•Ayo Adebanjo remains only Afenifere leader – Adejumo
•No, Adebanjo only acted, Pa Fasoranti is authentic leader – Ajayi
By Chukwudi Nweje and Oluseye Ojo
The division within Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political and cultural organisation, has continued to fester, with each of the two factions in the organisation laying claim to its leadership.
On Saturday March 9, 20204, Saturday Sun had published a story in which the National Publicity Secretary of each of the two divisions in Afenifere responded. But following the publication, the two sides protested to the newspaper, each insisting its group is the only authentic and duly recognised Afenifere.
Chief Gboyega Adejumo, spokesman of Afenifere, loyal to Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has said the Afenifere is one organisation with Pa Ayo Adebanjo as the leader. Adejumo, the National Publicity Secretary of the organisation (Adebanjo Group), went down the memory lane to prove that Adebanjo is the authentic leader of Afenifere. He said that Pa Adebanjo is a founding member of Afenifere, and worked closely with the first leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, before he later invited Pa Reuben Fasoranti, then a university student in 1953 into what they called the ‘Afenifere Mosquito team.’ He stated that Fasoranti later resigned his membership of Afenifere.
Reacting to claims of factions within Afenifere, Adejumo stated: “Afenifere is under the leadership of Papa Ayo Adebanjo. I repeat, Afenifere is under the leadership of Papa Ayo Adebanjo. Papa Reuben Fasoranti resigned and there is a letter to that effect. I don’t know why the people of the press do miss out on that.
“He resigned and he appointed Papa Ayo Adebanjo as leader and he appointed Kabiyesi Oladipo Olayitan as the deputy.
“He appointed Papa Adebanjo as the acting leader, the General Assembly of the Afenifere ratified the leadership of Papa Ayo Adebanjo and he became the substantive leader. So nobody can take that away from us.” Adejumo stated that Adebanjo’s leadership of Afenifere is recognised at the right quarters He queried: “Who represented the Afenifere at the award ceremony held on the March, 6, the Remembrance of Papa Awolowo, which the Awolowo Foundation has been using to give out awards in leadership to those it feels all over, not just in Nigeria, those that it feels share almost the same kind of leadership qualities as Papa Awolowo? The award has been won by Professor Wole Soyika, by Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa, by Chief Afe Babalola, and lately by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank.
“Those who represented Afenifere on March 6, of course, would have to be those who keep to the tenets and principles of the founder, Papa Awolowo. Those who represented Afenifere there are Papa Adebanjo and myself, as the National Publicity Secretary. I hate and detest the way you said I’m the spokesman of the group. No, I am the National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere. “Also representing Afenifere was Chief Supo Shonibare who has been the National Treasurer of the Afenifere since the days of the Action Group (AG).
“We do not know of any other Afenifere, and if the idea is to refer to Papa Adebanjo as one of the chieftains, please do not have anything to do with us because we will revolt and we will not be part of that shenanigan. And do not refer to me as the spokesman. I may be the spokesperson, but the title I carry is that of the National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere.”
Adejumo stated that Afenifere is the oldest political party, and the only one that still remains, that is born and does things in the philosophy of its leader and founder, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He said Afenifere has never been about Yoruba irredentism as many would paint it to be but an all encompassing political party with members drawn from across the country.
He further said: “There was Afenifere when there was Action Group (AG). There was Afenifere when there was Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), and Afenifere when there was Alliance for Democracy (AD). In fact, Afenifere also gave birth to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). So that is it.” Asked how Pa Fasoranti, whom Adebanjo reportedly brought into Afenifere, became leader and had to later appoint Adebanjo as acting leader, Adejumo said Afenifere follows a strict succession plan.
He added: “Papa Fasoranti became leader through a consensus. What happened was that it was with the apostolic succession planning of Afenifere. Apostolic in the sense that the manner of emergence is when colleagues come together and they decide among themselves who is going to be the leader. When Papa Awolowo died, his colleagues came together and gave it to Papa Adekunle Ajasin. Papa Ajasin too was a pioneer member of the Afenifere, just as Papa Adebanjo is. “Now, Papa Abraham Adesanya was unanimously chosen as the leader by Papa Ajasin before he, Papa Ajasin died. The meetings are always held in the country home of the leader. That’s the way it goes with Afenifere.
“The meetings were held in Okene when Papa Awolowo was alive and then when Papa Ajasin became leader, it was held at Owo. Papa Ajasin too felt that he was getting old and he said, well, it is the Lagos, Ogun axis that comes all the way to Owo for meetings more. So, let the leadership go to that axis so that you don’t have to travel all the way to Owo for meetings. And, as at that time, we were in the trenches, it was the period of the problematic Gen Sani Abacha. Let me say, the Abacha years were very problematic ones for Afenifere after we had taken up the battle against the annulment of the June 12. We didn’t do the struggle against the annulment of June 12 as a Yoruba group. We formed NADECO because Afenifere was never, and I continue to say, was never an irredentist group.
“Right from the beginning, Afenifere expressed this when it became a political party in 1951. It started from Egbe Omo Oduduwa in London, which was a cultural group but if all that they were doing in 1946 in London, and with the book Awolowo wrote in 1947, which was called The Path to Nigeria’s Freedom, was to be what they should pursue, then the only way they can change the narrative is to become a political party, so that they can win the votes and put to use all the ideologies, all the principles, all the philosophies, all the plans that they have for governance.
