STAR ARTICLE: Adesanya's "Way forward for the Yoruba Nation"
Mobolaji E. Aluko
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STAR ARTICLE: Adesanya's "Way forward for the Yoruba Nation"
Being text of keynote address by Senator Abraham Adesanya, Leader of the
Yoruba, at the 5th Pan-Yoruba National Congress, which held in Ibadan,
Thursday, September 28, 2000
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Yoruba Nation: Agenda for Reconstruction and Development
Preamble:
This 5th Pan-Yoruba National Congress is spectacular in major respects. It
is the Yoruba National Millennium Congress being the first of its kind in
the year 2000. Second, it is the Congress dedicated to the consideration and
appraisal of the reports of various committees of the Oodua Development
Council (ODC). Thereafter, the Congress is expected to articulate
appropriate strategies to meet the challenges of reconstructing and
developing our dislocated and ravaged public institutions and value system
as we commence this new millennium. Third, it is a congress whereby the
Yoruba Nation would thoroughly review the state of the Nigerian union with a
view to enabling us consider, in all ramifications, our well considered
preferred options with respect to how the national events have impacted on
our corporate existence as a race.
Greetings:
While thanking God that most of us that participated in past congresses are
alive to witness this 5th Pan-Yoruba National Congress, I will crave your
indulgence once again to remember our fallen heroes, especially those who
paid the supreme price during the inglorious reign of Sani Abacha—Chief
Moshood Abiola, Chief Alfred Rewane, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Chief Adekunle
Ajasin and many others who were brutally massacred by Abacha’s goons. They
have given their all so that we who remain and indeed generations of Yoruba
yet unborn can hold our heads high and be proud to be called Omo Oduduwa.
Shall we again remember them by standing up to observe a minute of silence
in their honour. May their souls rest in perfect peace. Amen.
We are delighted to have among us today some of our best who escaped the
repressive antics of General Abacha’s dictatorship thereby becoming
political fugitives. While they were out, they fought the military dictator
and his collaborators until there was divine intervention. It is a long
list. We commended those who were with us last year. Some of them are now
elected governors, legislators and party officials. Today, we are privileged
to have some other returnees like General Alani Akinrinade, Chief Cornelius
Adebayo, Dr. Akingba, Hon. Wale Osun and others. On behalf of Yoruba race, I
formally welcome them back home. I fervently pray that the like of the
events that made them leave the comfort of their homes to seek refuge on
foreign land may never be witnessed again in our father land.
Need for greater unity in Yorubaland
At the last Congress, I warned that it is not yet Uhuru. The events of the
last one year has again confirmed to many that we need to be as vigilant as
ever. Forces of destabilisation are prowling all over the land, creating
discord where none should have existed. In Yorubaland, we must avoid actions
that can cause disunity and rancour in our midst: We must also resist the
temptation to be agents of others who seek to destabilise Yorubaland. Let
the quislings beware.
The Yoruba Nation is passing through another phase of programmed and
rehearsed assault by external forces who have failed to defeat the Yoruba
leadership and its people as they have destroyed every other including the
professional groups and organised unions that are just trying to rebuild
their structures. Yoruba tradition allows for plurality of views and ideas
to contend. But it also insists that the most superior argument should
govern our decision. Every society is made of the old and the young, each
group complementing the other. No one in Yorubaland should be willing
instrument of our enemies to weaken our collective resolve which is the envy
of others. If you remove the recognised moral fibre and highest moral
standard which have been the reference point of public conduct assessment in
Yorubaland, then our place will be parceled and for grab like others. God
forbid. All of us must resolve to promote Yoruba community interest over our
private interest. If we are all faithful to this exhortation, then we shall
all be victors and conquerors.
In this connection, I congratulate our people for not allowing the spirit of
religious intolerance to creep into our midst. We must do all in our power
to keep it so. We also appeal to those who think their relevance in national
affairs will be determined by their ability to parrot ideas developed
elsewhere, without considering the subsisting social conditions in their
"home" to have a change of heart. Yorubaland is known for tolerance and
respect for all faiths. We should keep it so.
