The immediate past Secretary General of Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr Kunle Olajide, speaks about 2023 election, insecurity, among other issues

Pa Ayo Adebanjo and some leaders of Afenifere recently disagreed over the choice of presidential candidate in 2023. While Baba Adebanjo declared support for Peter Obi of the Labour Party, others pitted tent with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress. As a former Secretary General of Yoruba Council of Elders, what is your take on this?

The mandate of an organisation does not compel it to go against another. Traditionally, one would expect Afenifere leaders to go the same way. There is no quarrel with Pa Adebanjo deciding to pit tent with Obi, but the remaining leaders under the leadership of our father, Fasoranti, are solidly behind Asiwaju. It is unfortunate that it has to go that way. Pa Adebanjo did that perhaps because of this reason; there was no previous consultation with the leadership of the Yoruba. If there were, we would all go the same way. But I have no doubt in my mind that at the end of the day, Pa Adebanjo will still be with us.

In your own opinion, do you think it is right for any Yoruba to vote for any other person rather than Tinubu during the election?

Whether it is right or wrong, that is a matter of personal opinion for them. But as far as I am concerned, Tinubu is more than qualified, ably qualified. He knows enough of Nigeria. For anybody to go and vote for somebody else who is likely to lose, I don’t know what the basis for that decision will be. But I sincerely believe that it is not a tribal thing, it is far above tribe. Nigerians have been instrumental in his journey in this part of the country. So, it is beyond ethnicity, it is national. To me, this is a national thing. We need somebody to unify Nigeria and sincerely, I don’t believe there is anybody in the contest now that is better qualified to do that job than Asiwaju Tinubu.

Pa Adebanjo is insisting that the presidency should be zoned to the South-East for the sake of equity and justice, but this didn’t go down well with some members of the group. What is your reaction to this?

It is not a matter of thinking otherwise; politics is not served Alacarte. In other words, you don’t take decision on a political position and begin to offer people. Any zone; South-East, South-West or South-South, that desires to have the presidency must know how to play its political card right and correctly. If it is not played correctly, they will end up being on the losing side. There is no rationalisation.

What is the position of YCE on who should be the next president? Does your group prefer Tinubu, Obi or Atiku?

YCE has not taken any decision on it. The group is not going to compel anybody because it is not a political organisation. Everybody is free to support whosoever he wants to support. But I am in support of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

You were suspended by YCE members some years ago, what led to the suspension and how was the disagreement resolved?

There was no disagreement; we just had a little disagreement in the organisation. You can still see some of the dissidents parading themselves as the President of YCE. I gave a notice for my retirement close to a year ago, but my president appealed to me and insisted that he wanted the two of us to leave at the same time. So, this is the position. I want fresh blood to be allowed in the organisation.

What can you say about the get rich quick syndrome among the youths of nowadays?

I do not agree with you that the majority of our young people are involved in all these Yahoo Yahoo and whatever. We still have levelled headed young Yoruba men and women who are doing well whom I believe we can make to get interested in the affairs of the nation and get involved in the organisations like the Yoruba Council of Elders which is particularly a non-political, a non-partisan organisation. The one the people are running from is partisan politics because many people believe it goes with violence.

What can be done to put an end to ethnic agitations in the country, including the call for Oduduwa Republic? For the majority of those clamouring for Oduduwa Republic and so on and so forth, what most of them really want is that the Yoruba Nation, just like the Igbo Nation, Ijaw Nation should be able to decide what they consider best for themselves, exploit their own resources, pay some or a little to the centre, but all their primary responsibilities should be done by them. Decisions should be taken by them, not somebody sitting in Abuja and deciding what to do for me in Efon-Alaaye. He doesn’t know Efon-Alaaye, he doesn’t know the topography and he has never been there. So, that is what we have been saying. Those who are at the state level will know the priority of their people. They will know how to prioritise their needs. I am in support of power coming to various regions. Nigeria is a big country, very heterogeneous. Somebody in Abuja dictating for the entire country is another form of colonialism in my own opinion.

Most Yoruba children living outside their hometowns can hardly speak their language. What is the cause of this challenge and how can it be solved?

The fault is that of the parents of the children. This is because you must encourage your children to speak your mother tongue, especially Yoruba language. Yoruba language is so rich. You have proverbs and axioms that would teach the child how to behave, personal interaction, respect for elders and others are so basic to our language. So, anybody who doesn’t encourage or allow and compel his children to speak Yoruba language is doing a lot of harm to them and to himself because as far as the English language is concerned, there is no respect, because he is he! A 90-year-old man is he; a 100-year-old woman is she, whereas in the Yoruba language, it is quite different. When you are referring to somebody older than you or who you respect, you pluralise your language in Yoruba. ‘Awon lo so be’, ‘Awon ni’. So, anybody who deprives his own child of having that cultural pattern is doing a lot of harm to the child.

