Before its latest efforts, one platform with which it has sought to regain its relevance is the intervention in the kidnapping of its member and elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae.
Shocked was almost everybody that heard of the news of the kidnapping of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation in the early hours of his birthday, Monday, September 21, 2016, by some Fulani herdsmen.
The 77 years old Falae who was also a Minister of Finance under the government of General Ibrahim Babangida in 1990 was taken away from his farm in Ondo State. Ever since he retired, he had lived in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Although there had been cases of terror unleashed on some Nigerians, in recent, the news of the invasion of the South-West, and the kidnapping of one of their own leaders, was one insult too much to bear for Afenifere.
The group was quick to come out and sound a warning to whoever must have perpetrated the evil to know that he or she was not fighting an individual, but the entire Yoruba race. It therefore warned all Fulani herdsmen to stay away from Yoruba land.
After a meeting of the group, a communiqué was issued, and read by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin.
The document reads in part: “We believe now that after what has happened to Chief Falae, our people would not tolerate such thing in any part of Yoruba land .
“So while we await the arrest of the criminals, cattle rearing should be stopped in Yoruba land.
“Yoruba people go to any part of the country to trade, no history or record of such anywhere that the Yorubas destroy the business of their host. What we cannot do to others, nobody should do it to us…
“A special focus was beamed on the recent abduction of one of our revered leaders in Afenifere, Chief Olu Falae, also a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former presidential candidates, while on his farm.
“We describe this as scandalous and chilling that the harrowing experience of the 77-year old man in the hands of vandals, miscreants.
“The meeting did not consider it as a mere coincidence that Chief Olu Falae for two to three years has been having running battles with the Fulani herdsmen on the very farm before he was abducted.
“Last of such was about two months earlier when they entered his farmland and destroyed it and Chief Falae pursued the matter with the police and grudgingly accepted half of what the police said they should pay as compensation.
“The Fulani elements coming to abduct him two months later, is presumably a vengeance mission for justice that he pursued against the invasion of his farm and the destruction of his hand work.
“The meeting recalled that for years, farmers in Yoruba land have been expressing what Chief Falae was going through in the hands of this nomadic cattle rearers…
“We condemn the abduction of Chief Olu Falae and his gruesome experience as shameful, insensitive and a violent violation of Yoruba culture, values and space.”
The voice of the group was loud and raucous enough for all to hear; in fact, it was deafening enough for the Presidency to hear and measure the volume of its anger. The president ordered the Inspector General of Police at the time, Solomon Arase, to do something fast, and the order was obeyed. Shortly after Falae returned home. His experiences were too gory for anyone, not to talk of a person of his age. The action of the group, without doubt, was instructive. It sent a message: No messing with any of our kinsmen. An attack on one is an attack on all and we shall no longer fold our arms and watch.
Only recently, the kidnappers of Falae who were arrested were charged to court and sentenced accordingly.
For many who must have dismissed the action of the group as a flash in the pan, the Yoruba-Hausa clash in Ile Ife on March 8, 2017, presented another opportunity to gauge the relevance of Afenifere.
Apparently displeased with the development, Afenifere watched as relevant authorities tried to resolve the issue and ensure safety of lives and property.
In the process of resolving the crisis and making perpetrators of violence to pay for their sins, law enforcement agency, particularly the police vexed Afenifere in the alleged one-sided arrest of suspects.
Of the 38 suspected perpetrators of the mayhem, 21 were paraded and none was a Hausa. All the suspects, including a king, were arrested and not detained where the crime was committed, but taken to Abuja.
Afenifere smelt a rat and without mincing words, accused the police of partiality.
According to the group, it beats all imagination that in a case of a clash involving two groups, only those of one faction would be guilty of evil.
The group also queried why the police from Abuja and not that in Osun carried out the arrests.
“The Abuja show is undue sectional deployment of federal might to intimidate and harass a party in the conflict. It is direct fallout of the threat of the Interior Minister (Abdulrahaman Danbazzau) after he visited Ife.
“The minister is not on record to have visited any scene of conflict where Fulani herdsmen have inflicted ‘terror’ on their host communities in the Southern and Middle Belt communities since he was appointed”, Odumakin said.
