ola olabiy:

katsumoto,
be more objective, please.
university of ife was built dring akintola's term. a plaque erected to celebrate him has now been removed at the said uni. who did that? also, you need to undertand what politics is all about. it is not a clean game (no game is ever clean). in politics, no permanent friendship, but permanent interest. i am baba awo's fan. i see awo as a technocrat with a discerning mind. but, akintola was great too. where you have great minds, there could be ensuing unrest.
be informed that akintola was, may be, the best orator western nigeria ever produced.
just accord him that 'bit' of respect that he deserves.
got me drift?

Try to focus on the argument and leave distractions to the side. The point of the thread is to ascertain why and how Akintola betrayed Awo, AG, and Yoruba people. I have provided a a concise chronology of events which culminated in Akintola's expulsion from the AG and his subsequent collabo with Balewa and Bello. Instead you are talking about Akintola being the best orator the west has ever produced. Akintola was elected premier in 1959 and took his position in 1960. Do you think that he conceptualised OAU in 1960 and opened the university in 1962? The vision for OAU started with Awo, it was only opened during Akintola's tenure.

My post was objective because it detailed actions from principal actors of the era. You either concede to my argument or you provide a counter-argument with proof and stop shifting the goal-post.

Something else for you to think about. Awo believed that either Zik or himself should be PM because they were both clearly more educated than Bello and Balewa. Awo went to see Zik and offered to be finance minister with Zik as PM. While they were discussing, Zik got a call from Bello and said that Awo sent Akintola and Rosiji(the same band of brothers who would be expelled from the AG) to him to offer the same position. Zik then passed the phone to Awo and was shocked to hear Akintola's voice. According to Ralph Uwechue, Awo's face dropped from shock. The shock was either from being caught out or from Akintola's betrayal. I go for betrayal because the whole episode seemed like a set-up. Why would Bello call Zik to tell Zik about Awo's offer at the same time that Awo was in Zik's house if not that Bello knew that Awo was going to be there? Why did Bello not call Awo to confirm whether the offer was true or not?

OAM4J:

Interesting. Have had bit and pieces of this story before, but not well synchronized as you have done. Are you an historian?

Also what do you know about the coca-cola deal? heard it was part of the rift between the two.

I am not a historian; I just love history, politics, and conflict.
The coca-cola deal has always been a rumour started by mischievous people. Just like there was a rumour that Akintola was so jazzed up with charms that they couldn't kill him. They had to wait for him to attend a naming ceremony as native charms are forbidden at naming ceremonies. Rumour has it that he attended the naming ceremony without his charms and was forced to swallow poison which killed him. But we all know Akintola was killed by Capt Nwobosi in Jany 66.

tpiah:



rather a general statement.

i'd say maybe hated by some factions in the west.

adedibu for example [doesnt mean i'm a fan of his]- the whole of ibadan almost shut down for his funeral.

but maybe in that time frame sha, you could be right.

I meant outside of oyo state. Progressives from Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos have tended to avoid the Oyo politicians who tend to always align with the North. Try mentioning Adedibu, Akinloye, Akinjide, Arisekola anywhere outside Oyo and you will get a negative reaction. Contrast that with the respect for Adeniran Ogunsanya even though he was a Zik stalwart for many years.

DayoKanu

Still waiting; this is your thread. 

Katsumoto:

I meant outside of oyo state. Progressives from Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos have tended to avoid the Oyo politicians who tend to always align with the North. Try mentioning Adedibu, Akinloye, Akinjide, Arisekola anywhere outside Oyo and you will get a negative reaction.

well maybe- i'm not sure.

[s]at the end of the day, its all about money.[/s]

With all you have said,

I do not think Chief Akintola did something all that untoward. He was Premier. The buck stops on his table, and he should take responsibilities for the failure or otherwise of his actions. One would not expect him to take orders from Chief Awo even when he became premier. The whole thing should have been sorted out in an election. But nobody had the patience to wait. It is noteworthy that Chief Akintola never had any issues with Chief Awolowo before he became the premier. In other words, Chief Akintola was a loyal deputy.