“And as of that time, we had the NCNC which was formed by a Yoruba man, that was Herbert Marculay, but it was not a Yoruba party, it was a national party, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was the secretary, and Zik took over as leader. Papa Adebanjo in the early 40s, was a Zikist himself. He became converted to the Nigerian Youth Movement, and then later to the Action Group in 1951. So, once it became a political party in 1951, that was it. It was a national party that had the likes of S.G. Ikoku from the East, who contested against his father, Alvan Ikoku of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens. (NCNC), and defeated him.
“We had the likes of Alhaji Mito, from the North, who led eight other members to win seats for the Afenifere in the North, and became the leader of opposition in the North, and S G. Ikoku became the leader of opposition in the East. So, Afenifere is never a Yoruba irredentist group. So let me just correct that. So, going again to put the records straight, After Papa Ajasin left and Papa Adesanya became leader, as it is with the apostolic emergence of leaders, Papa Adesanya took his own. He was shot at. Alfred Rewane was killed. All manners of things happened to Afenifere leaders. Papa Adebanjo was arrested. In fact, he faced Abacha and he told him, I only owe you one bullet.
“After all that passed, in 2008, Papa Adesanya felt he was now getting old, and as with the tradition, he would like to pass the baton. He called Papa Adebanjo and Olaniwun Ajayi, and asked them to choose between both of them who he would hand over to. “It was Papa Adebanjo that said no, you (Adesanya) are Ijebu, Awolowo was Ijebu. Olaniwun Ajayi is Ijebu and I am Ijebu. Let it go to the other side before people start saying that the Ijebu are cornering the leadership of Afenifere.” Adejumo added that Adebanjo recommended Fasoranti to become leader of Afenifere. He quoted Adebanjo as saying, ‘I remember this man who was Commissioner for Finance during Ajasin’s period. His name is Fasoranti. He was not a member of the caucus then, but he was invited. That is how Fasoranti became the leader.” Reminded that the current Olu of Ilu-Abo, Oba Olu Falae said on national television that Afenifere supported Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election because Afenifere wanted not just a Yoruba man but one of their own as president, Adejumo said: “Olu Falae is my blood uncle, but he only joined Afenifere in 1992. You can imagine somebody who joined in 1992, saying it as if Afenifere is a Yoruba irredentist group. Just a whole load of crap. Anyway, the problem with Afenifere even started with him (Olu Falae) when Bola Ige, who joined in 1961, wanted to contest to be president in 1999 and he Falae also came and wanted to be president. And it was even orchestrated by the elected governors at that time, Tinubu inclusive, who felt Ige was too vocal and would not be accepted by the North. They felt that they needed a more liberal person who would be seen as a less combative candidate by the North. That was how Olu Falae became a candidate and Bola Ige didn’t like it.”
No, Fasoranti is Afenifere leader; he never resigned
Meanwhile, National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere (of the group loyal to Pa Reuben Fasoranti) , Mr. Jare Ajayi, has punctured the claims that the National Leader of the organisation, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, had resigned his position and duly handed over to Pa Ayo Adebanjo.
He told Saturday Sun, “With due respect, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, is still one of the leaders of Afenifere, but Pa Reuben Fasoranti is the National Leader. There is no dispute that Pa Fasoranti emerged as the National Leader of Afenifere after Pa Abraham Adesanya, irrespective of what played out before the emergence.
“Then, Pa Adebanjo served as Acting Leader till January this year 2024. He emerged as Acting Leader when Pa Fasoranti appointed him because of his old age. The tradition remains that there will be no new leader for the organisation until the sitting leader dies.
“On the allegation that Pa Fasoranti resigned and handed over to Pa Adebanjo, I saw the letter by myself. I can confirm to you that Pa Fasoranti did not resign. He only anointed Pa Adebanjo as an acting leader. It is a blatant lie to say he resigned. If Pa Fasoranti had resigned, Pa Adebanjo would have been the substantive leader and not acting leader.
“Nevertheless, I can attest to the fact that Pa Adebanjo had often led Afenifere’s delegations to various meetings. But he did that in his capacity as the Acting Leader. But the National Leader had done a reorganisation of Afenifere in January, following the report of a committee chaired by a former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko. The reorganisation led to the abrogation of the office of the acting leader.
Therefore, Afenifere is one. I want to advise our people that whatever comes out of Afenifere, if it is not from Pa Fasoranti, it should be disregarded.” He also spoke on the camp that tabled the issue of restructuring of Nigeria before President Bola Tinubu. His words: “They are just seeking relevance so that people will notice them. I said they are seeking relevance because they said they have prepared a template for the restructuring of Nigeria, and that they have placed the document before President Bola Tinubu.
“Everyone that is familiar with the contemporary issues in Nigeria, especially on the agitation for restructuring, will know that it is Afenifere that has been in the forefront of advocating restructuring in Nigeria. We have been working underground on the restructuring and other issues. “When President Tinubu came to see Pa Fasoranti in Akure, restructuring was part of the issues tabled before him. This was why he addressed it in his response. He promised to restructure the country with a caveat that necessary foundations must be laid first.
“So, we are the advocates of restructuring. This issue has been before the President through us, apart from the fact that the President himself believes in restructuring. For some people to come and say they were the ones that took the matter before the president is nothing but a way to seek relevance. It is self-deception.”