SANUSI LAMIDO DESCRIBES YORUBA POLITICIANS AS "AREA BOYS"

Courtesy Niajaonpoint
In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as
mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over
the years to be incapable of rising above narrow
tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from
other sections of the country by treating other
groups with respect. Practically every crisis in
Nigeria since independence has its roots in this
attitude.
The Yoruba elite and area-boy politics;

Igbo marginalisation and the responsible limits of
retribution; and
The Yoruba Factor and “Area-boy” Politics.
My views on the Yoruba political leadership have
been thoroughly articulated in some of my writings,
prime among which was ” Afenifere: Syllabus of
Errors” published by This Day (The Sunday
Newspaper) on Sept 27, 1998. There was also an
earlier publication in the weekly Trust entitled ” The
Igbo, the Yoruba and History” (Aug. 21, 1998).
In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as
mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over
the years to be incapable of rising above narrow
tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from
other sections of the country by treating other
groups with respect. Practically every crisis in
Nigeria since independence has its roots in this
attitude.
The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a
violent overthrow of an elected government in this
country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West
which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th
January. After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in
1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad
publicity in the South-West which led to the Buhari
intervention.
When Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and
Onabanjo, the South-Western press castigated that
good government and provided the right mood for
IBB to take over power. As soon as IBB cleared
UPN governors of charges against them in a
politically motivated retrial, he became the darling of
the South-West. When IBB annulled the primaries in
which Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged
as presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he
was hailed by the South-West. When the same man
annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola
was the front-runner, the South-West now became
defenders of democracy.
When it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to
Abiola, the South-West supported his take-over. He
was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member
to take over in a published letter shortly before the
event. Even though Abiola had won the elections in
the North, the North was blamed for its annulment.
When Abdulsalam Abubakar started his transition,
the Yoruba political leadership through NADECO
presented a memorandum on a Government of
National Unity that showed complete disrespect for
the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.
Subsequently, they formed a tribal party which
failed to meet minimum requirements for
registration, but was registered all the same to
avoid the violence that was bound to follow non-
registration, given the area-boy mentality of South-
West politicians. Having rejected an Obasanjo
candidacy and challenged the election as a fraud in
court, we now find a leading member of the AD in
the government, a daughter of an Afenifere leader
as Minister of State, and Awolowo´s daughter as
Ambassador, all appointed by a man who won the
election through fraud.
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Meanwhile, nothing has been negotiated for the
children of Abiola, the focus of Yoruba political
activity. In return for these favours, the AD solidly
voted for Evan Enwerem as Senate President. This
is a man who participated in the two-million- man
March for Abacha´s self-succession. He also is
reputed to have hosted a meeting of governors
during IBB´s transition, demanding that June 12
elections should never be de-annulled and
threatening that the East would go to war if this was
done. When Ibrahim Salisu Buhari was accused of
swearing to a false affidavit, the Yoruba political
elite correctly took up the gauntlet for his
resignation.
When an AD governor, Bola Tinubu, swears to a
false affidavit that he attended an Ivy League
University which he did not attend, we hear
excuses.
For so many years, the Yoruba have inundated this
country with stories of being marginalised and of a
civil service dominated by northerners through
quota system. The Federal Character Commission
has recently released a report which shows that the
South-West accounts for 27.8% of civil servants in
the range GL08 to GL14 and a full 29.5% of GL 15
and above. One zone out of six zones controls a full
30% of the civil service leaving the other five zones
to share the remaining 70%. We find the same story
in the economy, in academia, in parastatals.
Yet in spite of being so dominant, the Yoruba
complained and complained of marginalization. Of
recent, in recognition of the trauma which hit the
South-West after June 12, the rest of the country
forced everyone out of the race to ensure that a
South-Westerner emerged, often against the best
advice of political activists.
Instead of leading a path of reconciliation and strong
appreciation, the Yoruba have embarked on short-
sighted triumphalism, threatening other
“nationalities” that they ( who after all lost the
election) will protect Obasanjo ( who was forced on
them). No less a person than Bola Ige has made
such utterances.
To further show that they were in charge, they led a
cult into the Hausa area of Sagamu, murdered a
Hausa woman and nothing happened. In the
violence that followed, they killed several Hausa
residents, with Yoruba leaders like Segun Osoba,
reminding Nigerians of the need to respect the
culture of their host communities. This would have
continued were it not for the people of Kano who
showed that they could also create their own Oro
who would only be appeased through the shedding
of innocent Yoruba blood.
I say all this, to support Balarabe Musa´s
statement, that the greatest problem to nation-
building in Nigeria are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie. I say
this also to underscore my point that until they
change this attitude, no conference can solve the
problems of Nigeria. We cannot move forward if the
leadership of one of the largest ethnic groups
continues to operate, not like statesmen, but like
common area boys.
iii.The Igbo Factor and the Reasonable Limits of
Retribution.
The Igbo people of Nigeria have made a mark in the
history of this nation. They led the first successful
military coup which eliminated the Military and
Political leaders of other regions while letting off
Igbo leaders. Nwafor Orizu, then Senate President,
in consultation with President Azikiwe, subverted
the constitution and handed over power to Aguiyi-
Ironsi. Subsequent developments, including
attempts at humiliating other peoples, led to the
counter-coup and later the civil war. The Igbos
themselves must acknowledge that they have a
large part of the blame for shattering the unity of
this country.
Having said that, this nation must realise that Igbos
have more than paid for their foolishness. They
have been defeated in war, rendered paupers by
monetary policy fiat, their properties declared
abandoned and confiscated, kept out of strategic
public sector appointments and deprived of public
services. The rest of the country forced them to
remain in Nigeria and has continued to deny them
equity.
The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba
Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of
the scheme of things. In the recent transition when
the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an
Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West
treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for
the primaries, every gentleman´s agreement was
set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme
emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as
getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette
a pardon. Now, with this government, the
marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than
ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly
because, they reason, they brought it upon
themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-
bomb.
After the First World War, the victors treated
Germany with the same contempt Nigeria is
treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a
Second World War, far costlier than the first.
Germany was again defeated, but this time, they
won a more honourable peace. Our present political
leaders have no sense of History. There is a new
Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither
knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu.
There are Igbo men on the street who were never
Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians,
but suffer because of actions of earlier generations.
They will soon decide that it is better to fight their
own war, and may be find an honourable peace,
than to remain in this contemptible state in
perpetuity.
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The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba
Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of flesh from
the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa,
one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of
thousands have died and suffered.
If this issue is not addressed immediately, no
conference will solve Nigeria´s problems. By
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
Being Excerpts from A Paper Presented At The
“National Conference On The 1999 Constitution”
Jointly Organised By The Network For Justice And
The Vision Trust Foundation, At The Arewa House,
Kaduna From 11th –12th September, 1999.

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