Chief Awolowo's ambition caused all the problem. Infact it caused the problem of Nigeria as it is now. And it was a noble ambition. But once he lost out at the federal level, he should have laid low. You wont expect a full grown politician like Chief Akintola to kow tow when he is in charge. Many of the AG programmes like the building of the university in Ile Ife was undertaken under his watch. But they were AG programmes and Chief Awo chaired many of the committees.

I am sure Chief Awolowo himself can not come out and say Chief Akintola did anything wrong in principle

[size=14pt]If at all, if we are talking of men who stood their ground from the beginning to the end the Akinloye's, Kola Balogun's and the Adelabu's of this world are men who one should shower with encomiuims. These men where against Awolowo from time memorial and died never in anyway agreeing with him OR jumping ship and joining him in any way or manner.

Akintola on the hand was a political love-peddler and an opportunist, I would not like to have such as a friend because when the tide turns against me he would jump ship and jump ship he did[/size]. 

The Ibadan Peoples Party (IPP) was established on June 15, 1951, by a group of eminent Ibadan indigenes who opposed the politics of tribalism and personality, which held sway in the Yorùbá dominated Western Region, Nigeria in the 1950s. Its founding chairman was Chief Augustus Akinloye, and the other founders were; Chief Adegoke Adelabu, Chief Kola Balogun, Chief T.O.S Benson, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya and Chief H.O. Davies. The other leaders of the IPP were: Chief S. A. Akinyemi, Chief S. O. Lanlehin, Chief Moyo Aboderin, Chief Samuel Lana, HRH Chief D. T. Akinbiyi, Chief S. Ajunwon, Chief S. Aderonmu, Chief R. S. Baoku, Chief Akin Allen and Chief Akinniyi Olunloyo

Interested in this topic, but posting from phone, can't post long.
I think we Yoruba are being unfair with this man. He should command the same respect with Awolowo. Due to the blind loyalty of our fathers and grandfathers to Awo, when the misunderstanding btw Awo and SLA broke out in 1963, SLA was portrayed as a traitor, and demonized. My Dad was also a core Awoist and I grew up hearing all sorts of tale about how SLA betrayed Awo, and grew up hating SLA myself. But a dispassionate study of pre-independence and first republic politics convinced me that SLA was not as bad as portrayed and Awo not as saintly as we are being told. The story of Akintola conniving with the northerners was exaggerated. With due respect to Awo, especially as he is to me the most visionary leader in Nigeria's history, selfishness was his bane.
He wanted to eat his cake and have it. In the north, Ahmadu Bello sent Tafawa Balewa to the centre while he remained the regional leader. Awo left regional premiership for his deputy, SLA, went to seek power at the centre but lost out, now he wanted his premiership back, leading to the 1963 political unrest in the 'wild,wild west', there was mass violence, arson, war songs, etc, and since Awo was more respected and had larger followership, public opinion and sympathy were in his favour,and SLA seen as a traitor, a belief that has been successfully transferred up to this generation.
In fact some of the visionary projects known today as Awo's legacy, like Unife,Cocoa House, first TV station in Africa etc were Akintola's ideas, according to some people, I don't know how true that is.
My main point is SLA deserves equal respoect in Yorubaland like Awo.

Jarus:

Interested in this topic, but posting from phone, can't post long.
I think we Yoruba are being unfair with this man. He should command the same respect with Awolowo. Due to the blind loyalty of our fathers and grandfathers to Awo, when the misunderstanding btw Awo and SLA broke out in 1963, SLA was portrayed as a traitor, and demonized. My Dad was also a core Awoist and I grew up hearing all sorts of tale about how SLA betrayed Awo, and grew up hating SLA myself. But a dispassionate study of pre-independence and first republic politics convinced me that SLA was not as bad as portrayed and Awo not as saintly as we are being told. The story of Akintola conniving with the northerners was exaggerated. With due respect to Awo, especially as he is to me the most visionary leader in Nigeria's history, selfishness was his bane.
He wanted to eat his cake and have it. In the north, Ahmadu Bello sent Tafawa Balewa to the centre while he remained the regional leader. Awo left regional premiership for his deputy, SLA, went to seek power at the centre but lost out, now he wanted his premiership back, leading to the 1963 political unrest in the 'wild,wild west', there was mass violence, arson, war songs, etc, and since Awo was more respected and had larger followership, public opinion and sympathy were in his favour,and SLA seen as a traitor, a belief that has been successfully transferred up to this generation.
In fact some of the visionary projects known today as Awo's legacy, like Unife,Cocoa House, first TV station in Africa etc were Akintola's ideas, according to some people, I don't know how true that is.
My main point is SLA deserves equal respoect in Yorubaland like Awo.