I must express our deepest regrets on the events of Ife and Modakeke in the
last one-year. The killings and destruction that accompanied the conflicts
were not only reprehensible, they were uneconomic and unproductive, I appeal
to the leaders of both communities and all men of goodwill to join hands
with the Federal and Osun State Governments to ensure that such violent
conflicts do not occur again. Such conflicts do not only retard progress and
development; they also bring in their wake, pain, anguish and sorrow.
Unfortunately, those who bear the brunt are the least capable of defending
themselves, the weak, the aged and innocent children and women. We thank all
those who in one way or the other acted to stop the carnage. Now is the time
to heal the wounds and reconcile both parties.
As leaders in Yorubaland, it is time we create a permanent conflict
resolution mechanism to guarantee that such events as we witnessed in Ife
and Modakeke and more recently in Owo, do not reoccur in the future. I am
happy to announce to you that a Boundary Dispute/Communal Clashes Committee
under the distinguished Chairmanship of Chief FRA Williams (SAN) has been
created under the Oodua Development Council. Yoruba people can direct
complaints of such nature to the committee. A list of highly credible elders
and professionals are also serving under that committee. After years of
despoliation of our land and the arrest of our economic progress, we should
not and indeed cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from our march into
the modern age. We owe it to ourselves and future generations that we create
for the black world a place of hope, prosperity and pride.
Appraising the state of the union
Restructuring of Nigeria: A Must
As we forge ahead with the efforts to transform Yorubaland, we cannot but
observe that Nigeria is yet to grapple with the fundamental issues
confronting it. Those who want to delude themselves that Nigeria is a
perfect union or one requiring cosmetic touch-ups are not only doing a
disservice to the country, they are by their short-sightedness endangering
it. Let me assure all, that our conviction on the need for a fundamental
restructuring of Nigeria is unshaken. The various crises and needless
conflicts which continue to be inflicted on Nigeria bear testimony to the
correctness of our position.
The Sharia crusade for which many Yoruba, Igbo, Minorities of the North and
South were murdered and lost most of their worldly possessions had been
proven to be for no Islamic religion but a calculated strategy for political
expediency. The evil design has been established to be the handiwork of some
wicked leaders whose profession has been government at all times and who
because they have lost political power for a while are determined to regain
it by exploring religion for their selfish agenda. The plan as reheated is
that henceforth, Muslims in states implementing full Sharia may not vote for
non-Muslims in future elections. One wonders whether or not this wicked
design is not a surer bet to breaking up Nigeria. This is because Christians
can equally advise their members not to vote for any aspiring Muslim. In
other words, some territories are firmly out of contest for particular
aspirants of particular religions.
It is now common place for all groups to cry marginalisation, whether real
or imaginary. Those who for years have marginalised others and have enjoyed
with relish their undeserved positions have now resorted to blackmail
through the dubious propaganda that Yoruba occupy all the important
positions in the Federal Government. It is an attempt to intimidate us. We
refuse to be intimidated. We must confront them with facts.
Fortunately, we have at our disposal, the report of federal character
committee on political appointments of the senate. The report showed that of
the political appointments made since May 1999, the north west got 40
appointments, the north east 35, the north central got 33, the south west
35, the south south 32, while the south east got 31.
When the cries of marginalisation appeared not to impress anyone, they
invented other issues, all in their effort to destabilise the government and
the "democratic" order.
Yes, the southwest came third despite all the marginalisation suffered
during the Abacha era. The Yoruba came third, after losing out as a result
of the methodological cleansing of the judiciary, civil service and other
agencies and interests of government during that period of terror. No,
things have not changed at all. It has been business as usual. The Northern
Elders Forum should be honest enough to admit that their strategy to
enthrone a "puppet" failed them. Obasanjo has to their disgust been his own
man. As far as Yoruba people can see in concrete terms, there is no
significant advantage secured by our people under the present situation. In
accordance with our population strength of about a quarter of Nigerian
population, we remain inequitably and disproportionately treated in various
appointments. We do not owe them any gratitude. The very juicy and key
appointments in the Maritime Authority and Port Authority, the Customs, the
Security and Minting, the Agriculture, Federal Capital Authority etc remain
firmly in the grip of the Northern Elders Forum agents.
