My Path to Afenifere (1)

DIALOGUE WITH NIGERIA AKIN OSUNTOKUN

The journey started with being born to Chief Oduola Osuntokun, cabinet minister, Western regional government from 1955 to 1966 straddling the government of Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo  and Ladoke Akintola. This biological fact was reinforced with being portentously named Akintola. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this name until the Action Group, AG, crisis broke out in 1962 and rapidly degenerated into a supremacist struggle between Awolowo and Akintola. It subsequently skyrocketed into the January 15th 1966 coup and the breakdown of the first republic. Thus a four years old innocent was thrust into the vortex of a political crisis.

At the break out of the AG crisis my dad cast his lot with Akintola (who won his sympathy on account of the ridicule Akintola endured in apologising to Awolowo flat on his belly). The top Nigerian media figure Lade Bonuola is alive so he can verify what I’m about to say. He told me that in his last encounter with Awolowo (with whom he enjoyed a close relationship) in which the latter expressed regrets that he didn’t forgive Akintola. He said they were age mates and Akintola prostrated before him seeking forgiveness and wondered aloud what more could Akintola have done.

Some years ago I chanced upon the account of the eulogy the latter paid his principal when he turned fifty years old in 1959. “As a political leader, Chief Awolowo is miles ahead of his colleagues. His sincerity of purpose, his democratic leadership and inspiring example are yet to be equaled by any of the leaders of other major political parties in the country…Awolowo is the nearest approximation to Mahatma Gandhi. He is a good blend of Gandhi’s philosophy and Nehru’s dynamism and the only hope for democracy in Africa”.. After making allowance for the obligatory flattery, it was still a measure of the cordial relationship between the two political juggernauts.

Akintola’s first son, Yomi Akintola recalled “I went to England for a course, when I came back, I was informed that Olusegun Awolowo had died. For you to know how close Olusegun and I were, Segun, may his soul rest in peace, and I did spend our holidays together. Also, his immediate younger sister (Mrs. Tola Oyediran), was also very friendly, and did come to Dublin to also study, met her husband, Prof. Oyeniran in my house”.

I forwarded a copy of the Akintola eulogy to Dr Tokunbo Awolowo Dosunmu. She expressed a deep regret that the great prospect and promise of the partnership between the two political giants was cut short in such a brutal manner.

The biggest contradiction of my father’s life was that he was a model public servant whose exemplary accomplishment in office would be dwarfed by the politics of his bitter fallout with Awolowo.

In the words of a leading Nigerian journalist, Dare Babarinsa ‘Chief Osuntokun was the Minister of Works and Housing in the old Western Region (which is now Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Edo and Delta states). It was under Osuntokun that the Ikeja GRA, Ilupeju Industrial and residential housing estate and the Bodija Estates were created among other landmarks. He was minister for 11 years until the military seized power in 1966. Then he went back to his teaching job and was appointed Principal of Amoye Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti”.

At his departure from Amoye Grammar School in 1973, the students said this of him

“’You did not only succeed in inculcating in us the peerless habits of honesty, dedication, charity towards others, you provided us all the gadgets with which we could reach the almighty God and be at peace with him. The physical structure of the school was transformed by you..You built both hostels for students and houses for masters. Academically, you did not leave us in the wilderness. It was a two stream school on your arrival but at your departure it had become a well blended three stream school. All the excellent contributions you made toward the growth of this school will stand as monuments of pride to you”

In the funeral oration for his brother, Professor Akinjide Osuntokun noted ‘If the First Republic Politicians were corrupt there certainly were a few whose honesty and integrity were transparent. Osuntokun was one and stood apart like a beacon of hope.

Most significant of all was his (singular) judicial gazetted exoneration by the Justice Kayode Eso panel established by the reformist first military Governor of the Western region, late Adekunle Fajuyi to probe the preceding leadership of the government in 1966.

Yet, at the age of four years, the first lesson I was made to learn of Nigerian politics was the horrific spectacle of arsonists putting our residence to the torch by a wetie mob for standing against Awolowo.

Our residence consisted of two big storey buildings which brimmed with nuclear and extended family members, family friends, political associates and sundry drifters all day and all night long; It was the melting pot for social and political activities in the small town, Okemesi and the larger Ekiti district.

