The recent cold war among some Yoruba leaders has generated a public discourse. SINA FADARE in this report examines the contending issues. The political battle in Ondo State as regards who gets what by October 20, has knocked the head of leaders of Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, against each other. It was the former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande who fired the first salvo by calling the likes of Chiefs Reuben Fasoranti, Ayo Adebanjo and Olu Falae as political jobbers who are always pitching their tents where their bread is going to be buttered. Akande spoke on the premise of the recent endorsement of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, by the Afenifere leaders for a second term, when they attended Mimiko’s declaration in Akure. T[size=15pt]he former governor of Osun State said that the Yoruba leaders were mere political liabilities in any party they find themselves. According to him, their actions never came to him as a surprise because “the three of them are glorious political beggars who have lost relevance in the nation’s politics.” Not done yet, Akande who is the National Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), noted that Fasoranti, Adebanjo and Falae are always in Government Houses to beg for crumbs. “The so-called leaders are only looking for what they will eat[/size]. Of what relevance are they? They cannot point to any individual as their followers even in their home state,” he asserted. Akande pointed out that their bad luck and poor political antecedent crumbled Afenifere, the socio-cultural organisation of the Yoruba. He further referred to them as fake Awoists.



Since Akande has thrown pebbles into the camp of his political adversaries, it was not a surprise that missiles were equarly hurdled back at him for his “caustic tongue”. Reacting to Akande’s allegation, Adebanjo said that the former governor was an ingrate because he was the chairman of the party that made him governor in 1999.

Adebanjo lashed out at Akande for describing him (Adebanjo) as a fake Awoist, saying Akande was ignorant and ill-informed about Awoism.

Adebanjo noted that if Akande had confined his criticism on him as being an electoral liability, he would have ignored him, because he was too junior to him, but will not accept the label of a fake Awoist.

“I would have ignored him and would not have bothered to dignify his ignorant and ill informed statement which has become his singsong criticism of me without any response. The reason for this is simple. He is too junior to me politically for me to enter into political disputation with him. But when he opened his mouth so wide...

I believe Bisi Akande is indeed what the Yoruba will call, “Omo Atiro to lo da bata fun baba e oro lofe gbo” (literally means, the son of a lame father who thoughtlessly bought a pair of shoes for his father he needs to be reminded the physical position of his father),” Adebanjo said.

He pointed out that there were strong and notable Awoists who never contested elections, but lived their entire lives within the dictates and tenets of the philosophy of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, adding that he had no regret to have shared something in common with such people. While he likened Akande’s outbursts against their support for Mimiko to cheap blackmail and gratuitous insult, Adebanjo challenged the former governor to say what “crumbs” he collected from his table when he was governor.

“It is cheap blackmail and gratuitous insult for Akande to allege that our support for Mimiko was to collect crumbs from his table. Chief Akande should tell the whole world what crumbs I collected from his table when he was governor of Osun State and I was the chairman of the party. Such unguarded and irresponsible statement is least expected from somebody who is a chairman of a national party however figurative he may be holding the post,” he said.

If Adebanjo was full of anger on the pronouncement of Akande, Falae was embarrassed and could not hide his feeling when he noted that the former governor has penchant for rudeness and unguided statement.

The former joint presidential candidate of AD/ANPP in the 1999 election pointed out that Akande was a dreamer who probably did not know what he was talking about. He said: “What bad luck did he mean I brought to Alliance for Democracy (AD)? In Osun State where he contested the governorship in 1999, I scored more votes than he did. So, who brought better luck? “It is my prerogative and right to belong to a party of my choice and Akande is also free to belong to a party of his choice. He is in the ACN; have you ever heard me criticise him for doing so?

Why is he criticising me now for belonging to a party of my choice and the party collaborating to support a particular candidate, just as the AD did with the All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999?” The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) further pointed out that “there is no sense in what Akande was saying at all.

