The mantle of national direction was once dictated by some elders in the country who had converged to show their ability to effect the change Nigeria needed, owing to draconian leadership exhibited by some past leaders. The days when being activists, outspoken was deadly. The country was in chaos, dictatorship was at its peak, looting of public funds, killings and maiming, disorderliness shaped our character and high level corruption dictated our behaviours. Opposing government views was asking for death , government ran parallel killer squad, the country was heading into utter chaos but despite the intimidation, activism were on the rise, the bold did not chicken out, rather they waxed stronger, confronted the menace though with records of high fatality.
One of those bold groups in the nation was Afenifere, the pan Yoruba group who had its root from the days of Action Group. Renowned for their progressive ideologies, they championed the crusade for return to civil rule. Leaders like Chief Bola Ige, Chief Abraham Adesanya (all late) literarily confronted the government of late General Sanni Abacha over his misrule of the nation. As a matter of fact, Pa Alfred Rewane and some others paid with their lives for daring Abacha’s rule and for speaking out against a government in power. Most people escaped the country on exile; the few who remained were put behind prison bars. The country was heading towards utter ruin until the hands of death snatched General Sanni Abacha away.
To be candid, Afenifere played important roles in restoring democracy to Nigeria, they were at the forefront of the agitation, and they were ready to sacrifice all, including their belongings. But how time flies? In less than two decades, the much vibrant and highly relevant pan Yoruba group is now heading towards extinction, Afenifere has been polarised, today, we have Afenifere Renewal Group, and probably there may be other groups unknown to me, what an irony of life? Last week, news filtered in that the Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fashoranti has resigned his position as the leader of the group, it was a rude shock, it kept tongues waggling, heart beats rising. It is clear the group is a spent force. It has actually lost its savour; the greatest mistake was its political alignments.
This Afenifere as constituted has only benefited its few members and not the majority of Yorubas it profess to cater for. They all joined the rat race for Dollars in Jonathan’s years; they sacrificed genuine callings on the altar of politics. They would have stood as father to all, but rather turned themselves into pawns in the hands of politicians; they mortgaged the common interest of their people and used our collective patrimony for their personal interest. They sacrificed their ethnic long term goals for partisanship and self interest. Now, they are back urging Pa Fashoranti who once used his house as headquarters to rescind his decision to quit.
Nevertheless, in this apparent loss of glory, there are few things left for the highly revered organisation to do to come to the limelight. Their hatred for some of the Yoruba sons and daughters for their achievements and beliefs should be reconsidered. They need to have a deep understanding that they have lost the followership they once proudly had. If I may ask, how many of them can win election today in their domain? That is why I pitied former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan who was busy consulting them instead of taking his course to the masses. How long will Afenifere continue to make headlines in our national dailies? Well, for the sake of their spokesperson and his romance with the press, they will definitely be making headlines, but how potent are such headlines?