Well done Jarus. But your father's loyalty would not have been with Awo nor Akintola, because they represented the West.

Jarus:

Interested in this topic, but posting from phone, can't post long.
I think we Yoruba are being unfair with this man. He should command the same respect with Awolowo. Due to the blind loyalty of our fathers and grandfathers to Awo, when the misunderstanding btw Awo and SLA broke out in 1963, SLA was portrayed as a traitor, and demonized. My Dad was also a core Awoist and I grew up hearing all sorts of tale about how SLA betrayed Awo, and grew up hating SLA myself. But a dispassionate study of pre-independence and first republic politics convinced me that SLA was not as bad as portrayed and Awo not as saintly as we are being told. The story of Akintola conniving with the northerners was exaggerated. With due respect to Awo, especially as he is to me the most visionary leader in Nigeria's history, selfishness was his bane.
He wanted to eat his cake and have it. In the north, Ahmadu Bello sent Tafawa Balewa to the centre while he remained the regional leader. Awo left regional premiership for his deputy, SLA, went to seek power at the centre but lost out, now he wanted his premiership back, leading to the 1963 political unrest in the 'wild,wild west', there was mass violence, arson, war songs, etc, and since Awo was more respected and had larger followership, public opinion and sympathy were in his favour,and SLA seen as a traitor, a belief that has been successfully transferred up to this generation.
In fact some of the visionary projects known today as Awo's legacy, like Unife,Cocoa House, first TV station in Africa etc were Akintola's ideas, according to some people, I don't know how true that is.
My main point is SLA deserves equal respoect in Yorubaland like Awo.

Your post is inaccurate in many instances. For one, the decision for Awo to go to the Federal House as the leader of the opposition was after the elctions had been held. That decision was made by the AG leadership and not Awo. Secondly, after Akintola was relieved of his position, why was Awo not made premier? Why was it Adegbenro that was made Premier? The decision to expel Akintola and Rosiji was as a result of Akintola not following party politics and ideology. At the end of the day, Akintola was expelled for his anti-party actions and he subsequently teamed up with the Northerners. Whatever he may have achieved initially, he undid with causing the impasse and destruction in 62, 63.

Akintola can never command the same kind of respect as Awo. Why don't you tell us what Akintola achieved? Awo was leader and the plaudits for success were his just in the same way he would have been blamed if he failed. Why did Balewa not put himself ahead of Bello even though Balewa was PM and Bello was regional head. Why did Okpara not ignore party ideology afterall, he was Eastern premier and Zik was holding a redundant position? I will tell you why; because they understand the grand scheme of things in the 60s. Akintola was the only one who tried to outsmart his leader and party elders. If Akintola put his party and region ahead of his own personal ambition, others would have seen it and commended him for it. The fact that only a handful of party faithfuls followed him to NNDP plus the fact that all those that followed him remained irrelevant in Yorubaland is attestation to their popularity. Rosiji, Fani-kayode, Adedibu, were irrelevant for years. Adedibu would later become a strong man in Ibadan but his power was limited to Ibadan. When individuals such as Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya, Ige, Ayo Adebanjo, etc would be relevant and reverred for years, Akintola followers such as Akinloye, Olunloyo, Akinjide would become political lepers, being even shunned by the North that they worked with.

When Akintola was killed in Jan 66, how many yoruba people shed tears for him? Akintola was so 'loved' in the west that he required the help of Bello and Balewa to rule the region. He also required their help to rig the 1965 elections.

This thread is really interesting, i am really learning a lot, please keep it up.

Akintola on the hand was a political love-peddler and an opportunist, I would not like to have such as a friend because when the tide turns against me he would jump ship and jump ship he did.

This doesnt make sense at all can you expatiate and relate this to Akintola's actions "jump ship" how? opportunist how? Love peddler How?

How was Akintola an opportunist in a party he was leader and Premier?

