Tribute to Arákùnrin Rotimi Akeredolu, Aketi

 By Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo

It came as a rude shock to us in the Afẹnifẹre as the news of the passage of the Governor of Ondo State, Arákùnrin Olurotimi Akeredolu, filtered through the airwaves… Yet another illustrous, forthright and resolute democrat, passes on, in a land lacking leader that are deficient in audacity, bravery daring determination, endurance, fearlessness finesse, fortitude, gallantry, grit heroism, prowess spirit, spunk tenacity and valor.

Late Akeredolu

Aketi stood for what is right and just, a defender of the people and his people will forever appreciate his profound efforts that most often result in politically induced attacks on the people of Ondo State.

Slavery Is Not An Option

 By Pat Utomi

Beginning from age 17 as an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria I have rallied resistance against injustice.

My early cry for doing things right peaked with my calling out students at UNN to protest police killing of University of Ibadan Student, Kunle. Given the emotions of the times when UNN students lost three years as they watched friends and family die like chicken while UI students were in class during the Civil war was a hard sell. But we joined forces with Bassey Ekpo Bassey and founded the Students Democratic Society because we prized human solidarity.

A Bloated Government At A Time Of Extreme Hardship Most Unconscionable –Afenifere

 The Communique Issued At The End Of The Monthly Meeting Of The Afenifere Held At The Residence Of Our Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo At Isanya Ogbo Ogun State On Tuesday 8Th Day Of August 2023

 1.00 Preamble 

The Afenifere held its regular monthly Meeting today, 8^thday of August 2023, at the Isanya Ogbo Ogun State, country home of our Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo who presided over the Meeting which was attended by delegates from the member states of the Organisation.

After intensive deliberations on the state of the Nigerian Federation, the Meeting observed and Resolved as follows:

Afenifere And The Yoruba Interest

 By Sola Ebiseni  

To start with, Afenifere is a sociopolitical and not sociocultural organisation, a tag those bereft of the knowledge of its history, objectives and modus operandi sometimes seem to identify it by. Among its founding fathers, Afenifere is a political party and its irrepressible Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, still so insist, notwithstanding their knowledge of the provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution to the effect that “no association by whatever name called shall function as a political party unless (among other requirements) the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC”.

*Adebanjo 

Such is the degree of commitment to the ideals of the organisation which defines our discussion herein. Whatever your views, the undeniable fact is that Afenifere is not apolitical and the organisation has demonstrated that beyond all reasonable doubts. From its inception in 1951, Afenifere, the Yoruba explanation of the Action Group and its social welfare ideology, even during the heydays of military rule, has never been apologetic about its position in the politics and political development of Nigeria. In recent times, there has been controversy on what really is the position of Afenifere about Yoruba interest, bearing in mind its support for a President of South-East (Ndigbo) extraction in the face of a frontline Yoruba personality in the race.

Beware Of 'Emilokan' And Promise Of Continuity

 By Dele Sobowale

“Standing on the foundation emplaced by the current [Buhari] administration, we shall build a Nigeria…” – Renewed Hope 2023: Action Plan For A Better Nigeria, p 3.

Buhari and Tinubu

Whenever there is a document promising to make Nigeria a better place, I am ready to get it; read it; analyse it and publish my findings. I now have a copy of what might be regarded as the Tinubu/Shettima/APC Manifesto for the 2023 Presidential Election. The full analysis is almost finished; but, it is too long for this column. So, the reader should not expect the details here. I might add in passing that I also intend to obtain; read and analyse every manifesto published – providing the owners arrange for me to get them. “Men make history; but, not just as they please” – Karl Marx, 1818-1883.

That said; we now turn to the matter on hand. Let me start my stating that Asiwaju Tinubu has my sympathies. Those of us who were intimately involved in the struggle for the actualisation of the late Chief MKO Abiola’s mandate from 1993 till 1998, when the man died, can never forget his contributions. But, for his sagacity and street wisdom, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo deceived the leaders of Afenifere, and the Alliance for Democracy, AD, decided not to field a presidential candidate in 2003, the entire South-West would have been captured by the PDP.

