Publicity Secretary, Yoruba Unity Forum and former Secretary-General, Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr. Kunle Olajide, speaks on the perceived marginalisation of the Yoruba, nationhood, federalism and more in this interview with AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The Yoruba Leadership Forum is crying foul over the perceived marginalisation of the South-West. What warranted this?
The bone of contention is that we sincerely believe that injustice in any part of the country is injustice in Nigeria. If any section of Nigeria is treated unjustly, it is injustice to Nigeria. We believe that we have been treated unjustly by the present administration. We have been deprived of political and career appointments even in the ministries, departments and agencies. What appears to be a systematic elimination of Yoruba race has continued to worry us. This was why we had to shout and bring it to the open that the injustice must not be allowed to continue.
What, in your own opinion, is responsible for the marginalisation of the Yoruba?
It is difficult to adduce any particular reason but I think the people of the South-West are one of the most sophisticated and liberated people in Nigeria. The people are very individualistic because we are enlightened. If you are talking of the rate of education, it is high in the South-West. A lot of people in the South-West depend on their professions. As such, they don’t cry so much about what goes on in the federal administration which is far away from them. That is why the rot has been allowed to fester to this extent. But looking at the entire equation, we begin to see that we have to be careful because it could be a conspiracy that ‘these people are too developed, let us do everything to slow them down or deny them of key positions, then we can begin to eliminate them and substitute them with less competent people.’ Otherwise, there can be no justifiable reason for this.
Is marginalisation just noticeable under this administration or has it been a recurrent thing?
The marginalisation of the South-West has been on for quite a while. Somebody (Peter Joseph) wrote a book on the marginalisation of the Yoruba. We are getting worried but because of our level of development we seem to overlook a lot of things in the South-West. We have been responsible for ensuring justice in all parts of the country. In the First Republic, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo championed the cause of the Calabar/Ogoja Province, which today is the South-South. In the First Republic, he fought for the Middle Belt. It has been the course of the Yoruba from the time of Awolowo to ensure there is justice in every part of Nigeria. In the Second Republic, the late Alhaji Abdurrahman Shugaba was deported from the bathroom. Awolowo set up a legal team to defend him and bring him back. You see, the Yoruba have a track record of promoting justice everywhere. But we seem to have neglected ourselves in the course of fighting for others. This is why it has dragged on for so long. We take responsibility for this. It is because some of us did not pay attention to it. But when President Goodluck Jonathan came on board, we sought an appointment with him and we have met him on these issues on a few occasions. But it seems the situation is getting worse.
In the view of some political watchers, the blame is at the doorstep of some Yoruba elders. How will you react to this?
They must be looking at it purely from the political angle. We are not considering it from that angle. People say it is because the South-West is Action Congress of Nigeria-dominated and that is why things are like this. No, once a President is elected, he becomes the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is irrespective of the constituency that voted for him and those that did not vote. He swore to an oath to defend the constitution. In any case, the present administration got a sizeable vote from the South-West. We must have come second to the South-South, so we are surprised. The political leaders can do their horse trading. But for those of us in the forum, the organisation is not partisan; we are elder statesmen in Yorubaland fighting for justice. It is held in the House of Representatives that a particular political party short-changed the Yoruba and that was why we lost the speakership. That is in the political arena. What about other offices in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies? Our people have been removed for no just cause and substituted with people from other sections of the country. In the name of reform, they sacked more than 60 heads and many of them are Yoruba and substituted them with non-Yoruba. I want to direct the attention of the President to it because he may not be aware of some of these things. Soon, we will publish graphically what we are saying in the papers.
What is the effect of this?
It affects us very badly in the context of what we have highlighted. We talk of the control of the apex of political power in Nigeria. We are in about number 15 or thereabout on the protocol list in Nigeria. You know it as much as I do; when you are not there nobody speaks for you. When you look at the control of the principal economic and financial agencies in Nigeria, you will discover that we are not there. We are not in control of the judiciary which is not an elective position, we are even not there in education, not even in management agencies. We are number 20 and that is the Accountant-General of the Federation.
What should be done?
We want the President to redress this injustice. There are still a number of appointments that have yet to be made. We made reference to the Nigerian Television Authority, the Director General there is in acting capacity. We don’t see why a competent Yoruba man cannot be put there. There are some other options.
Is the zoning of political offices helpful to national development?
The answer is yes and no. We don’t have a nation yet. When we ultimately have a nation, it will not matter anymore. In the United States, it does not matter anymore. Because of what has been happening in the last 30years, there is serious distrust among the various ethnic groups. Ethnicity is still very pronounced and everybody wants to be sure that they are part of what is going on. We are in the process of nation building; when we get there, we will jettison zoning. A lot of people have used the quota and federal character principles to systematically eliminate the Yoruba from some positions. They will tell you that the Yoruba have filled their quota. You do not promote quota and denigrate merit. That is what we are trying to say. The Yoruba won’t want to cheat anybody but we will always ask for our right because we are part of this country.
Chief Richard Akinjide disagreed with the claim that the Yoruba are marginalised?
Chief Akinjide must have spoken as a typical Nigerian politician, who must not see, hear or speak evil about the government run by his political party. It is very unfortunate that the respected chief could make such a statement undermining the interest of the Yoruba, who are his own people. He spoke about cabinet positions being held by Yoruba, which are appointive and very transient. If Chief Akinjide cared to examine the facts, he would have confirmed that in the control of power, that is the executive, legislature and judiciary, there is no Yoruba in the first 12 positions. Out of the 36 MDAs that control the economic and financial levers of the country, only two have Yoruba as their CEO. There are 17 educational management agencies, only two are headed by Yoruba. Whichever area of the public sector you turn to, the marginalisation of the Yoruba is very glaring.
You said the federal system of government that the country is practising is very expensive. Why?
Yes, it is very expensive. We spend about 75 to 80 per cent of our revenue on running expenses, paying salaries and allowances. No nation can grow like that, especially a developing country. In other words, we have just 25 per cent left for capital development and our infrastructure is at the state of complete neglect. We need a lot of money to develop human capital, education and health out of the 25 per cent that is left. It can’t work and the problem is, we have about 36 governors and deputies; 36 speakers and deputies with chains of special advisers. In the First Republic, Chief Awolowo was Premier of the defunct Western Region, which extended from Lagos to Asaba. He had just 14 ministers. And till today, we can still point to physical structures that he developed. Servicing excessive number of public officials is what is killing Nigeria now and this is why the Yoruba agenda stipulates a re-structuring where you have six or nine regions. The states will remain in the regions but the federating units will be the regional governments.
Punch Nigeria
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