If anything, Akintola followed all the rules, when he had any problem he went to the court to seek redress as a well learned man. Theother side resorted to wetie, violence and arson

Jarus:

Interested in this topic, but posting from phone, can't post long.
I think we Yoruba are being unfair with this man. He should command the same respect with Awolowo. Due to the blind loyalty of our fathers and grandfathers to Awo, when the misunderstanding btw Awo and SLA broke out in 1963, SLA was portrayed as a traitor, and demonized. My Dad was also a core Awoist and I grew up hearing all sorts of tale about how SLA betrayed Awo, and grew up hating SLA myself. But a dispassionate study of pre-independence and first republic politics convinced me that SLA was not as bad as portrayed and Awo not as saintly as we are being told. The story of Akintola conniving with the northerners was exaggerated. With due respect to Awo, especially as he is to me the most visionary leader in Nigeria's history, selfishness was his bane.
He wanted to eat his cake and have it. In the north, Ahmadu Bello sent Tafawa Balewa to the centre while he remained the regional leader. Awo left regional premiership for his deputy, SLA, went to seek power at the centre but lost out, now he wanted his premiership back, leading to the 1963 political unrest in the 'wild,wild west', there was mass violence, arson, war songs, etc, and since Awo was more respected and had larger followership, public opinion and sympathy were in his favour,and SLA seen as a traitor, a belief that has been successfully transferred up to this generation.
In fact some of the visionary projects known today as Awo's legacy, like Unife,Cocoa House, first TV station in Africa etc were Akintola's ideas, according to some people, I don't know how true that is.
My main point is SLA deserves equal respoect in Yorubaland like Awo.

Spot on Jarus.

Ahmadu Bello held forte in the Northern region and sent his servant Tafawa to the Federal level, Awolowo chew the bait and went to battle with someone who was inferior to Bello just because he wanted to rule.

The point against Akintola was that he didnt step down for Awolowo when Awo lost in Lagos.

Ati ti oje bo olosa lowo, O ku baba eni to yoo bo.

dayokanu:

Spot on Jarus.

Ahmadu Bello held forte in the Northern region and sent his servant Tafawa to the Federal level, Awolowo chew the bait and went to battle with someone who was inferior to Bello just because he wanted to rule.

The point against Akintola was that he didnt step down for Awolowo when Awo lost in Lagos.

Ati ti oje bo olosa lowo, O ku baba eni to yoo bo.

Lets leave fairy tales aside for now. After Akintola was sacked by Aderemi why was Adegbenro elected Premier instead of Awo if what you state is true?

Another point is that Akintola was a person who believed in the rule of law.

He sought redress in the court time and again and he won while the Awo faction resorted to war and riots (wetie) I guess this was where Adedibu learnt his trade.

Its on record that Awo because of his overwhelming desire to rule was aligning with the Ghanaian people to attack the country and he was jailed for it. Whether its true or trumped up, The case remained till date.

The Akintola group went to court which is the right channel and won while the Awo group went on the streets employing people like Adedibu to wetie

dayokanu:

Another point is that Akintola was a person who believed in the rule of law.

He sought redress in the court time and again and he won while the Awo faction resorted to war and riots (wetie) I guess this was where Adedibu learnt his trade.

Its on record that Awo because of his overwhelming desire to rule was aligning with the Ghanaian people to attack the country and he was jailed for it. Whether its true or trumped up, The case remained till date.

The Akintola group went to court which is the right channel and won while the Awo group went on the streets employing people like Adedibu to wetie

A proper review of history shows that it was the masses that revolted against an unpopular government which had foisted itself in power by causing misfortune to a person who commanded cult-like followership. The same courage we lack these days to take our destiny in our hands and rid ourselves of visionless governance.

Secondly, on the case of alignment with people to overthrow the government, the subsequent withdrawal of the Eastern government under Okpara and its reversal support of the Action Group after a realization of its misguided belief in the plot should shed more than enough light on the veracity of such a plot. In my opinion, even if such a plot existed and succeeded in giving us a Rawlings-style cleansing, Nigeria would have definitely been a better place.

While not holding forte for any of them, I would have thought a discussion on the policies that they implemented in those days as well as the level of governance which they showed to make the Western Region a place of pride, which we all hallucinate about, would serve a better purpose than digging up ghosts.

dayokanu:

Another point is that Akintola was a person who believed in the rule of law.

