Pa Reuben Fasoranti and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently visited the leadership of Afenifere in Akure. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, who witnessed the visit, x-rays the meeting and its implications considering the gathering storm against Buhari’s re-election bid.
The recent visit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the residence of the leader of the pan Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti has been eliciting and drawing reactions and counter- reactions from politicians, political analysts and the general public.
However, they all came to the conclusion that the visit signified a new political rapprochement, alignment and part of build up to the 2019 general election, as Obasanjo’s to the leadership of Afenifere after some 20 years of not according the group their deserved recognition as a leading voice and force for the Yoruba nation, echoed the collapsing of dividing walls, while sworn enemies sheathe swords to unite against President Buhari’s second term ambition.
Obasanjo during the short meeting which lasted less than 30 minutes saw Afenifere as an ally in the process of repositioning the country, noting that while Afenifere has been in the forefront of fighting for the interest of the Yoruba nation, he was working in the interest of the country as a whole. Obasanjo, however, said their paths crossed as they were seen to be working towards the same goals of fostering unity between their people but on a different pedestal.
Speaking during his visit, the visitor acknowledged the role of the leadership of Afenifere for being in the forefront of a just and equitable Nigeria, saying he was on the same page with the group to save Nigeria from the verge of destruction. He recalled seeking the group’s support for his election some 20 years ago but said he was turned down by the group, linking the rejection to the differences in principles or ideologies of the group and his platform then.
“I remember visiting Pa Abraham Adesanya thrice in Lagos before the election and I was asked to join Afenifere and Alliance for Democracy (AD) then, but I told them that AD was cul-de-sac. He told me if I joined, things would change but I refused to join them. I went back the second time but they refused to work for my emergence. I went there again the third time but Afenifere maintained its stand; they refused to vote for me but I secured my votes outside Yorubaland, even though they supported me in 2003 for my re-election,” he stated.
Obasanjo saw the Afenifere as co-travelers in the journey to the rebirth of the country and determination to oust President Muhammadu Buhari in the next year election, saying “Our priority is now one. If we do not join hands to repair this country now, it will collapse and this could be disastrous.” He further added that it would be disastrous for the country if Nigerians failed to join hands to do the needful in the coming election, while he said “Nigerians’ priority now should be one and if we fail to get it right, it will be disastrous for this country.”
Responding, the Afenifere leader, Fasonranti, commended Obasanjo over his struggle to make Nigeria a better place, assuring him of the support of Afenifere to join hands with him in the struggle saying, “We want to encourage you in your struggle to make Nigeria the best. You’re fearless and that is one of the traits of a good leader. We have been watching you and your dreams of a better Nigeria shall be realised. Nigerians are at crossroads, we are tired of the killings, kidnapping going on across the country and the President is mute and silence about it.”
Fasonranti expressed the desire of Afenifere to support the coalition of political parties to forge alliance against President Buhari in the next general election. According to him, “we are in full support of all the letters written by Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari on the state of the nation. We are dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the country. The country is not being run properly. It will be the joy of everybody to present a formidable team to confront the evil government that is there now. Nothing is being done properly in this country presently; look at the killings in the North, the president is very silent about it. We are all Nigerians, if he can keep silent about the killing of his people that is bad enough.”
Political pundits however said the visit signified that Afenifere as foremost Yoruba voice is a force to reckon with in the scheme of political calculations in the country. Though Afenifere may not be a registered political party in Nigeria but contemporary Nigerian political history has shown that those who ignored the importance of the Yoruba sociopolitical organisation in the politics of Nigeria, particularly of its South West bloc, do so at their own political peril. This reality was succinctly painted by Obasanjo as he reminded his host of his visit to the group three times, during the leadership of his predecessor, the late Abraham Adesanya, soliciting its support for his first term as president of Nigeria in 1999.
