Ibadan, the restless amorphic city-state hardly sleeps politically. In Ibadan, there is no dull moment and they say generally in politics, twenty-hours is a long day, aptly captured the political temperament of the town. This is the political capital of the Yoruba people, the political capital of the Yoruba people of the South West, Nigeria.
From the political teething days of the pre-independence through the rancorous First Republic, Ibadan has never been on the back stage of epochal political events. The town has always been known for producing jaw dropping headlines for news editors. When late Chief Adegoke Adelabu is not pontificating his penkelemesi brand of politics, he would be busy heckling late Pa Obafemi Awolowo, whose able lieutenants, especially, late Chief Samuel Akintola and later Uncle Bola Ige were never caught napping.
The city did not lose the vigour during the Second Republic, with Eruobodo, late Lamidi Adelakun betrodden the ancient city like a matador. His demise promptly trumped up late Lamidi Adedibu, the Alaafin Molete, another maverick politician.
While all seem calm now, a fresh paralytic political tsunamic, similar to the crises that erupted post-presidential candidate nomination among the Yoruba political-cultural organisation in 1998 has now erupted. The move which is already brewing its head in Ibadan, the political capital of the Yoruba people of the South West, Nigeria, may
www.focusmagazineonline.com recalled that immediately after the election of Chief Oluyemi Falae ahead of late Chief Bola Ige, late Pa Emmanuel Alayande, late Justice Adewale Thomphson, and others quickly remembered the resolution of the Afenifere in one of its meeting to established a Council of Elders, (Igbimo Agba Yoruba).
The elders congregated in this same Ibadan late November 2000 where they announced the formation of the Yoruba Council of Elders (Igbimo Agba Yoruba).
Dr. Kunle Olajide emerged the Secretary, while late Bola Ige was perceived as the Soul and spirit of the Council. The gerontocratic group claimed to be the voice of the Yoruba people, ahead of the Afenifere leadership.
The welcoming hoopla never subsidised till the late Cicero of Esa Oke, the Golden voice of Yoruba’s politics, Bola Ige was mowed down in his bedroom late evening of December 21, 2001. Ever since the gruesome murder of Uncle Bola, the groups, the Afenifere and the Igbimo Agba Yoruba had not know peace.
The late leader, Pa Abraham Adesanya was not able to provide an effective leadership to nip the crises in the bud, and series of attempts by others from outside to effect peace, only worsen it, till Pa Adesanya died in 2008.
Now from the Ibadan, where the late Adegoke Adelabu reigned with his unorthodox “penkelemesi” politics, where late Adelakun, “Eruobodo” played his crude politics, where late Lamidi Adedibu, another maverick politician played his fast lane politics, another discordant political tunes has started emerging, as a certain Dr. Victor Taiwo, last week Thursday, (31 August, 2023), launched another Council of Yoruba Elders, (CYE).
Upon the airing of the formation of the Council in the media, the Yoruba Council of Elders promptly fired the salvo of attack calling “a most unnecessary” move.
Elder statesman and a foremost living chieftain of the YCE, Dr. Kunle Olajide, was furious. He castigated the promoters of the rival Council, faulting the formation of a parallel group, Council of Yoruba Elders (CYE), saying the YCE is “active, functional, and well-established”.
www.focusmagazineonline.com can learnt that one Dr. Victor Taiwo had last Thursday launched CYE in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
This move also got the current Secretary-General, Chief Oladipo Oyewole, fuming. He said in a statement that “the move was unnecessary”.
Oyewole too like Dr. Olajide did not spared the promoters any breathing, saying the “CYE was an illegality”, adding that the “elders would not encourage a division of Yoruba voice”.
He said: ”Our attention has been called to the unfortunate gathering of a group of individuals to ‘relaunch’ CYE in Ibadan.
“The position of Igbimo Agba Yoruba (YCE) is that the assembly is an illegality but we would not encourage a division of Yoruba voice as it is presently elsewhere. We will handle this with maturity as elders.”
