When the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and other prominent people like Chief Anthony Enahoro, Samuel Akintola, and Bode Thomas conceived the idea of forming Afenifere, a socio-political group in Ibadan in 1945 to address the perceived cultural, economic, and political marginalisation, they did not envisage that the group could be this fragmented to the extent that its survival could be threatened.

The group enjoyed its ‘honeymoon’ when it was under the ideology of the Action Group and later the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, led by the late Sage.

Afenifere remained united till the early 90s when the country was preparing for the general elections.

The crisis that has remained like leopard spots on the group is hydra-headed.

Genesis of the crisis

Since the establishment of Afenifere which spoke with one voice, and had the same vision, it paved the way for the formation of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, to participate in Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999.

As proof of their unity, Afenifere joined forces during the June 12, 1993, struggle by condemning the annulment of the presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola.

Not long afterwards, there were noticeable grievances and internal disagreements over candidates to be presented for the election.

The wranglings amongst them could not be hidden any longer, especially during the burial ceremony of its fallen leader, Chief Abraham Adesanya at Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State.

The factions within the group emerged, with Pa Reuben Fasoranti and Senator Ayo Fasanmi going different ways.

Members loyal to Fasoranti then included late Pa Olaniwun Ajayi, late Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Basorun Sehinde Arogbofa, late Dr Fredrick Fasehun, late Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa and Chief Olu Falae.

In the early 2000s, disagreements ensued about whether to support former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba man in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who is from Ogun State or hold tenaciously to the ideology of AD and remain opposition.

The crisis worsened to the extent that the two factions endorsed different candidates for general elections in 2015 and 2019 respectively.

The embarrassing irony, today, is that the same elements and forces, who threw up Fasanmi against Pa Fasoranti, to destabilise Afenifere, for political reasons, it should be added, are the same people who pitched with Pa Fasoranti against late Adebanjo.

2023 elections wahala

Even in the 2023 elections, a faction led by the late Ayo Adebanjo supported and directed Yoruba people to vote for the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi while the faction sympathetic to Pa Reuben Fasoranti backed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, President Bola Tinubu.

Until his death recently, Adebanjo was a consistent critic of the president.

Recall that in 2015, Pa Fasoranti tendered his resignation hinging his reason on the fact that the group had departed from the goals set by the founding fathers.

But, late Adebanjo differed on the claims of Pa Fasoranti saying “Fasoranti is old. He is 89. That is why he resigned. Papa Ajasin and Adesanya did not attain that ripe old age. Pa Fasoranti said the youths don’t listen to elders again and that they behave as they like. When Ajasin was weak, he asked Adesanya to act. When Adesanya took ill, we appointed Fasoranti as leader. There is nothing unusual about that. The job is rigorous. We hold a lot of meetings.”

Surprisingly, Pa Fasoranti, who said he only stepped aside a few years ago, announced his return to the organisation and even cancelled the office of the acting National Chairman noting that such a position was alien to the constitution of the organisation.

Past Afenifere leaders

Those, who have led the organisation since its inception include Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Reuben Fasoranti and the late Ayo Adebanjo.

Failed reconciliation move

In an attempt to put an end to the crisis, a group of youths led by Mr Wale Oshun, a former member of the House of Representatives, formed the Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG.

Members of ARG then included the former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Mr Kunle Famoriyo, Mr Ayo Afolabi, Mr Segun Odegbami, and many others.

All their efforts to bring a solution to the crisis were unsuccessful.

It was, however, gathered that the ARG was formed and sponsored by former AD governors, who fell out with the old Afenifere leaders.

After Adebanjo, what next?

When Chief Adebanjo died, many Yoruba people thought the group would now speak with one voice but his loyalists are bracing up to pick a successor thereby postponing the day the group will act as one indivisible organisation.

Afenifere a shadow of itself – Femi Okunrunmu

A former National Secretary of the organisation, Senator Femi Okunroumu, in an interview with Vanguard, lamented the once powerful Yoruba group has become a shadow of itself.

The former scribe of the organisation also revealed that the Yoruba body has splintered into eight groups.

He said: “There’s no doubt that the Afenifere has become a shadow of its former self, a shadow of what it was.

I was the National Secretary of the organisation during the NADECO era. There’s no doubt that today, Afenifere has become a shadow of itself, a shadow of what it used to be.

“For example, during the NADECO struggle, I was the Secretary-General of Afenifere. I knew what Afenifere was at that time. Afenifere was the life wire of NADECO then, but today the Afenifere has been split into almost seven camps.

“When people are talking of the crisis in the Afenifere, they only talk in terms of Ogbo Afenifere and Akure Afenifere, but the split is even more than that. It’s worse than that.”

Tracing the origin of the division, he said: “The several splits in Afenifere began in 2003”, adding that “if the Afenifere will ever regain its force, its potency, it must regroup, must become reunited and become a potent force as it was when it was the life wire of NADECO.”

In addition, he said: “All the present groups must come together to form a very vibrant and inspirational group, that will inspire young people to even want to join, and that will inspire a lot of patriotic Yoruba to embrace the Afenifere.

“Now, when I talk of the almost seven groups, the groups I have in mind are the Akure group. We have the Ogbo group. These are the major groups that people talk about. Also, we have the group, including former governors of the AD and by extension, there are some of their successors in the office right up to the present-day governors. That’s group three.

“There is another group called the Yoruba Council of Elders.They were all part of us. During the crisis, they broke away.

“Another group is the Yoruba Unity Forum, which was established again because of the crisis in the Afenifere, followed by the advocates of the Yoruba Nation.

All the advocates of the Yoruba nation, including Professor Banji Akintoye have been kept at a distance because of this constant crisis and friction that the Afenifere has been going through.

“We must bring all those groups together again to have a vibrant and inspirational Afenifere, that will embrace the interests of all patriotic Yoruba.”

When asked how the splinter groups can be reconciled, he said: “I think that the best honour we can give to Pa Ayo Adebanjo is to bring about this revived Afenifere that will again make Yoruba proud, an Afenifere that will be the intimidating force, political force in Nigerian politics. This will be possible when all these groups are reintegrated into one fold and under one umbrella.

“We have to resolve all disagreements between the Ogbo and Akure groups. And the opportunity has never been more right for the two groups to resolve their differences than now. After all, the basic difference is one group supported Peter Obi of the Labour Party, while the other group supported Bola Tinubu of the APC during the 2023 general elections.

This is not enough reason to divide a serious and visionary group like the Afenifere. (Vanguard)