When the police appeared not to be heeding the call for a release of the Yoruba in their custody, Afenifere matched their words with action. It gathered some prominent lawyers and took the case to court. In the suit with number, FHC/ABJ/CS/313/2017 at the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Oba Ademola Ademiluyi and the 20 others are seeking enforcement of their “fundamental right to life, dignity of human person, personal liberty, privacy and family life and freedom of movement”. They say the demand is being made pursuant to some sections of the constitution to that effect.
Joined as respondents in the suit are the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force.
However, barely a few days after the suit was filed, the police appeared to yield to pressure. It released 15 of the 21 Yoruba detained to one of the lawyers, Mr. Ropo Oyewole, unconditionally, leaving six others in their custody, including the traditional ruler, Ademola Ademiluyi.
The pan-Yoruba group appears unrelenting and has vowed to fight to the finish.
From all indications, the intervention of Afenifere in issues involving the Yoruba as a group and individuals recently appears to be underscoring its relevance. For a group that had been affected by the division that marked its involvement in politics, it is amazing that it is playing a vibrant role in the protection of its land and people. The question in some quarters therefore is: Is Afenifere waiting for these opportunities to come to enable it return to its position of glory?
“No”, is the quick response of Odumakin. Speaking in an interview with our reporter, he said the actions the group had taken in recent times were just the normal things they had always done.
While agreeing that Afenifere had had its fair share of rancour, a situation which must have had effects on some of its operations, he said the effect of all that had been put behind the group.
According to him, what exists today is a new Afenifere which is more committed to protecting the interest of its people than ever.
His words: “We did not wait for opportunities, we are just doing what we know how to do. We stand for the interest of our people at all times, even when we are misunderstood.
“There were rancour at some point but all those are a thing of the past. Now, Yoruba are united on the need to put all hands on deck to get out of the mess we are in. In the days ahead, you will hear more great news from the House of Oodua”.
While stressing that Yoruba were bonding more for the progress of the country and the true place of the Yoruba, Odumakin said, “We want to assure our people that we are entering a decisive stage in the history of Nigeria and they should get ready for all civil and political actions that would be required to get our dream country where we shall not be hindered from fulfilling our aspirations”.
The General Secretary, South West Professionals, (SOWPROF), Wale Adeoye, could not agree less with those who believe that some of the steps taken by Afenifere in recent times had marked a new beginning for the group.
“I think in the past one year, Afenifere has found a new voice and it appears the group is gradually regaining its heritage. This has been sustained by the decision of the leadership to broaden its platform by bending backwards to accommodate all the major trends in Yorubaland”, he said.
Adeoye who is former Chairman, Yoruba Youth Assembly, said there was no doubt that there had been a lull in the performances of the group in recent past and this, he reasoned, could be blamed on the dynamics of the Nigerian history.
“The fact is that Afenifere has passed through various phases since 1948. Its strength and weaknesses have been greatly affected by the dynamics of Nigerian history – the cultural, economic and political developments in the country”, he said.
He stated that the division in Afenifere, which was occasioned by weak leadership, did not help matters too.
“In the days of Papa Awolowo, Ajasin and Adesanya, people disagreed with the leadership but their voices were overwhelmed. I think in this case we had a situation where the factionalisation of Afenifere was funded and masterminded by external forces”, he pointed out.
Adeoye, however, said Afenifere had the chance of impacting better than it had ever done, and it needed to include young minds to turn things around.
He said it was obvious that Afenifere had become the voice of the Yoruba people by its recent conducts and pronouncements.
“I also think by its decision to restructure itself, Afenifere stands a chance to be the icon that most Yoruba people look out for. However, it is not a given. Afenifere can only continue to be relevant if the leadership realises the feelings of the Yoruba people and it is able to respond appropriately”, said Adeoye.
The former chairman of Yoruba Youth Assembly further advised: “The group must conduct regular case studies, researches, village square and town hall meetings. This the best way it can ensure that what she does is exactly what the people want. I also think Afenifere should globalise its struggle. I am one of those that think Afenifere needs structures in all the Yoruba states, in South East, North and in West Africa sub region. Afenifere should be able to galvanise the Yoruba masses without necessarily being a mass movement.”
Whether or not Afenifere describes its recent actions as doing what they ordinarily should do, it is incontestable that it is gradually regaining its lost glory by them.