He sought redress in the court time and again and he won while the Awo faction resorted to war and riots (wetie) I guess this was where Adedibu learnt his trade.

Its on record that Awo because of his overwhelming desire to rule was aligning with the Ghanaian people to attack the country and he was jailed for it. Whether its true or trumped up, The case remained till date.

The Akintola group went to court which is the right channel and won while the Awo group went on the streets employing people like Adedibu to wetie

Again, your argument shows you are not too informed about the episode. Adedibu was a leuitenant of Akintola. Secondly, Akintola won in court after Rotimi Williams had been barred from representing Sir Adesoji Aderemi. Why was Rotimi Williams, the finest lawyer of any generation prevented from arguing the case for the AG. Yes Akintola believed in the rule of law after aligning with Balewa and Bello who ensured that the result went his way with Awo in prison. Are you from Oyo state? Cos it sounds like you are biased.

If you believe that Awo was aligning with Ghana to attack Nigeria, then you will believe anything. Operation wettie symbolised the people's displeasure with being put under the control of someone who appointed by Balewa.

Andre Uweh:

Well done Jarus. But your father's loyalty would not have been with Awo nor Akintola, because they represented the West.

I guess what you meant here was that being from Kwara, classified as North then and till today, my parents would not have had loyalty with Western leaders of Awo and SLA.

Well, from first republic till today, my Offa(Kwara south) people have always identified with teh West. In the first republic, they went for AG, making them minority in NPC-controlled Northern region. In fact the leader of opposition in northern parliament was from my hometown(the late J.S Olawoyin, a die-hard disciple of Awo that was also imprisoned with Awo aftermath of the 1962/63 crisis). In the 2nd republic, they went for UPN, making them minority again in NPN-controlled Kwara state. In 1999, my people voted for AD in an APP-controlled Kwara. It was not until 2003 when PDP swept SW that my LG also lost its opposition bend.

So my people actually know more about Awo than Sardauna. My father was not left out, a core Awoist he is.

Katsumoto:

Again, your argument shows you are not too informed about the episode. Adedibu was a leuitenant of Akintola.

How can Adedibu a member of the AG be a lieutenant of Akintola in the NNDP? Is this part of the demonise Akintola propaganda? While Akintola was alive, Adedibu was never a member of NNDP.

Secondly, Akintola won in court after Rotimi Williams had been barred from representing Sir Adesoji Aderemi. Why was Rotimi Williams, the finest lawyer of any generation prevented from arguing the case for the AG. Yes Akintola believed in the rule of law after aligning with Balewa and Bello who ensured that the result went his way with Awo in prison.

Rotimi Williams was barred from court for what reason? definitely there is a legal explanation for it. If Rotimi Williams was barred he as a lawyer should seek redress in court instead of the AG instigating their Adedibu supporters to "wetie"

Are you from Oyo state? Cos it sounds like you are biased.

I am from Oyo State. And point to any of my statements that biased.

If you believe that Awo was aligning with Ghana to attack Nigeria, then you will believe anything. Operation wettie symbolised the people's displeasure with being put under the control of someone who appointed by Balewa.

Balewa appointed Akintola? I thought he was made premier by the AG and when he had problems within the party sought redress from the court and won

So was balewa the leader of the AG who made him Premier or Balewa was the Judge who gave a decision in his favour.

A.G thugs carried out what can be termed as the will of the upper echelon. Akintola never encouraged any of such.

In the cross carpetting issue, why didnt the Akintola led A.G tell people to go wettie of NCNC members? Rather they sought a constitutional way of getting the upper hand instead of Arson that the party resorted to after Akintola left it.

To further show you where Adedibu learn his trade of thuggery from

A masked A.G supporter was said to have taken over a radio station at gun point when the Premier S.L Akintola was to give a speech and given the reporters his own tapes to play.

That definitely where the thuggery of Adedibu and co had their roots

While Akintola was following the rule of law to the letter, the other side was breaking it everyday

dayokanu:

How can Adedibu a member of the AG be a lieutenant of Akintola in the NNDP? Is this part of the demonise Akintola propaganda? While Akintola was alive, Adedibu was never a member of NNDP.