Terrorists and kidnappers appear to have taken over the forests in the South-West. It is now risky to drive on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. What can be done to chase them out of the region before the situation gets out of hand?

The Federal Government, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo state governments should collaborate to ensure that the road is heavily manned. They must also clear the forests from the main road so that one can see from distance.

Do you think that the Federal Government is serious about fighting terrorism?

I believe the Federal Government must be serious, but whether they are doing it correctly or in the right way is another matter. It is not in the interest of the Federal Government for terrorists and kidnappers to be kidnapping people. They are serious, but how they are going about it is open to question. The number of the security personnel must be increased. They must be well trained and man all our borders. Our borders are too porous, particularly the northern part of Nigeria.

Why are we no longer having Cocoa merchants in Yoruba land unlike in the olden days?

It is the advent of crude oil that destroyed the interest of southern Nigerians and the entire country in agriculture. Even in the North, we used to have groundnut pyramid which was a very famous thing. Also, we used to have palm produce in the Middle Belt and the Riverine areas. But as soon as crude oil came, people moved away from that path. That is why we are where we are today. I think we are fortunately retracing our steps now. Nigeria is a very rich country.

In 2018, while reacting to Arewa Consultative Forum’s claimed that Nigeria would not be able to survive without the North, you said the North represented everything that was wrong with Nigeria. Do you still maintain the position four years after?

No! My reaction was out of provocation. I was provoked. Every part of this country has its own advantages and disadvantages. We are all contributing a quota to the progress of this country. We all need one another, and it is of our interest to cooperate with one another to ensure that we advance the interest of this country.

What do you think about the forthcoming general elections? Do you think a peaceful conduct of the polls can be achieved, especially with the increasing level of insecurity in some parts of the country?

Well, a peaceful 2023 election is achievable, once we are seeing signs of rising insecurity, then the government will make provision to specially secure those areas where the security risk is at the greatest level. It is achievable. We must vote, oh yes! There may be skirmishes in few places, but that should not stop the entire processes from going on because the constitution must be strictly adhered to. The term of the present government is going to expire, and a new government must be sworn in and they must be elected by the Nigerians. So, I don’t see any problem there as far as I am concerned. I agree that there may be skirmishes here and there, but the government will contain such skirmishes.

Most presidential candidates have agreed to restructure Nigeria. Do you think it is easy and possible to restructure Nigeria without leading to break up?

Although restructuring is not going to be easy, but I am sure that at the end of the day, those who are opposing it will see a lot of senses in it. It is for the progress of the entire country, not only a particular part. Those who do not appreciate or understand the advantage of restructuring are those opposing it. They are reducing in number now; some of them are already joining the camp for restructuring.

Restructuring is empowering states to take their destiny in their hands, identify their resource base, start their resource base and run their affairs in the way that is acceptable to the majority of their people and pay something to the centre and so on. So, that is what it should be. It should not be unitary system, where somebody is passing order down from Abuja, somebody who does not even know the complexity of your state. It can’t go on forever.

Vote-buying is a major challenge ahead of the general elections. Are you not worried that no single person has been arrested, prosecuted and jailed for his or her involvement in such an act?

Well, where you have entrenched poverty, it may be very difficult to stop vote buying. The man who has his vote believes entirely the vote belongs to him and if he has not been fed for two days and he believes he can turn his vote to money, there is nothing anybody can do. Yes, it is illegal, it is not right, it shouldn’t be done, but what can you do with this level of unemployment and poverty in the society? That’s why the political leadership is exploiting the current disturbing rate of poverty, illiteracy and so on to perpetuate what they are doing.

But it (exploitation) will come to an end if the right thing is done, and people will come to realise the power of their franchise, that their vote is their franchise, their future and the future of their children, but before you can do that, you yourself must be alive. I am optimistic that perhaps the coming leadership will address the issue of agriculture. We have arable lands all over Nigeria and less than about 30 per cent are being cultivated and there is no reason at all why Nigerians should go hungry. There is no reason at all; so, I hope and I pray that the incoming leadership will address these problems. Like I said, the level of poverty in the country is high. A lot of people are ready to sell their votes because of the poverty level of the country. Somebody who has no job and sees somebody who wants to pay him N10,000 will be willing to sell, which is a big shame because the vote is his future and the future of his children. We will continue to appeal to the politicians and the people not to engage in the act of vote-buying.