Can we truly say things have changed when in the 21st century some Nigerians
still do not believe that there is the need for true data on the demography
of this country? Or else, how do we explain a situation where some Nigerians
in this millennium can openly canvass against the use of identity cards for
elections faking untenable and dubious excuses? They want to continue to
have "cattle and goats" vote in our elections. Never again.
Frustrating the quick implementation of the ID project is an unacceptable
dubious design to make it impossible to have credible and accurate national
head count and election figures. A situation whereby the electoral umpire
like FEDECO, NEC, NECO and now INEC will claim to have registered 65 million
or more people which is much higher than those within our national voting
age figure is a poignant statement that most of our public policies are
erected on fraud and inaccuracy. Most times those who voted have been less
than 20 per cent of supposedly registered voters. Yoruba people are hereby
making a well-considered declaration that henceforth. The Yoruba will not
participate in any further election in this country until the unduly and
unwarrantedly delayed National Identity Card system is put in place and all
eligible Nigerians have their Identity Cards issued to them. No ID Card, No
Election. We repeat it loud and clear NEVER AGAIN.
The silver lining on the horizon is that more Nigerian Nationalities are now
much better convinced than ever before that the way forward for a truly
Federal Republic of Nigeria is through a Conference of Nationalities. The
increased clamour for True Federation or the more extreme version of a
Confederation is in itself an indictment on the way and manner we presently
run our "Federation."
Since our last Congress in 1999, the Ohaneze Ndigbo of Igbo nation has
campaigned for confederation and constitutional system for Nigeria, the
Union of Niger Delta/South South Zone has variously decided that they must
henceforth assume full control over their resources. They have equally
expressed their determination to pay agreed tax to the Federal Government as
it is done in many federations.
Again, credible leadership cadres of the Middle Belt Zone have individually,
collectively and rigorously campaigned for self-identity of the zone to
assert its independence from the ubiquitous, discriminatory and exploitative
far north. It was not amusing to the average Middle Belters that when
President Obasanjo appointed professional and competent soldiers of Middle
Belt origin as Service Chiefs the northern leaders were violently opposed to
such appointments. When they were asked as to the reason for their
opposition to the appointment of Middle Belters, the core northerners
pointedly and undisguisedly disclosed that those appointed from Benue, Kogi,
Plateau, Kaduna, etc were not core northerners.
The core northerners were equally uncomfortable that Mr. Abu Obe, Christian
from Benue State, was appointed Head of the Civil Service which they have
come to accept as part of their exclusive preserve territory. The Middle
Belters in a much more renewed and sustained vigour have joined other
nationalities clamoring for a restructured Nigeria in order to make the
federating units viable, strong, cohesive and empowered in order to deliver
adequate and commensurate socio-economic and political service and
governance to the various zones and regions of the country. Most Middle
Belters are no more willing to be used to do the odd job in terms of
military coup planning and execution while the core Northerners continue to
unduly and oppressively enjoy the benefit of such several violent take over
of elected or non-elected governments. Where those coup attempts failed, the
Middle Belters have mostly paid with their blood. The pretentious
appointment of General Yakubu Gowon and the Emir of Ilorin who are known
minorities over the new Northern Leaders Forum was meant to fool the public
who already know the evil design behind the appointments. For all that the
Middle Belt has contributed to assisting the North gain ascendancy, it is
wicked that not many (if any) middle Belters are major beneficiary of the
Northern long rein in government.
Agenda for Reconstruction and Development:
The choice of the theme of the 5th Pan-Yoruba National Congress is only a
logical follow-up on that of last year. Having agreed as a people that
self-determination is the way forward for our country, we must begin to
rebuild those structures in Yoruba land that have been systematically
dismantled over the past years.
