools in the hegemons nasty bag of tricks, and many like the Ciroma's, are extremly bitter about it.

Let us learn to read the detail before jumping on the bandwagon.

chyz:

Obviously the guy's been reading my posts here on NL.

Man, just shut the hell up before I e-slap u into a coma! U monkey that would not support Jonathan now screaming "Hallelujah", typical Ibo!

The only reason this man can speak the truth is cause he's Yoruba! Do u want me to remind u Ojukwu's take on this issue?

^^^ My belle O, no kill person with laugh abeg!

Oh Yes, he spoke truth - only that truth is 40 years late, with 1000s of life needlessly wasted.

My grouse is the praise you assigned him in your title "One Brave Yoruba Man" - why not "One Brave Nigerian? He doesn't deserve any such praise and there are many many Yorubas brave and ready to confront whatever threatens us within this geographical expression, but not one of these pretenders. That is my point. It is hard to trust the motive of people like Olunloyo, Akinjide and the like.

I don't even know how, if you 've read my comments on the latest behavior of the northern oligarchy and even in my reply on this topic, you would not know that that my views are even more damning. I was begining to rub my hands together in anticipation when it seems they were ready to fight over the zoning issue. It is kind of disappointing that they are piping down now - the earlier we split or thoroughly rearrange this contraption put together by Lord Lugard the better. It has to be done somehow and it cannot be allowed to wait much longer.

BTW you are making yourself into a closet tribalist by the titles you keep assigning to your posts, and the sly, tribalistic, comments you sometimes pass for neutral politics on here. Just saying

Aloy+Emeka:

No matter what his past sins were even though they are arguable, you will still agree with me that what he said above is the truth, isn't it?

bk.babe97y:

Man, just shut the hell up before I e-slap u into a coma! U monkey that would not support Jonathan now screaming "Hallelujah", typical Ibo!

The only reason this man can speak the truth is cause he's Yoruba! Do u want me to remind u Ojukwu's take on this issue?

Very Gay, so this is what happens when gay people miss someone.Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm straight,my girl is yoruba. I heard there are gay NY rappers out now,you should try to be their groupie.

Olunloyo himself came into prominence because of NORTHERN influence.
He must have realised his mistake but 40 years too late.

chyz:

Very Gay, so this is what happens when gay people miss someone.Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm straight,my girl is yoruba. I heard there are gay NY rappers out now,you should try to be their groupie.

Wait, did u even try re-reading the above before posting?

Re-read it again! How does it sound to u?

Dumb, right? Exactly!

DEEHASAL:

Olunloyo himself came into prominence because of NORTHERN influence.
He must have realised his mistake but 40 years too late.

Does this invalidate the points he raised?

koruji:

Oh Yes, he spoke truth - only that truth is 40 years late, with 1000s of life needlessly wasted.

My grouse is the praise you assigned him in your title "One Brave Yoruba Man" - why not "One Brave Nigerian? H[b]e doesn't deserve any such praise and there are many many Yorubas brave and ready to confront whatever threatens us within this geographical e[/b]xpression, but not one of these pretenders. That is my point. It is hard to trust the motive of people like Olunloyo, Akinjide and the like.

I don't even know how, if you 've read my comments on the latest behavior of the northern oligarchy and even in my reply on this topic, you would not know that that my views are even more damning. I was begining to rub my hands together in anticipation when it seems they were ready to fight over the zoning issue. It is kind of disappointing that they are piping down now - the earlier we split or thoroughly rearrange this contraption put together by Lord Lugard the better. It has to be done somehow and it cannot be allowed to wait much longer.

One brave Yoruba man/Nigerian doesn't mean there are no other brave ones even though they are rare. You refuse to answer my question on whether this man's past behavior invalidates his stance now.

BTW you are making yourself into a closet tribalist by the titles you keep assigning to your posts, and the sly, tribalistic, comments you sometimes pass for neutral politics on here. Just saying

Really?. Mentioning Yoruba or igbo is now tribalistic?

bk.babe97y:

Man, just shut the hell up before I e-slap u into a coma! U monkey that would not support Jonathan now screaming "Hallelujah", typical Ibo!

The only reason this man can speak the truth is cause he's Yoruba! Do u want me to remind u Ojukwu's take on this issue?

I said u reveal closet tribalism by your title of "One brave Yoruba man" then u reply with words that say brave Yoruba men are rare. Rare as compared to which non-Yoruba group? And by whose measure? If there was a rehab clinic for tribalism u should check it out since when u attempt to deny tribalism u only spew more of it.

As for answering your question - read my reply again. It contains a direct answer. Otherwise I can't help u.

Aloy+Emeka:

One brave Yoruba man/Nigerian doesn't mean there are no other brave ones even though they are rare. You refuse to answer my question on whether this man's past behavior invalidates his stance now.Really?. Mentioning Yoruba or igbo is now tribalistic?

Francis-1:

Good father of a horrible woman - Kemi Omololu Olunloye

Too sad my dear

Mathematical Olunloyo! Baba no dey fail sha. God our leaders are either dead or aging fast, give us men that will tell the truth without fear or favour

Igbos are illeterate, criminals and touts just like the ambassador said

NigerianLaw: Igbos are illeterate, criminals and touts just like the ambassador said