What is your general advice to the politicians ahead of the 2023 elections?

They should all keep away from violence. The law enforcement agencies should also keep their ears on the ground. Where they hear the rumours of people amassing arms, they should go there and arrest them. They should ensure that we have peaceful elections. It is every four years; anyone that loses now can win another time. It is not a lifetime election.

How will you describe the emergence of a group from Afenifere known as the New Afenifere?

The world is not static; the world is dynamic. So, you keep seeing the reactions, changes and so on from time to time. Well, it is because there was a minor disagreement and they thought from that disagreement, it is necessary to pull out, even though they still believe in Afenifere. In fact, two children of the same parents sometimes disagree. So, I don’t see anything that should be overdramatized in that manner. I think we should just leave it to pass and fizzle away. With time, everyone will come back together.

You belong to the YCE. What are the core objectives of the group towards the development of Yoruba people?

First, our core objective is to know our history, where we are coming from. I am sure you are familiar with the adage: ‘ranti omo eniti iwo nse’, we are Omo Oduduwa, and we know the antecedents coming through Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, S.L Akintola and so on. What they have made of the western region when they were in charge. To a large extent, they put such into an advantage in terms of access to education, access to professionalism in various aspects and so on. So, we must sustain that tempo. That is my advice to upcoming Yoruba generation. They must remember whose children they are and what our forefathers did before independence, post-independence, before and during military and after military, we still excel. So, we must continue to excel.

Amotekun has been complimenting the efforts of the police and other security outfits in South-West. Do you think the regional security group has measured up to the reasons for its creation?

Yes! They are doing their best and they have measured up. You can’t have perfection in any system, but they are doing very well in curtailing crimes and complimenting the efforts of the traditional police force. I think they should be commended, encouraged and supported to even perform much better.

Many have expressed the fear that governors will hijack the state police and use it for their own selfish gains. What is your take on that?

I don’t know whether you will agree, even the present leaders are complaining that the Federal Government is manipulating the federal police which is central. I think we have gone far pass that stage now. Nigeria must have gone far, yes, we cannot rule out the fact that some governors may want to be funny, trying to use them to advance their own interest, but I can tell you, the entire world is a small village, it is a global village. So, you cannot do something and get away with it. Telecommunication is all over the country; people take photographs and dispatch it within a second to all parts of the world. So, I don’t think we should be afraid of that. We should move with civilization and if we have Federal Government police, there is no reason we should not have state police as well.

How would you assess the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari in the past seven years?

We must commend him for stabilising the country, there is no doubt about that, because the country was virtually almost at the bricks of collapse when he took over and he has been able to balance the deceptive voices. He had a lot of experiences and so on, but we must commend him. Yes, we are not where we want to be but definitely, we are not where we were before, we have made so much progress and the signs we have seen are very positive. He appeared determined to join the civilized global world and return the country to democracy, so all of us, especially the press and those of us who have access to the press must cooperate with him and ensure that nothing derails this transition programme.

Nigeria poverty rate is worsening by the day with a worrisome level of unemployment. What can be done by the next president to tackle the situation?

They must address the problem of power. Power is very crucial to massive unemployment because we need power for almost everything, even those who are self-employed. So, they must tackle poor power supply, and insecurity too; the issue of security is very paramount. The incoming government must promote agriculture too. We have arable lands all over the country. So, there is no reason why we should be starved and why there should be unemployment. We citizens must also cooperate with the government, which is very essential. The citizens must pay tax and be responsible taxpayers because government money does not fall from heaven. We must pay taxes as at when due. We must take interest in what goes on around us. When we see signals of insecurity, we can call the security agencies quickly. We all have roles to play, and the media have big roles to play.

Recently, the children of Kudirat Abiola had insisted that one of the presidential candidates of the 2023 general election ordered the assassination of their mother. According to them, it is only in Nigeria that a person whose murder case is still in court will think of becoming the president of the country. How will you react to it?

Well, that is their opinion and to some extents, they may be correct, but they can now go and challenge the candidate of whoever they suspect to be part of it in court and that is why we have the court as part of the judiciary, the third arm of government. That is the only advice I will give.

Among the four frontrunners in the presidential race; Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who do you think has what it takes to save the country?

All of them have what it takes to save the country. It is now the decision of the majority of Nigerians to pick whoever they believe is appropriate at this time. But there is none of them that is not feat and capable to lead this country. (Sunday PUNCH)

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