Rotimi Williams was barred from court for what reason? definitely there is a legal explanation for it. If Rotimi Williams was barred he as a lawyer should seek redress in court instead of the AG instigating their Adedibu supporters to "wetie"

I am from Oyo State. And point to any of my statements that biased.
Balewa appointed Akintola? I thought he was made premier by the AG and when he had problems within the party sought redress from the court and won

So was balewa the leader of the AG who made him Premier or Balewa was the Judge who gave a decision in his favour.

A.G thugs carried out what can be termed as the will of the upper echelon. Akintola never encouraged any of such.

In the cross carpetting issue, why didnt the Akintola led A.G tell people to go wettie of NCNC members? Rather they sought a constitutional way of getting the upper hand instead of Arson that the party resorted to after Akintola left it.

The cross-carpeting issue happened in 1951, well before Akintola was Premier. Besides, Akintola was never leader of the AG. Its obvious that you are not too conversant with the events of that era.

After Akintola was sacked by Sir Aderemi and Adegbenro appointed, Akintola called Balewa. A state of emergency was declared, Adegbenro was sacked as premier and Aderemi was sacked as governor and Dr Majekodunmi was appointed as administrator. Awo was then sent to prison on trumped up charges. Akintola subsequently won the case in court.

Please stop being naive about this issue. The NPC controlled govt did everything possible to hold onto power. The cencus in 62 was so flawed that it was cancelled. The election in 1965 was equally rigged in Akintola's favour.

Katsumoto:

The cross-carpeting issue happened in 1951, well before Akintola was Premier. Besides, Akintola was never leader of the AG. Its obvious that you are not too conversant with the events of that era.

After Akintola was sacked by Sir Aderemi and Adegbenro appointed, Akintola called Balewa. A state of emergency was declared, Adegbenro was sacked as premier and Aderemi was sacked as governor and Dr Majekodunmi was appointed as administrator. Awo was then sent to prison on trumped up charges. Akintola subsequently won the case in court.

Please stop being naive about this issue. The NPC controlled govt did everything possible to hold onto power. The cencus in 62 was so flawed that it was cancelled. The election in 1965 was equally rigged in Akintola's favour.

That is the main point, Akintola won in court. He followed legal and lawful recourse whenever any issue arose while Awo and co resorted to violence and civil disturbance with the help of Adedibu and co

??

You Yoruba men are now having a healthy debate about you past history without any Igbo poster interrupting you folks. But whenever any thread
that relates to Igbos is opened in this forum, you tribalists will jump in and derail the discussion.


Atleast, I have learnt something in this thread - that Akintola wasnt as bad as he is being portrayed in the popular media. It is now obvious that Awolowo was the real traitor.

subscribing to thread

This post is being used to malign the person of Chief Awolowo, Akintola was a political heavyweight not doubt, but he was too ambitious. We can now with the benefit of hindsight determine who had the interest of the Yorubas at heart. The alignment of core Oyo politicians ( I am an Ibadan man) with the North has not reaped any benefit for us, inasmuch as it is good to form alliances, those alliances should be formed on the basis of equality rather than Master - Servant relationship that Akintola had with the Balewa government. For people to understand the opposition of the Yoruba people to Akintola, we need to go back in history to how Ilorin was lost and how the efforts to get the city back was frustrated by enemies within ( a lot of the commanders that fought on the side of mallam alimi were strong yoruba warriors), Akintola cosying up to the Balewa Government in order to frustrate Awo had parallels with the Afonja (An are for that matter) betraying his overlord (the alaafin) leading to the loss of Ilorin.
Katsumoto raised a point (more a suggestion though) about Akintola leading a delegation to Balewa or is it the Sardauna without Awo's knowledge, if that is true, he should have been expelled from the party a long time ago.

hercules07:

This post is being used to malign the person of Chief Awolowo, Akintola was a political heavyweight not doubt, but he was too ambitious. [b]We can now with the benefit of hindsight determine who had the interest of the Yorubas at heart. The alignment of core Oyo politicians ( I am an Ibadan man) with the North has not reaped any benefit for us, inasmuch as it is good to form alliances, those alliances should be formed on the basis of equality rather than Master - Servant relationship that Akintola had with the Balewa government. [/b]For people to understand the opposition of the Yoruba people to Akintola, we need to go back in history to how Ilorin was lost and how the efforts to get the city back was frustrated by enemies within ( a lot of the commanders that fought on the side of mallam alimi were strong yoruba warriors), Akintola cosying up to the Balewa Government in order to frustrate Awo had parallels with the Afonja (An are for that matter) betraying his overlord (the alaafin) leading to the loss of Ilorin.
Katsumoto raised a point (more a suggestion though) about Akintola leading a delegation to Balewa or is it the Sardauna without Awo's knowledge, if that is true, he should have been expelled from the party a long time ago.