In realization of the motion unanimously adopted last year that efforts be
geared towards the establishment of institutions necessary for the all round
development of the Yoruba nation, I am happy to report to this Congress that
an Oodua Development Council (ODC) was formally inaugurated and established
on 21st June, 2000. The quality of attendance and participation at the
inauguration of the ODC further strengthened my belief that no matter on
what side of the political divide Yoruba may belong, we are all agreed that
we have suffered serious setbacks in the development of Yoruba land and
there is the urgent need to join hands in moving the south west forward. I
want to openly congratulate and commend all distinguished Yoruba people,
officers and members of the various committees for accepting their various
responsibilities and for the diligence with which they have devoted to their
assignments.
The Oodua Development Council now exists to direct specialized attention
towards the distinctive growth of the Yoruba nation, stimulated by specific
development programmes and productive marketable projects. It comprises of
well-respected Yoruba men and women that have excelled in their various
areas of training and calling grouped in the following committees.
Education, Social Values, Health, Economy, Languages, Arts and Culture,
Safety, Boundary Disputes/Communal Clashes, Judicial Arbitration,
Infrastructures, Agriculture, Media and Infotech, Sports and Tourism,
Commerce and Industry, Traditional and Cultural Values and International
Relations. May I respectfully request the Chairmen and Secretaries of the
various committees to stand up for recognition. May I also request all other
members of the various committees to stand up for recognition and
commendation.
The committees have been given appropriate briefs that can assist the
various committees to design programmes of action, which can be implemented
within two years at the first instance. The committees have started work in
earnest and will be expected to give brief update reports to this Congress.
Yoruba Nation is blessed with intellect, entrepreneurship and all it takes
to build a great nation. It is not possible to have everybody serve on these
committees on a permanent basis. The committees have therefore been
empowered to co-opt resource persons for specific assignment. I appeal to
all Yoruba sons and daughters to serve diligently and faithfully whenever
they are called.
The development being sought for the Yoruba Nation is not the type that is
measured in terms of statistical date like inflation rate GDP liquidity etc
Development has to do with the actual improvement in the living conditions
of our people. Of what use is a single digit inflation rate to a man that
can not feed himself not to mention sending his children to school? Our
understanding of development is one that guarantees quality education for
all Yoruba from primary to the university level. It is ensuring that our
sons and daughters will be so highly skilled and in such numbers that we can
actually begin to export our knowledge and skills. Development is about
putting food on the table for all. It is about housing for all. It is all
about progressive higher quality of life in all areas of human endeavor for
our people. The United States of America has perhaps the best educational
and economic advancement today globally. Yet America keeps allocating
highest priority to education and the acquisition of skill by its people.
The Yoruba nation has an enviable legacy about free education whose many
products are today professors and professionals of all kinds. I expect the
ODC to finalize its work plan and blueprint as to how we can regain our lost
glory and link up with the global rapidly developing information technology
in the interest of our race in particular and Nigeria in general.
Sovereign National Conference
The efforts to-date to short-circuit our call for a Sovereign National
Conference are clearly marooned in the web of intrigues that have been spun
by those who have deliberately distorted the objectives of such a
conference. No amount of idle efforts at disparaging the conference will
wish Nigeria’s structural problems away. I pray that those whose temporary
positions appear to offer them false castles of comfort will take a more
dispassionate and global view of the issues at stake before their castles
crumble. Leaders should never be afraid of seeking the truth, speaking the
truth and acting in truth.
One notes with dismay the falsehood that have accompanied the public debate
on the issue of the Sovereign National Conference. No serious proponent of
the Sovereign National Conference, has to date suggested that the Conference
will have the power to remove the incumbent Government of Nigeria. Yet many
who ought to know continue in ignorance or perhaps out of mischief, to
suggest that the conference is designed to do so. Many anxious to protect
their unmerited positions, raise the bogey of disintegration. However, if
the truth must be told, no one can argue that the progress made by the then
three (later four) regions under the 1960 constitution which was a truly
federal constitution, has been matched since the military centralized the
administration of the country. The endless chaos in the Niger Delta, the
restiveness of youths across Nigeria and the various cries of
marginalisation are but testimonies to the havoc that a unitary system,
masquerading as a federal structure, continues to wreak on the society.
