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Afenifere and
allegations of ethnocentrism in Yar’adua’s regime
By
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Sometimes a brilliant
and factually accurate message gets distorted by the harbinger of
the news; the messenger often determines the reception accorded to a
message. In law, there is what we call judicial estoppel.
Judicial estoppel arises in equity and serves to preclude a party
from gaining an advantage by asserting one position before a court
and then later taking a clearly inconsistent position before the
court. A court may invoke judicial estoppel either to prevent a
party from gaining an advantage by taking inconsistent positions or
to maintain the dignity of judicial proceedings.
I believe recent report from Punch on the Web, quoting Mr. Yinka
Odumakin, the national publicity secretary of ethnocentric,
geriatric and ultra-ethnic association popularly called Afenifere
fits this bill.
According to the text of Mr. Odumakin press release, which he titled
“Yar’Adua’s ethnocentrism stinks still.” (sic). In the actual piece
itself, he disparages an attempt by Yar’Aduah’s to explain away some
of his appointment as an “ill-attempt by President Umaru Yar’Adua ….
to exonerate himself from real allegations of “northernisation” of
power in clear violation of the Federal Character principle in the
1999 constitution.”
Mr. Odumakin submits that most of the principal appointment of
Yar’Adua went to Nigerians of northern origin and that this “further
demonstrated that he (Yar’Adua) has a dangerous mindset that
threatens the unity of Nigeria and its continued corporate
existence.”
Now, I have known Mr. Odumakin for shooting from the hips, since his
appointment, first as PRO and thence as publicity secretary of
Afenifere, but the latest beats the cake. Mr. Odumakin’s latest
diatribe brings back memories of how an otherwise patriotic Nigerian
can suddenly turned an ethnic jingoist. I knew Yinka Odumakin in our
days at University of Ife, as we both actively participated in
Students Unionism at Great Ife.
We also belong to the same collective in Ife where we gathered to
engage in serious thinking over the ills of Nigeria. Then, his love
for Nigeria and all Nigerians is unquestionable. We often jointly
railed against the oligarchies holding our dear country, Nigeria,
hostage and wish for the day when all Nigerians irrespectively of
where they hailed from will occupy an office not because of the
accident of their birth but on merit!
Everyone knows I am not a card carrying fan of the present regime in
Abuja, just as I do not join the bandwagon of those who celebrated
its corrupt predecessors. My concerns with Odumakin’s piece is the
fact that it seeks to question Yar’adua’s ministerial appointment
not on the merits of those appointed but because they hailed from
the north.
This is what he called “northernisation.” This card had always been
played by ethnic jingoist jostling for position of power in Nigeria.
This is at best laughable given the fact that Afenifere is itself an
ethnic jingoist organization set up to further the parochial
interest of the ethnicity of the majority of its members. The aim of
organization such as Afenifere is to defend the interest of the
Yoruba ethnic group it represent and not the interest of Nigeria or
Nigerian.
And they are not alone, there is the Arewa People’s congress, the
Ohaneze N’digbo, the Ijaw People’s Congress, MASSOB et al. The
paradox is therefore only lost on Mr. Odumakin befuddled minds as
everyone knows he is crying wolf. This is why I said the messenger
sometimes kills the message.
I recalls that a couple of years ago, when former President Obasanjo
was in government, the same Afenifere, actively push the then
government to appoint Yorubas to position of influence in Obasanjo’s
government as a condition for supporting him. They hailed him when
he appointed Bola Ige, as Power and Steel minister, with little or
no qualification for that position.
They hailed him when he appointed the sons and daughters of Awolowo,
Akinjide, Akintola, Fani Kayode et al with little or no
qualification! And now, they have the temerity to question what they
engineered and actively support?
I confess that if Afenifere had stopped at questioning the merits of
those appointed by Yar’Adua, I would not have had any problem with
their diatribe. Why not dig into the background of those appointed
by Yar’Adua and bring out things that disqualified them from
functioning in that position. Is Shamsudeen Usman, who had spent his
entire career at Nigeria financial industry, not qualified as
minister of Finance?
We can query the appointment of Yayale Ahmed and Aondoakaa as
minister of defense and attorney general especially given the latter
conflict of interest vis a vis ongoing investigation of some of his
previous clients who are corrupt ministers being prosecuted by the
same ministry.
But attacking them because they come from the north is at best
myopic and self serving. What makes this ministry less important
than the ministry of External and Internal affairs occupied by
Nigerians from the southern part of the country?
The more damning evidence is that Afenifere was peculiarly silent
when the erstwhile minister of health, Adenike Grange, who hails
from the south west, was indicted and disgraced out of office for
corruption. This should have thought them a lesson that merits
should be the answer to questionable appointments and not ethnicity!
As long as we keep emphasizing ethnicity in our national discourse
we will end up with government of wolves! I hope the likes of Yinka
Odumakin and his Afenifere will contribute more positively to our
national discourse rather than issue this type of jejune and
divisive press releases.
Francis wrote in from Spokane, WA U.S.A
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