In the name of Afenifere

A news item that tends towards confusion hit the headlines on Friday and it read: “Afenifere endorses Buhari for 2019 poll.”

But one of the newspapers straightened the headline when it said: “Afenifere faction backs Buhari, Osinbajo.”

Coming on the heels of the advertised endorsement of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice-President AtikuAbubakar for the 2019 polls by the mainstream Afenifere(owing largely to his desire to restructure Nigeria), the story as portrayed from some quarters, appears to carry more than the weight of a mere political gimmick. The impression out there is that of a dividedAfenifere house, which can no longer speak with one voice.

Spokesman of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Chief Biodun Akin Fasae, who addressed newsmen after a meeting of the group in Ibadan, said that the group would support the ambition of President MuhammaduBuhari and Vice-President YemiOsinbajo to return to office in 2019.

He announced: “We are telling the whole world that Afenifereas enunciated by Awolowo, is still intact and we will support President MuhammaduBuhari and Professor YemiOsinbajo in the presidential election in 2019.

“The other Afenifereled by Chief Ayo Adebanjo supporting AtikuAbubakar is not part of us and are usurpers in the group. Yoruba is a nation and even during the time of Awolowo, there were dissenting voices. This Afenifere is led by the longest living Senator in Nigeria, Pa Ayo Fasanmi. This Afenifere has the mandate of the Yoruba people.”

The ARG was a product of the dissent that rockedAfenifere some years back, following the disintegration of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) the political vehicle the Afenifererode into the Fourth Republic.

But the pan-Yoruba socio-political Organisation, Afenifere has since been rebuilt and has regained its vibrancy under the leadership of Chief Reuben Fasoranti. The fact is to be made, however, that Afenifere is an agglomeration of a myriads of Pan-Yoruba groups, which all portend to fight the Yoruba cause from different directions. Maybe you also add that there are no two Afeniferes; if it’s not panadol, it cannot be like panadol.

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It is also on record that none of the several pan-Yoruba groups challenge in anyway, the primacy of Afenifere or attempt to usurp its name. Afenifere has the OhanaezeNdigbo as equivalent in the South-East and ArewaConsultative Forum (ACF) as equal in the North.

That the ARG is equating itself to the apex pan-Yoruba body should not just be of concern as to the colour of the legacy of the men who people that group, but also to the generality of persons of Yoruba origin.

The question that would come to mind is what image of the Yoruba people are the ARG backers pushing out to the Nigerian public? On what account are they dragging the name of Afenifere to Buhari’s stable, even when the man had repudiated the restructuring agenda Afeniferestands for? Again, when was Pa Fasanmi appointed leader of the Afenifere and by who?

But the spokesman of the mainstream Afenifere, YinkaOdumakin, gave the story the perspective it deserves. He called the Pa Fasanmi-led group loyalists of Senator Bola Tinubu, adding that the mainstream organisation would not join issues with them.

He said: “Afenifere does not want to join issues with these Tinubu agents who become Afenifere in election cycle to cause distraction and confuse the polity. They are put together by Tinubu who has only money but no history in Yorubaland to attempt to pollute the Afenifere brand. If they have what it takes why don’t take another name apart from Afenifere?”

“Do they think Yoruba People and Nigerians are fools to take them serious beyond being Bourdillon tools? Where was any of them in all the issues of the Yoruba people in all these years?”

Odumakin has asked the pertinent questions here. Why is the Pa Fasanmi-led group attempting to orchestrate a leadership tussle that does not exist in Afenifere?

But I beg to say that we have seen this before. It all started with a Lagos-flavoured Justice Forum that started a rivalry with the Chief GaniyuDawodu-led Afenifere shortly after the inauguration of the Tinubuadministration in 1999. It was the start of the debilitating crisis that rocked the pan-Yoruba organisation.

Today, I believe the Yoruba supporters of Afenifereare wiser. Just as the spokesman of ARG alluded to the age old penchant for plurality of opinions in Yorubaland, no one would deny the Fasanmi-led group the freedom to hold opinion on 2019.

While Pa Fasanmi and his followers are free to adopt Buhari, in their own names, they do not need to tag themselves Afenifere. Igbo leaders adopted AtikuAbubakar and we are yet to see anyone in the name of Ohanaezerenewal acting to the contrary. However, you could see political actors crossing the divides. That is what is expected of the oldest serving Senator Fasanmi and his men. The Senator can propagate a different political persuasion independently. He only needs to showcase the good of that cause to the people.

Even if any of our elders in ARG are part of the “two men” referred to by the First Lady, the quest for dependable legacy going forward would dictate caution at this stage.