2023: Yoruba Elders Are Playing Politics Of Greed, Where’s The ‘Omoluabi’ Ethos?

 By Olu Fasan

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, always has the extraordinary capacity to split Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group. He has the uncanny ability to wrap Afenifere and some of its leaders around his finger and twist them as he wishes to serve his purpose.

*Pa Fasoranti 

Tinubu rode on Afenifere’s coattails to become governor of Lagos State in 1999, but once he acquired political invincibility, fuelled by state resources, he turned ruthlessly on the group. To further his political interests, Tinubu divided Afenifere, pocketed some of its leaders and sponsored a renegade faction called “Afenifere Renewal Group.” 

But the mainstream Afenifere regrouped and acquired national respectability under the energetic and principled leadership of Chief Ayo Adebanjo. Now, however, in pursuit of his “lifelong ambition” to become Nigeria’s president, Tinubu has again ruptured Afenifere. He has set Chief Reuben Fasoranti, the group’s supposedly retired and hitherto reclusive leader, against Chief Adebanjo, Afenifere’s public face, as well as its intellectual and moral force.

The Ayo Adebanjo Support For Peter Obi

By Luke Onyekakeyah

The Ayo Adebanjo-led Afenifere’s support for Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) has roots in the historic parley held between Ohaneze and Afenifere in Lagos in early 2017. That parley made strong national headlines as it was welcomed by political pundits from both sides as a worthwhile development.

*Adebanjo 

As an elder statesman who has no other option than to follow the path of honesty and speak the truth no matter what, Pa Adebanjo, who led Afenifere to that parley, cannot afford to backtrack from what he personally championed and endorsed. That is why he is not mincing words to say that equity, justice and fairness demand that the South-East should be given the opportunity to produce the next president in 2023, if the so-called national unity is anything to go by. Otherwise, the whole thing would be mere propaganda and deceit for sectional domination by those who think they are born to rule.

2023: Why Afenifere Is Supporting Peter Obi

 By Chief Ayo Adebanjo

Before the political parties conducted their primaries, a journalist asked what is my view about the 2023 general election? I answered and said the country should be restructured before the general election, and he followed up by asking if there should be an election, which zone should the presidency come from? And I unhesitatingly said, of course, the South-East.

*Chief Adebanjo

After the primaries and the candidates emerged with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the South-West, APC; Atiku Abubakar on the platform of PDP; and Peter Obi on the platform of Labour Party and I announced Afenifere’s support for Peter Obi, not a few Yoruba leaders question why I should be supporting Peter Obi a candidate of Igbo extraction against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba.

I took my time to explain that the presidency is not a contest between the Yorubas and the Igbos, and to a large extent I was able to convince many.

2023 And Southeast Presidency: Quislings Beware!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

This is an election season like no other. Everything is defying logic. For instance, how does one explain the fact that when the All Progressives Congress, APC, decided to sell its presidential nomination form at a whopping N100 million, an amount so outrageous in an economy where the minimum wage is N30,000, and many thought the only reason for the ridiculous hike was to scare aware “unserious” aspirants, that was when every Tom, Dick and Harry, joined the fray.

With the latest declarations on Wednesday of Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta, in Akwa Ibom, and Dr Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, in Abuja, there are now at least 14 aspirants jostling for the APC ticket.

Do You Want Nigeria Buried? Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Ask Ango Abdullahi, Others

 

*Clark 

Press Release

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has cautioned Political Parties and political Stakeholders not to tinker with the issue of zoning and rotation of political offices especially, the presidency. Warning that doing so would further threaten the bear threads of the Nation's unity.  

SMBLF particularly took exception to a recent statement credited to the Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Ango Abdullahi that zoning is “dead and buried”. 

SMBLF says it is rather unfortunate and absurd that Ango Abdullahi and his Northern Elders Forum would make such twaddle.  Are they now ready to dissolve the country? What has happened that zoning, which has been a _sine qua non_ in the nation’s political progression has now become a “dead and buried” issue, in the irrational contemplations of Ango Abdullahi and his co-travellers? Could it be due to the incapacity, insipidity and disastrous performance of the Buhari administration or the narcissistic desire to perpetuate  Hausa/Fulani Hegemony?