Thank you, that is the point I am trying to make. Regardless of whatever position Akintola may have had within the AG, at the end of the day he switched sides and gave his loyalty to Balewa and Bello when he was relieved of his position. If he loved his people, he should have accepted his fate. Instead he dined with the Northerners while the West was burning. That was unbecoming of a man whose title was Aare ona kakanfo. In the old days, an aare would have committed suicide at becoming unpopular with the people. Like you stated, his betrayal is akin to Afonja's betrayal of Alaafin Aole in 1817.

Those who argue for Akintola delibrately ignore his actions which led to his expulsion from the party and his subsequent re-alignment with the North after he had been rejected by the people in the West.

MetalGong3:

You Yoruba men are now having a healthy debate about you past history without any Igbo poster interrupting you folks. But whenever any thread
that relates to Igbos is opened in this forum, you tribalists will jump in and derail the discussion.


Atleast, I have learnt something in this thread - that Akintola wasnt as bad as he is being portrayed in the popular media. It is now obvious that Awolowo was the real traitor.

In your haste to attack Awolowo, you didn't permit your brain to conduct proper analysis. Did you miss the post below? Can you find the guilt for Awo below? Or when did the people revolting against being forced to be led by a man (Akintola) that they hated equal to Awo being a traitor. If Awo was a traitor, why is he still so reverred in the West? Understandly some Biafrans may hate the man, but those in the West love the man. Just like we can't tell you who your heroes are, you can't tell Yoruba people who their heroes should be. If you disagree and insist Awo was a traitor, feel free to post your proof.

Quote from: Katsumoto on July 31, 2010, 10:29 AM
Awolowo was the leader of the Action Group and was premier of the western region. In 59, the AG asked him to go to the federal house of representatives, he duly obliged and switched positions with Akintola. As leader of the party, it was Awo's right to provide direction of the party but as soon as Akintola became premier, he started doing things his own way rather than follow the party's directives.

1. In the Economic mission trip of 1961 to Europe, Akintola changed the party representatives and took his own men. Awolowo looked the other way so as not to have a confrontation.
2. Then came the renewal of board appointments in the Western region. Again Akintola replaced all of them with his own loyalists. Again Awo looked the other way to avoid a confrontation. Akintola was clearly trying to turn the party into his own.
3. Akintola tried to increase the contribution of locals to secondary schools which Awo resisted. Akintola was lamblasted by the press for trying to do that.
4. Then Akintola tried to get the party to drop its ideology of democratic socialism. He wasn't happy with the idea of the Western govt bank-rolling many projects.
5. Akintola and Ayo Rosiji (National secretary of AG) were stripped of their positions at the AG annual convention in Jos in 1962. Awo subsequently asks Akintola to resign his position at a meeting with the leaders of the western region and mid-western. Akintola writes to Sir Adesoji Aderemi (Governor) of the region and to the speaker of the region's House of Assembly calling for the dissolution of the House and
for an emergency meeting of the House to test his popularity; but is ignored.
6. The AG parliementary body elects Soroye Adegbenro as the new premier of the region. Akintola calls on Balewa to sack Adegbenro. Governor states that Akintola had been sacked while Akintola states that he sacked the Governor. Akintola, consequently goes to Ibadan high court to restrain Aderemi from sacking him.
7. There was a riot in the Western House of Assembly in May 1962 caused by Akintola and his suporters; Adedibu makes his entrance as a thug. Akintola and Ayo Rosiji are expelled from the party subsequently.
8. Akintola's new pals, Balewa and Bello, declare a state of emergency in the west and dissolve the western house and sack Adegbenro and Sir Aderemi. Akintola subsequently wins his lawsuit and returns as premier in 1963. He wins his lawsuit as Law luminary, Rotimi Williams, is barred by a petition raised by Akintola, from representing Sir Aderemi.
9. With Awo in prison due to trumped up charges, Akintola forms a new party, NNDP with Ayo Rosiji and recruits a few NCNC heavyweights such as Akinjide, Akinloye, TOS Benson. NNDP then aligns with NPC and rigs the election in 1965.