Neither development nor harmonious inter-ethnic relationships can be
fostered in such an environment.
The resort to military force to pacify agitating communities is
counter-productive. Rather, the federal government should address the
legitimate aspiration of those aggrieved communities for a fairer share of
the proceeds of their God given resources. This approach is relatively
better undertaken effectively at a Sovereign National Conference and thereby
offers everyone higher dividends than the threat of violence.
We urge our compatriots everywhere in Nigeria to join us in the demand for
Sovereign National Conference. Therein lies the most effective platform for
negotiating a fairer deal for everyone. Resort to violence and disruption of
economic activities, while they appear dramatic, cannot and will not confer
legitimacy on their cause nor provide a framework for a lasting solution to
the injustice that the system inflicts on them and indeed all Nigerians.
Effective and Responsible Law and Order
The helplessness of the Federal Government in addressing the rising crime
wave across the country brings again to the fore the need for restructuring.
A centralized Police Force remote from the communities they police is
incapable of providing effective protection to the citizens. Indeed, in many
regions in Nigeria, parallel local organizations, Nigerian Police and
Vigilante groups have proven far more effective in combating crime. Whilst
we recognize the danger of untrained citizens, without defined structures or
commands acting outside the structures of law to enforce law and order, the
Police, pending the creation of independent State Police commands must
recognize the need to show greater understanding and appreciation of the
useful and positive role that the OPC, the Egbesu, the Bakassi Boys and
other Vigilante groups could play in the effective maintenance of law and
order. In truth, the "folk hero" status of these groups is as a result of
the failing of the Police. The Police is well advised to see how the efforts
of various vigilante groups can be harnessed in combating the intolerably
high level of crime in the country.
At this juncture, it is necessary to call on the Police to stop its barely
hidden war of attrition with the OPC in Lagos State. The killing and
harassment of innocent citizens too casually has lasted for too long. This
must stop. Yorubaland must always be a haven of justice, a place in which
human life is held sacred. To stop these, we must commit ourselves.
The state of the Nigerian economy
The worsening unemployment crisis must be addressed. The federal government
may lay claims to whatever success it may deem fit. Its performance on the
economy and education however, remains its Achilles' heel. It is good to
claim to have brought down inflation to single-digit as the government
claims. Those who go to the market know otherwise. Even if it was true, of
what use is that statistics to those who are unemployed, those who cannot
afford two meals a day (square or not), those who are practically homeless
or those who have watched their business collapse as the exchange rate which
was N85 to the dollar in May 1999 has shot up to N110 to the dollar?
I think the nation needs to be told what happened to the N10 billion voted
for Poverty Alleviation in the year’s budget. The fact as all right thinking
members of the society can see is that PAP is just money doled out to the
genuine and fake PDP stalwarts and their unemployed supporters. The N10
billion should have been more wisely spent to provide sustainable employment
opportunities in form of small and medium scale industries.
The country needs a poverty eradication, not alleviation programme. How can
anyone in good conscience justify the expenditure of N38 billion on the
construction of a stadium complex in the face of glaring level of poverty in
Nigeria?
The federal government’s current salary structure is a prescription for
waste in governance. We understand N300 million is to be spent for the 40th
Anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. Only last month, billions of Naira
were spent to receive President Clinton. Yet we seek debt forgiveness. That
is why no creditor takes us serious. Last year, millions of naira were spent
to educate computer users on the millennium bug. I wonder how many Nigerians
have used computers let alone own one. Government efforts must at all times
seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number in the society, not for
a tiny clique of elite. Half of the money spent on the millennium bug
campaign would been more profitably utilised to provide computers for our
universities, polytechnics, teacher training colleges and secondary schools.
If your graduates are not being exposed to computers, how many Nigerians
could ever understand millennium bug?