But not to go too far here, a splinter group led by an acting President of the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Col. Col Dansaaki S. Ade Agbede, and some elders of the association came out in August of year 2023 claiming that Dr. Olajide has been suspended from the YCE.
This was as Dr. Olajide was alleged to have single-handedly selected the newly elected executive members who were elected at a meeting held in Ibadan.
Agbede and some aggrieved elders of YCE took the decision at a meeting held at Bodija residence of the first female Professor of Library Science in Africa, Adetoun Ogunseye in Ibadan.
At the meeting which was presided over by Prof Toun Ogunseye, the elders vowed that they would not remain in an association whose executive members were selected by the alleged suspended Secretary-General of the elders’ council, Dr Kunle Olajide
But Dr. Olajide would not go down easily without a fight. He has since gone to Court to stop his suspension from the Elders’ Council.
Dr. Olajide believes: “The YCE comprises eminent and mature Yoruba elders. The organisation is very active and functional. It intervenes when necessary. YCE consists of experienced, mature elders of Yoruba land, who know that Nigeria is a heterogeneous country and when they need to intervene they must do so in such a way that will keep the unity of the country in focus. The unity, progress and development of the country must always be in their minds whenever they are commenting in national affairs.“Obviously, because of their age and experience, they are not irrational, problematic and critical as some people might expect. “The one Victor Taiwo founded is absolutely unnecessary. He is just trying to play with words. Council of Yoruba Elders, I don’t know its meaning.”
But we are in a free society where one can form associations “Nonetheless, as far as we are concerned, Yoruba Council of Elders is functional and active. It is well established with branches in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and so on. YCE is functional and has all over and they intervene in the affairs of the nation when necessary.”
There has been a running battle between Dr Kunle Olajide and the acting President, Col Agbede over the control of the Yoruba Council of Elders. Prof Ogunseye disclosed that Dr. Olajide who had earlier been placed on an indefinite suspension by the Senior Elders Forum of the YCE organized a meeting which was not authorised by the President where a new President, Justice Ademola Bakre (Rtd) was elected.
After the election which was not attended by notable leaders of the association, Dr Olajide approached the Court to secure an injunction to stop another meeting scheduled by the Senior Elders’ Forum and put the National Secretariat of the Council, where the meeting would have been held under lock and key.
Owing to these reasons, the Senior Elders’ Forum at its meeting said they would not join issues with Dr. Olajide by going to court.“We do not elect going to court because we refuse to drag or expose the name and integrity of Yoruba into disrepute”, they said.
According to the aggrieved elders, “the constitution claimed by Dr. Kunle Olajide, Prof. Oluwasanmi and Justice Bakre is unknown to us.”
“Even though, we asked Dr. Kunle Olajide to surrender the documents with him to the President, he refused. In that regard, we cannot comment on something we have not seen. The said constitution was hoarded and we have no access to it”, the forum added.
The Senior Elders also accused Dr. Kunle Olajide of consistently treating YCE as his personal property, citing as an example his putting the National Headquarters of the YCE under lock and key with the gates chained so that they would have no access to it.
Saying that Yoruba has heritage, culture and customs, the forum noted that “elders are the supreme level in Yoruba culture to whom all knotty matters are referred to for a solution, the constitution may not cover all areas where convention can resolve, hence, Senior Elders’ Forum.
“The group of Dr. Kunle Olajide, Prof. Oluwasanmi and Justice Bakre has declared it does not recognize us and we cannot force ourselves on them. Hence, we hereby dissociate ourselves from the YCE of Dr. Kunle Olajide, Prof. Oluwasanmi and Justice Bakre and remain on our own”, the forum stated further.
Making further clarification, Col Agbede said, the Senior Elders’ Forum would continue holding its meetings.
www.focusmagazineonline.com (04 September, 2023)
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