That was also the genesis of Oyo politicians always teaming up with Northerners in subsequent elections. Little wonder why Akintola, Akinjide, Akinloye, Adedibu are hated in the West while Awo is still reverred today by all.

I am not saying it was all Akintola's fault. Awo had some minor faults as well. For instance, Awo in a show of strength, visited the Oshun division which happens to be Akintola's homebase against advice from AG leaders such as Rotimi Williams. But the fact still remains that it is only an unpopular man that will require the help of outsiders to be able to govern his house. Akintola lost out in the West because the people did not want his leadership or direction.

i dont really see why akintola is demonized to such a great extent by some parties.

imo, he didnt do anything which hasnt been done before.

case in point: kwara.

another case in point: obj.

this issue of having the interest of yorubas at heart is very ambiguous, since yorubas arent known to act as one.

some yoruba leaders align with the north, others align with the east.

what makes one better than the other?

tpiah:

i dont really see why akintola is demonized to such a great extent by some parties.

imo, he didnt do anything which hasnt been done before.

case in point: kwara.

another case in point: obj.

this issue of having the interest of yorubas at heart is very ambiguous, since yorubas arent known to act as one.

some yoruba leaders align with the north, others align with the east.

what makes one better than the other?

It could be because Yoruba (Oyo) leaders who align with the North always use the North to rig elections in the West; Case in point Olunloyo, Akintola, Omoboriowo. Those actions usually lead to unrest because the poupulace usually reject the notion of being ruled by subservient Northern proxies; case in point the wild wild west in 62 and Oluloyo (oyo 83) and Omoboriowo (ondo 83). Whereas TOS Benson and Adeniran Ogunsanya who aligned with Zik in the East did not try to force their candidates on the West. Let us consider all the wholesome facts.

The west never tried to influence the election of Bello/Balewa in the North or Zik/Okpara in the East, so why should it stand by and watch as stooges are selected by Northern feudal lords to rule over it.

I agree more with dayokanu's analysis than katsumotos. I am from Oyo state, I don't know too much about Akintola but I know just enough about Awo. He did a lot of great things for the West but we are thankful he never became PM/President. No, not to smear him, but he was not a saint.
And katsumoto, you keep repeating that he was asked by his party to contest at the federal levee. What history books are you reading? Please be a little more objective. Do you even know Awolowo, is he someone that would do that just because his party asked him to? He was ambitious, perharps we can all agree on that, not that ambition is a bad thing but please don't insult his memory by painting him as 'sodo' or 'mugu'

ayinba1:

I agree more with dayokanu's analysis than katsumotos. I am from Oyo state, I don't know too much about Akintola but I know just enough about Awo. He did a lot of great things for the West but we are thankful he never became PM/President. No, not to smear him, but he was not a saint.
And katsumoto, you keep repeating that he was asked by his party to contest at the federal levee. What history books are you reading? Please be a little more objective. Do you even know Awolowo, is he someone that would do that just because his party asked him to? He was ambitious, perharps we can all agree on that, not that ambition is a bad thing but please don't insult his memory by painting him as 'sodo' or 'mugu'

The discussion is about Akintola, you are not conversant his with history. You claim to know something about Awo, yet you start your argument by attacking someone else without proper proof. See below; I await your response.

Crisis in Western Nigeria

Prior to independence, he was persuaded by prominent members of the Action Group to lead the party as Leader of the Opposition at the Federal Parliament, leaving Samuel Ladoke Akintola as the Western Region Premier. Serious disagreement between the Awolowo and Akintola on how to run the western region led the latter to an alliance with the Tafawa Balewa led NPC federal government. A contrived constitutional crisis led to a declaration of a state of emergency in the Western Region, after an election which Awolowo claimed Akintola and his new coalition had lost, but rigged the result of. Revolt began with the Agbekoya attacking all known Akintola sympathisers in what became known in Nigeria political lore as "wetie"(wet it with kerosine/petrol so that it can be set ablaze).

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Obafemi_Awolowo