We urge Chief Obasanjo to refocus his economic programme. Any programme that
does not address the growing unemployment crisis we face will only fuel
social crisis. Government’s ultimate success depends on its impact on the
welfare of the people, not the number of grandiose and economically sterile
projects expected.
The state of decay and deprivation of our education system is so grave that
we are calling the federal government to declare a state of emergency on
education immediately. The current half-hearted measures on Universal Basic
Education, UBE, is too insignificant to make the desired impact. In any
case, where are the federal government primary schools? By the time you know
it, more than 50% of the money voted for UBE would have been spent on
bureaucracy and contracts as usual. A convocation of conference on education
to be attended by all stakeholders is imperative and urgently desirable.
The plain truth is that the federal government is too remote to the people
to appreciate their needs. In a system where the federal government keeps
48% of the nation’s distributable revenue, while 36 states and 765 local
governments share together 52% there cannot but be waste. For the sake of
our long-suffering citizens, this waste must stop.
Whilst we salute our governors, that in spite of all odds, they are managing
to provide free education and other social services in their states, we
enjoin them to remember, Omo eniti awon nse. Our governors must do much more
than they are currently doing. We have a tradition of hardwork, dedication
to service of our people and excellence. Our collective credibility is at
stake. We must endeavour at all times to show the world what good governance
is. I advise the governors to commence working closely with the Oodua
Development Council. We have spent so much of our resources training high
calibre manpower, it is time we exploited their talents to the fullest,
anywhere in the world they may be.
The Yoruba Leaders Forum has fully deliberated upon the desire of Yoruba
people worldwide to start fraternising and interacting globally for overall
development of our people. In fact, we have received proposals and advice
from Yoruba people at home and in the Diaspora to make the convocation of
the assemblage of World Congress of Yoruba people a quick reality. In my
address at the last Congress in 1999, I promised to put the matter before
the Yoruba Leaders Forum. I am happy to inform you that the forum has given
me the mandate to set up immediately, after this congress, a formidable
committee to work out the modality for organising such a conference.
Distinguished leaders and delegates, Olodumare created the Yoruba Nation and
all its endowments for us to enjoy and to replenish and preserve them for
the coming generations. He decreed for us particular standard of conduct
called Iwa Omoluwabi below which no one is expected to fall. In our history
even as of recent times, those who have deliberately fallen below our
mutually agreed acceptable standard of behaviour had their rewards of shame,
rejection by and ostracisation from our people. We cannot pretend to be
something other than what we are, as Yoruba people.
As we commence this new millennium, unity of purpose and action with the
Yoruba Elders Forum for the reconstruction and development of our people is
an important requirement to which all of us must rededicate ourselves.
I thank you all for your attention.
Oodua a gbe wa. Adele bare, arina kore.
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Mobolaji E. Aluko
Mr. Seyi Awofeso:
You always come off like a young, brash, Yoruba chap who just writes "gbau
gbau" simply because you have access to a computer, and no one can take it
away from him!
I have a few questions for you:
(1) How old are you "paapaa" that you "dasi" every "oro" gan sef, that an
80 year old man spends some time writing (and possibly re-writing) his
piece, and you take just one paragraph and throw water on it, and imply
that he is "cheaply mocking" something? Aha! :-) Don't you even have any
respect for old age? If you will just write to me as "Dear Bolaji" - ehn,
se mo ti di egbe e - won't you respect an 80-year-old? Abi o ki se Yooba
mo ni?
(2) Who really cares whether you have "broad agreement" with what Chief
Abraham Adesanya had to say or not? Is this the first time he has said
some of these things? Does he have to develop ALL his ideas in one
speech? Are you not there living in Nigeria? Why did you not go to
Mokola to say your piece?
(3) What "ayounge" organization are you putting up down there to
articulate your own Yoruba "scientific knowledge" that goes beyond eba,
omi, ina that Chief Adesanya is talking about? Why don't you put your own
thoughts together?