It is just out of bitterness; he has a penchant for rudeness and I don’t want to take him on. I am an elder statesman and all he has said are empty and meaningless.” However, Akande’s outburst raised some fundamental questions, is it true that the people he attacked are really beggars and political liabilities?

How can one refer to a former Minister of Finance and SGF as a beggar? Is Adebanjo who had made his name in property law over 40 years still a beggar? How about Fasoranti who was commissioner in the old Ondo State in the Second Republic? Political pundits believe that it is out of place for Akande to describe these elder statesmen who had traversed the political turf of the country in the last five decades as beggars.

Could Akande still remember that the same Adebanjo he referred to as a non-issue in the political turf was the chairman of AD and one of those who screened him before he was considered as the gubernatorial candidate of AD and eventually the governor of Osun-State in 2003? Perhaps the big question which political observers are asking Akande is: When has it become a crime that somebody joins the party of his choice and where he goes or who he supports at any point in time? Also, is it mandatory for everybody to belong to the same political party or share the same political ideology?

[size=15pt]It will not be out of place to say that the Afenifere bond that joined all of them together suddenly cut due to avarice, greed, deceit, ambition and personal ego. [/size]Some pundits, however, noted that if it is true that Adebanjo and his co-travellers are not political beggars as Akande called them, how are they going to justify their tour of the South-West governors in 2008, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in control? This action, according to political observer, was a dignified way of saying ‘please don’t forget us’.

The Yoruba leaders will not forget in a hurry how they were humiliated in Osogbo, the Osun State capital when pebbles and sachets of water were pelted on them, though they were compensated in Ogun State where Otunba Gbenga Daniel warmly welcomed them as governor. Therefore, looking at the issue from this premise, Akande may be right; after all he was on a familiar terrain, but may be lacked the right language to use.

Akande raised a fundamental question of fake Awoist. But is it by putting a round pair of glasses and donning a round cap to match that qualifies somebody as an Awoist? Or the constant visit to Ikenne, the home of the late sage, to register once presence during one social occasion or the other, makes somebody an Awoist? Or by leaving each day as if it was the last in the service to humanity, no matter how little it may be qualifies one as Awoist?

These are the numerous questions which political pundits are asking. Prof. Adebayo Williams succinctly answered these questions in his lecture delivered at the 17th annual Obafemi Awolowo lecture on march 5, 2004 in Lagos, where he lamented that majority of the so-called Awoist have abandoned the tenets, principles and ideologies left behind by the late sage.

“I am sure if Chief Awolowo were to come back today, to see the trail of deserters, the thick pall of perfidy, the surging number of apostates who shout his name in vain, the estrangement among his true followers and the stark diminution in power and status of Afenifere, he would probably observe with great sadness and characteristic forthrightness.” The scenario painted by the renowned essayist is still relevant and germane till today.

The elders should go back to the drawing board and sort things out with all sincerity and sense of purpose, as time is not on their sides.

The cold war between the leaders of Yoruba started since 2003 when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) swept the South- West excluding Lagos. The governors produced by the PDP were not seen as being part of Afenifere. With the development, Afenifere could not speak in one voice again. But soon, some leaders of the group started romancing with the new PDP governors. Then crises set in Afenifere, especially about the leadership.

The group was factionalised. The crisis led to the formation of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG).

While Akande, former governor of Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu and others led one group, Fasoranti, Adebanjo, Falae and others lead the old Afenifere. Since then, the trio have not been in the camp of the ACN.