The denial of Afenifere’s support, Obasanjo revealed, led to his woeful showing in the 1999 election in the South West and that his political in-road to the region in his second term election in 2003, was only made possible when this group of acclaimed followers of Obafemi Awolowo changed its mind and swung its influence in support of Obasanjo. How Obasanjo then repaid Afenifere for that political gesture is not unknown to Nigerians and this, many believed, widened the gulf between members of the group and Obasanjo.
When Obasanjo in his famous letter earlier in the year, launched the salvo against President Buhari and his government, observers of Obasanjo’s fortunes in the annals of Nigeria’s politics saw it as foreboding trouble for Buhari and his government. The visit to Akure some few weeks after collapsing his Coalition for Nigerian Movement, (CNM) into African Democratic Congress, (ADC) further confirmed the determination of the former President to mobilise critical forces behind his objectives of ensuring that Buhari never returns in 2019 as President, even if it entails mobilising his critics in achieving this venture, and to Obasanjo, the end will justify the means.
One of the analysts said, “This was also followed by the visit to Otuoke Bayelsa State, where Obasanjo met former President Jonathan in his country home in what may be an unwritten memorandum of understanding between known political enemies to get Buhari out in 2019.
“Jonathan too would appear to have created the atmosphere of détente, when months earlier, he had referred to Obasanjo as the boss of bosses and admonished Atiku Abubakar to seek Obasanjo’s favour if he was seriously interested in the presidency.”
Obasanjo’s earlier visit to Markurdi and laying wreath at the site of the grave of the victims of herdsmen killings, was an eloquent body language in support of accusation of condoning, if not possible complicity, of the Buhari government of the activities of the murderous herdsmen.
To President Buhari’s chagrin, the restructuring campaign has taken the better part of the six geopolitical zones, while critical voices including the Governors’ Forum and others, even in the North, like Babangida, former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar, have now embraced several aspects of restructuring, which include state police, devolution of powers and enhanced revenue allocation among others.
Analysts believe that for the marriage and alliance of Obasanjo and Afenifere to yield the desired results, Obasanjo should also openly embrace and pitch his tent with restructuring, which should be the symbol of this marriage of convenience. Thus, Afenifere would appear to have strategically selected some of his very vocal restructuring advocates, such as its secretary general, Sehinde Arogbofa and younger elements like lawyer and former Ondo State Commissioner for Environment, Sola Ebiseni, who both were part of the Yoruba team at the 2014 National Conference and Kole Omololu, the organising secretary of the organization to drum home the message of true federalism to their guest from Ota.
Similarly, an analyst, Ojo Alafe, noted that, on the day Afenifere hosted Obasanjo at Akure, some of its other leaders like Ayo Adebanjo, Olu Falae and Yinka Odumakin, its publicitysecretary, were at Awka, Anambra State in strategic union with the Ohaneze Ndigbo, the South-South Forum and the Middle Belt Forum for the South East version of geopolitical rallies which kick-started with the South West version at the Adamasingba Stadium, Ibadan, last year, mustering regional resolutions and national consensus for restructuring and true federalism.
According to him, the focal resolutions at the Awka conference include creation of an additional and sixth state for the South East, devolution of powers and fiscal resources to the states, and removal of Local Government from the constitution to be made a tier of government only at the regional or state level.
Alafe said the intractable intra-party squabbles stemming from the ongoing congresses in APC if not dexterously managed, promise to add to the growing list of allies against the president and his party.
These gaping cracks in the President’s party amidst palpable national resentments over ceaseless killings and general insecurity, coupled with Buhari’s curious obstinacy against necessary political reforms, are instruments in the hands of Obasanjo, as the national coordinator of this alliance of veritable, hitherto strange bedfellows, against Buhari and his second term ambition in 2019.
How Obasanjo and his allies, which now include Afenifere and other groups, intend to accomplish their mission of electoral trouncing of Buhari, in view of the enormous powers vested in the president, remain a mirage. The wait, though breathtaking, will not be long as the race to the 2019 general election has commenced in earnest.
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