(4) Finally, what do you know of Herbert Macaulay? For one, he died in
1944: what "scientific knowledge", or approach to it, did he bequeath to
Yoruba before he died? For example, to his credit, did Herbert Macaulay
consider himself a Yoruba man, an Omo Eko, a returning Brazilian, or
simply a nationalist at that time?
You know, I hate to sound this harsh, but rather than howling to the wind,
your generation and mine should come up with our own ideas rather than
shout down this dying generation. They are doing their best, even if it
may not always be good enough.
I plead with you. Read Ajuluchukwu's interview again. He is also
pleading with us.
Best wishes. Please don't take my questions too badly.
Bolaji
PS: Next time: please write to me as "Mr. Aluko" and I will always
respond to you as "Mr. Awofeso." Or please spare me your emails. This
your "Dear Bolaji" is offensive, particularly after this your very
disrespectful piece.
On Sat, 30 Sep 2000, Seyi Awofeso wrote:
> Dear Bolaji,
>
> Thanks for bringing this speech to attention.
>
> I have read it with agreement on the broad sentiments expressed therein,
> except for my reservation about the simplistic conception of development
> stated therein in wrongful mockery of logical economics as meaning just
> having food (?) on the table or, as a long shot, educating everyone up to
> unversity level.
>
> Development is actually much else besides, and much more concrete, i beg to
> differ.
>
> Yorubaland ought not to be made a place where scientific knowledge is
> cheaply mocked. That is not the tradition bequeathed to us by Herbert
> Macaulay.
>
> With esteem,
> Seyi Olu Awofeso
>
>
Seyi Awofeso
Thanks for bringing this speech to attention.
I have read it with agreement on the broad sentiments expressed therein,
except for my reservation about the simplistic conception of development
stated therein in wrongful mockery of logical economics as meaning just
having food (?) on the table or, as a long shot, educating everyone up to
unversity level.
Development is actually much else besides, and much more concrete, i beg to
differ.
Yorubaland ought not to be made a place where scientific knowledge is
cheaply mocked. That is not the tradition bequeathed to us by Herbert
Macaulay.
With esteem,
Seyi Olu Awofeso
----- Original Message -----
From: Mobolaji E. Aluko <mal...@scs.howard.edu>
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Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 4:45 PM
Subject: STAR ARTICLE: Adesanya's "Way forward for the Yoruba Nation"
> paid the supreme price during the inglorious reign of Sani Abacha-Chief
Mr Seyi Awofeso
----- Original Message -----From: Mobolaji E. Aluko
To: Mr Seyi AwofesoCc: Seyi Awofeso ; The Quincy Group ; alat...@netzero.net ; amael...@smartisp.com ; aog...@ix.netcom.com ; AOr...@aol.com ; Bo...@aol.com ; Bol...@erols.com ; da...@aol.com ; Imeh Inyang ; ek...@wombat.eng.fsu.edu ; Fela...@aol.com ; genera...@freedom98.org ; ibn...@yahoo.com ; IG...@aol.com ; In...@yorubanation.org ; koye...@morehouse.edu ; Lase...@aol.com ; Lod...@aol.com ; LOluk...@aol.com ; naij...@egroups.com ; ndug...@naijanet.com ; Nigerian NewsGroups ; IgboNet ; Rivnet ; yorub...@onelist.com ; Nowa Omoigui ; oko...@usafricaonline.com ; OKQu...@aol.com ; Ola...@aol.com ; oluok...@msn.com ; oola...@dcsmserver.med.sc.edu ; o...@randomc.com ; quincynet-...@egroups.com ; riyi...@yahoo.com ; Tajol...@aol.com ; Tun...@aol.com ; tun...@netzero.net ; Walea...@aol.com ; wen...@oceanfree.net ; Yorubas-...@egroups.comSent: Saturday, September 30, 2000 3:16 PMSubject: Re: STAR ARTICLE: Adesanya's "Way forward for the Yoruba Nation"
Mr. Awofeso:
Thanks for calling me "Mr. Aluko." I really appreciate that. I can stand
"Bolaji Aluko" from non-Yoruba individuals who know that I am reasonably
older than themselves, but from Yoruba individuals, it grates my cultural
sensibilities. I see that you understand.