This explains the altercation with Akande over their political affinity.

http://nationalmirroronline.net/index.php/politics/48768.html

bashr8: The recent cold war among some Yoruba leaders has generated a public discourse. SINA FADARE in this report examines the contending issues. The political battle in Ondo State as regards who gets what by October 20, has knocked the head of leaders of Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, against each other. It was the former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande who fired the first salvo by calling the likes of Chiefs Reuben Fasoranti, Ayo Adebanjo and Olu Falae as political jobbers who are always pitching their tents where their bread is going to be buttered. Akande spoke on the premise of the recent endorsement of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, by the Afenifere leaders for a second term, when they attended Mimiko’s declaration in Akure. T[size=15pt]he former governor of Osun State said that the Yoruba leaders were mere political liabilities in any party they find themselves. According to him, their actions never came to him as a surprise because “the three of them are glorious political beggars who have lost relevance in the nation’s politics.” Not done yet, Akande who is the National Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), noted that Fasoranti, Adebanjo and Falae are always in Government Houses to beg for crumbs. “The so-called leaders are only looking for what they will eat[/size]. Of what relevance are they? They cannot point to any individual as their followers even in their home state,” he asserted. Akande pointed out that their bad luck and poor political antecedent crumbled Afenifere, the socio-cultural organisation of the Yoruba. He further referred to them as fake Awoists.



Since Akande has thrown pebbles into the camp of his political adversaries, it was not a surprise that missiles were equarly hurdled back at him for his “caustic tongue”. Reacting to Akande’s allegation, Adebanjo said that the former governor was an ingrate because he was the chairman of the party that made him governor in 1999.

Adebanjo lashed out at Akande for describing him (Adebanjo) as a fake Awoist, saying Akande was ignorant and ill-informed about Awoism.

Adebanjo noted that if Akande had confined his criticism on him as being an electoral liability, he would have ignored him, because he was too junior to him, but will not accept the label of a fake Awoist.

“I would have ignored him and would not have bothered to dignify his ignorant and ill informed statement which has become his singsong criticism of me without any response. The reason for this is simple. He is too junior to me politically for me to enter into political disputation with him. But when he opened his mouth so wide...

I believe Bisi Akande is indeed what the Yoruba will call, “Omo Atiro to lo da bata fun baba e oro lofe gbo” (literally means, the son of a lame father who thoughtlessly bought a pair of shoes for his father he needs to be reminded the physical position of his father),” Adebanjo said.

He pointed out that there were strong and notable Awoists who never contested elections, but lived their entire lives within the dictates and tenets of the philosophy of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, adding that he had no regret to have shared something in common with such people. While he likened Akande’s outbursts against their support for Mimiko to cheap blackmail and gratuitous insult, Adebanjo challenged the former governor to say what “crumbs” he collected from his table when he was governor.

“It is cheap blackmail and gratuitous insult for Akande to allege that our support for Mimiko was to collect crumbs from his table. Chief Akande should tell the whole world what crumbs I collected from his table when he was governor of Osun State and I was the chairman of the party. Such unguarded and irresponsible statement is least expected from somebody who is a chairman of a national party however figurative he may be holding the post,” he said.

If Adebanjo was full of anger on the pronouncement of Akande, Falae was embarrassed and could not hide his feeling when he noted that the former governor has penchant for rudeness and unguided statement.

The former joint presidential candidate of AD/ANPP in the 1999 election pointed out that Akande was a dreamer who probably did not know what he was talking about. He said: “What bad luck did he mean I brought to Alliance for Democracy (AD)? In Osun State where he contested the governorship in 1999, I scored more votes than he did. So, who brought better luck? “It is my prerogative and right to belong to a party of my choice and Akande is also free to belong to a party of his choice. He is in the ACN; have you ever heard me criticise him for doing so?

Why is he criticising me now for belonging to a party of my choice and the party collaborating to support a particular candidate, just as the AD did with the All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999?” The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) further pointed out that “there is no sense in what Akande was saying at all.

It is just out of bitterness; he has a penchant for rudeness and I don’t want to take him on. I am an elder statesman and all he has said are empty and meaningless.” However, Akande’s outburst raised some fundamental questions, is it true that the people he attacked are really beggars and political liabilities?

How can one refer to a former Minister of Finance and SGF as a beggar? Is Adebanjo who had made his name in property law over 40 years still a beggar? How about Fasoranti who was commissioner in the old Ondo State in the Second Republic? Political pundits believe that it is out of place for Akande to describe these elder statesmen who had traversed the political turf of the country in the last five decades as beggars.

