Last week, we ended by contending that in reality an Oduduwa Republic is not as homogenous as many individuals tend to think or believe. We will continue by highlighting other cleavages which exist among the Yorubas and other subnational groups in Nigeria
Moreover, proponents of Oduduwa Republic often lose sight of the fact that as a political animal, Lagos may not necessarily be an automatic member of the Oduduwa Republic. On this note, the memoirs of Alhaji Femi Okunnu come in very handy. According to him, during the constitutional talks in 1966, there was a divergence of views between himself and Lateef Jakande.
He, Okunnu was of the view that Lagos should not be part of the Western region. On the other hand, the die-hard Awolowo’s disciple, Jakande held a contrary view. And if you think that this happened a longtime, ago, one only has to remember the views of a Lagos monarch, who declared recently that Lagos indigenes owe their origin to Benin, and not Oduduwa, the famed progenitor of the Yorubas.
But there could well be an instrumentalist dimension to this deposition of the monarch. This is because Lagos is such an economic power-house that it may even decide to stand aloof from the proposed Oduduwa Republic. On this note, it is hardly appreciated that such is the burgeoning economy of Lagos that it is larger than all the economies of the countries in East Africa. Thus as the reasoning goes, why should it tag along with some poorer cousins in the name of the new nationhood called Oduduwa.
And the figures for Lagos are so damn impressive that a Singapore or Hong Kong could well be in the offing if Lagos should decide to stand alone. Similarly, the Yoruba speaking peoples in North Central Nigeria, despite their Yoruba appellations and origins often claim that they are Northerners, and as such Oduduwa Republic is not for them. There is also a very ominous dimension to this particular issue. Some moslems in Yorubaland are currently poo-pooing the idea of a Yoruba nation. Apparently, they are uncomfortable with a situation in which they will be delinked from their moslem brothers in the North. This is a new and dangerous development. Prior to now, the Moslem-Christian cleavage was virtually non-existent among the Yorubas. But such is the unexpected turn of identity politics that, other unanticipated variables usually pop up.
Incidentally, very much the same thing can be said for the Arewa Republic. It is also having to contend with its own contradictions, such that the dream of an Arewa Republic, may not be easy to achieve. First there is the bipolar situation between the Sokoto Caliphate and the old Kanem Bornu Empire. The latter, rightly or wrongly claims to practice a superior brand of the Islamic faith.
Meanwhile much of the Middle-Belt is very disenchanted with the rest of the North. For those who care to know, this is not a recent phenomenon. As far as the Sixties, that area of Nigeria has been embroiled in insurrections, which were only put down with military force. On this note, the ingenuity of the former Northern premier has to be appreciated. His maxim was: One North, One Destiny. With this mantra, he was able to paper over the cracks and cleavages in the old Northern Nigeria. Still there were contradictions evident in the fact that there was in reality what someone has called: The Core North. In other words, as far as identity politics goes, there was the core north; and the peripheral North. When resources were to be accessed, it was clear that the former had the lion’s share to the detriment of the periphery of course.
Meanwhile, we are all witnesses to the contradiction, which attended the political animal called Biafra.
Prior to its birth, General YakubuGowon put in place, the 12-State structure. It was something of a master-stroke, which successfully reduced the Biafran experiment to an essentially Igbo enterprise. All of a sudden, the minorities in that part of the country discovered that they were no longer subject to the Igbos. In his various write-ups, a Ken SaroWiwa came forth with gusto on this fissiparous phenomenon in Eastern Nigeria. In view of all these contradictions, the reader may be tempted to ask: Where does this writer stand?
Fortuitously, my stance was amply revealed in a March 2021 book, which was authored and presented to me by Professor Eddy Omolehinwa, a Professor of Accounting at the University of Lagos. In the preface to this book titled: The Unrealised Gains of Independence, the author contended along the following lines:
At the time that I was admitted as one of the 60 boys in form one in King’s College Lagos, the school was the only Federal Government College for Boys in the country…..Our set of King’s College newcomers were drawn from the then existing four regions in the country.
I therefore had the rare opportunity of living together with fellow Nigerians from other regions of the country in my early youth. Our school song made it clear to us that even though we are of many nations that we are all brothers. Everything was done on merit, as nobody wanted to know where you came from or who your parents were. Back then our country was still functioning well…
The above speaks to a world where there was a wholesome and functioning Nigeria. And therefore this is my own stance about the current postures and attitudes as regards separatism. Let us continue to work on the Nigerian Project so that we can recapture the kind of Nigeria, which Professor Omolehinwa experienced in the Sixties. The converse as demonstrated above, is the slippery and sisyphian world of identity politics. Luckily, for Nigeria, it appears that all is not lost after all. This is because, the spokesmen for bodies like Ohaneze and Afenifere have since deposed respectively that they do not seek a dissolution of Nigeria. Rather the aspiration is that there is the compelling need to put in place a much more workable structure for a plural society like ours.
I can only concur and in the process add that an ethical framework should also be put in place. In this way, that beleaguered family at the Gate-House, and other numerous members of the under-class across Nigeria will be given some hope in a New Nigeria. Let the African God be weary no more!
Prof. Soremekun, immediate past Vice Chancellor of Federal University Oye-Ekiti, is the editorial board chairman of BusinessDay