Anyway, moving on, you stated that you "ought to be entitled to (my)
apology". That construction bothers me, in its lack of clarity. It
indicates that you really are not "entitled", even though somewhere in the
back of your mind, you think you deserve it.
Finally, congratulations on graduating at the top of your History class!
Who was second? Was the History degree on Herbert Macaulay? Also, kindly
educate me on the Yoruba nationalism of Herbert Macaculay, and its
"scientific knowledge" content, and I will consider the uncultural move of
a Yoruba elder person (ie my humble self) conceding to a younger person
(that is, your humble self), pe "Ma binu." Remember that was my beef, not
a history of Herbert Macaulay broadly conceived.
I await the same last earth-side education that you might have given to
the one and only Chief Obafemi Awolowo just before his death in May 1987
on this same HM topic, the Awo who I always knew to be somehow your family
relation.
Best wishes.
Bolaji
PS: By all means, criticize, but don't disrespect old age. This is
ALWAYS my message to young people. I trust that you have read my piece in
which I disagreed with Chief Adesanya's National ID issue.
On Sat, 30 Sep 2000, Mr Seyi Awofeso wrote:
> Mr. Bolaji Aluko,
>
> No, really, i do not take any of your questions too badly. I would like
> to believe that you asked them in good faith.
>
> As you see from the opening of this letter, i have carefully addressed
> your perceived disrespect to your own old age, in perfect compliance
> with the best tradition of Yorubaland, requiring me to give everyone his
> asked due.
>
> To the point now, it is essential for any rational follower to firstly
> consent to the way forward as pointed out by a leader. That consent is
> the first condition of human freedom from the autocracy of bondage,
> which basic freedom your question to me to wit, even denies me: "Who
> really cares whether you (Seyi Olu Awofeso) have "broad agreement" with
> what Chief Abraham Adesanya had to say or not?".
>
> It seems obvious to me that you did not read Chief Adesanya's speech
> with any understanding before sending it out on the net. Otherwise, if
> you do understand the Yoruba tradition as much as i do, and as well as
> Chief Adesanya correctly stated it, you would not dispute my correct
> position nor misdirect your anger at me, in what seems to me to be your
> splendid defence of nothing.
>
> Now, this is what Chief Adesanya himself said in the speech that you
> hurriedly sent out on the net without thought or reflection: "Yoruba
> tradition allows for plurality of views and ideas to contend. But it
> also insists that the most superior argument should govern our decision.
> Every society is made of the old and the young, each group complementing
> the other".
>
> Mr. Bolaji Aluko, please be better informed, that in Yorubaland, it is
> neither the oldest idea that governs the people nor the idea from the
> oldest man. That is the tradition bequeathed to Yorubaland by Herbert
> Macaulay, which the disparagement of economics by Chief Adesanya at
> Mokola, Ibadan, derogates from.
>
> A good leader should prefer a critical follower, like me, to a fanatic
> fascist, because the latter is an asset to an organisation whilst the
> latter would invariably be the organisation's archille's heels.
>
> I recall making this same point in May 1987 at a private meeting in his
> residence to which Chief Awolowo had invited me, shortly before his
> death, incidentally on my published position on Herbert Macaulay, in
> response to the wordings of a birthday card sent to Chief Awolowo by
> General Babangida, saying that Awolowo, and therefore not Herbert
> Macaulay, had been the issue in Nigerian politics.
>
> I graduated in the first instance at top of the class with a Honours
> degree in History, which makes your ever questioning me on what i could
> possibly know of Herbert Macaulay a wrong, never mind rude question, in
> particular coming from an Engineer, for which reason i ought to be
> entitled to your apology, if you would.
>
>
> With esteem,
> Seyi Olu Awofeso
> ........................................................................
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mobolaji E. Aluko
Mr Seyi Awofeso
Mobolaji E. Aluko
Mr. Awofeso:
Best wishes.
Bolaji
> ..........................................................................