Could Akande still remember that the same Adebanjo he referred to as a non-issue in the political turf was the chairman of AD and one of those who screened him before he was considered as the gubernatorial candidate of AD and eventually the governor of Osun-State in 2003? Perhaps the big question which political observers are asking Akande is: When has it become a crime that somebody joins the party of his choice and where he goes or who he supports at any point in time? Also, is it mandatory for everybody to belong to the same political party or share the same political ideology?

[size=15pt]It will not be out of place to say that the Afenifere bond that joined all of them together suddenly cut due to avarice, greed, deceit, ambition and personal ego. [/size]Some pundits, however, noted that if it is true that Adebanjo and his co-travellers are not political beggars as Akande called them, how are they going to justify their tour of the South-West governors in 2008, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in control? This action, according to political observer, was a dignified way of saying ‘please don’t forget us’.

The Yoruba leaders will not forget in a hurry how they were humiliated in Osogbo, the Osun State capital when pebbles and sachets of water were pelted on them, though they were compensated in Ogun State where Otunba Gbenga Daniel warmly welcomed them as governor. Therefore, looking at the issue from this premise, Akande may be right; after all he was on a familiar terrain, but may be lacked the right language to use.

Akande raised a fundamental question of fake Awoist. But is it by putting a round pair of glasses and donning a round cap to match that qualifies somebody as an Awoist? Or the constant visit to Ikenne, the home of the late sage, to register once presence during one social occasion or the other, makes somebody an Awoist? Or by leaving each day as if it was the last in the service to humanity, no matter how little it may be qualifies one as Awoist?

These are the numerous questions which political pundits are asking. Prof. Adebayo Williams succinctly answered these questions in his lecture delivered at the 17th annual Obafemi Awolowo lecture on march 5, 2004 in Lagos, where he lamented that majority of the so-called Awoist have abandoned the tenets, principles and ideologies left behind by the late sage.

“I am sure if Chief Awolowo were to come back today, to see the trail of deserters, the thick pall of perfidy, the surging number of apostates who shout his name in vain, the estrangement among his true followers and the stark diminution in power and status of Afenifere, he would probably observe with great sadness and characteristic forthrightness.” The scenario painted by the renowned essayist is still relevant and germane till today.

The elders should go back to the drawing board and sort things out with all sincerity and sense of purpose, as time is not on their sides.

The cold war between the leaders of Yoruba started since 2003 when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) swept the South- West excluding Lagos. The governors produced by the PDP were not seen as being part of Afenifere. With the development, Afenifere could not speak in one voice again. But soon, some leaders of the group started romancing with the new PDP governors. Then crises set in Afenifere, especially about the leadership.

The group was factionalised. The crisis led to the formation of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG).

While Akande, former governor of Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu and others led one group, Fasoranti, Adebanjo, Falae and others lead the old Afenifere. Since then, the trio have not been in the camp of the ACN.

This explains the altercation with Akande over their political affinity.

http://nationalmirroronline.net/index.php/politics/48768.html

Hehehehe, treachery and backstabbing is the typical Yoruba man's nature.

cjrane:


Hehehehe, treachery and backstabbing is the typical Yoruba man's nature.

dont mind them , they will be the first to shout that others are not united.

you. can see that you are an ant looking for attention. nobody have time for you.

demmie1: you. can see that you are an ant looking for attention. nobody have time for you.

hmmmmmmmmm !

bashr8 abeg take it easy o !!! I understand your anger

SMH... TREACHERY..


YOROBBERS ARE THE PROBLEM WITH NIGERIA - Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

abeg add more petrol for fire let it burn

Tinubu, Jagaban Borgu, una well done sir.

what is preventing Yorubas tearing each other into pieces is One Nigeria, that the reason why they want one Nigeria good or bad.

Na wa oh! Absolutely no comment.