Located on the outskirts of the town, the hurly-burly atmosphere increasingly gave way to desertion and desolation as the Western regional political crisis gathered momentum. It ultimately culminated in the arrival of the day we all knew and feared was coming.The peculiarity to our experience though, was that the arson attack was choreographed and led by a friend and protege of my father, a man named Ayeni Bata from Ado-Ekiti.

“It was the second day the Army took over power, January 17th, that both my houses, one built in 1954 before I became a Minister and the other in 1960-were attacked by the A.G arsonists, led by my erstwhile friend, Ayeni Bata”

Willy nilly, I became a student of Nigerian politics but not at a time and circumstances of my choosing. It was not really a choice. It was the story of how my childhood was stolen from me by events beyond my comprehension.

Given the encumbrance of this heritage, I had to grow up fast and develop a healthy skepticism towards the conflicting narratives I was provided. I readily challenged received wisdom and sundry distortions of history. It was no surprise that I was drawn to a political science course of study at the University and a rich career in journalism. With this pedigree and training, I came prepared. 

I was privileged to write a newspaper column for more than thirty years and thereby afforded the latitude and opportunity to put my understanding of Nigerian politics in a broader perspective.

As a full-time occupation, my last station in journalism was the Guardian newspaper from 1996 to 1998. Anyone who knew my father would not be surprised at the way I write-the audacity, objectivity and truthfulness. I inherited his flair for writing. He once wrote to me when I sat for my A level examination and said “read as if you are going to live forever. But when you reach the saturation point (in geographical parlance) or diminishing returns (in economic parlance) take out time to refresh yourself”.

At the peak of the Sani Abacha murderous dictatorship in 1997, the Newswatch magazine ran a cover story on the most iconic figures standing against the Abacha dictatorship. I made the list of the ‘notorious’ thirteen categorised as such.

On the occasion of my uncle’s 80th birthday, Babarinsa wrote him a tribute including the acknowledgement that “At the home front, one of Osuntokun’s nephews, Akin, had become a member of the Editorial Board of the prestigious The Guardian newspaper, where he maintained a weekly column churning out regularly bristling criticism of the military regime”.

A few days ago, my egbon, Supo Shonibare repeated his admiration once again: “Waaaow, this fellow sha (Lasisi Olagunju). Always has the most apt treatise to meet live issues. That was how we used to look forward to so many known columnists on a weekly basis during the Military; particularly during the Abacha regime when many were fearful. Although these fellows were not physically with us in the struggle, we felt they were comrades in arms, as they always reflected the demands contained in our agitations in their weekly columns. That was why one of them was on our list for the Senatorial seat in Ekiti. When I was asked by 2 of the Leaders what I thought of him, although I had never met him, his reputation as reflected by his writings had preceded him & had for me, attested to his being deserving of the position, although was not an Afenifere card carrying member. I hold this Olagunji fellow in very high esteem too”. (Supo Shonibare). I suspect I was the one ‘on the Afenifere list for the Senatorial seat in Ekiti’

 As the leader and driver of Afenifere, they don’t come better than Chief Ayo Adebanjo. One of his predecessors, Senator Abraham Adesanya used to counsel “iwa buburu koni ka ma d’agba ka d’arugbo, sugbon ojo a ti sun lebo” (you may evade accountability on your misdeeds while alive. The day of reckoning dawns at your departure from this world). It is the day your true measure will be brought to light.

Pa Adebanjo didnt know how to do things in half measure, he goes all the way. He would not just accept an invitation, you can easily mistake him for the celebrant in some occasions.

I invited him to the ceremony of my induction into the Nigeria Academy of letters, FNAL. After the ceremony, he overheard me whispering about an after-event nighttime gathering of the ‘boys’ (if you know what I mean).

I was mortified when he suddenly moved nearer and asked for the venue. I tried to explain the nature of this thing to him. He cut me off and angrily asked if I want him to attend or not? That was how baba came to partake of the ‘disco’!

Before I got to know him and while still at the Guardian, I wrote a saucy piece titled ‘the young shall grow’ to criticise the gerontocracy proclivity of the Afenifere. Surprisingly, I received an emissary from him the following day summoning me to come and help in the remedy of the tendency I had identified

Taking cognisance of the effusive and widespread goodwill and identification attendant on the announcement of his transition to immortality (including the high and mighty, friends and foes) we can unequivocally assert: he has fought the good fight, he has finished the race and has kept the faith and the crown of glory awaits him in heaven.